The Nightpiece Film Festival has been a part of the Edinburgh Fringe since 2014.
It showcases independent filmmakers and their work (running times between 10 seconds and 15 minutes) plus a feature.
The event has now screened over 370+ multi-genre short films by filmmakers from over 70 countries across the World.
This year, with thanks to Al Carretta, producer of the Nightpiece Film Festival, I was able to view a large proportion of the programme in digital format from home.
I highly recommend this showcase and have given my thoughts on the individual films below.
Feature presentation (18 Aug)
Ash Grey Blonde (wr/dir Al Carretta, 80 min)
A spin off from Carretta’s 2019 feature Cocaine. Gangster. Talk. this new film brings back the character of Carl Hart (played by Al Carretta, and places him in one final jewellery heist.
The mysterious Toni Ash (Tash Chant) needs help, and he might just be the person to provide it. But things are never what they seem when no one seems to be telling the truth.
With a lengthy pre-credit sequence that takes up a quarter of the film, Ash Grey Blonde doesn’t always make its secrets clear, but Carretta a commited indie filmmaker striking his own path and this is the cornerpiece of this year’s stint at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Ash Grey Blonde feels very experimental and artificial, and has a lot of impersonation and misdirection. The ending tries to wrap it up, but there’s a lot going on here and you have to pay attention.
Chant and Charlotte Reidie (as Carrie) have a lengthy scene but don’t really make a connection other than a clear pointer that they dislike each other within the plot.
I viewed a ‘premiere’ cut of Ash Grey Blonde.
Perspective (19 Aug)
Balancing in Freedom (created & produced by Helena Krivankova and Kate Shurkov, with narration from Iddo Oberski’s original text)
A personal piece on family and resilience, with puppetry. With elements of magic, the elements, and the outdoors. Balancing in Freedom is a little too short to do justice to its source
Four Days Left (written and directed by Hariprasath Venkatesan)
The story of a UK visa applicant, and his issues around ‘further leave to remain’, other types of legal routes, and the costs and exploitation involved. Well-acted and written. “Sometimes walking away isn’t giving up. It’s growing up.”
321 (written and directed by Brodie Young)
A computer, a calculator, a game. A medical receptionist. A monologue about a patient. But it’s a TV show. Curious, tense, unsettling, this one unfolds with style. Is this a revenge story? Yes, but …
For All I Know (written and directed by Sam Sabawi)
Therapy and trauma, pills and psychology. A disturbing short about what goes in in people’s heads. A medical professional who had abused her daughter, or fantastised about doing. Post-partum depression, psychosis? What’s real and what isn’t? OCD and its narrative. Rachel Alig stars.
That Time Is Now (written and directed by Henry Chebaane)
The value of a human being, a science-fiction dysphoria. London-set, time travel. Fictional worlds and concepts. 6 minutes of speculation, liberation, and imagination, originally shot for the 2025 Sci-Fi London festival 48 hr challenge (based on receiving a title, a prompt, a theme and a line of dialogue). Are we really independent of the world, or are we just a small part of a larger, unrealised, project? Marion Githegi and Bhasker Patel star.
Dormant (written and directed by Niels Borgonje)
A horrific short, man cares for his invalid wife, but what is really happening in her comatose state while she listens to the mixtapes he had made for her? Joris Smits and Anneke Sluiters star in this twisted, unsettling piece of film.
Where The Deer Sleep (directed by Matt Udvari)
An animated short from a first-time director who runs an animation technology company. Made through performance capture, this film looks at nature and grief. The realistic movement of bodies and facial expressions adds to the atmosphere.
Sweet Female Attitude (20 Aug)
The Blank Canvas (directed by Ruge Li)
A mix of live action and animation, this lively and playful piece offers the two to be combined and play together to make inroads into an artist’s creative block. With music and sound by Jack Hinks, this is a sweet and accomplished film.
Cherry on Top (directed by Lulu Liu)
Two girls play together, share a room, and chat about boys. But it isn’t a normal place, and something is going on. Religion is in play, and one girl, Lily (Adriana Lishchyna), wishes to “ascend”, but the other, Rose (Madeline Sadai) is too naive. We quickly find the family have been held underground, trapped and beholden to God. The idea is intriguing, but it doesn’t quite come off. Although I enjoyed the ride, and it’s a weird one. It’s written by D’Arcy Quan-McGimpsey.
Constance (directed by Caoimhe Whitebloom)
Flatmates in a curious house, filming in black and white. It has the sense of a horror film, with a tenant who has gone missing and an uneasy landlady. All in all, a bit of a chiller, and a successful one, especially the end credits.
Forget Me Knot (directed by Allegra Novikov)
We meet a boy and a girl doing that ball game where you get to know each other, and it is an awkward exchange, but a truthful one. Good use of locations and a nicely written script. Allegra Novikov plays Anne, Drew Youngblood plays James.
