London Short Film Fest

The first week of January can be something of a non-event, in the wake of post-Christmas recovery, but this year kicked off to a cracking start with the advent of the London Short Film Festival. The opening night’s Lo-Budget Mayhem offered up an eclectic mix of cinematic gems.

Among the highlights was Under a Vest, an atmospheric, tongue-in-cheek tribute to Hitchcock, combining humour and suspense, written and directed by Kal Bonner:  As darkness falls across the city, masking the disparity between the public and private images of those in high places, one man is caught off guard when his secret self is revealed.

The theme of comedy with a dark twist surfaced in Your Dog Ate My Cat,  an animation by Claire Winter, and Sweets, directed by Anita Shukla – the tale of a mystical creature lurking in the shadows of a sweet shop, who protects the owner from harm.

By way of contrast, in this varied showcase of shorts, the winning entry, An Oral Fixation, by Kevin Gaffney, was  described by Adam Woods of Little White Lies as: “An accomplished entry, striking an often unsettling surrealist note… Perhaps not the obvious  choice but it appealed to my darker side and really shows how effective and provocative you can be on a low budget.”

The London Short Film festival runs until 15 January. http://shortfilms.org.uk/

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~ by A_A on January 9, 2012.