Scottish Shorts 2
Scottish Shorts 2 moves across Edinburgh summers, dinner tables, supermarket bins, political stages and the search for beauty in a new home.
These films look at what it means to be shut out, misunderstood or left behind, but also at the strange and inventive ways people make space for themselves. Relationships begin to slip, conversations become inaccessible, outrage turns into spectacle and discarded food becomes the centre of a new ritual.
Moving between fiction, documentary and experiment, the programme finds tenderness, humour and resistance in unexpected places, asking what remains when the world fails to make room for you.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with local filmmakers. All films in this screening and ‘Scottish Shorts 1’ 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.
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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, Scottish Gaelic, Tagalog audio with English language Descriptive Subtitles.
- Live Captioning for the introduction and Q&A.
- 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:
Binderella, Dir. Edie Barnabas, 2026, United Kingdom, 8 min.
Praying to their Goddess of the Bins, Binderella, a community rummages through supermarket bins in search of sovereignty, sustainability, and a fully intact trifle.
Picture This, Dir. Emma Malins, 2026, United Kingdom, 13 min.
Picture This is an experimental documentary focusing on what it means to love and enjoy cinema when you can’t see the image. It explores the power of shared stories and the importance of audio description and accessible film.
Access notes: Flashing imagery.
Content notes: Discussion of sight loss, social isolation.
Each to their own World, Dir. Klarissa Webster, 2025, United Kingdom, 15 min.
Each to Their Own World offers intimate insight into the lives of oral deaf people. Experience a taste of their lives navigating social norms and clashing cultures.
What Remains, Dir. Bernardo Battistini, 2025, United Kingdom, 11 min.
What Remains follows two boys in Edinburgh over the course of a summer, as their fragile relationship is tested by a rare genetic illness. As memory begins to slip away, one of them must remember for both.
The Room Where It Happened, Dir. Chris Harrison, 2025, United Kingdom, 8 min.
As presidential candidate Nathan Stanaway prepares to address a cheering crowd, young intern Charlotte emerges from a private encounter with him. As his polished public persona gives way to increasingly divisive rhetoric, Charlotte is left confronting the reality behind the man on stage and finding the strength to resist.
Content notes: Depiction of discrimination, implication of sexual coercion, far-right politics, religion.
Night Adrift, Dir. Yuki Neoh, 2025, United Kingdom, 23 min.
A short experimental film about difficulties finding pride as a trans woman.
Content notes: Depiction of and partial nudity, sexual imagery, strong language use.
i want things to be beautiful: a love letter to the becoming, Dir. Sean Coyle, 2026, United Kingdom, 15 min.
IWTTBB explores different concepts of love by seeking beauty in its surroundings. Through intimate visual reflections and poetic imagery, the film becomes a sentimental love letter to the self in the progress of becoming.
Access notes: Flashing imagery.
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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: Each to their own World, Dir. Klarissa Webster, 2025