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Director: Adam James Mawson

Year: 2019

ABDUCTION is a story of Kevin a broken man who lost his son Harvey 5 years ago under mysterious circumstances, along with 5 other children from the same area. Then more recently lost his loving wife Lindsey who had turn to alcohol after the disappearance of their only child. Lindsey had asked Harvey to get some wood from the log storage box from in the garden when he vanished and never forgave herself. Now 2019, Kevin hears a knock on the back door to his shock it's Harvey he looks exactly the same as the night he vanished wearing the same clothes. The other children also appear from where they were last seen and not one of them has any recollection of where they've been for the past 5 years. To him it seems like just a couple of minutes have past. Back in 2014 when the children disappeared a paedophile that had been rehabilitated into the village community without the locals knowledge but when they community finds out they start a witch hunt to find him. The police are under pressure from the local community arrest and charge him with the kidnapping and murders of all the children. Kevin along with the other parents is interviewed and recalls the events of the night Harvey vanished telling the reporter what his wife witnessed that night and to the day she died talked about bright blue lights in the nights sky which nobody believed. The children are returned to their families to try and rebuild their life's in the community of Baildon but strange things start to happen the children display special abilities people start vanishing without a trace.

Director: James Richards

Year: 2026

Taking as his starting point - less by way of invocation than summoning - the text from Marguerite Duras’ 'Les Mains négatives' and Tony Conrad’s 'The Flicker', James Richards weaves together stirring fragments composed from 2022-2026, including repurposed material from friends and collaborators including Steve Reinke. The screen is filled with images and impressions, depicting a frantic yet melancholic quest for meaning between language, gesture, and sensation. Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2026 - World premiere

Director: Siobhan Silén

Year: 2027

An animated VR short inspired by autistic musician Jen Msumba, who defies a system designed to erase her through synaesthetic music-making. It explores the universal need to be accepted for who we are. Participants journey through Jen’s life, from childhood, when the world feels confusing and “wonky”. Music is her safety and compass. While others read notes on a page, Jen sees visual maps that help her express emotions and navigate uncertainty. As a teenager, Jen’s mother becomes ill and her anxiety overwhelms her. Years of psychiatric institutions and medication leave her sedated, unable to play instruments. Her family sends her to the Judge Rotenberg Center, whose practices will later be described by the United Nations as torture. Over seven years of confinement and painful electric shocks, Jen is taught to believe she is “wrong”. Secretly composing music in her head becomes her refuge. Realising the centre will not support her independence, Jen writes to a judge and wins her freedom. She rediscovers music and invites us into her musical map, where participants touch and transform notes through movement, shifting melodies from classical to punk rock. We end with Jen performing on stage.