Each year Abertoir invites filmmakers from across the globe to submit short films for the Abertoir Short Film Competition. As always, the response has been phenomenal and it’s not possible to show all of the amazing entries. Here we present our shortlist.

There are two prizes on offer. The first being the Audience Award for Best Short Film, and the second is the Méliès d’argent awarded to the best eligable European film.

As part of Abertor’s role in the Méliès International Festivals Federation, our short film competition will award a Short Film Méliès d’argent. This is an internationally recognised prize specific to the Federation and is a testimony to the talented filmmakers in Europe. The winner of our Short Film Méliès d’argent will go forward to the final lineup at Sitges for the prestigious Méliès d’or Award for the Best European Fantastic Short Film. All our European fictional short films are eligible.

Films are showing over two sessions:

Part 1 (Wed 15th Nov 10.30am)
Films from Alicia to Don’t Talk to Strangers, Nap, Honeymoon at Cold Hollow to Maria Jose Maria

Part 2 (Thurs 16th Nov 10.30am)
Films from Geronimo, Ride Baby Ride to Villain

The shortlist

Geronimo

Dir. Geraint Morgan
UK, 2022, 14 mins

When Peter, an anxious arcade owner, is prescribed an app rather than sleeping pills, he reluctantly tries it out. However, far from bringing rest, Erebus’s soporific voice takes Peter into a waking nightmare from which he may never escape.

Ride Baby Ride

Dir. Sofie Somoroff
USA, 2023, 7mins

This 1978 camaro was her dream car. Now it’s her nightmare.

Spoor

Dir. Sunita Soliar / Statten Roeg
UK, 2023, 15mins

A freakish, throbbing growth torments Ash. She is stuck caring for her vitriolic, dementia-ridden mother. With every indignity, Ash’s lump grows, until it erupts, spewing a mysterious substance. Will Ash figure out what it is and how to stop it?

Still Up There

Dir. Joe Loftus
Ireland, 2022, 4mins

A mortally wounded Astronaut awakens in the upper atmosphere after a catastrophic event. He struggles to remember how he got there and latches himself on to the only familiar thing to him, his own severed arm.

Stop Dead

Dir. Emily Greenwood
UK, 2023, 8mins

When a workaholic city detective and her laid-back partner try to stop a dishevelled girl staggering down the middle of a country road, they discover she’s being stalked by some unseen entity with a horrifying ultimatum: you stop moving, you die.

The Hounds of Annwn

Dir. Beth B Hughes / Bryony Evans
UK, 2023, 8mins

A wounded warrior returns to their village but is hunted by a pack of dogs. After a desperate pursuit, they confront their past to find peace in their future.

The Old Young Crow

Dir. Liam LoPinto
Japan / Iran, 2022, 12mins

An Iranian boy befriends an old Japanese woman at a graveyard in Tokyo.

To The Marrow

Dir. Van Poynton
Ireland, 2023, 8mins

He’s in the house. He knows they are too. So they have to get out. Now. A mother wakes her daughter to tell her, urgently: he’s in the house. They have to get out, and fast. But no sooner has she spoken than they hear him on the stairs. So they hide. And to hide, they must split up. And to survive, one may have to abandon the other…

Toad Boy

Dir. Phillip J McLaughlin 
USA, 2023, 13mins

Todd is different and the other kids at school have noticed. After an upsetting incident with several bullies the Principal discovers a disturbing book in Todd’s locker and fears a retaliation. He calls on Todd’s sister Charlene to facilitate an intervention, but quickly learns the help Todd needs may require a sacrifice he’s unwilling to make.

Valley of Souls

Dir. Edileuza Penha de Souza / Santiago Dellape
Brazil, 2023, 15mins

A black family tries to defend their land against invaders but gets caught between a mischievous witch and a tortured spirit eager for revenge.

Villain

Dir. Sparky Tehnsuko
UK, 2023, 10mins

After a dragon destroys young Georgia’s home, she journeys to its lair to enact violent revenge but instead finds an innocent child in the cave. When the dragon then returns, Georgia must reckon with the price of vengeance.