SQIFF 2024 Opening Night Scottish Shorts
October 8 @ 8:20 pm - 10:20 pm
Free – £12
We warmly welcome you back to another year of SQIFF with our ‘Scottish Shorts’. This screening exclusively contains short films by artists based in Scotland and highlights outstanding local talent. We are also delighted to showcase three new films made by SQIFF’s very own Queer Filmmakers Group. Expect a screening that celebrates community, resistance and various filmmaking media. We hope to welcome several of the filmmakers for a Q&A after the screening.
All filmmakers in this screening and ‘Scottish Shorts 2’ are automatically entered into a competition to win the title of Best Scottish Short. The winner will be announced at the closing screening of SQIFF 2024.
Curated by Nat Lall and Huss.
Tickets are on a pay what you can sliding scale of FREE, £2, £4, £6, £8, £10, or £12. To book, click here or call the GFT Box Office on 0141 332 6535.
Accessibility
This programme has:
- English audio with English language descriptive captions
- English to BSL interpretation for introduction and panel discussion
- Live Captioning for introduction and panel discussion
- Audio Description
This screening is 75 minutes long and has an age recommendation of N/C 15+.
You can find out more information about accessibility at SQIFF 2024 here. If you have any questions about accessibility at SQIFF 2024, please get in touch with us at [email protected] or by phone on 07873 331 036.
Films in this programme include:
Films not Bombs: Soup, Stickers and Solidarity, Dirs. Rosie Bowyer, Léo Paiva Capocci, Morgan Gabriel Hares, Kat Robertson, 2024, United Kingdom, 11 min
Films Not Bombs is a community film about Glasgow’s Food Not Bombs chapter in Govanhill. It highlights how the group offers free food weekly to challenge war and capitalism, demonstrating the transformative power of community action. Created through a University of Glasgow and GMAC course, the film features Glasgow’s queer community and is the debut film for three of its creators.
Content Notes: Depiction of police. Discussion of food scarcity, capitalism.
A Float, Dir. Isabel Barfod, 2023, United Kingdom, 3 min
A Float explores subtle modes of refusal through the lens of a Black Queer swimmer in a hostile environment. Set in a Victorian era public swimming pool, A Float follows our protagonist as they access alternate realities, speculated futures and enact small acts of revenge.
Content Notes: Depiction of racism.
Access Notes: Contains flashing imagery.
In Our Millions, Dirs. Meli Vasiloudes Bayada, Ally Lloyd, Esme Haddrill Selman, 2023, United Kingdom, 3 min
‘In Our Millions’ is a short film about Scottish solidarity with Palestine filmed during the November 11th protests. It is a Super8 film collaboratively shot and ecologically hand-processed over the course of a day as part of a workshop run by Lydia Beilby and Take One Action.
Content Notes: Depiction of a protest.
Just Jackie, Dir. Michael Lee Richardson, 2023, United Kingdom, 12 min
JACKIE (9) loves sweets, trying on their mum’s clothes and make up, and admiring girl-next-door TEGAN (11) on her trampoline from the bedroom window.
Jackie adores her, and they’ll do anything to get close to her. Even, to health-conscious mum CAROL’s surprise, ask for a trampoline.
Content Notes: Depiction of deadnaming. Discussion of dieting.
Planet Abundance, Dirs. Emma Bowen, Ailie Rutherford, 2022, United Kingdom, 4 min
This short film documents The Planet Abundance project, a series of artist-led workshops at Category Is Books. Participants imagined a feminist world of abundance and post-work society, exploring alternatives to capitalism through speculative science fiction based on Teresa Feldmann’s draft. Commissioned by Feminist Exchange Network (Glasgow) and curated by Ailie Rutherford, the project fosters radical political imagination.
A Different Home, Dir. Jules Lacave-Fontourcy, 2024, United Kingdom, 15 min
Where is “home” for queer people who live in a city but grew up rural? This documentary explores the tensions between craving rural life and thriving in urban queer communities while feeling alienated from both. Visually rooted to the land, this film reflects on what it means to grieve a home which remains but does not welcome us as who we are.
Content Notes: Discussion of queerphobia, ableism, transphobia, misgendering, deadnaming, and trauma.
A Tight Five Hours, Dir. Ewan McPherson, 2024, United Kingdom, 15 min
As the queer comic Ewan McPherson battles his stammer while performing live, a worker inside his brain tries frantically to prevent the damage caused by negative thoughts by recalling memories of interviews with fellow queer performers and promoters”.
Content Notes: Discussion of homophobia.
Access Notes: Short length distorted imagery.
Hot Young Geek Seeks Bloodsucking Freak, Dir. Heath Virgoe, 2024, United Kingdom, 12 min
When best friends Max and Ricky find themselves the prey of an angry vampire, they must ditch their Halloween plans to hide out at home. But when a forgotten pizza delivery shows up, can they risk letting the driver in? Can they stop arguing with each other? And can Max find the courage to face the one thing worse than death – coming out?
Content Notes: Discussion of sex, role-play. Depiction of death.
Access Notes: Contains flashing imagery.
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Image Credit: Just Jackie, Dir. Michael Lee Richardson, 2023