Lapdogs and Fools, 2024
TRT: 8':55", iPhone 12 - 4K - 24fps
Unique vintage linen, speakers
Edition of 5 + 3 AP
About
Lapdogs and Fools is an 8-minute-and-55-second film which represents the culmination of four years of shared studio practice and ongoing dialogue between a painter and a filmmaker. Together, they investigate the complex, wearing, sometimes intolerable conditions of existing as queer, non-male artists and mothers. Filmed on the stark landscape of Dungeness Beach, the work follows a central figure-bound in a flapping straightjacket, institutional tights, and roller-skates- attempting to maintain balance along a taut cable stretched over the shingle. Her repeated falls and continual efforts to rise underscore the absurdity of the task, reflecting a broader commentary on persistence and resilience.
Presented in a split-screen format, the film contrasts perspectives: the lower frame offers a distant, detached view of the scene, while the upper frame draws us closer into the protagonist's focused yet increasingly exhausted movements. A mechanical soundscape, featuring the persistent whistle of a paddle steamer and the rhythmic clang of a bell, reinforces the film's cyclical nature, evoking both a train's steady passage and the bell round of a boxing ring. This work brings to light the ongoing tensions between creative practice an personal identity, inviting viewers to engage with the nuanced experiences of those who navigate these layered realities.
Presented at Vielmetter Los Angeles - 23rd November 2024 - 25th January 2025
A WAIT
Director, Screenplay, Short film, 2023
14-year old Beau arrives at her grandma's house by the lake to find her grandmother delayed and must fend for herself for the next 24 hours. A Wait is a film about teenage summers and those tiny but live-or-die moments that form us. Edited by Hoping Chen (Ilo, Ilo, Drift) , with a score by Arthur Jeffes (Penguin Cafe).
Best Director at London Director Awards - WINNER; Raindance Film Festival - OFFICIAL SELECTION; Clapham International Film Festival (CIFF) Monthlies; Berkshire international Film Festival, MA (BIFF) - OFFICIAL SELECTION; Short. Sweet. Film Fest. - OFFICIAL SELECTION; Berlin British Shorts Film Festival - OFFICIAL SELECTION
THE NOCEBO EFFECT
Director, Screenplay, Short Film, 2015
Starring KATHRYN WORTH and CHARLOTTE PYKE
Log: Polly arrives to find her mother Anne embroiled in a harebrained scenario that has not gone to plan. One suspects, not for the first time.
"BLACKER-THAN-A-MINESHAFT AT MIDNIGHT COMEDY"
BEST COMEDY NOMS: AESTHETICA SHORT FILM FESTIVAL, SCREENTEST FESTIVAL
BEST SOUND NOM: CAMBRIDGE WATERSPRITE FESTIVAL
OFFICIAL SELECTION:
LONDON SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
EAST END FILM FESTIVAL
LEEDS CINAGE
LIVERPOOL LIFT-OFF
VIEWSTER ONLINE FESTIVAL
DEATH OF A PET,
Director, Screenplay, Short film, 2014
A couple try to protect their young son with unintentionally disastrous consequences.
Starring HATTIE LADBURY, CHRIS PORTER, SHOLA ADEWUSI & ANTON ERIKSSON
• NFTS Star of Tomorrow at BAFTA
• Best Comedy nom at London Short film festival; Best Writing nom at Underwire Festival
