CHEERIO Short Film Night (18)

In the spirit of Francis Bacon and CHEERIO, we are proud to continue to support daring and provocative films for young filmmakers. With this in mind, we present this specially curated programme of CHEERIO supported short films.

Triptych (Holly Blakey, 2022, 12 mins)

CHEERIO has commissioned acclaimed choreographer and director Holly Blakey to create an original dance piece,Triptych, inspired by the work of Francis Bacon.

Happy Snaps (Tyro Heath, 2023, 12 mins)

On the Isle of Sheppey, two boys try to enjoy a last day together. Their adventures are captured by Gabriel, who has cerebral palsy, on an old camera. But as the day goes on, fears about the future cloud their friendship.

Autophagy (Edie Lawrence, 2024, 11 mins)

A waterborne disease ravages a town, the affliction slowly morphing you into an octopus. With the societal hatred towards those suffering building, a couple have the limited choice: afford the medication to carry on living, or drink the water and suffer being shunned.

Tobacconist (Keifer Taylor, 2024, 23 mins)

A south London odyssey following Tobias, who struggles to fund his mum's return to Jamaica. The city reveals spectres of his community's history and an uncertain future.

Microcosm (Joe Ingham, 2022, 13 mins)

London, 1966. Homosexuality between men is still criminalised. Women don't fare any better. A woman who is exposed as a lesbian can expect to lose her job, her lodgings, her family. It is a tough, dangerous and nerve-wracking existence. But in one subterranean corner of Chelsea, society's rules don't apply. The Gateways club offers a safe haven for women to dance, express themselves and love who they want. Or does it?

Apus Apus (Alfie Elms, 2025, 8 mins)

Apus Apus centres around the character of Bea, whose everyday existence in the city is charted by a series of meals.

The Devil Inside Me (Gabriel B Arranhio, 2022, 5 mins)

A grieving mother believing her son to be possessed by the devil, forces him through a spiritual-religious cleansing. ‘The Devil Inside’ is a poetic exploration of ‘Love’ and the grotesque mutations it can take. A surreal, horror-infused look at a Mother whose intense protective love of her child and innate belief in a deity incite her to take measures that will dismember her son’s trust in her and the world around him. Without acceptance there can be no trust, without trust there can be no love. Told from his perspective in this poetic short piece, David seeks to find the answers within himself, confronting his inner demons, unleashed by his mother, who he still seeks acceptance from now even long after she is deceased.

Lady in The Lake (Joe Fletcher, 2023, 24 mins)

When a suitcase full of body parts washes ashore on an idyllic Austrian lake rumours and incriminations spread through its small, picturesque town. But as the police begin to uncover more in the bizarre case the locals band together, unifying against the darkness that lurks beneath the lake's surface. It is a story about the order of time, the burden of memory and the persistence of myth, narrated and re-enacted by the people whose lives became part of this gruesome case.