Official selection 2023

Categories and screenings

Our selection of student films will screen on the 12th and 13th of June at the Gala Theatre and Cinema. Night 1 of Durham Film Festival will feature:

  • Panel and Q&A with Judges and Filmmakers

  • Category 1: Suspense

  • Category 2: Turbulence

Night 2 of Durham Film Festival will feature:

  • Panel and Q&A with Judges and Filmmakers

  • Category 3: Bonds

  • Category 4: Character

  • Awards Ceremony

Suspense: Tense films which rivet, thrill and disorientate, keeping audiences firmly on the edge of their seat.

Turbulence: Transformative, tumultuous experiences of life, culminating in both resolution and tragedy.

Bonds: Depictions of the complexities, strength and fulfilment provided by human relationships.

Character: Studies of humanity’s broad spectrum, closely examining different individuals through documentary

Category 1: Suspense

A serious house

  • Henry Fish

  • In the midst of a plague, a lonely priest must confront his fears when faced with an ominous knock at the door of his abandoned church.

crescendo

  • Aimee Parker

  • A boy finds an old, wooden box while on a walk with his dog.

the garden dweller

  • Will Needs

  • A man deals with a nightmarish garden.

the twilight night

  • Leyang Su

Category 2: Turbulence

roya

  • Mohammad Reza Mohammadi

  • An Afghan man and his wife want to cross the borders illegally and reach Europe.

Köksüz (Rootless)

  • Defne Özden

  • Koksüz deriving its title from the Turkish word meaning ‘Rootless’. Is story that explores the contrast between metropolitan lifestyle and natural life.

ivory

  • Hal Howe

  • Daniel’s world collapses in on itself after he takes a life on the streets of South London.

Category 3: Bonds

Re-Record

  • Kyrylo Zemly Anyi

  • A family celebrates the birthday of their son. After a warm birthday greeting, their usual feast takes place.

my brothers

  • Archie Williams

  • A study of a current relationship with brothers via archived materials.

klezmer

  • Oskar Luiz Bonn

  • A Jewish musician, having escaped from the pogroms in his home country at the beginning of the 20th century, arrives in modern day Edinburgh.

Category 4: character

witch reborn

  • Maria Shevtsova

  • A documentary short film following US singer Sabrina Kennedy as she finds herself at the Samhain celebrations in Glastonbury and dives into the hidden world of modern-day paganism in the UK.

bluesman: the ballad of al peters

  • Sean Bass

  • Growing old is not for cowards. The study of a bluesman, from his on stage persona to the loving man underneath.

model of life

  • Sascha Lo

  • An insecure life model is desperate to be someone’s muse but when a budding artist chooses her as his creative subject she is not as pleased.