Here are the films selected for Adult Short Films category at the 6th Dorking Film Festival in 2021.
Banned Betsy
Director: Leah Revivo. UK, 2020, 11 mins.
Betsy is banned from the local animal shelter. So naturally she persuades her weary friend Kurt to let her indulge in some unofficial canine therapy. A surprisingly aggressive dose of self-reflection soon follows as she traverses the colourful workings of her subconscious.
Winner
The Bench
Director: Guy Taylor. UK, 2020, 10 mins.
Ian, a junior accountant, gets mistaken for a hitman one lunchtime in the park. It’s more than a sandwich that needs to be salvaged in this black comedy mixing up murder and meal times.
Big Fish
Directors: Céline Ufenast & Sam Turner. UK, 2020, 2 mins.
A fisherman casts his rod for the big catch in this animated collaboration from filmmakers from Farnham University for the Creative Arts.
Runner-up
Birthday
Director: Oliver Bury. UK, 2020, 6 mins.
A young girl turns to the occult in an attempt to reconnect with her long-dead mother on her birthday.
A Bitter Pill
Director: Luke Martin. UK, 2020, 14 mins.
An overworked GP is forced to confront the consequences of his actions when a patient dies. Rocked by the news, he is forced to examine what he wants from life and whether he can return to the way things were.
In Isolation
Director: Edmund C Short. UK, 2001, 10 mins.
Three housemates share a house during a severe lockdown in this reflection upon 2020 and the age of coronavirus.
Jitters
Director: Sara Jordan. UK, 2020, 7 mins.
A girl manifests her anxiety into the form of an unwanted imaginary friend. Will she be able to rid herself of this oppressive presence as an adult?
Sodabikes
Director: Syd Heather. UK, 2020, 17 mins.
Siblings may grow up but do those childhood dynamics ever really go away? Tensions re-emerge in comical style at a wake as two sisters and a brother race off on bikes to give their mother the send-off she deserves.
Something Borrowed
Director: Micky Wozny. UK, 2020, 8 mins.
When an old lady writing a card lends her pen to a hopeless young man he promptly absconds with it! She gives chase only to realise that it’s more than just words that elude her in this bitter-sweet animation featuring the voices of Jane Horrocks and Jason Watkins.
Sophie
Director: Matthew Summer. UK, 2021, 7 mins.
A man sets out from the future to change the past. Revenge is the motivation but can the present be really changed?
Stuck
Director: Adrian Dean. UK, 2020, 13 mins.
Hayley is stuck in a toilet on her hen do, Ryan is chained to a post on his stag do and it slowly dawns on both of them that they don’t want to get married to each other.
The Year We Washed Our Hands A Lot
Director: Molly Brown. UK, 2020, 4 mins.
Selected films from Purley-based animator Molly Brown’s hilarious reflections upon the year of coronavirus and beyond.
Image from Banned Betsy