Welcome To UVFF 2026!

27th April 7pm £

Shorts selections from UK Filmmaskers

Venue: Everyman King's Cross

Egg Timer (Directed by Rosie May Bird Smith) UK

As Megan faces her 30th birthday, the pressure to take the “next step” in life is overwhelming. But when her own opinionated ovarian eggs start chiming in on her every move, she finds herself navigating not just the expectations of family and friends, but also the brutally honest commentary from within. In a comedic clash between reality and her ovaries, Megan must decide whose voice to listen to.

At this Moment it's Us (Directed by Theodore K. Emile Rodney & Chaa Ustaoglu) UK

'At This Moment, It’s Us' follows Delvonte Clarke, a quiet yet driven 19-year-old ballet dancer, striving for success not only to prove himself but to honour the sacrifices of his loving mother. Beneath his disciplined exterior lies an unspoken pain tied to the absence of his father, a wound he refuses to acknowledge as he pushes himself relentlessly toward his goals.

Dressed to the Nines (Directed by Madeleine Shenai & Ivana Mazza-Coates) UK

Luke goes on a journey of self-discovery in his mum's bedroom. Playfully exploring various things he finds, he loses himself to the connection. Ron, his unsuspecting dad catches him and tensions in the house reach boiling point.

Tell Your Face (Directed by Jill Worsley) UK

Haunted by her late mother's praise of her smooth skin, Chikana hits 30 and begins to obsess over he developing wrinkles. Without the money or motivation for Botox, she concocts an absurd and extreme way to stop them in their tracks.

The Truth About Space (Directed by Jeremiah Towolawi) UK

A young man is released from prison and has to face up to the lie that his estranged daughter has been led to believe – that he was in space.

The Man That I Wave At (Directed by Ben S Hyland) UK

A man has an existential crisis trying to work out who the mysterious man is that he waves at.

G.S.W. (Directed by Jonny Durgan) UK

A man is dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound when the paramedic treating him discovers he's the perpetrator of a school shooting at her child's primary school, which puts her in an impossible situation.

Odd Socks (Directed by David Ledger) UK

Starring Patterson Joseph (Peep Show, Wonka) and Sandi Toksvig (QI), Odd Socks is set in a world where humans live alongside sock-monsters. Maverick human detective McGuin must battle lies, deception, and every movie cliché in his hunt for the truth when a sock monster is murdered.

BUY TICKETS HERE

28th April 3pm £10

Title: About My Mom

Director: Soner Sert

Venue: Hen & Chickens Theatre

Country of Origin: Turkey

Runtime: 94 minutes

Caner, who went to Germany to study at university, returns to Türkiye to attend the fifth anniversary commemoration of his mother’s death, and is greeted at the airport by his father Muharrem, whom he has not seen for a long time. Caner, who is going to set off on a long journey to the countryside of Türkiye to attend the commemoration where all the relatives will gather and perform religious rituals with his father, whom he sees as responsible for his mother’s death, enters into a fierce struggle with his father on this journey. In this journey, where the sociopolitical environment of the country forms the background, things will get even more complicated when Caner’s mother gets involved between the father and son on a dark night. A modern Oedipus Complex story…

BOOK TICKETS HERE

28th April 6pm £12

Shorts selections from UK Filmmaskers

Venue: Odeon Luxe & Dine Islington

____

UK SHORTS 2: Screen 1 – 6pm

Carrot Cake (Olive Pascha)

Where There's Light (Charlotte Couture)

Beauty Sleep (Jasmine Emma De Silva)

The Black Box: Awaken (Rebecca Holbourn)

Grandma is Thirsty (Kris Carr)

Stumbling Blocks (Tortor Smith)

Plastic Surgery (Guy Trevellyan)

Toad in the Hole (Ben Norris)

BOOK TICKETS HERE

_____________________________________________________

UK SHORTS 3: Screen 5 – 6pm

I Am the Prize (Sai Karan Talwar)

Everytime I See a Yellow Car (Matt Chandler)

VEGETABLES HAVE SUGAR (Daniel Liakh)

Ken (Alison Hargreaves)

In the Clouds (Alexandra Bahíyyih Wain)

Homonym (Lily Howkins)

Lost Dog (Simon Wade, Paul Wade)

Dating Mark Silcox (Joe Lycett)

BOOK TICKETS HERE

29th April £10 per screening, £15 Day Pass.

