Projects in categories: Fiction

Synopsis

In the scintillating teenage universe of a special boarding school that trains teenage girls into professional mermaids, 17-year-old Akame will find her siren voice, discover first love and experience a metamorphosis. Official Selection Cannes Film Festival 2026 - Un Certain Regard - World premiere

Synopsis

Koki is a vampire at night and gardener during the day. His wife knows, but they keep it a secret from their seven year old son, who starts showing signs that he's turning like his father. Official Selection Quinzaine des Cinéastes / Directors' Fortnight Cannes 2026 - World premiere

Synopsis

In a near-future world where ageing can be cured and death is now optional, Claire, a former provocative artist approaching her 250th birthday, decides she's had enough - she wants to die. Her decision stirs conflicts with her husband, daughter and AI assistant, revealing the humorous complexity of their relationships. As Claire uses her impending death to reclaim her role as an artist, she is forced to face what it really means to die, to live, and the messy absurdity of it all. Official Selection Cannes Film Festival 2026 - Cannes Premiere - World premiere

Synopsis

In the rolling hills of Wirksworth, Derbyshire, local filmmaker Jed Lilley follows a speciality coffee roaster as she attempts to establish Britain's first coffee plantation. What could possibly go wrong?

Synopsis

The law is calm and considered but its consequences exist outside where life is often neither. The two worlds rarely meet but what if they did? What if the Justice Business was on trial?

Synopsis

In GAWD V. THE PEOPLE, the audience is part of the court, it’s an AI-led tribunal where humanity is on trial for the right to remain on Earth. Volunteer audience members become witnesses aided by agentic legal aids as we defend our continued existence against Nonhumans testifying against human impact. Surrounding projection environments and evolving courtroom visuals transform the space to reflect the trial as evidence accumulates. Presided over by a darkly humorous Judge, GAWD, each performance culminates with an improvised verdict on humanity's survival and what the conditional terms will be. Official Selection Cannes Film Festival 2026 - Immersive Competition - World premiere

Synopsis

Ed, a cheeky and chaotic 10-year-old schoolboy, sets his sights on playing Loki in his class's production of "The Vikings." After working surprisingly hard, he earns the role, only to have it stripped from him when his playfulness escalates into arrogance. Relegated to a background role, Ed can't resist one last rebellious act, determined to leave his mark at any cost. Official Selection Carmarthen Bay Film Festival 2026 - Winner - Best Short Comedy

Synopsis

Inmates under Home Detention Curfew are promised instant parole through a government early-release pilot, if they can prove they’re reformed in group therapy. Strangers trade confessions like currency, bartering trauma, charm, and twisted lies. Dumb crimes spark laughter, serious crimes suck the air out of the room. Empathy and morality are mandatory, but the system isn’t testing remorse - it’s testing performance. In a surreal stage of confessions and manipulation, honesty is demanded, yet the real question lingers: who among this motley crew can convincingly fake redemption? A darkly comic, sharply observed tale where freedom hinges on the art of deception.

Synopsis

Kevin and Cassandra are a married couple who have lost their only daughter Hannah in a freak car accident. They both raised her differently. Kevin had been a traditional parent, Cassandra a permissive one. While Hannah had decided to exhibit her body and mind online, she cut adrift from her father and gravitates towards her mother. Her death drove a wedge between them. Their lounge becomes a battlefield where incendiary words and spiteful things are said. Their marriage is one where opposites no longer attract. Kevin is filled with loathing for his in-laws, his daughter’s boyfriend, himself. Cassandra wears her daughter’s favorite colours with pride and exhibits her painting on the walls. Kevin finds he is powerless in his home and Cassandra mocks the fact that it was her father who bought it. And when he finally leaves it, he leaves Cassandra forever.

Synopsis

With the demolition of a once-thriving steel factory set to begin, environmental scientist Morana is onsite to oversee the process. However, as the dismantling date looms closer, so too does the final day of her visa. Left on hold with the immigration office one night, she discovers that the defunct plant mysteriously comes back to life. As her own job insecurity looms and the town edges towards oblivion, Morana must face the fragility of her own existence - and how much she has truly in common with the laid-off workers. Official Selection Cannes Film Festival 2026 - La Cinef

Synopsis

Mark, an anxious neat-freak and Mia, a chaotic, rebel are on a first date. They list through their red flags - the bar is so low you couldn't limbo under it! Despite their differences they appear made for each other, there's only one small problem... MEET-CUTE is a rapid-fire rom-com for the anxious, nerdy and neurodiverse. Jaded by endless dates that go nowhere with people too afraid to put their real personality out there, Mark and Mia decide to lay it all on the line, their pet peeves, red flags and their sexual hard nos! We see cutaways of their sad little lives and dating disasters. Whilst they're both odd balls and cultural snobs we can begin to see a connection forming however, the rug is pulled from under us at the last minute. A style that sits somewhere between Wes Anderson and Edgar Wright with a dash of 'Arrested Development' thrown in. A micro-short that packs a lot of punch.

Synopsis

A chance encounter at a launderette sparks an intense emotional intimacy between Vinnie and Ryan. As closeness blurs into desire, their relationship forces them to confront what love demands before it fractures everything they have built.