SQIFF 2025 Opening Night Scottish Shorts
We are once again back with an opening event celebrating Scottish queer cinema! This screening exclusively contains short films by artists based in Scotland. The selected short films highlight the diversity of LGBTQIA+ films being made right here in Scotland. Before we spend the week enjoying cinematic treats from across the globe, let’s take a moment to appreciate the talented and close-knit queer community we are so grateful to have right here. Expect bright colours, lovely creatures, big laughs and plenty of fun informal chat in our post-screening Q&A with the filmmakers.
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 2025.
Curated by Nat Lall and Huss.
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. To book your ticket for this event, click here.
Accessibility
This programme has:
- Audio Description
- English audio with English language Descriptive Subtitles
- English-BSL interpretation for introduction and panel discussion
- Live Captioning for introduction and panel discussion
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 2025 here. If you have any questions about accessibility at SQIFF 2025, please get in touch with us at [email protected] or by phone on 07873 331 036.
Films in this programme include:
This Werewolf Complex, Dir. Heather E Andrews, 2024, United Kingdom, 15 min
Moving portrait explores brain auras through personal voices, examining seizure warnings, social stigma, and their positive impact on artistic expression.
TWISTED PAIR, Dir. Edward Gwyn Jones, 2023, United Kingdom, 13 min
Two characters engage in erotic, absurdist phone calls that invert power dynamics, sampling 1975-1985 queer cinema and pop culture.
Late Bloomers, Dir. Axel Gutapfel, 2024, United Kingdom, 6 min
Late Bloomers depicts a post-nature world where Glasgow’s queer community creates reality through mimicking wilderness they’ve never known.
Three Act Structure, Dir. Iona Rose Wheeler, 2025, United Kingdom, 3 min
Iona recounts and imagines experiences discussing gender with doctors.
Content notes: Discussion of difficulties in accessing trans healthcare, medical conversations, transphobia.
TAPS, Dir. Louis O. Utieyin, 2025, United Kingdom, 7 min
When Max unknowingly summons a demon on Grindr, he must do whatever it takes to survive.
Content notes: Discussion of drug use, sex.
Access notes: Flashing imagery.
Taxonomy, Dir. Ren Leverentz, 2025, United Kingdom, 11 min
Using a combination of movement art and conversation, Taxonomy is a short documentary that explores the relationship between language and gender for trans and non-binary people.
Content notes: Discussion of dysphoria, misgendering.
The Figure in the Carpet, Dir. Fibi Cowley, 2024, United Kingdom, 7 min
Personal reflection on living with hallucinations, told through experimental puppetry and informed by the director’s lived sensory experiences.
Well … Actually, Dir. Zyra Evangelista, 2025, United Kingdom, 13 min
When xeir best friend pulls a prank that goes terribly wrong, an agoraphobic doomsday pepper becomes the world’s last hope for survival… or so they think.
Content notes: Depiction of misgendering, strong language use. Discussion of climate change, genocide, homelessness, intense fears and phobias.
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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: TAPS, Dir. Louis O. Utieyin, 2025