Gladiatress

Director: Brian Grant

Year: 1998

An investigative writer, Manning, visits an old, lonely lady whom she has nicknamed 'Miss Haversham'. However, her present predicament does not concern her, she wants to know about her past - for this is Lady Lucan, wife of the missing peer Lord Lucan ('Lucky' to his friends) who to this day is still wanted for the murder of his young children's nanny. Manning also tracks down one of the policemen, Jarvis, who was heavily involved in the case. Now retired and running a pub aptly named 'The Vanishing Earl', he becomes reflective about the Lucan saga. As Manning and Jarvis piece together the events that led to the murderous night of 7 November 1974, the story flashes back to London in the early seventies - a period when Lucan's infamous gambling addiction and carefree attitude to money was finally catching up on him. With mounting debts, his marriage in tatters, separated from his children due to custody reasons, Lucan becomes more and more desperate to solve his cash crisis. A shady money lender, Mike Maloney, enters Lucan's life. He suggests a burglary of Lucan's Belgravia home where he would keep the stolen items and Lucan could claim on the insurance. Jarvis and Manning are getting closer and closer to the truth. Was the death of the nanny Lucan's handiwork or merely a botched burglary carried out by Mike and an accomplice?

Director: Alice Panerai

Year: 2026

When drum & bass fan Jay is sent on a countryside walk by his probation officer as part of his mental health rehabilitation programme, he arms himself with headphones, good tunes and fluorescent snacks. But his iPod dies, and he can’t handle the silence. Visions of Pete, his deceased friend, begin to haunt him. Lost in the countryside, Jay eventually finds himself on a bus with a friendly driver, where a conversation about Pete forces him to confront the grief he has been avoiding.

Director: Abraham Fieldsend

Year: 2026

After the loss of their child, a grieving couple’s fragile life begins to fracture. As the mother’s debilitating headaches intensify, they are forced to confront the possibility that the darkness consuming their home is more than grief alone.