Play can sometimes require an inordinate amount of work. The uncomfortable and increasingly liminal spaces between labour and leisure are brought into focus within this programme of shorts.

Total runtime: 91’

Labour/Leisure
Ryan Ermacora, Jessica Johnson | 2019 | Canada | 19’

The Okanagan Valley in British Columbia is marketed as a destination of leisure, recreation, retirement and wealth. Behind this facade is a largely invisible labour force, comprised of temporary migrant workers from the Global South. This film aims to make this labour visible, while contemplating the prescribed aesthetics imposed on the landscape within the region.

All Inclusive
Corina Schwingruber Ilić | 2018 | Switzerland | 13’

A workout on the sun deck, a conga line in the dining hall, a photo shoot with the captain, or a beauty contest for all ages: fun around-the-clock is guaranteed on a cruise. The sea-faring holiday fortresses have come into vogue and business is booming. In the towering ship’s wake, we are left behind with a hoard of digital memories and a cloud of exhaust fumes on the horizon.

The Blessed Assurance
Isabelle Carbonell | 2018 | USA | 22’

Every winter off the Georgia coast, fishermen reel in jellyfish from the same waters where shrimp once flourished. The Blessed Assurance is a sensorial documentary experience, a meditation on livelihood exploring both man and jellyfish in the otherworldly ecosystem found on an American trawl boat. 

Country Girl (Best UK Short Award nominee)
Ellen Evans | 2019 | UK | 14’

Lilith’s benefits have been cut, threatening the thing in her life that gives it shape and purpose: her relationship with a troubled yet beloved horse. Fleeing a difficult past and struggling with rural poverty, she must take matters into her own hands, defying expectations and rising above the judgement of others.

The Circle (Best UK Short Award nominee)
Lanre Malaolu | 2019 | UK | 15’

The Circle is a bold and lyrical portrayal of two brothers, David and Sanchez, living on a Hackney council estate. Combining dance with documentary, their story and the challenges they face are embodied through vivid movement sequences. The Circle looks at what it means to be a young black man growing up in inner city London.

A Sonic Pulse
Dorothy Allen-Pickard, Antoine Marinot | 2019 | UK | 8’

Sonic Pulse explores Deaf people’s experience of electronic music from a visceral, communal and scientific perspective. 

Please be advised that a film within this programme contains images of dead animals which some viewers may find distressing.