Osprey Short Film Awards 2022

Saturday 26th March 2pm, Theatre By The Lake
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Osprey Short Film Awards 2022

The judging panel selected a shortlist of 10 films which were screened at the Theatre by the Lake on Saturday 26th March. All of the films have a connection to Cumbria, whether that be on screen or behind the camera. The films range in length from a little over one minute to eleven minutes and cover an eclectic mix of subjects - running, walking and bouldering in the Lakes, a study of the Duddon Valley, stories of friendship and relationships, living with and alongside dementia and the modern-day disaster that is losing your mobile phone!

Whilst the main prize was determined by the judges, all those who came got the chance to vote for their favourite short film, which received the Audience Award.

We were joined by Carl Hunter (director of 2019's Sometimes Always Never) who showed two of his short films prepared during lockdown.

Official Selection 2022

Judges Award Winner

Midair
Louis-Jack (4 mins)

In scaling rocks by the hardest routes, boulderers seek to escape gravity in an endless quest to achieve weightlessness and momentarily leave the world behind.

Midair is a bouldering film featuring some of the UK's strongest climbers in iconic Lake District locations, set to a pumping techno soundtrack.

Audience Award Winner

Rambler Man
Angus Imrie (11 mins 22 secs)

With his son suffering through a mental health crisis, a loving father (played by Tim Bentinck, best known for his long-running role as David Archer) wants to help. By taking his boy on a journey through the Lake District, he's able to reach his son and become an everyday hero.

Rambler Man is a short film that explores mental health, masculinity and our emotional connections with the great outdoors.

Rambler Man is the screen directing debut for Angus Imrie. He is mostly known as an actor for his roles in The Crown, The Kid Who Would Be King (2019), Industry (2020) and Fleabag (2019). He is the voice of Josh Archer in the BBC radio series The Archers.

Other Shortlisted Films

A Perfect Day For Piracy
Pete Winterbottom (5 mins 26 secs)

A bouldering short film based at St Bees. Captain Pugwash goes looking for treasure and finds some hidden gems.

I Think I Know My Own Mind
Ronald Amanze, Jilly Jarman & Sarah Wallcook (5 mins 4 secs) F-Rated

This film shares personalised findings from research into the use of everyday technology among older adults living both with and without dementia.

The lyrics have been created to prompt conversation and reflection between older people, particularly those living with dementia, their friends, family, neighbours, and supporters. People can then apply these findings to help make technological choices that they think would work best in situations that may be changing.

#HELLP!
M J Poynton (5 mins 30 secs)

A man who is a little more than obsessed with his phone finds himself at a loss when one day he wakes up and it has disappeared! Furthermore his keys have disappeared and he is locked inside of his house. How will he upload pictures of his breakfast to Instagram now?

Sing To Encounter Me
Laurence Campbell (8 mins 55 secs)

Sing to Encounter Me is an experimental film shot on and around The Duddon Estuary in Cumbria. Whilst the project deals with themes of isolation and shifting time, it also documents and celebrates the Duddon Inshore Rescue organisation and the difficulties of the job that they undertake.

On the one hand, the film is a ghost story, glimpsing into the past through the dreamlike heathlands of Askam-in-Furness. On the other, it examines the natural details of the ever changing sands, and how a place can be defined by extreme tidal waters.

This film was developed as part of the Unpublished Tour arts and literature event.

Tender Buttons
Kitty Handley (8 mins 21 secs) F-Rated

Through a series of both improvised and scripted moments, Tender Buttons explores both the tenderness of female friendship as well as the delicate relationship between music and memory.

Shot by an all female crew, this latest short film follows best friends, Frances and Ros, as they wait around one day for the location of a free party nearby.

The Show
Richard Rowden (9 mins 18 secs)

A dramedy about a couple who head out into the wilderness for a weekend away, only for their relationship to come to a head when Sam admits that he can't carry on anymore. They put on a show for each other to hide they’re true feelings of hatred for each other.

Touching The Water
Hannah Maia, Maia Media (7 mins) F-Rated

Mhairi Helme's poetic reflection of a 100 mile run around the English Lake District inspired by the landscape, the people she meets and her fell running hero, Joss Naylor.

War Torn
Luke Bain & Alexander Dodds (1 mins 3 secs)

A war veteran who once served his country with pride is abandoned by his public left to rot away on the streets as he battles not only the elements but an illness of the mind.

Carl Hunter's Shorts

More Than Time

More Than Time

Long-time friend of the festival Carl Hunter (Sometimes Always Never, Grow Your Own) documents the streets of Liverpool as they have never been seen before, in his new, short film More Than Time.

During Lockdown in Liverpool, anonymous messages about 'missing and memory' were left on an answer machine. These ghostly messages float above still photographs of an empty Liverpool UK. The film is a place where memory populates the streets of a once vibrant city, instead of its people.

Still Rings

Still Rings

Still Rings is a short, poetic film, that reflects on the second Lockdown.

The film is a collaboration between award wining poet Jacqueline Saphra, Carl Hunter and a collection of first time filmmakers. Carl took a photograph from the same place on Crosby beach everyday and Jacqueline wrote a poem everyday. Words and pictures takes us on a journey where sound is used to reimagine memory, creating sonic ghosts that serve to help us remember what we were missing.

The films were produced for the institute of Creative Enterprise. (ICE)

Filmmakers Network

As well as showcasing great short films we also hope the Ospreys will provide opportunities for film makers to meet each other and possibly collaborate on future projects. We have created a group on Facebook called the Osprey Filmmakers Network which we invite you to join if you have entered or film in the past of are thinking of doing so in the future, or perhaps you'd like to get involved in some other way.

Osprey Filmmakers Network: http://bit.ly/OspreysNet

Partners & Sponsors

The Osprey Short Film Awards at Keswick Film Festival proudly accepts entries via FilmFreeway.com, the world's best online submission platform. FilmFreeway offers free HD online screeners, unlimited video storage, digital press kits, and more.

If you'd like to sponsor the Osprey Short Film Awards or supply any prizes then please contact us.




Staying in Keswick for the Festival?

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Over 260 beautiful holiday cottages in and around Keswick.

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Keswick Film Festival is supported by Film Hub North with National Lottery funding on behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network.



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All programme and film details are correct at the time of publishing but may be subject to change.