1:45pm – Feature Film

Title: Small Gods

Director: Asher Rosen

Venue: Hen & Chickens Theatre

Country of Origin: Uganda

Runtime: 107 mins

While struggling to provide for her son, an indigenous single mother falls for a charismatic street performer. But when a crisis strikes, it threatens to rip their nascent family apart…

BOOK TICKETS HERE

____________________________________

4pm – Foreign Short Films

The Secret Assistants (Katey Lee Carson) – France/Germany/UK

Our Little Act of Rebellion (Ranw Aso-Rashid) – Greece

The Trophy King (Tighe Boudreaux Kellner) – USA

An Excess Baggage (Myriam Garcia Marienstras) – France

Lancastria (Joséphine DURAND, Noa VALADOUX, Loris ECK, Thomas ACCORSI, William ARIZA, Garance MICOL) – France

Nani (Mainak Dhar) – USA

The Conversation Has Been Removed (Andrew Nolan) – Ireland

BOOK TICKETS HERE

__________________________________

6pm – Documentaries

The Dying Trade (Jack Hancock-Fairs) – UK

Esme Boggart (Nicholas Jones) – UK

BOOK TICKETS HERE

__________________________________

8pm – Feature Film

Title: Breakwater

Director: Max Morgan

Venue: Hen & Chickens Theatre

Country of Origin: UK

Runtime: 91 mins

Set between the sandstone colleges of Oxford and the salt-encrusted Suffolk coast, Breakwater follows the tentative romance between university student, Otto, and retired angler, John. Their lives fuse irreversibly over the shared trauma of losing a loved one. However, their relationship darkens when the past exhumes itself in the form of guilt, grief, and ghosts.

BOOK TICKETS HERE

29th April 6pm

***WORLD PREMIERE***

Title: The Old Man

Director: Marc Hardman

Venue: Everyman Screen on the Green

Country of Origin: UK

Runtime: 91 mins

Two estranged brothers must re-connect, and suffer each other’s company for a weekend, as they take a road trip to scatter the ashes of their late father.
Starring Richard Glover (Sightseers, A Field In England), Jonathan Broke and Rachel Barry.

BOOK TICKETS HERE

30th April £10-12 per screening, £18 for a day pass

2pm – Feature

Title: The Legend of Juan Jose Mundo

Director: Michael Walker

Venue: The Hen & Chickens Theatre

Country of Origin: UK

Runtime: 92 mins

Set in suburban NY in 1984. Julie Gornick hosts a charismatic, larger than life Spanish exchange student. As he starts hooking up with the girls in her class, Julie falls in love with him. Or what she thinks is love.

BOOK TICKETS HERE

_________________________________

4pm – Foreign Shorts 1

Bag People (Valentin Classen) – France

Hide (Brendan Hubbard)

Forever, Liam (Guillermo de la Rosa)

Roots (Konstantinos Doxiadis) – Greece

Made from Leakproof Plastic (Anastasiya Mykhaylova) – Canada

BOOK TICKETS HERE

__________________________________

6.15pm – Feature

Title: Invincible

Director: Emma Croft

Venue: Hen & Chickens Theatre

Country of Origin: UK

Runtime: 109 mins

Set in June 2012, against the backdrop of the recession and the Afghanistan conflict, Emily and Oliver leave behind their comfortable middle-class life in London to start anew in a small northern town in England. Emily is eager to immerse herself in the lives of what she calls “real people,” while Oliver seeks relief from mounting financial pressure.

To foster a sense of community, Emily invites their new neighbours Alan and Dawn over for a gathering. However, what begins as an attempt at connection quickly spirals into a clash of ideologies, particularly around art, war and culture. The evening culminates in a shocking revelation that sets the stage for unforeseen consequences.

As tensions rise, the lives of these four neighbours begin to unravel. Emily’s idealistic pursuit of solidarity falters, Oliver’s increasingly dubious behavior creates fractures, and the mysterious disappearance of Alan’s cat adds to the growing chaos. Meanwhile, Emily faces a relapse into old habits, oblivious to the dramatic shift unfolding around her.

