Hanging On

Director: Alfie Barker

Year: 2023

After a decade of imprisonment, Aminah draws on the support of other women at a halfway hostel, whilst preparing for her release into the wider world. Official Selection Leeds International Film Festival 2023

Director: Angela Clarke

Year: 2026

Imagine hearing your own body: eyes scratching, blood rushing, bones creaking, your heartbeat pounding endlessly. For most, it’s unthinkable. For Dave, it’s daily life. Since 2000, he has lived with Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence Syndrome (SCDS), a rare disorder that turns his body into an echo chamber. This immersive short documentary draws viewers into Dave’s sonic reality through raw narration, stark black-and-white imagery, and an unsettling soundscape. As he recounts years of misdiagnosis and disbelief, the film explores resilience and isolation, ultimately asking why we doubt invisible pain and how empathy begins by truly listening to what we cannot see.

Director: Alison Rooper

Year: 2026

Filmed over seven years, this film humanises the life of a trans family as they navigate a culture war and rising political hostility towards trans rights. The film recounts the extraordinary story of a Yorkshire based businesswoman/amateur ballet dancer and her family as she battles to complete her transition while her rights to live in her new gender are increasingly called into question. It is a story of love and hope as Sophie and partner Sandi celebrate their achievements, overcome bureaucratic hurdles, have their fairytale wedding, and conceive a child. It’s a story of resilience as the family learns to deal with an outpouring of social media hatred. We share Sophie’s triumph as she gets the surgery that she’s waited years for and her alarm at a rise in transphobic hate crimes and a rollback of rights she thought were hers.