Unauthorised Absence
Synopsis
As Anna fights for support, she faces mounting scrutiny from the school and local authority. She is blamed for Thea’s behaviour, instructed to attend parenting courses and ultimately served financial fines for repeated “unauthorised absence”. Her daughter’s needs remain unrecognised, the morning routine is reduced to a battle of increasing violence, and Anna is pushed to breaking point.
Threatened with criminal prosecution, on the brink of losing her job and now in a state of complete exhaustion, Anna attempts a final school drop- off. Thea, in a state of sensory overwhelm, takes desperate measures to avoid a public meltdown which ends in unspeakable tragedy.
Yet, the calls from the school continue: a relentless reminder that, to the system, Anna's young daughter remains little more than another “unauthorised absence”.
Details
- Year
- 2026
- Type of project
- Shorts
- Running time
- 15 min 50 sec
- Format
- Digital
- Director
-
Georgia Parris
- Producer
- Natalie Lauren
- Executive Producer
- Alix Wilton Regan, Jennifer English, Hugh Viney, Anna Maxwell Martin
- Editor
- Zeb Achonu
- Screenwriter
- Jo Clayton
- Director of Photography
- Evelin van Rei, NSC
- Production Designer
- Sarah Mursal
- Sound
- Udit Duseja
- Composer
- Isin Eray
- Principal cast
- Emily Bruni, Beatrice Flaherty, Natalie Lauren, Amy Booth Steel, Cathy Tyson, Nicole Sadie Sawyerr, Sabil Suleman, Anna Maxwell Martin
- Colourist
- Greg Fisher
- Casting Director
- Emma Sylvester
- Costume Designer
- Louisa Parris
Categories
Production Status
Production Company
MIMESIC Ltd
Floor 4, Silverstream House45 Fitzroy Street
London
W1T 6EB
Page updates
This page was last updated on 7th September 2026. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.
See also
You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.
Mari
Director: Georgia Parris
Year: 2018
Boldly combining the power of dance and cinema, 'Mari' tells the life-affirming story of professional dancer and choreographer Charlotte (Bobbi Jene Smith), as she prepares for a new show. Uniquely using the poetic expression of dance to drive the narrative, Charlotte’s world is turned upside down when she discovers she is pregnant and also that her grandmother Mari is coming to the end of life, forcing her to confront her past in order to choose the future she wants. As the weekend with her family progresses, Charlotte’s own mortality sinks in, her identity unravels and truths about the women in her life surface. Lost, she is driven to find new meaning in places she'd previously avoided or dismissed, leaving her changed forever. With original choreography, MARI follows Charlotte on a personal journey that goes from her grandmother’s deathbed to the prospect of motherhood. Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2018 - Create Strand - World premiere
About an Intimate Matter
Director: Sandeep Kumar Paul
Year: 2026
Science teacher Swarna and her partner Driti move to a suburban town for a fresh start. When a student leaks intimate photos of Swarna online, school authorities turn her private life into a disciplinary issue. Official Selection Busan International Film Festival 2026 - World premiere
Clocks
Director: Yv Shells
Year: 2026
When Arlo arrives to find Marcus has cooked someone else’s favourite meal, a single question begins to unravel an evening that refuses to stay in the present. Through a fractured timeline set entirely within one dining room, we move between Marcus and Arlo and the relationship that came before, with Una, the woman he met at a late-night bus stop and once talked about marrying. The same table, the same chairs, the same arguments about trust, honesty and what it means to truly see someone. As the timelines bleed together, it becomes clear that Marcus has never fully left the past, and that Una’s ghost sits at every table he sets. When Arlo asks what her own favourite meal is and he cannot answer, the film’s quiet devastation lands completely. CLOCKS is a portrait of a man who loves generously but sees poorly, and the women who carry the cost. It asks what we owe the person in front of us while we are still in love with someone we lost, and whether a feeling ever truly ends.