Encounters Short Film & Animation Festival 2016
Please note : this season finished in Sept 2016
Catch the best new short and animated films from across the globe, right here in Bristol. Encounters is the UK’s leading short film festival combining film screenings, special events, industry masterclasses and workshops in a jam packed programme of activity.
The Encounters programme is bursting at the seams with a glorious selection of things to do, see, watch and experience. This year’s highlights include an Aardman Retrospective, celebrating their 40th year; a country focus on Ukraine, an exceptional programme of European shorts featuring films from each of the 28 EU member states; and a retrospective programme through Bristol’s musical history. Special guests include author and screenwriter David Nicholls, filmmaker, musician and DJ Don Letts, and writer, broadcaster and filmmaker Paul Mason.
The 22nd Festival will present over 400 films and 40 events, and the International Competition is a gateway to some of the biggest awards out there – filmmakers who screen their shorts at Encounters can go on to win the Academy Awards® the BAFTAs, Cartoon d’Or and the European Film Awards. See them here first.
Find out more about the festival, see the full programme and sign up to the Encounters newsletter at encounters-festival.org.uk.
Ticket price range: free drop in sessions - £8.00.
Previous screenings & events in this season
Award Winners Screening 2
classified 15 Encounters 2016
Want to see the best of the best from the 2016 competition? Catch a selection of the award winning short and animated films in this unmissable showcase – a regular sell out, make sure you get your tickets quick!
Award Winners Screening 1
classified 15 Encounters 2016
Want to see the best of the best from the 2016 competition? Catch a selection of the award winning short and animated films in this unmissable showcase – a regular sell out, make sure you get your tickets quick!
Nothing Compares to EU - Perpetual Cinema
Encounters 2016
Celebrate our European-ness with this unique rolling programme featuring a film from each of the 28 EU member states screened back to back in this free drop-in screening.
Shorts 2 Features - The Hatching
classified 15 Encounters 2016
People have been disappearing in a Somerset village, and it all seems to be centred around the old Sabre Stone Quarry.
European Film Awards - Screening 3
classified 15 Encounters 2016
The European Film Academy and EFA Productions present the 2015 short film nominations in the last of three short film programmes.
Lithuanian Shorts
classified 15 Encounters 2016
This selection of six Lithuanian short films – fiction, animation and documentary, released in the last three years, is well representative of the direction of contemporary filmmaking in Lithuania.
Shorts 2 Features - Light Years
classified 12A Encounters 2016
This debut feature from BAFTA-award winning director and photographer Esther May Campbell is a poetic and startling story of loss, hope and the deepest of human connections.
Aardman Family Model Making Workshops - Build a Shaun the Sheep
Encounters 2016
We’ve teamed up with Aardman, the creators behind Shaun the Sheep, Wallace & Gromit and Morph, to offer some ewe-nique workshops and the opportunity to learn how to make your own Shaun the Sheep.
European film Awards - Screening 2
classified 15 Encounters 2016
The European Film Academy and EFA Productions present the 2015 short film nominations in the second of three short film programmes.
Shorts 2 Features - Baden Baden
classified 15 Encounters 2016
After a failed attempt at working on a foreign film set, 26 year-old Ana returns to her hometown of Strasbourg and tries to get her life together.
DepicT! Showcase
classified 15 Encounters 2016
The big screen premiere of the tiny shorts (90 seconds or less) in the running for the DepicT! awards - plus a chance to meet the talent behind the films.
Aardman Family Model Making Workshops - Build a Gromit
Encounters 2016
Aardman, the creators behind Shaun the Sheep, Wallace & Gromit and Morph, offer some ewe-nique workshops and the opportunity to learn how to make your own Gromit clay model.
European Film Awards Screening 1
classified 15 Encounters 2016
The European Film Academy and EFA Productions present the 2015 short film nominations in the first of three short film programmes.
Shorts 2 Features - Norfolk
classified 18 (CTBA) Encounters 2016
A disillusioned mercenary has his final target in sight - a gang of foreign revolutionaries who lay low in a nearby derelict compound.
I Will Survive - Family Friendly Shorts 14 +
classified PG Encounters 2016
Our Family Friendly screenings have been created for kids by kids! This programme is for children aged 14+ and their families.
Festival Highlights
classified 15 Encounters 2016
A programme bringing together some of the titles from the short and animated films in competition and to give you a snap shot of what's coming up in the Festival week.
Family Friendly Shorts 7 +
classified U Encounters 2016
Our Family Friendly screenings have been created for kids by kids! This programme is for children aged 7+ and their families.
Late Lounge XXXtra
classified 18 Encounters 2016
Behold the annual grungefest of outrageous sick and twisted shorts!
Breaking Boundaries: In Conversation with Don Letts
Encounters 2016
DJ and Filmmaker Don Letts in conversation with Dr Edson Burton.
The Bristol Sound on Screen
classified 15 Encounters 2016
A retrospective programme of music videos and archive footage from Bristol’s underground music scene.
Animation 6 - Art and Design
classified 15 Encounters 2016
A selection of films that dare to be different - through experimentation and often non-narrative approaches these films excel in their design and novel ways of expression.
Let's Dance - Music Videos & Dance Films
classified 15 Encounters 2016
Back by popular demand... this collection of music videos and dance short films offers you dazzling visual art, wild stories and animated adventures in sound, music and image.
Short Film 9 - Make me
classified 15 Encounters 2016
Defiance is the corner stone of every great on-screen protagonist. These films continue that tradition by showcasing new on-screen rebels and their revolutions both big and small.
