BFF20 Sofa Shorts Day
Date Posted: March 26, 2020
Saturday 4th April is now officially known as BFF Sofa Shorts Day! You hit the sofa we’ll bring the shorts…..films that is.
Join us to celebrate the best new Northern Ireland/Irish fictional short films from the comfort of your own home.
One of our many loved events each year is our BFF Short Film Competition supported by Queen’s Film Theatre which showcases the island’s best new fictional short films. Supporting the local film industry has been a festival tradition from the very beginning, and in this 20th anniversary year we have another incredible line-up of emerging talent. To ensure our audiences don’t miss out we are taking the competition online!
There are two programme sections within our sofa shorts. These include the in competition short films and our official selection short films.
This is how it works. For one day only on Saturday 4th April you will be able to view all 14 ‘in competition’ shorts and 7 ‘official selection’ shorts. Simply visit www.belfastfilmfestival.org between 10am and midnight to view all 21 films at your leisure.
Join us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram throughout the day on Saturday 4th April to share your thoughts about the films, meet the filmmakers and share in a collective experience using the hashtag #bffsofashorts.
The winner of the ‘in competition’ programme will be announced by our judging panel on Sunday 5th April at midday and will receive a prize of £500. The winning film will then be available to watch for a further 2 hours from midday to 2pm.
This year we are grateful to have four independent judges on our panel:
Sarah Edge – Sarah is a professor of Photography and Cultural Studies at Ulster University, where she lectures in feminist film theory and production and the history, theory and practice of photography.
Sara Gunn Smith – Sara joined Film Hub NI in 2014 as Marketing and Audiences Officer, where she developed and delivers initiates to increase and diversify audiences for independent film. These include the early Cinema Day celebration, and the Collective network. She works with a range of film exhibitors across NI to develop and enhance their audience engagement. She also produced The Cursor Project documentary, and is on the board of the NI Science Festival and Belfast Media Festival.
Cian Smyth – Cian has 20 years experience working in the arts and films through which he has worked with Northern Ireland Screen, the UK Film Council and ACNI. He was a Producer at Hull Uk City Of Culture 2017, an Artistic Advisor to 1418Now and Chairperson of Outburst Arts.
Don O’Mahony – Senior Programmer with Cork Film Festival, Don O’Mahony has been involved with the organisation since 1999, mainly programming world cinema features and Irish content. Since 2016, Don has been in charge of the Festival’s extensive short film programme and he has programmed ‘Free Radicals’, the Festival’s experimental film strand, since 2004.
Between the 1st and 9th April, when the festival was due to take place, we will be offering our audiences the opportunity to watch a selection of unique online events which we will be announcing very soon.
Please see below the list of short films:
IN COMPETITION
- CHESTNUTS
Director: Tom Lenihan - A WHITE HORSE
Director: Shaun O’Connor - FARMLAND
Director: Niamh McKeown - WISHBONE
Director: Myrid Carten - MATCH
Directors: Laura O Shea & Tony Doyle - REPETITION
Director: Kevin McGloughlin - CIÚNAS (SILENCE)
Director: Tristan Heanue - THE SHIFT
Director: Megan K Fox - HALO
Director: Michael David McKernon - STARRY NIGHT
Director: Emma Smith - ROUGH
Directors: Adam Patterson & Declan Lawn - KELLY
Director: Solène Guichard - THE SILVER LINING
Director: Denis McArdle - LEAVE THE ROAD BEHIND YOU
Director: Daniel Butler
OFFICIAL SELECTION
- THE SPACE BETWEEN US
Director: Elaine Kennedy - THE BUTTERFLY LOVE SONG
Director: Luke Morgan - THE MAN IN THE BATH
Director: Elsa Hunter-Weston - ROSALYN
Director: Olivia J Middleton - THE APPOINTMENT
Director: David Moody - PILLS
Director: Lisa Keogh - MY FAVOURITE PAUL
Director: Rebekah Davis
