Join us for our annual event celebrating new filmmaking talent from across Yorkshire, with a competition featuring seven wonderfully diverse stories.
One of the annual event highlights at LIFF, this competition takes a celebratory survey of Yorkshire short filmmaking from the past year. Our programme unsurprisingly reflects the wonderfully diverse stories that cover the personal and local, yet world-facing nature of the county we call home. Insightful social dramas such as Predators and House Phone nestle comfortably alongside deeply honest and inspiring documentaries Paula Says Hi and From Lagos to Leeds. At different stages of their careers, what all the filmmakers in our competition share is the passion and vision to bring their work to the big screen for us to enjoy, together.
Predators
Tegan, a troubled young girl who walks the line of mean and misunderstood, has to face other people’s perceptions of good and bad head on, as well as her own. Predators asks the important questions: who are the real monsters? Who are the predators?
Jack King | United Kingdom | 2023 | 18 mins | Yorkshire Premiere
House Phone
First-time filmmaker James McGlade offers the short, but perfectly formed story of Anne, making a call she's put off for a long time. House Phone cleverly eschews actors on screen in place of an empty, but intimate domestic environment in which a life lived has left personal traces in the objects and furnishings.
James McGlade | Ireland | 2024 | 3 mins | No Premiere
From Lagos to Leeds
This inspiring documentary follows Leeds musician David Ntantu and Nigerian rising star Browny Pondis, as they work together in the studio and explore their creative and personal collaboration. Director Ben G. Brown observes the two artists and their intimate personal journeys whilst rightly positioning Leeds as a global city.
Ben G. Brown | United Kingdom | 2023 | 15 mins | No Premiere
Sandcastles
Small memories can be the most important and poignant. Sandcastles began as a response to filmmaker Meredith Stewart’s father's unexpected death, and is a delicate, wistful animation of a child reliving a memory close to their heart. It’s a film that’s as colourful and playful, as it is touching.
Meredith Stewart | United Kingdom | 2023 | 6 mins | No Premiere
Paula Says Hi
A personal and intimate portrait of disabled, gender fluid cosplayer Paula. Inviting us into her world, Paula lives life to the full, embracing her passion for cosplay and sci-fi conventions, and offers her intimate thoughts on accepting her disability and the joy of gender euphoria.
James C Thompson | United Kingdom | 2023 | 14 mins | Yorkshire Premiere
Loser Like Larkin
Teen Larkin’s life is uprooted when she moves to rural 1970s Yorkshire with her mum. But there’s still fun to be had up North, as long as she can deal with the local gang of girls and a boy who may not be all he first seems.
James Coyle | United Kingdom | 2024 | 16 mins | World Premiere
Who We Were, Who We Became
A documentary paired with a stunning poem written by Danaé Wellington, this short voices the experience of the Windrush generation. From their lives in the Caribbean, the journey over the water, to their experiences acclimatising to British culture, importing new foundations to it with music, food, fashion and faith.
Darshan Gajjar | United Kingdom | 2023 | 11 mins | Yorkshire Premiere