Clermont-Ferrand London edition - My shorts highlights

London-based film researcher and writer Alaa Nouasri shares her thoughts on the recent UK programme from the London "edition" of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. In its third year, the programme is carefully curated by the Clermont-Ferrand programming team to incorporate highlights and award winners from this year’s festival for audiences in London.

On 26 April at the Garden Cinema in London, the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2025 launched its UK programme with varied work, ranging from animation to documentary and fiction. Walking into the screening room, I didn’t know what to expect; I like to go into films blind (no trailers, no wikipedia searches, or social media lurking). In the end I was truly impressed, not just by the creativity of the filmmakers and their technical (sometimes self-taught) skills, but also by their abilities to portray different emotional states and move the audience. I cried at one point!

The screening opened with an animation titled Progress Mining, directed by ex-management consultant turned self-taught animator Gabriel Böhmer. This quirky film, where characters are made out of different fabrics and everything is quite literally strung together with thread, eerily captures the feeling of being confined to a capitalist corporate world where truth is obscured, and morality manipulated. Yet it also shows us that real people can still exist even under these circumstances. One dialogue line that stood out for me was when a character named Mary asks, “Do you want to say the right thing or do the right thing?” / “Do you want to be good or act good?" Despite its heavy themes, the film has an eccentric humour that drew a few laughs from the audience, myself included. This is certainly a film that will stay with me for a while, and a highlight of the programme.

Progress Mining was followed by a documentary titled Milk, directed by Miranda Stern. In this raw exploration of childhood trauma, grief, motherhood, and addiction, Miranda tells the story of her mother through different memory objects, and phone calls with friends and family members. Miranda is honest and composed, narrating some of the most traumatic events of her life with a kind of stoicism that brought tears to many in the room. The film felt like a beautiful tribute to her mother, a woman she never truly got to know, as she passed away when Miranda was a baby. Even though the themes here are heavy, Miranda also shows us the joy, humour, and humanity in her experience. This is a well-edited film, with a story that is told clearly, and with so much care.

The third short in the programme was an animation titled Bunnyhood, directed by Mansi Maheshwari, an NFTS graduate. Watching this film after Milk felt fitting due to the common theme they share. Despite the vastly different genres, styles, and narratives, both films explore motherhood and the complex bond between mother and child. Maheshwari’s animation style stood out to me here due to its simple yet expressive and surreal nature. It suitably portrays the story of a child who witnesses his mother lie to him for the first time, and the earth-shattering anxiety and fear that moment brings. I really appreciated the pacing of this film; it keeps your attention and makes you want to catch every second. Even though this type of animation isn’t usually my thing on an aesthetic level, I still found it a really enjoyable watch.

My second highlight of the programme, and the final film shown, was A Bear Remembers, directed by Linden Feng and Hannah Palumbo, a filmmaking duo that have worked together for many years now- having met in university. During the Q&A, the directors discussed the film’s exploration of cultural displacement; that is certainly a theme I was struck with while watching. In this mysterious yet comforting story, set in a village surrounded by beautiful, now-abandoned hills, a bear ‘spirit’ returns, feeling out of place, grieving a loss he is unable to exactly identify or articulate. The spirit is helped by an old woman who relates to the feeling of grief that comes with the passing of time and change in surroundings, and society. The character of a young man Peter adds a new perspective, building a bridge between older and younger generations existing on the same land. This film stirred a lot of feelings about the universal nature of loss and change.

Overall, this programme was a success. It was a moving and thought-provoking experience full of reflection and emotional depth.