Flighty (directed by Giovanni Straricco)
A set of scenes and camera clicks capturing the moment. Very high tech with lots of busy work on screen and voiceovers, also with some surrealist elements around dealing with cheques. The overwhelming nature of technology? It’s also very funny, and ends as all these things should, with piles of paper! Negin Poure is on top form in a largely silent but very physical and reactive role.
Do Not Open (directed by Barathi Subramaniam)
An Asian woman (Diyah) places her tea in the microwave. An envelope comes through the letterbox saying do not open. Will she be curious enough? Why do we always do the things we are not supposed to? Builds tension nicely within a simple domestic setting.
The Knock Knock Game (directed by Mac Hendrickson)
Graveyard games, a trio of friends. Someone has gone missing, maybe. Someone is summoned. Another chiller thriller with a dark heart. Starring Naomi Honig, Kylie Liya Page, Xhloe Rice, Mindy Fox, Aidan Peluso, Bob Gallagher, Dene Hart and the voice of Vincent D’Onofrio.
Student Focus (21 Aug)
Dog Hair Sticks To Everything (directed by Megan McRitchie)
A love story to woman’s best friend, Echo, delivered in a voiceover monologue as video footage of owner and dog plays. Any pet owner or pet lover will relate. “The first word I taught you was stay, but it was you who taught me what it means”. You might find something in your eye. Charli Morachnick stars.
Spy Poems (directed by Brad Etter)
Inspired by American spy stories, this is set entirely against green screens with a firmly tongue in cheek narration.
Late Additions (22 Aug)
Call of the Wild (directed by Holly Lawrenson Evans)
Exploring in Scotland is fine if you follow these guidelines … in this unsettling short, odd and scary things happen to one unwary hiker (Tom Showell) who just can’t follow the rules. The camerawork has a found footage feel and the narration by Will Evans is pleasingly off-kilter.
Easy Does It (directed by Adam Cowie)
A heist film with a mismatched set of characters and a stolen rock. Tries a bit too hard to be referential of other work in the genre without having much space to grow itself. It’s amusing though, with some good ideas.
This Damnation (directed by Russell De Rozario)
We’re in 1970s Belfast in this impressive short about obsession and sectarianism. Music (punk, opera, and old classics) and art decoration places us within the place and time. The grit of underground clubs, the machismo between men on the edge (gangster, soldier), the planned act of violence.
Kelly’s Apartment (directed by Suzanne Lacey and Kate Stephens)
Moving into a place next to an old women’s prison, ghostly events plague this student’s life. An atmospheric shoot in a place called creepy, contrasting with the noisy party outside. Low lighting, mysterious letters, unfulfilled queer romance. The reveal is a little too obvious, but the premise is a good one. Kate Stephens, Nancy Li and Christian Zeni star.
Comic, Timing (23 Aug)
Bootlickers (directed by Tanith MH)
With a flair for introducting characters, this focuses on one woman who trying to keep her friends from eviction in Belfast. It’s a bouncy comedy with a tinge of desperation and darkness. The landlord is creepy, the flatmates are weird. Abigail Parkinson is smashing in the lead.
The Commedia (directed by Frankie Kevich)
A group of female friends chatter. Dumbness and dreams, weirdness and performance as one desperate actor’s life becomes the fate of the clown, the commedia d’arte as she prepares for improv. Unsettling, disturbing, and abrasive comedy inspired by Pagliacci. The cast includes director Frankie Kevich. Anthony Sabatino’s score adds atmosphere.
Bowl (written by Saoirse Gillespie, dir John Kelbie)
A bowling competition becomes a playground of power in the senior community. It’s dog eat dog on the village green. It’s filmed with split screens here and there giving a sense of two old-timers squaring up for the fight. A light and gentle comedy with Derek Crawford Munn, Catherine Owen, and Ava Blair, with a score by Eric Bathgate.
Brown Trousers (written and directed by Jim Eaves and Glen Yard)
The temptation of hot sauce hits a couch potato in the worst possible way. Amusingly scatalogical, this cautionary tale will make you shudder, and take the stairs! With Chris Ryle Wright, Russell Biles, and ‘Harold’. Love the crazy credits as well.
Graded (written and directed by Toby Martin Hughes and James Shannon)
Mothers and their children’s teacher. They drink and bitch in the car before going to meet him. A black comedy about ambition, catchment areas, and disruption. With Katharina Gerlich, Claudia Trentino, Rosie Edwards as the mums, Stephen Bowen as the teacher.
Co-Star (written by Eddie Grey and Tyler Joseph Ellis, directed by Eddie Grey)
An aspiring and pretentious actor finds his big moment (aka ‘a really small part’) has been snipped, and a watch party takes a curious turn. A parody of the over-earnest, narcissistic performer, and the friends he chooses to keep. Tyler Joseph Ellis, Kuhoo Verma, Cheech Manohar feature.