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Shorts

If you’re a subscriber who’s pressed for time or simply a lover of the short-form format, you’ll find something to enjoy in these perfectly formed brevities.

Encompassing early gems from future filmmaking greats to cult items from the stranger corners of British cinema, these shorts will excite and inspire – in small doses.

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Rent for £1.00

The BurningThe Burning

Drama 1967 31 minsDirector: Stephen Frears

A white woman and her young grandson come face to face with a black uprising in Apartheid South Africa, in a tough short film by Stephen Frears.

Currently unavailable

CarousellaCarousella

Documentary 1965 26 minsDirector: John Irvin

A controversial, well-made documentary that follows the lives of three young striptease artistes working in Soho.

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The Castle of OtrantoThe Castle of Otranto

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1977 18 minsDirector: Jan Svankmajer

Czech animator Jan Švankmajer's adaptation of Horace Walpole's Gothic novel.

Rent for £1.00

Chelsea Bridge BoysChelsea Bridge Boys

Documentary 1965 31 minsDirector: Peter Davis and Staffan Lamm

Made for Swedish television, a look at a gang of "Rockers" who meet at a tea-kiosk on Chelsea Bridge.

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The ContraptionThe Contraption

Horror 1977 33 mins

Darkly humorous short in which a man builds a sinister contraption, the dreadful purpose of which is only revealed in the final shot.

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The Fall of the House of UsherThe Fall of the House of Usher

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1982 16 minsDirector: Jan Svankmajer

The first of Švankmajer's 'tactile experiments', chosen partly because the title was on an official list of 'approved' texts. In this version there are no humans, just a glimpse of a live raven as the camera roams around an eerie derelict house.

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The Fight Against CancerThe Fight Against Cancer

Documentary 1947 11 minsDirector: Carl Th. Dreyer

Carl Theodor Dreyer’s film for the Cancer Society exhorts Danish citizens to listen to their doctors.

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Flames of PassionFlames of Passion

Romance 1989 17 minsDirector: Richard Kwietniowski

An ingenious gay homage to Brief Encounter.

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The Forgotten FacesThe Forgotten Faces

Documentary drama 1961 19 minsDirector: Peter Watkins

A gripping newsreel style account of the 1956 peoples' uprising in Hungary directed by celebrated innovator of the docudrama form, Peter Watkins.

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Forgotten the QueenForgotten the Queen

Animation & Artists Moving Image 2017 11 minsDirector: Andrew Kötting

This short animation intended to accompany Andrew Kötting’s feature-length Edith Walks explores the same themes around the life of Medieval queen Edith Swan Neck.

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Good Mothers Good Mothers

Documentary 1942 12 minsDirector: Carl Th. Dreyer

Carl Theodor Dreyer’s first short film honours the work of the Mother’s Aid Institution, a state-funded organisation offering services for new mothers.

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The Great Steam FairThe Great Steam Fair

Documentary 1964 18 minsDirector: David Gladwell and Derrick Knight

The Great Steam fair is a documentary filmed at Shottesbrooke Park, Berkshire in 1964, at an event which brought together many traditional fairground rides and steam engines.

Rent for £3.50

Hands of DestinyHands of Destiny

Drama 1954 52 minsDirector: Tony Young

The strange prophesies of Dr Josef Ranald, palm reader of choice to Nazi war leaders.

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The Home-made CarThe Home-made Car

Comedy 1963 28 minsDirector: James Hill

In this charming short film directed by James Hill, a man restores his dilapidated Bullnose Morris under the watchful eye of a curious young neighbour.

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IncidentIncident

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1959 13 minsDirector: Norman J. Warren

The debut short film of British exploitation director Norman J. Warren is an enigmatic story about a girl who meets a boy at a fairground.

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Kill the DayKill the Day

Drama 2000 18 minsDirector: Lynne Ramsay

An ex-drug addict reflects on life in and out of prison in this short by BAFTA-winner Lynne Ramsay, based on real accounts.

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The Last ChapterThe Last Chapter

Drama 1974 29 minsDirector: David Tringham

Dark tale in which a best-selling author (Denholm Elliot) is unbalanced by an assured young fan (Susan Penhaligon) who questions the move into easy commercialism displayed in his recent work.

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Man in FearMan in Fear

Thriller 2011 11 minsDirector: Will Jewell

Luke Treadaway stars as a paranoid man convinced he is destined to be the victim of a conceptual art 'accident'.

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Miss Thompson Goes ShoppingMiss Thompson Goes Shopping

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1958 23 minsDirector: David Gladwell

From the visionary British director David Gladwell, this 1958 short contrasting rural and urban life is based on the poem by Martin Armstrong.

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OstiaOstia

Crime 1987 26 minsDirector: Julian Cole

Ostia is a fascinating short film directed by Julian Cole and starring Derek Jarman, which reconstructs the events leading up to the murder of Pier Paolo Pasolini.

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The PartyThe Party

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1962 16 mins

The Party is a time-capsule short film about an art school get-together where a boy blows his chances with his date.

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The Pendulum, The Pit and HopeThe Pendulum, The Pit and Hope

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1983 15 minsDirector: Jan Svankmajer

Švankmajer's second adaptation of the work of Edgar Allan Poe, in which a prisoner is forced to undergo trials of torture.

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A Portrait of EdenA Portrait of Eden

Documentary 2011 22 minsDirector: Gideon Koppel

A week in the life of 22-year-old Eden Kötting, who has Joubert's Syndrome. A moving, tender film by Gideon Koppel (Sleep Furiously).

Currently unavailable

PubPub

Documentary 1962 15 minsDirector: Peter Davis

Short documentary originally made for Swedish television which opens the doors a typical working-class pub in East London.

Rent for £1.00

RecluseRecluse

Crime 1979 29 minsDirector: Bob Bentley

Based on the true story of a tragic murder and suicide that took place on the Luxton farm in Devon in the 1970s.

Currently unavailable

Road to Saint TropezRoad to Saint Tropez

Drama 1966 31 minsDirector: Mike Sarne

Director Mike Sarne's debut film is an 'anti-travelogue', starring Udo Kier.

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RosebudRosebud

Drama 1991 14 minsDirector: Cheryl Farthing

A lesbian couple arouse the interest of their new neighbour in this erotic tale of voyeurism, power dressing and fantasy.

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Rose RedRose Red

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1994 19 minsDirector: Simon Pummell

Simon Pummell's (Bodysong) visually ravishing sci-fi thriller exploring the future of virtual reality and the desire to transcend human limits.

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Summer DiscordSummer Discord

Amateur film 1955 17 minsSilentDirector: David Gladwell

A Summer Discord is silent, amateur short film directed by David Gladwell which is set in the countryside and tells the story of a little girl who is reprimanded by her mother.

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To Have and to HoldTo Have and to Hold

Drama 2000 13 minsDirector: John Hardwick

A woman finds that death will not part her from her deceased lover.

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The Village ChurchThe Village Church

Documentary 1947 14 minsDirector: Carl Th. Dreyer

Carl Theodor Dreyer recounts the history of churches in Denmark, in this hypnotic and powerfully realised short.

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Visions of EcstasyVisions of Ecstasy

Drama 1989 20 minsDirector: Nigel Wingrove

Nigel Wingrove's experimental depiction of the erotic imaginings of the 16th Century Carmelite nun remains the only film ever to banned under Britain's blasphemy laws.

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You're Human Like the Rest of ThemYou're Human Like the Rest of Them

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1967 17 minsDirector: B.S. Johnson

William Hoyland stars in this legendary, multi award-winning short film directed by the modernist writer and film-maker BS Johnson.