Opening Night: Scottish Shorts
We cordially invite you to our Opening Night event, Scottish Shorts 1. This event showcases the outstanding talent of queer filmmakers here in our homeland, Scotland. Before we embark on a week exploring queer international cinema, Scottish Shorts celebrates the diverse range of films coming out of Scotland right now. Expect big muscles, punk rebellion, experimental textures, heartfelt conversations and more.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with local filmmakers. All films in this screening and ‘Scottish Shorts 2’ are in with a chance to win the title of Best Scottish Short. The winner will be announced at the closing screening of SQIFF 2026.
Curated by Nat Lall & Huss.
Click here to book your ticket for this event.
Tickets are on a pay what you can sliding scale of FREE, £4, £8, £12, £16, or £20, in order to make SQIFF more accessible to those on a low income. You can choose what you pay based on your circumstances – you won’t be asked for any proof/ID. We just ask that you are honest! Please find the ‘What Should I Pay?’ guidance here.
Accessibility
This event has:
- English-BSL interpretation for the introduction and Q&A. The interpreter for this event is TBC.
- British Sign Language, English and Scottish Gaelic audio, with English language Descriptive Subtitles.
- Live Captioning for the introduction and Q&A.
- Audio Description for all films.
- An induction loop is available at the GFT Box Office. Enhanced Audio (EA) is available in their screening rooms via headset.
This screening is 92 minutes long and has an age recommendation of N/C 18+
If you require access seating please get in touch. Access seating includes: wheelchair spaces, sitting in the front row / in the aisle / at the back. If you need any other provisions, please let us know by emailing [email protected] with your name, ticket information and access request. We will do our best to work with you whilst also managing the capacity of the venue. Thank you for working with us on this.
You can find out more information about accessibility at SQIFF 2026 here. If you have any questions about accessibility at SQIFF, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
Films in this programme include:
VALLTE – ARPEGGI, Dir. Reese Leitch, 2026, United Kingdom, 2 min
A short experimental film about difficulties finding pride as a trans woman.
Access notes: Flashing imagery, flashing lights, strobes.
Content notes: Depiction of suggested nudity. Discussion of upsetting themes.
Pang, Dir. Lara Delmage, 2026, United Kingdom, 12 min
Surreal, sexy, and spectral. The summer before Cam leaves for university, childhood best friends Cam and Evie are haunted by the breakdown of their grey-area, queer friendship. As they laze by the pool, they test the limits of their relationship, and try to define who they are to each other.
Content notes: Depiction of animal cruelty, emotional stress.
Did I Feel It?, Dir. Emma McIntyre, 2026, United Kingdom, 12 min
Did I Feel It? Is a creative documentary that reflects on and through a recent surgery, convalescing and energies that are vital in living with lifelong disabilities. By sharing this small insight I hope to draw focus to the complexities and expansive journeys of queer disabled lives.
Access notes: Flashing imagery, loud noises.
Content notes: Depiction of hospitals, scars.
The Muscle Knows Better Than To Wait, Dir. Erica Monde, 2025, United Kingdom, 4 min
A portrait of an LGBT weightlifting club in Sheffield, exploring the embodiment of queer and trans power.
Content notes: Discussion of transphobia.
The Collective, Dirs. Beth Johnston, Daniel Archibald, 2025, United Kingdom, 7 min
In a dystopian Glasgow, a feminist punk collective interrupt a government radio broadcast to protest against the fascist regime.
Wake and Bake, Dir. Luca Kerr, 2026, United Kingdom, 5 min
Cousins Fionn and Aonghas bond over their inability to fit into their family of saints at their grandmother’s wake.
Content notes: Depiction of implied drug use, smoking. Discussion of bereavement.
XTalk by HommAges, Dir. Craig Mulholland, 2026, United Kingdom, 21 min
Operating as material phenomenon and metaphor, XTalk reframes autonomy, objectification and porous boundaries between subject and object within BDSM culture, fetish materiality and Queer ontology, foregrounding adjacency, interference, surface, contact and erotic material intersection.
Access notes: Flashing imagery, flashing lights.
Content notes: Depiction of fetishism.
They Bend Stars, Dir. Diego Migliorini, 2025, United Kingdom, 11 min
A genderless alien tortured in an underground facility learns that the key to return to their purple planet lies within. They must escape their captor and find their way back to their distant home.
Access notes: Flashing lights, visual effects that may trigger people with photosensitive epilepsy.
Exiled for Existing, Dir. Vilte Vaitkute, 2026, United Kingdom, 7 min
LGBTQ+ Refugees living in the UK speak about their experiences and the community they’ve found in Scotland.
Content notes: Discussion of emotional displacement, homophobia, physical violence.
Reconnection, Dir. Amy Helena, 2025, United Kingdom, 11 min
A couple’s argument is interrupted by a blackout. In candlelight, silence gives way to honesty, helping them reconnect and bridge the emotional distance between them.
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Supported by Screen Scotland, the BFI Audience Projects Fund and Film Hub Scotland (part of the BFI Film Audience Network), all awarding National Lottery funding.
Image Credit: PANG, 2026, Dir. Lara Delmage