{"id":3192,"date":"2026-02-24T12:42:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T12:42:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/?post_type=faresources&#038;p=3192"},"modified":"2026-02-24T12:50:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T12:50:26","slug":"shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026","status":"publish","type":"faresources","link":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/resources\/article\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Shorts at Slapstick Festival 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This piece was written by Jahziah Dixon, one of the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/slapstick.org.uk\/\">Slapstick Festival 2026<\/a>\u00a0Roaming Reporters \u2013 a talent development scheme in partnership with BFI Film Academy South West<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Intro<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Similar to Watershed&#8217;s Cinema Rediscovered and Encounters, I was invited as a Roaming Reporter at Slapstick Festival 2026. As the title suggests, it mainly revolves around Slapstick Comedy from the silent era, such as the works of Charlie Chaplin or Sam Taylor. Occasionally, they also show modern classics like South Park or In the Loop, examples of what screened this year. For this piece, I\u2019m mainly going to talk about my personal favourite short films I watched throughout the festival, since they\u2019re less known than the features and their entertainment value can be more compact in a 20-minute or less runtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Tilly and the Fire Engines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Tilly and the Fire Engine<\/em>s is a short and sweet silent film released in 1911 about two girls who terrorise civilians with a fire engine they find unattended. The film is only three minutes long, which makes it easily the most straightforward film I saw at Slapstick, yet that doesn\u2019t stop it from being as chaotic as it sounds, and it features some highly psychotic performances by the leads, Tilly and Sally.\u00a0Seeing them play around, harassing innocent people, is very entertaining in a shocking way, and their facial expressions made the film all the more sadistic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This isn\u2019t the only Tilly and Sally short; there are a few more that follow the same formula of the duo causing chaos, like in <em>Tilly Visits the Poo<\/em>r, when they sabotage workmen and terrorise a bedridden old lady. I kind of wish these short films were longer because there\u2019s certainly more you could do with these premises, but for what they are, they&#8217;re pretty amusing and could get a laugh out of you if you\u2019re into physical comedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Helpmates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Helpmates<\/em> is one of many Laurel and Hardy films, who are among the most famous comedy actors in Slapstick Comedy. This short in particular was the first Laurel &amp; Hardy film I\u2019ve seen, and it was a good example of their goofy and squabbling comedic style, alongside <em>Towed in a Hole<\/em>, which I watched at Bristol Megascreen &#8211; a bonus to my experience due to its rare use and large screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"460\" height=\"276\" src=\"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/helpmates-oliver-hardy-stan-laurel.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3195\" style=\"width:610px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/helpmates-oliver-hardy-stan-laurel.jpg 460w, https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/helpmates-oliver-hardy-stan-laurel-300x180.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 460px) 100vw, 460px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u00a0In <em>Helpmates<\/em>, Laurel &amp; Hardy are trying to clean up Ollie\u2019s house after a party before his wife returns. As you\u2019d expect, this housework job doesn\u2019t go to plan as the pair constantly injure and trip over each other in dramatic and exaggerated ways, which always catches me off guard. It feels highly cartoony for a live-action short, like when we see Hardy fly into the next room onto a table full of plates after tripping, or when the kitchen explodes after one matchstick. It creates a charming, hyperbolic style which, whilst occasionally a bit too childish and over-the-top, has the right amount of hilarious absurdity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">The Garage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Returning to silent comedy, we have one of my favourite films I saw at the festival, <em>The Garage,<\/em> starring Buster Keaton and Roscoe Arbuckle. Arbuckle and Keaton had been a pair for a while, making over a dozen films in the late 1910s, before drifting away following a massive scandal involving Arbuckle. Roscoe\u2019s career was ruined, but Buster would make some of the most beloved and well-made comedies of the silent era, such as The General and Sherlock Jr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"460\" height=\"276\" src=\"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/The-Garage.jpg\" alt=\"Buster Keaton and Roscoe Arbuckle in a collapsed car\" class=\"wp-image-3197\" style=\"width:610px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/The-Garage.jpg 460w, https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/The-Garage-300x180.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 460px) 100vw, 460px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Garage<\/em> is the first film I\u2019ve seen from them, and it was a strong start. Some of the incredible set pieces, such as the fire, the dog chase, and spraying each other with the hose, are considerably great and entertaining in their own right. Arbuckle\u2019s jubilant energy shines, but it\u2019s Keaton that takes the show with his ability to fall and bump himself without feeling injured. I\u2019m surprised this isn\u2019t as highly rated as some of the other Keaton shorts, since it does a lot with its simplicity in a short runtime, gradually getting crazier and crazier like his best work.\u00a0<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All in all, <em>The Garage<\/em> isn\u2019t anything mindbending, but it\u2019s certainly the short film I had the most fun with and looking back at it for this piece was a delight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Overall, Slapstick was a very interesting experience that allowed me to see many funny silent films on the big screen that I wouldn\u2019t have the opportunity to. One last thing I\u2019d like to point out is that I really admired how most of these were accompanied by a real piano performance, authentic to its roots.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Roaming Reporter Jahziah Dixon shares his favourite short films from Slapstick Festival 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3193,"template":"","faresources_category":[38],"faresources_type":[16],"class_list":["post-3192","faresources","type-faresources","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","faresources_category-article","faresources_type-article","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Shorts at Slapstick Festival 2026 - BFI Film Academy South West<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Roaming Reporter Jahziah Dixon shares his favourite short films from Slapstick Festival 2026, such as The Garage and Helpmates.