The backbone of the whole LIAF mission. We’ve emerged from under the pile of 2,600 entries to put together a series of screenings that showcase the best 126 new films across 10 competitive programmes.
Some films just need extra time to develop their themes, grow and draw us more comprehensively into their worlds. This competition programme is dedicated to showcasing the best of these longer films.
At Barbican book tickets
Heads Together (Job Joris & Marieke, Netherlands)
Three friends exchange heads by accident and are forced to adapt to each others life.
21min, 2017
Impossible Figures and Other Stories II (Marta Pajek, Poland)
A woman trips and falls while rushing around the house. She gets up, only to discover that her house has acquired unusual features and is now a home built from paradoxes, filled with illusions and covered with strange patterns.
15min, 2016
The Burden (Niki Lindroth Von Bahr, Sweden)
A motel, a self-service restaurant, a call centre and a supermarket on the motorway are the setting for this apocalyptic musical. The songs tell of freedom, of the empty promises of the consumer world, and of the desire for an existence without worry.
14min, 2017
Strange Case (Zbigniew Przypadek, Poland)
Film as a metaphor for life, the last surrealistic journey into consciousness. A stream of images, thoughts and memories. The sequence of a protagonist’s personal experiences and collective memory.
13min, 2017
After All (Michael Cusack, Australia)
After all is said and done…all that is left are memories. A man cleans out his childhood home remembering past conversations.
13 min, 2016
World of Tomorrow Episode 2 ‘The Burden of Other People’s Thoughts’. (Don Hertzfeldt, USA)
Following on from Episode 1, this follow-up is an epic voyage inward, a dizzying spin down the rabbit hole of the human subconsciousness. Emily Prime is back to remind us that kids are the only people who can really live in the moment, the only people who aren’t too busy looking forward or thinking back. Blisteringly funny and deeply touching. A bonafide classic.
23min, 2017
