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 25th & 26th July 2025 and tickets to the entire event cost £15.
Saturday 26th July 2025
10:30am - 12.30pm
Session 1
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1:30pm - 3:30pm
Session 2
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4:30pm - 7pm
Session 5
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7:30pm - 10pm
Session 6
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Saturday 26th July 2025
4 Little angels
Dani is a young geriatric assistant who starts his new job in an old nursing home taking care of Marisa, an elderly woman in the last few hours of her life. Dani aims to use the situation to get hold of some of the old woman’s jewels and valuables, and unleash some of his most personal perversions. However, Dani may have chosen the wrong person…
14 mins
Spain
Directed by Julio Martí Zahonero
ED KEMPER
Based on actual events of American serial killer Edmund Kemper, who murdered his grandparents at age 15 and, after being paroled for that crime, killed eight women in 1972 and 1973 including his own mother.
94 mins
USA
Directed by Chad Ferrin
3pm - 5.30pm
SILVER Screen
Doppelganger
A young woman finds her look-alike in order to fake her own death.
8 mins
USA
Directed by Kate Surinskaya
Exorcismo
Under the Franco dictatorship, Spain’s rigid censorship laws had repressed any form of sexuality outside of Catholic marriage. But following Franco’s death and the consolidation of democracy, ‘Clasificada S’ films – restricted to those over 18 years old, with the warning that their content may offend the sensibilities of the viewer – embodied a period in Spanish history when sex went from being a sin to becoming a cinematic expression of political freedom. In the new documentary EXORCISMO, director Alberto Sedano explores the history behind Clasificada S, the battles it fought, and the distinctive dramas, thrillers and horror shockers that subverted the values of the former dictatorship.
Narrated by Iggy Pop, featuring revealing interviews with actors, directors, historians, and showcasing clips from films by Jess Franco, José Ramón Larraz, Ignacio Iquino and more, EXORCISMO tells the incredible true story of a film movement that rocked Spanish culture, changed the face of genre films, and left its transgressive mark on global cinema forever.
122 mins
Spain
Directed by Alberto Sedano
5pm - 7pm
Discovery SCREEN
Sherbet
Set entirely inside the confines of an taxi cab, on what seems like just another late-night taxi fare, this particular trip is anything but, altering the course of the lives of both driver and rider forever.
One evening 15-year-old Isa enters Rene's cab and his life. At first, he perceives her as just another annoying 'woke' teenager on what he hoped was another simple and quiet journey, but as a revelation about Isa's situation comes to light, this goes from a dime-a-dozen taxi fare to a life-changing experience that forces Rene to confront things in his life that he has been running from for the longest time.
23 mins
United Kingdom
Directed By Danny Gibbons
The Devil Makes Work For Idle Hands
A man on parole, a struggling mother, and a pair of drug dealing brothers each become part of a dazzling multiplicity of plots, but one story.
60 mins
United Kingdom
Directed by Colin O'Reilly
6pm - 8pm
ODYSSEY Screen
WORK ORDER
Torn between making money and fulfilling his passion, Dennis must figure out if turning his art into his job was a good idea or if he should change course and follow his heart. Although his passion is killing so that's complicates things a bit.
7 mins
United Kingdom
Directed by Dayle Saunders
New Paragraph
One Must Wash Eyes
One Must Wash Eyes is a drama about Sahar, an aspiring international student from Iran who is naturally suited to academics. Her ambitions take her away from her home, culture, and most importantly, from her Maman.
Although she has been studying in Vancouver for three and a half years, she has difficulty connecting with her peers after studying and working at her uncle's grocery store. She finds joy in relating to TNT, an eight-year-old kid whose expertise lies in spray-painting poorly drawn smiley faces around the neighbourhood.
Sahar dedicates her downtime to writing feminist articles on her blog that shines light on the Iranian government and its brutal laws against women.
89 mins
Canada
Directed by Sepideh Yadegar
6pm - 8pm
Silver Screen
The Twilight Cafe
An unexpected, mysterious encounter between two strangers atop a bridge one stormy eve averts a tragedy, serving as a poignant reminder that in a harsh and chaotic world, we all need a soul friend to help us survive.
The Twilight Café is a film that explores the dark night of the soul we all encounter at one time or another in our lives. When lost, alone, and at the end of our rope, what helps us rejoin the dance of life? Filmed on location on the Alabama Gulf Coast (Dauphin Island), the film is adapted from the award-winning stage play written and directed by four-time Grammy® nominee, bestselling author, psychologist, and filmmaker, Michael Brant DeMaria.
12 mins
USA
Directed by Michael Brant DeMaria
The Little Things
The Little Things is a poignant documentary that delves into the lives of families, staff, and children at Derian House Children's Hospice in Lancashire, England. It contrasts the initial fears of children's hospice care with the transformative support provided by Derian House, including sibling support, state-of-the-art facilities and counseling. Through heartfelt stories told in raw and intimate interviews, the film encourages viewers to reflect on their own lives and cherish the small moments that bring joy and meaning each and every day.
99 mins
United Kingdom
Directed by Thomas Elliott Griffiths
8pm - 10pm
Silver Screen
Buried
Based on a true story.
In a classic bonding exercise, city boy Alisdair and his estranged father Chris search the forest near their Scottish Highlands hometown for a fabled set of elk antlers.
15 mins
United Kingdom
Directed by David Maccormack
Devil's Guitar
Alex is an unsuccessful country musician. He returns to his hometown in the heart of the Brazilian midlands, a village threatened by industrial agriculture that consumes original forests and challenges settler’s traditional ways of life. He dreams of being a skilled musician like his father Lázaro, a sick guitar player in debt with the saints, who must perform a series of religious rituals. However, local rumours say his debts are not with the saints, but with the devil. To save his father and himself, Alex journeys into local practices and beliefs.
98 mins
Brazil
Directed by Guilherme Bacalhao
8pm - 10pm
Odyssey SCREEN
Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite
Night has fallen but something has awoken. 9 year old Elsa is stirred from her sleep by peculiar sounds echoing from downstairs. Determined to regain peace and quiet, Elsa seeks to uncover their secrets whilst forging an unexpected bond.
13 mins
United Kingdom
Directed by Kelly Diapère
In The Grip Of Terror
A group of unwary travellers arrive for an appointment at a remote and enigmatic hospital, where they are greeted by the unsettling Dr. Graves. Within its shadowy halls, disturbing tales unfold, secrets are unearthed, and the boundaries between life and death begin to blur. In the Grip of Terror is a chilling anthology where each visitor’s story leads to a revelation more haunting than the last.
105 Mins
United Kingdom
Directed by Lawrie Brewster
8pm - 10pm
Discovery SCREEN
Mythomania
"Mythomania" is a poignant psychological drama that explores trauma, memory, and self-discovery. The story follows Ben, a young artist haunted by his troubled childhood, marked by his father's abandonment and his mother's mental health struggles. Through therapy and vivid flashbacks, Ben confronts the distortions of reality his mind has created to cope with his past.
25 mins
United Kingdom
Directed by Zacharie Sadock
THE GESUIDOUZ
A misfit horror-themed rock band relocates to rural Japan, determined to compose the ultimate punk anthem.
93 mins
Japan
Directed by Kenichi Ugana