By the story’s end, a tragedy shatters the fragile balance: Dawn and Alan’s marriage is on the brink of collapse, with Dawn spiraling into mental distress after a devastating loss. Amid the turmoil, Oliver is determined to move his family back to London, seeking escape from the mess and turmoil they have unwittingly created.

BOOK TICKETS HERE

__________________________________

8.30pm – Feature

Title: A Teachers Gift

Director: Artur Ribeiro

Venue: Hen & Chickens Theatre

Country of Origin: UK

Runtime: 104 mins

Rohan’s diploma may be fake but he’s a great Hindi language teacher with a knack for engaging with his retired English students and enjoying life despite his troubled past. He isn’t getting any younger and his mother is relentless in pressuring him to marry Mumbai based entrepreneur Arushi who is already in a relationship but is equally under pressure from her Father to marry Rohan.

Enter Charles, a charming, sophisticated older Englishman with a lifestyle Rohan has only dreamt of who now enrols in his class. A relationship develops as they enjoy their common interests in literature, cricket and each other’s company despite their cultural and age differences. A sudden phone call about Arushi’s imminent arrival in London panics Rohan and he seeks immediate help from his new friend Charles. Charles agrees but for a price. A trip to India to help him with “unfinished business”.

As Rohan accompanies Charles to India tensions rise between Arushi and Rohan. Matters only get worse when Charles goes missing and suspicion of murder falls on Rohan. This dramatic and frightening event in Goa eventually forces Charles, Rohan and Arushi to come clean, confront their own past, complete the unfinished business and for once in their lives face up to the truth.

BOOK TICKETS HERE

1st May £10 -£12 per screening, £20 for a day pass

12pm – Documentaries 2

The Banjo Boys (Johan Nayar)

Houdini II: A Beautiful Day to Die (Daniel John)

BOOK TICKETS HERE

_________________________________

2pm – Documentaries 3

When You Were Young Were You Afraid of The Moon? (Phoebe Cottam)

Voice Shift (Roberto Duque)

Seekers (Gio Israel)

BOOK TICKETS HERE

________________________________

3.30pm – Unrestricted Brew

A chance to meet and chat about the films and filmmaking. Which will lead on to…

4pm – Speed questions 1 with: Josic Cadoret (Film London & BFI Network)

5pm – Speed questions 2 with: Christine Hartland (Co-Founder and COO of My Smash Media)

A 30 minute opportunity to ask an industry expert any question you like and get advice on your next project.

6pm Speed questions 3 with: Christian Parton (Founder & CEO of Genera Films)

A 30 minute opportunity to ask an industry expert any question you like and get advice on your next project.

7pm – Speed questions 4 with: Barry Ryan (CEO of Free at Last TV & The Format Factory)

A 30 minute opportunity to ask an industry expert any question you like and get advice on your next project.

BOOK TICKETS HERE

__________________________________

8.30pm – Featurettes

Margate Barred (Ben Cole)

Where You At (Shanti Scalpello)

BOOK TICKETS HERE

2nd May 11.30am £12

Title: How To Make Her Leave

Director: Michael Boccalini & Che Grant

Venue: Hen & Chickens Theatre

Country of Origin: UK

Runtime: 86 mins

Ollie, a hopeless romantic scarred by a string of unfaithful partners, finally finds ‘the one’. But when he grows suspicious that his fiancée might also be cheating, his struggle to protect love spirals into a comedic and chaotic battle with his own insecurities.

BOOK TICKETS HERE

2nd May 3.30pm & 6.30pm £12 each screening, both Screenings £18.

Selections of UK short films.

Venue: Curzon Hoxton

3.30pm – UK shorts 4

Uncle Artoo (Zoe Whittaker)

Indignitas (Darcia Martin)

Between the Piers (Kate Cheeseman)

Care (Stef O’Driscoll)

Rule, Britannia (Max Fisher)

Truckload (Aella Jordon-Edge)

Self+Tape (James Cleave)

BOOK TICKETS HERE

___________________________________

6.30pm – UK shorts 5

Magid/Zafar (Luis Hindman)

Blackpool (Stephen Gallacher)

The Humbug (Cole Paviour)

Big Breakfast (Chris Hyde)

Good Behaviour (Dan Sloan)

Largo (Salvatore Scarpa & Max Burgoyne-Moore)

Gone for Milk (Will Farell)

Easy Sell (Ken Abalos & Ash Meshkati)

