The backbone of the whole LIAF mission. Somehow we’ve emerged from under the pile of 2,550 entries with enough strength and wits intact to put together a series of programmes that showcase the best 100 or so new films. Six ‘general’ International Competition Programmes, our ever popular Abstract Showcase and Long Shorts programmes, plus the British Showcase. The films come in from every corner, they use every technique, they can be funny, dramatic, eye-popping, subdued, documentary or autobiographical. The one thing they have in common is that we think they’re the pick of the crop.
At Barbican book tickets
Jazz That Nobody Asked For (Esben Fisker & Rune Fisker, Denmark)
Pop the box, release the energy, unleash the band. The beat can take it from here.
2013, 4’10
The Bigger Picture (Daisy Jacobs, UK )
Two sons, an elderly mother and no end in sight. The start and darkly humorous tale of caring for an ageing parent.
2014, 7’25
Parking Lot (Joshua Catalano, Spain)
A highly imaginative, geometrically challenging rethink of the ways cars are designed, move and what they mean to us.
2013, 3’00
But Milk Is Important (Anna Mantzaris, Norway)
A man with social phobia gets followed by a naive and clumsy creature.
2012, 10’30
Man On The Chair (Dahee Jeong, France)
A film that seriously questions one’s existence. Am I not a picture drawn by someone else?
2014, 6’50
Kangaroos Can’t Jump Backwards (Rafael Mayrhofer, Austria)
Nonsense facts mixed with history and a political opinion form an abstract narrative on three independent but interwoven levels.
2013, 5’00
Rainy Days (Vladimir Leschiov, Canada)
An elderly Japanese man boards a ferry, and during the voyage recollects three pivotal moments in his life.
2014, 8’15
Patch (Gerd Gockell, Switzerland/Germany)
A visual essay in one of the most fundamental elements of the art of animation. The secret life of the pixel revealed on a big scale.
2014, 3’35
Absent Minded (Roberto Catani, Italy)
A teacher threatens a child with an unusual method to help him stay focused after the student escapes into the surreal landscape of daydreams.
7’55
Brutus (Svetlana Filippova, Russia)
Brutus always glanced into human eyes only for a moment and immediately turned away so as not to see a change. Nobody knows better than dogs how fast people’s affections can change.
2014, 12’50
Strange Wonderful (Stephanie Swart, US)
A bubble eyed cacophony of indescribable schemes from the other side of this guy’s mental looking glass.
2013, 4’20
Through The Hawthorn (Anna Benner, Pia Borg & Gemma Burditt, UK)
Sam has stopped taking his medication – he still doesn’t think he is ill. His mother found him swimming naked in a freezing river in the middle of the night. The doctor thinks Sam should try a different medication.
2013, 9’10
Land (Masanobu Hiraoka, Japan)
A visually captivating swirl of weird and wonderful shapes and spongy characters.
3’30
