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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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The BurningThe Burning

Drama196731 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.

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CarousellaCarousella

Documentary196526 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 Image197718 minsDirector: Jan Svankmajer

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

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Chelsea Bridge BoysChelsea Bridge Boys

Documentary196531 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

Horror197733 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 Image198216 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

Documentary194711 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

Romance198917 minsDirector: Richard Kwietniowski

An ingenious gay homage to Brief Encounter.

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The Forgotten FacesThe Forgotten Faces

Documentary drama196119 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 Image201711 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

Documentary194212 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

Documentary196418 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

Drama195452 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

Comedy196328 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 Image195913 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

Drama200018 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

Drama197429 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

Thriller201111 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

Documentary195823 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

Crime198726 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 Image196216 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 Image198315 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

Documentary201122 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).

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PubPub

Documentary196215 minsDirector: Peter Davis

Short documentary originally made for Swedish television which opens the doors a typical working-class pub in East London.

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RecluseRecluse

Crime197929 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.

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Road to Saint TropezRoad to Saint Tropez

Drama196631 minsDirector: Mike Sarne

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

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RosebudRosebud

Drama199114 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 Image199419 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 film195517 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

Drama200013 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

Documentary194714 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

Drama198920 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 Image196717 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.