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/resources\/article\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shorts at Slapstick Festival 2026 - BFI Film Academy South West\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Roaming Reporter Jahziah Dixon shares his favourite short films from Slapstick Festival 2026, such as The Garage and Helpmates.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/resources\/article\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BFI Film Academy South West\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BfiFilmAcademyBristol\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-24T12:50:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0b0faad931a316219bbffcc136308b65.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1711\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"962\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bfi_FAB\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/resources\\\/article\\\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/resources\\\/article\\\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\\\/\",\"name\":\"Shorts at Slapstick Festival 2026 - BFI Film Academy South West\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/resources\\\/article\\\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/resources\\\/article\\\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/0b0faad931a316219bbffcc136308b65.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-24T12:42:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T12:50:26+00:00\",\"description\":\"Roaming Reporter Jahziah Dixon shares his favourite short films from Slapstick Festival 2026, such as The Garage and Helpmates.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/resources\\\/article\\\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/resources\\\/article\\\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/resources\\\/article\\\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/0b0faad931a316219bbffcc136308b65.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/0b0faad931a316219bbffcc136308b65.jpg\",\"width\":1711,\"height\":962,\"caption\":\"Still from Tilly and The Fire Engines\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/resources\\\/article\\\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Shorts at Slapstick Festival 2026\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/\",\"name\":\"BFI Film Academy South West\",\"description\":\"Guidance and resources for young filmmakers based in the South West\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"BFI Film Academy\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/bfifilmacademy-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/bfifilmacademy-logo.png\",\"width\":576,\"height\":392,\"caption\":\"BFI Film Academy\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.watershed.co.uk\\\/film-academy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/BfiFilmAcademyBristol\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/bfi_FAB\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/rifemag\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Shorts at Slapstick Festival 2026 - BFI Film Academy South West","description":"Roaming Reporter Jahziah Dixon shares his favourite short films from Slapstick Festival 2026, such as The Garage and Helpmates.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/resources\/article\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Shorts at Slapstick Festival 2026 - BFI Film Academy South West","og_description":"Roaming Reporter Jahziah Dixon shares his favourite short films from Slapstick Festival 2026, such as The Garage and Helpmates.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/resources\/article\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\/","og_site_name":"BFI Film Academy South West","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BfiFilmAcademyBristol","article_modified_time":"2026-02-24T12:50:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1711,"height":962,"url":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0b0faad931a316219bbffcc136308b65.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@bfi_FAB","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/resources\/article\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\/","url":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/resources\/article\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\/","name":"Shorts at Slapstick Festival 2026 - BFI Film Academy South West","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/resources\/article\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/resources\/article\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0b0faad931a316219bbffcc136308b65.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-24T12:42:31+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T12:50:26+00:00","description":"Roaming Reporter Jahziah Dixon shares his favourite short films from Slapstick Festival 2026, such as The Garage and Helpmates.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/resources\/article\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/resources\/article\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/resources\/article\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0b0faad931a316219bbffcc136308b65.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0b0faad931a316219bbffcc136308b65.jpg","width":1711,"height":962,"caption":"Still from Tilly and The Fire Engines"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/resources\/article\/shorts-at-slapstick-festival-2026\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Shorts at Slapstick Festival 2026"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/","name":"BFI Film Academy South West","description":"Guidance and resources for young filmmakers based in the South West","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/#organization","name":"BFI Film Academy","url":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/bfifilmacademy-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/bfifilmacademy-logo.png","width":576,"height":392,"caption":"BFI Film Academy"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BfiFilmAcademyBristol","https:\/\/x.com\/bfi_FAB","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rifemag\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faresources\/3192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faresources"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/faresources"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"faresources_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faresources_category?post=3192"},{"taxonomy":"faresources_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.watershed.co.uk\/film-academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faresources_type?post=3192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}