2. Awards Night -Films in Competition

Wed 29 Sept 18:15 - 20:40 BST

EFN’s trademark Awards’ Night with a selection of films competing for the Critics’ Choice Award given by a panel of film industry experts (BBC, Leeds Int. Film Festival) and the Audience Favourite Award voted by the audience attending on the night both LIVE and ONLINE! Each film will be followed by a live Q&A with the director and the night will close with a networking event!

Films in Competition

1. Handscape Dir: Yiru Chen (2020) 18’

Contemporary Shanghai, summer. Xia Qing, a boy who has been wearing Cochlear Implants due to hearing impairment, has a deep love for dancing. He gains so much joy just from copying Martha Graham’s hand gestures in a dance magazine. A kid with a precocious nature, he sometimes paints his pinky nail red just for that glimpse of beauty. Yet all these passionate pursuits are misunderstood and questioned by his single, deaf mother. Given the opportunity to audition for his favorite dance company once in a blue moon, he has no choice but to return to his body--He seeks his mother’s approval and longs to overcome this obscure self-identity crisis, through the silent language on his fingertips. 

2. Aria Dir: Christopher Poole (2021) 13’25

Jenny and Tom are excited to install a new Aria "smart security system" in their home. Tom becomes increasingly paranoid about what may be lurking outside their front door at night and eventually confronts it.

3. Films of Fury Dir: Mila Araoz Ellis (2020) 12’57

Rodrigo and Luz are a young couple living in El Alto, a city in Bolivia's highlands. Their dream is to become the next Bruce Lee and achieve Hollywood fame. Rodrigo is a martial arts teacher, and in his spare time, he trains himself and his friends to create the perfect stunts in his videos. Luz is quieter but is a naturally gifted camerawoman; while Rodrigo is often busy acting, she carefully creates the shots he has in mind. This documentary follows the couple as they perfect their home-made special effects and shooting skills in preparation for their first feature length action film.

4. The Sappho Project: fragment 147 Dir: Sari Katharyn (2021) 7’40

Two women find each other time and time again, loving each other through all their life times. Made entirely during lockdown by student artists, this animated film is a collective piece of art, dedicated to one of the most famous lyrical fragments that remain from the lesbian poet Sappho: fragment 147.

5. Some Kind of Window Dirs: Fay Lomas & Zoe Hunter Gordon (2021) 6’17

It's March 2020 and Nat and David have recently separated. Today is their son's birthday, but David's camping in a friend's living room and Nat is desperately trying to keep it together at home. And whilst both parents want the best for their son, they find themselves pitted against each other. A story of trying to reach out through the digital, of missed communications, and of homesickness

6. Divination Dave Dir: Georgia Madden (2021) 7’5

Savoury snack addict Dave must resort to extreme measures in order to satisfy his salty cravings

“EFN you are absolutely invaluable to the up-and-coming filmmaking community!” - Aioffe O Kelly- Writer/Director