Saturday 24 March 2018 – 10:00
53 mins
Certificate: DFF 15
Venue: Dorking Halls
The Dorking Film Festival asked filmmakers in Surrey, the South-East and the rest of the UK to send us their short films. Here are seven of the best from young filmmakers aged eighteen years or younger. We present two detectives from Dorking trying to solve the ‘perfect’ crime, teenage anger issues told from the heart and a long lost children’s television show from the 1980s with a dark twist. A prize will be awarded to the best film in this group at the end of the session.
Junior Short Films programme
Come and Play in Fabio’s Funhouse
Director: Neal Russell. UK 2017, 10 mins.
On 19 June 1984, the popular children’s TV presenter David Barnes filmed the final episode of Come and Play in Fabio’s Funhouse. The episode was never broadcast. The unedited footage is seen here for the first time. If you’ve seen Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace or Inside No. 9 then you know what to expect.
Girl A
Director: Jess O’Brien. UK 2017, 7 mins.
A teenage girl is reprimanded by the head teacher of her school following a fight with another student. We follow her life over several days in this sharply observed drama about what might make someone angry.
Goya
Director: Nick Rolfe. UK 2017, 9 mins.
No-one is safe in this tale of paranoia and horror woven through the ancient Surrey woodlands. Face dread directly in its blue eyes. Fear come courtesy of filmmakers from Leatherhead in this worthy successor to The Blair Witch Project and the John Carpenter-inspired slasher genre.
Scarlet’s Vow
Director: Ella Simpson. UK 2017, 7 mins.
A young woman fends for herself in the wilds as soldiers hunt for her. Yet she is far from helpless as her hunters discover in this historical-themed action drama.
Shooting Star
Director: Edward Evans. UK 2016, 1 min.
A street photographer takes candid photography to a new level and faces the consequences. Based on a true story. Allegedly.
Stuck in the Middle
Director: Jack Butler. UK 2017, 11 mins.
A teenager dies and goes to the ‘middle’, a processing area where his suitability for heaven or hell gets assessed. Unfortunately, purgatory also has interns. Comedy drama from Dorking.
The Unsolvable Crime
Director: Jack Butler. UK 2017, 8 mins.
Two inadequate policeman investigate a murder in the woods with the help of a snarky forensics officer. Can they solve the perfect crime? Who knows! But the rest of us will find laughs in this detective parody.
Image from Girl A showing in Junior Short Films.