Breakthru Shorts
classified 15 Encounters 2016
A short animation programme from the Oscar®-winning BreakThru Films from Poland.
Short Film 8 - Bloody Foreigners
classified 15 Encounters 2016
Post-Brexit Britain has seen hate crime soar - this programme explores the consequences.
Animation 5 - A Look Inside
classified 15 Encounters 2016
A programme that lifts the lid on aspects of medical, emotional and psychological conditions such as memory, ageing and perception.
Cartoon D'or
classified 15 Encounters 2016
The Cartoon d’Or is the award for the best European animated short film of the year showcasing the best of the best prize-winning films from major European festivals.
Short Film 7 - Islands
classified 15 Encounters 2016
This archipelago of shorts questions the notion that ‘No man is an island’ with examples of 21st century seclusion.
Late Lounge
classified 18 Encounters 2016
Bring a bucket, sit back and try to make yourself comfortable for one helluva rollercoaster ride of sick and twisted shorts.
Preview: Under the Shadow
classified 15 S Encounters 2016
This politically charged, spine-chilling debut from Iranian director Babak Anvari (who joins us for a Director's Q&A after the Mon 3 Oct 18:00 screening) is a tense and atmospheric thriller set in a haunted Tehran apartment during the terrifying final days of the Iran-Iraq War.
Fear and Loathing - Thriller Shorts
classified 15 Encounters 2016
From Celtic Mythology to shipwrecked sailors, dark memories to murder mystery, join us for an evening of tension and suspense with these heart stopping thrilling shorts.
Animation 4 - It's Only Natural
classified 15 Encounters 2016
Stories of flora and fauna sit next to cold concrete in this poignant collection of films.
Ukraine Female Focus
classified 15 Encounters 2016
For some, a first film, for others a step on their way to a first feature – this collection presents a young generation of female Ukrainian filmmakers to watch.
Tales of the Unexpected - Widening the Lens
classified 15 Encounters 2016
People aren’t always what you think, and friendships can often be found where you least expect them. In these films some characters open their eyes past first impressions, and some go on journeys to discover who they really are.
Short Film 6 - Modern Love
classified 15 Encounters 2016
Don't believe in Modern Love - Bowie was right!
Short Film 5 - Those Left Behind
classified 15 Encounters 2016
Depicting the ranges of emotions felt, from sadness to nonchalance, this presentation is nothing less than Good Grief.
Voices from the Margins
classified 18 Encounters 2016
Four films from Gavin Scott Whitfield, a brave new filmmaking voice who seeks to empower the powerless and peer into dark corners that society would rather gloss over.
Animation 3 - Top of the Class
classified 15 Encounters 2016
An eclectic range of outstanding films selected for their powerful emotional impact.
Filmakademie 25th Anniversary Screening
classified 15 Encounters 2016
The prestigious Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg celebrates its 25th anniversary with this hand-picked selection of outstanding student projects from the last 25 years.
Short Film 4 - My Space
classified 15 Encounters 2016
Exploring cities to farms, highlighting the people who dwell there and the choices they have to make.
Close Encounters of the Short Kind - Sci Fi Shorts
classified 15 Encounters 2016
Join us on a short orbit around this planet (and others) to see what the latest new and emerging talent are doing with the wonderful world of Sci-Fi.
Desert Island Flicks with Paul Mason
Encounters 2016
Writer, broadcaster and economics expert Paul Mason joins us to share his top film picks.
Funny Looking Shorts
classified 15 Encounters 2016
Presented here for your delight is a fantastic mix of films, each with a funny take on life - be ready to smile and to cringe!
Animation 2 - Moving Pictures
classified 15 Encounters 2016
Mixed emotions are thrown into relief in these tales of love, loss, friendship and sacrifice.
Deaf Shorts - Sign of the Times
classified 15 Encounters 2016
A programme of short films which celebrate deafness and the Deaf community through positive onscreen representation.
Short Film 3 - Daddy Dearest
classified 15 Encounters 2016
This programme explores what happens when things don’t go right for the patriarchs of the house and how they attempt to redeem themselves.
Lithuanian Programme (Post) Soviet Documentary
classified 15 Encounters 2016
Newly digitised and restored these four documentary films accurately represent the turning point in Lithuanian documentary cinema and establish a dialogue between filmmakers from two different generations.
Nahemi Screening
classified 15 Encounters 2016
This programme showcases some of the most exciting, dynamic and diverse student work made in the UK this year.
Short Film 2 - Mother’s Milk
classified 15 Encounters 2016
This series of shorts explores the maternal relationship from both sides and ultimately celebrates Mums, the most important women on the planet.
Animation 1 - The Weight of Humanity
classified 15 Encounters 2016
In this programme some of the most ambitious animation dares to tackle weighty subject matter each with something to say about humanity or the lack of.
Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi Retrospective
classified 18 Encounters 2016
A retrospective of the shorts of Ukrainian filmmaker Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy (The Tribe).
Ode to Lesvos
classified 18 Encounters 2016
Ode to Lesvos, tells the positive stories of people who are making a difference on the front lines of the refugee crisis.
Short Film 1 - Sux2Bme
classified 15 Encounters 2016
This programme proves that being young is tough in that continuous cycle of success and failure called ‘growing up’.
The Aardman 40th Anniversary Special
Encounters 2016
In this special 40th anniversary event we are delighted to welcome Aardman co-founders Peter Lord and David Sproxton to look back at the key milestones along their incredible journey.
Festival Highlights - Opening Night
classified 15 Encounters 2016
A programme bringing together some of the titles from the short and animated films in competition and to give you a snap shot of what's coming up in the Festival week.