A New Festival
As Romford Film Festival grows each year it's been harder to make selections, this year we decided to create a third Romford Branded Film Festival one that celebrates the work incredible work of short film makers.
The Festival runs on the 15th & 16th November2025 and tickets to the entire event cost £15.
Saturday 15th Nov 2025
11am - 2pm
Session 1
Seeing Beyond sight
This documentary follows the life of Ednilson Sacramento — a writer, music producer, punk zine pioneer from Bahia, and accessibility activist — who, for over four decades, has defied a world not built for blind people.
From the underground scene of the 1980s to the creation of inclusive policies, Ednilson has carved paths where others saw only barriers. With sharp insight, he transforms the loss of sight into a deeper way of perceiving. Through his work in culture, music criticism, and audio description advocacy, he reveals how blindness can, paradoxically, uncover the blindness of society itself.
30 mins
Documentary
Brazil
Directed by Nêio Mustafa
NEXT UP
Juliette Mandeville and Tilly Anders, two actresses follow a call for an audition to London. Juliette is already a successful and well-known actress who, however, due to her age, is no longer offered good film roles. Tilly Anders on the other hand, is at the beginning of her career, she is very young, inexperienced and full of self-doubt. The director is a shady character driven by selfishness. Juliettes audition doesn't go well . Tilly is overcome nervousness and flees from the theatre before it's her turn. How will the two women deal with it and will their lives take a turn? In the style of a surreal dramedy, the story gives a socially critical insight into the entertainment industry, with its possible obstacles and difficulties.
30 Mins
Drama
UK
Directed by Marion H von Loewenstern
Gobstopper
The all-important day, a young girl discovers that a mothers love is complicated and it doesn't always present itself In conventional ways. Gobstopper is essentially a love story between two sisters and their mother as they struggle with their Mother's alcoholism.
11 Minutes
Drama
United Kingdom
Directed By Jo Lane
The Man That I Wave At
A man has an existential crisis trying to work out who the mysterious man is that he waves at.
11 Mins
Thriller
United Kingdom
Directed by Ben Stephen Hyland
A Silent Beat
After the sudden loss of his mother, a young man will have to learn how to live without her, as he tries to understand how to face a constant and painful beat within him.
15 Mins
Drama
United Kingdom
Directed by Brenda Huerta Rodríguez
Bubbles
A forty-year-old woman named SOL, floats in a long-distance relationship bubble. She starts the day waiting for the wake-up call to accurately perform her morning ritual, which seems to be a video call with her longtime boyfriend FRED. He is so far away that the sunrise at Sol's window marks the sunset at his'. They both look weary and on the verge of frustration as they wait to see each other for Christmas— so the story goes, for some bizarre reason, for the two of them to meet requires the crack of Fred’s bubble, which never occurs.
15 Mins
Drama
Italy
Directed by Meri Dishnica
The Real Deal
Based on the unforgettable short story by acclaimed author Andy Weir, 'THE REAL DEAL' tells the story of a man in love and his supportive friend, set against the backdrop of a smoky bar in 1950s America.
5 Mins
Drama
United Kingdom
Directed by James Willett
The Forest Of Souls
Mathilde is a young accoustician. Fascinated by the power of sounds, she wants to invent a new way of travelling through time and find the souls of the departed...
5 Mins
Drama
France
Directed By Pierre Gaffié
2:30pm - 5.30pm
Session 2
BrownWhite
From the perspective of Israeli biracial kids, BrownWhite explores how skin color influences the development of identity. Weaving their lived experiences with findings from academic research, the film reveals their dilemmas around identity in a world that's more complicated than brown or white.
10 Mins
Documentary
Israel
Directed by Ruchama Ehrenhalt
The Birth of an Idea
Getting an idea is like recognizing something in the dark. Concrete and abstract reality communicate and intertwine.
9 Mins
Experimental
Romania
Directed by Iulia Enkelana
VALLEY OF RABBITS
Leo's childhood ends when he discovers that monsters exist and are closer than he ever imagined, as he realizes that his father is not truly the upright man that he admires, he is a femicide.
9 Mins
Drama
Mexico
Directed By Tania Ángeles Begún, Valeria Jiménez
The Rigoli Affair
Mr. Rigoli, aka Rigoletto, works as an holiday entertainer. Someone kills his daughter, Gilda, and a police inspector investigates this crime. The first suspect is Rigoli, who tells the inspector the whole bloody story of his plot against the Duke, director of the resort...
7 Mins
Student
Italy
Directed by Vittorio Caratozzolo & Class 3 A (2023-24)
Dionis
Dionis is a typical rich kid. He is a widow's son, a handsome guy, and the king of raves. His life is one big party and no goals set for himself. All the girls dream of being with him, but he never opens his heart to anyone. Even though his mother insists that he find a bride, he doesn't care at all. Every night he runs away from home and dances in the ballroom in heels, just the way he wants and feels while no one sees him. One evening, he meets a guy in a cafe, a spark happens, but Dionis thinks it's a trifle. Dionis never stops thinking about the guy from the cafe. He admits first of all to himself that he does feel something for him.
