Sharp Shorts Year 1
Running Time: 16mins
Year: 2021
Synopsis: After a night of intoxication, a hungover and hysterical Nick wakes up next to his boyfriend Charlie and must conceal him from his own homophobic and dysfunctional family.
FILM CREW:
Director: Sean Lìonadh
Writer: Sean Lìonadh
Producers: Alfredo Covelli, Ross McKenzie
Executive Producers: Gillian Berrie, Tiernan Kelly, Rebecca Thompson, Mar Vila Barcelo, Alice Whittemore
Cinematographer: Andrew O’ Connor
Editor: Sean Lìonadh
Production Designer: Tomas Palmer
Sound Designer: Zander Mavor
Music: Eloise Kretschmer
Principal Cast:Ruaridh Mollica, Joshua Griffin, Neshla Caplan, Kevin O’ Loughlin, Oliver Wright, Jane McCarry
FESTIVALS:
Interfilm International Short Film Festival November 2022
This Is England November 2022
Norwich Film Festival November 2022
Uppsala International Short Film Festival October 2022
Bolton International Film Festival October 2022
International Young Audience Film Festival Ale Kino! October 2022
Out On Film: Atlanta’s LGBTQ Film Festival September 2022
Sidewalk Film Festival August 2022
Edinburgh International Film Festival August 2022
HollyShorts Film Festival August 2022
Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival August 2022
Durban International Film Festival July 2022
Galway Film Fleadh July 2022
Scottish Mental Health Art Festival May 2022
SXSW March 2022
Glasgow Short Film Festival March 2022
BFI Flare February 2022
NOTABLE AWARD WINS:
BAFTA Scotland 2022 – Best Short Film
BIFA 2022 – Best British Short Film
REVIEWS
“One of the Most Intriguing – If Not the Most Intriguing – in Recent Memory” The Word
“I find myself moved to tears… In ratio and balance it is a thing perfect.” Eye For Film
Sean Lìonadh is a poet, writer, filmmaker and musician from Glasgow, known for his visual poem Time for Love which reached millions of people online, won a 2019 Royal Television Society talk award and was translated into five languages. It also inspired a Ted and led to the publication of his first poetry collection, Not Normal Anymore. His short film Too Rough premiered at SXSW 2022, since entering over 60 festivals and winning 28 awards, including a BAFTA Scotland and British Independent Film Award. Sean worked with the Royal Opera House as the librettist on modern opera Honest Skin, live next season. His band, LÌONADH, released their debut EP, I Cannot Go On Reaching, EP in October 2022.
With producers Alfredo Covelli and Ross McKenzie, Sean is developing his first feature film, Nostophobia, a psychological horror about a gay relationship. Sean took part in Berlinale Talents 2020, and BBC Writer’s Room Scottish Voices 2020. His poems are studied as part of the English curriculum in international schools. Aside from making, Sean runs poetry workshops with young people, and is keen to work closely with the LGBTQ+ community within schools, community groups and institutions.
Born in Rome in 1979, Alfredo is an Italian film producer, director, screenwriter, teacher and novelist. After college he started working as an assistant director in Italian feature films and TV series. In 2005 he won the main Italian screenwriting contest (Premio Solinas) and started writing feature films and TV series. In 2012 he created his production company, Meproducodasolo, and started producing short and feature films directed by first- or second-time directors, selected by main international film festivals such Venice, Cannes, Rome and BFI London, distributed in theatres and broadcasted on TV. He works as script consultant in India and Scotland. He’s teacher of screenwriting at the Italian National Film Institute (CSC, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia).
Ross McKenzie is a BAFTA and BIFA nominated producer. He established Devil May Care Entertainment in 2019 to produce films and television drama series for the international market. He recently produced the short film Too Rough by Sean Lionadh, which premiered at Flickerfest in Australia and SxSW. To date the film has been selected for 58 film festivals and won 19 awards, becoming Academy Award qualifying after winning Best Queer Short at the Provincetown Film Festival. His most recent production is the animation Burry Man, which premiered at EIFF and was nominated for the McLaren Award for Best British Animation in Summer 2022. Devil May Care has a number of feature film and TV projects in development with support from Screen Scotland and BFI Network.
For Screen Scotland, Ross worked across a range of feature films, feature documentaries and television series as Executive Producer including Dorte Bengtson’s animated feature film Vitello in a co-production with Zentropa; Annabel Jankel’s Tell It To The Bees, Neasa Hardiman’s Sea Fever, Scott Graham’s Run; and Ben Sharrock’s BAFTA and BIFA nominated refugee drama Limbo. He also oversaw strategic support for Scotland’s animation sector and two of Scotland’s leading talent development initiatives: the Scottish Film Talent Network (SFTN) and the Bellrock Screenwriting Workshops.
In 2011 Ross produced Michael Pearce’s BAFTA and BIFA nominated short film Rite. He has worked for companies including BFI, Paramount and Film London. He teaches at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) and is a Major Project Tutor on Edinburgh Napier University’s MA Screenwriting programme. He is a graduate of Spain’s Media Business School.
