Winchester’s window into the global zeitgeist of 2017
Winchester is host to the International Short Film Festival, across multiple venues between November 3rd - 11th.
WINCHESTER Short Film Festival returns this November with an array of films selected from more than 50 countries and screened at five venues across Winchester. Each festival venue will provide a unique film experience and will include world premieres and introductions by award winning directors.
To mark a year when nations are rebuilding borders and technology is redefining personal boundaries, the curators of the festival have selected a collection of films that cross borders, challenge moral boundaries, test emotional limits and probe beneath the surface of relationships with a view not only to entertain and move the audience, but also to reflect the burning issues of our time such as migration and the quest for tactile relationships in an increasingly virtual world. In the words of the festival director, John Hayes, “the festival attempts to offer a window into the world zeitgeist of 2017.”
The 2017 festival begins on November 6 with the bespoke Winchester HiFi screening of 5 British and Foreign films that include the classy British detective thriller Faithless starring Sean Gilder (Poldark), and the chilling drama Home Education by Andrea Niada in which an inquisitive daughter is convinced by her controlling mother that she can resurrect her dead dad, starring Kate Reed (Our Broken Heart) and Richard Gin (Harold Shipman).
Next up on November 7 is the Hyde Tavern screening that includes the German film The Girls Were Doing Nothing (18+ certificate) by Dekel Berenson that explores the conflicting nature of love and the human soul. Also screened is the poignant British Drama Seeing Him by Chris Jones about a middle-aged woman who is forced to confront personal boundaries and a disturbing truth, starring George Taylor (Sherlock).
On Wednesday 8 November it’s the turn the Rawberry basement screening. In the line-up of five films is the multi award winning drama A Father’s Day by Mat Johns that provides a surprising take on the bonds that unite father and daughter, with special effects by Shaun Harrison (Harry Potter, Star Wars). Also screening will be The Palphone App, a French comedy directed by Thomas Grascoeur that offers a take on what the world might be like if our alter ego social media apps were real people.
The Hampshire Records Office cinema space hosts the WSFF on Thursday 10 November with an exquisite selection of foreign and British films, including the surreal comedy Roger starring Sean Walsh (Big Bad World) and John Bradley (Game of Thrones), and the taught Japanese drama Kawaguchi 4256 about troubled children confronting a wayward parent, staring Shuna Lijima (Dan Miller) and Motokatsu Suzuki (The Outsider).
The final festival screening takes place at the iconic Winchester Discovery Centre on Friday 10 November, with a selection of national and international films including the big budget Polish drama The Best Fireworks Ever by Aleksandr Terpinska, set in a contemporary European city facing a military uprising. Also screening will be the touching Spanish drama Fortune Teller by Gonzaga Manso (WSFF_2016 winner of Best Foreign Film) about a man’s attempt to put his life back on track by delving into an alternative future. Also being screened will be the sophisticated multi-award winning German chamber piece Nicole’s Cage that explores the private worlds of a married couple that hardly know one another.
The festival culminates on 11th November with a Filmmakers’s Networking Party at No.5 and the glitzy black tie award ceremony in The Performance Hall of the Winchester Discovery Centre, with compare Jonah Weston leading the celebration.
A full list of films being screened and film trailers are available on the festival box office at winchestershortfilmfestival.com