PREMIERE OF TALKIES’ SHORT FILM COMMISSIONS 2017 – SOLD OUT

The festival finale – five new films from talented young film makers, commissioned by Talkies, have their premiere screening at this very special event. The films are all shot around Palmers Green and include tales of magic tricks, letters from inside, demented football, medical anxiety and hats on park railings…intrigued?!

2017 is another successful partnership with Short Sighted Cinema, the home of British Short Film. Talkies’ commissions provide £500 towards the production of a short film based in and around Palmers Green in North London. All of the films explore suburban life, embracing locality while expressing individual artistry.

The commissions, which will continue annually, are open to all filmmakers, of any style or experience.

Title: Magic Trick

Set in the North London suburbs Magic Trick is a dark drama about a mother and her children navigating a tragic incident.

Production team: (From left to right) Douglas Cox, Kate Herron, Briony Redman

Title: Smear

Smear is a satire exploring the unnecessary fear and embarassment women have about smear tests. “The percentage of women tested at least once in the last five years is lowest in London” (Enfield Independent) meaning many women in North London are putting their health at risk. This film explores the issue in an original and funny way to open up a discussion about a current female problem.

Writer/director Charlotte Regan

Charlotte is a London-born filmmaker who started by creating rap videos for local artists when she was 15 and has gone on to create over 200 music promos. She recently took her first step into scripted content with short film Standby, which was shortlisted for the BAFTAs in 2017.

Title: Cleared

Only a few close family and friends have clearance for phone calls from prison. Charlotte’s film touches on a young man’s relationships, divided by walls and bars between the world he experiences on the inside and  life going on outside without him.

Ben Steiner Writer / Director (pictured)
Writer/actor Eli Silverman
Producer Dan Dixon

Multi award winning writer/director, Ben’s latest short film, supernatural Noir, The Stomach, has been highly praised for its originality and deft combining of genres; and sees Ben honing the ‘kitchen sink horror’ style that’s been his trademark for over a decade.

Title: Clankerman

A documentary team follows Terry Lothian, sole employee of the secret government department in charge of ‘urban ambience’, as he administers single gloves on railings and misspelt abusive graffiti to the area around Palmers Green. While Terry bemoans the affects that austerity cutbacks are having on the department, his behaviour becomes increasingly unhinged.

Writer/directors Paul Holbrook (photo) & Sam Dawe…

Paul and Sam have experienced encouraging festival success with their body of work to date Their film writing reached the final stages of the BBC Writer’s Room scheme and they were  selected for the Creative England Talent Module 2016.

Title: Sunday Worship

A lonely septuagenarian struggles to conceal his ailing health from his doting wife, finding solace watching a local football team, his levels of fandom start to border on obsession.