6 Mins
Student
Ukraine
Directed by Sophie Yatsuk
Guilty Bunch of Flowers
When lovers, husband, sister, wife and mother all share their guilt through the same bunch of flowers, anarchic chaos ensues.
9 Mins
Comedy Drama
United Kingdom
Directed by Wayne Kelly, Matt Holt
Glencoe
A girl informs two friends that she is being cyber-bullied. Months later, the two are questioned about the girl’s suicide.
9 Mins
Student
United Kingdom
Directed by Henry Dadswell
Afterimage
After documenting a conflict overseas, war photographer Markus returns home for his younger brother's 18th birthday. While capturing the celebration, he struggles with the lingering trauma of his work - specifically the memory of photographing a young dying soldier who eerily resembles his younger brother. Isolating himself in his darkroom, Markus is faced with this harrowing photograph causing him to relive this traumatic event.T
9 Mins
Drama
United Kingdom
Directed by Nathan Roaf
The Calm
When alien ships start landing in the Middle East, two friends share a moment of normality amid the raging news storm.
6 Mins
Drama Sci-Fi
United Kingdom
Directed by Matthew Sterling
Surviving A Brain Haemorrhage
A poetry film that delves into the fragile line between life and death of a near-fatal brain haemorrhage.
6 Mins
Poetry
United Kingdom
Directed by Rhiannon Barker
6pm - 8pm
Session 3
The Surrogate
The Surrogate is a fast paced thriller, where we follow Katherine from going for a quiet drink after work, to waking up in a basement, chained to a bed.
What happened to her?
Why is she there?
Who did this?
Will she escape?
27 mins
Thriller
United Kingdom
Directed by Phoenix Benham, Adam Csomor
Nowhere to goT
Forced to flee their camp, a group of unsheltered residents must find a new home in a city that rejects them.
9 Mins
Drama
United States
Directed by: Julie Cordell-Seamons
No More Surprises
The drama follows 24-year-old paranoid Maud, who tries to buy a calendar that can foretell who she will run into every day. After discovering the underground service, running out of a dingey bookshop backroom, Maud goes through the process of getting one: wherein she must recounter her poor experience bumping into her ex, which has made her a self-conscious mess. After finally getting one, Maud talks to long-time client Amber, whose calendar has clearly become the centre her life revolves around. Maud realises the destructive effect it could have on her life and decides against it.
8 Mins
Drama
United Kingdom
Directed by Sophie Mia Reeve-Foster
Tatts It
Everyone says he is having illusions, but his loving wife supports him. Then an old friend, of questionable character visits apparently driven by hidden ulterior financial motives. It all comes to a dramatic head, shutting doors and opening eyes. Who sees the truth in the conclusion!
8 Mins
Drama
Australia
Directed by Norman Lingwood
The Art Thief
A renowned art thief is caught by the police while attempting to steal a valuable piece of art from a museum. As he is interrogated by a detective, the thief reveals that he stole the piece not for money, but for its artistic value. The detective, who is also an art enthusiast, becomes fascinated by the thief's passion for art and begins to question her own motivations for pursuing a career in law enforcement.
7 Mins
Drama
United Kingdom
Directed by. Kairon Edwards
Nepenthe
A short film about the importance of your past self and what happens when you try to forget.
7 Mins
Drama
United Kingdom
Directed by Jovi Kerr
8pm - 10pm
Session 4
Doggerland: The Dead & The Lonely
Set in the wake of a viral outbreak that has ravaged the world, a failing survivalist, thinking he's the last human alive meets another who forces him to confront his grief and achieve his greatest goal... Not just to survive but to live.
Together they journey across the perilous and desolate Essex wasteland to find the fabled colony of Doggerland; The last remnant of a human society that hasn't fallen into barbarism.
A dramedy about the impossible; making a friend in the apocalypse.
24 Mins
Drama Horror
United Kingdom
Adam McHattie
Daayan
Inspired by Indian folklore, a young woman reluctantly looks after her sick mother.
10 Mins
Drama Horror
United Kingdom
Directed by Rohan Sudan
The SnowRaven Chronicles: The Treasure of Ockra-Bane REDUX
TBC
11 Mins
Horroe Animation
United States
Directed by AJ Spencer
Kink
An art installation film exploring the theme of erotica.
6 Mins
Art
United Kingdom
Directed by Jason Impey
Inside
An art installation piece looking at the dark side of humanity.
5 Mins
Art
United Kingdom
Directed by Jason Impey
New Paragraph
Unseen Sadness
A short film looking at the impact of mental health as a hidden disability, particularly ADHD.
7 Mins
Drama
United Kingdom
Directed By Jason Impey
Sunday 16th NOV 2025
5pm - 7pm
Discovery SCREEN
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6pm - 8pm
ODYSSEY Screen
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6pm - 8pm
Silver Screen
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8pm - 10pm
Silver Screen
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