Bait Room

Director: Vincent Woods

Year: 2020

Martin Dyer is a very ordinary man with a very ordinary life. An insurance Loss Adjuster for many years, he spends his time assessing other people’s problems and ignoring his own. His wife Angie aspires to greater things and when finances hit rock bottom, she leaves him for a suave loan shark one week before Christmas. Martin is crest fallen but forced into continuing his day by the overly exuberant company secretary, who has scheduled several claims for Martin to validate. With a heavy heart, Martin sets off but his day drastically goes from bad to worse with a catalogue of extraordinary and humorous encounters with a flirtatious elderly widow, a corrupt Doctor, a lascivious female escort and a dead rat. It is only at the funeral of a client that Martin has an epiphany; and with the help of his unlikely friendship with a teenage thief and perhaps a sprinkling of Christmas magic, life suddenly changes in a truly remarkable way. The Loss Adjuster is a Christmas movie, an uplifting feel good black comedy that explores every day issues; aimed at a family audience.

Director: Emily Ng, Jay Notley

Year: 2023

A heart-warming Chinese family experience a power cut enabling the father to reminisce on his experiences growing up without Electricity.

Director: Stella Scott

Year: 2026

Sylvie is a 15-year old teenager passionate about photography. When she meets a photographer, Michael (36), taking portraits on the street, she hands her his camera and invites her to his studio. While Sylvie imagines he wants to help her, Riz, her best friend, warns that if a guy is talking to her, he’s only interested in one thing. Despite Riz’s remarks, Sylvie can’t help wondering what it might feel like to be seen through his lens. At the studio, Michael and Sylvie connect. She picks things up quickly, taking photos of him, then he takes one of her. Hesitant at first, she leans into it and starts to pose. When he turns away, seemingly uninterested, Sylvie removes her trousers. His light-touch manipulation has worked: she feels self-possessed, and in control. She leaves walking on air, already imagining the photo he took of her for his upcoming exhibition. She can’t wait to tell Riz. But at the exhibition opening, reality hits: an anonymous photo of her blood-stained knickers hangs on the wall instead. When Sylvie returns and sees Michael, she pretends everything’s Okay. And as the music swells, she seduces him and marks him with her menstrual blood.