BOOK TICKETS HERE

3rd May £12

12.45pm – UK Shorts 6

The Painting & The Statue (Freddie Fox)

The Weight of Feeling (Lily Mellor)

The Weight (Vanessa Rose)

Starboy (AR Ugas)

Route Cause (Eliab Gebressilase)

Overtones (Ollie Gardner)

A Wonderful Neighbour (Alun Rhys Morgan)

Domestic (Jake Spence Barnes)

Emiko Jones (Hanako Footman)

BOOK TICKETS HERE

________________________________

4.30pm – 8pm £12

THE UNRESTRICTED VIEW FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS 2026

A drinks reception followed by an awards event

BOOK TICKETS HERE

Aleksandra Sykulak is a BAFTA-winning screenwriter working across  fiction, animation and games. She was born and raised in Warsaw. Her  writing occupies the space between tragedy and comedy – always touching  on real, tangible feelings, but often through obscure, slightly ironic  scenarios. Aleksandra is a graduate of The National Film and Television  School, where she wrote numerous short films, many of which screened at  festivals around the world. She is also the author of a graphic crime  novel El Diablo and the director of a short documentary In A Knot, which  premiered at an Oscar-qualifying Kraków Film Festival. She is currently  developing both live-action and animated projects for TV and for film.

Richard  Glover is an award-winning actor, who recently wrapped shooting upcoming feature films DESPERATE JOURNEY, directed by Annabel Jankel and PROMENADE. He can now be seen in the BBC 1 series BEYOND PARADISE for Red Planet Pictures. He can also be seen in the 8 episode limited series A SMALL LIGHT, for Disney+ and in GHOSTS S4 for BBC One. Recent highlights include the feature film CENSOR and AGATHA RAISIN 3 for Sky 1.

In the past few years, Richard has become a regular in Ben Wheatley films. First off, he appeared in SIGHTSEERS (playing 'Martin'). Then as 'Friend' in the movie A FIELD IN ENGLAND and alo he appeared in Wheatley's HAPPY NEW YEAR, COLIN BURSTEAD.

Richard has also appeared in other movies such as the Disney movie INTO THE WOODS, playing 'The Steward' to Chris Pine's 'Prince Charming'. He was also (delighted to be) an X-Wing pilot in ROGUE ONE and played Brigadier Nicholson in DARKEST HOUR. He also landed a fun role in the Horrible Histories film BILL.

As for TV, Richard was in the BBC/HBO TV adaptation of J.K.Rowling's first adult book THE CASUAL VACANCY, in which he plays 'Simon Price'. More recently, he popped up in the successful BBC drama INFORMER.

Alice Henley is an award winning Screen and Theatre Actress. She has worked with HBO as series regular Livia in "Rome", acted opposite Viggo Mortensen in David Cronenberg's "‪Eastern Promises‬" and was the lead in CBBC comedy "My ‪Almost Famous‬ Family". She toured Italy for six months with "‪Romeo and Juliet‬" and then moved to London permanently working as an actress, writer and producer..

She has co-written and produced short film "Another Day", which deals with the growing epidemic of male suicide, and has written, produced and acted in "Lal", the story of the East End girls who kept Britain going while the boys were away fighting World War II. She currently has two projects in development with her production company Henley Black Productions.

Born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Eliab Daniel is a writer, director and photographer of Eritrean Heritage. Raised in South London, his taste and visual language is a blend of these different cultures and the observations that come from them. Heavily influenced by East Asian Cinema and its spiritual and meditative qualities, Eliab strives to bring these qualities to new characters and worlds. In his stories, nuance and authenticity are an important element of exporing working class and immigrant pockets of society. Visual language, emotive intuition and a strong cultural identity all shape the message that he has to tell

Shayna Weber is a screenwriter, producer, and director who writes characters who were never meant to fit in the box — so they blow it up. Shayna, and her writing partner, (Rebel Minx) sold their horror feature Gara’s Return which is awaiting release, have completed a horror feature commissioned by Full Moon Features, and hired to rewrite a horror thriller feature. Her produced short Lunch Ladies is a cult phenomenon with forty-six festival wins across more than 150 screenings worldwide. A two-decade veteran of unscripted television — RuPaul’s Drag Race, So You Think You Can Dance, VH1’s Bands Reunited — she brings a producer’s instincts and a writer’s hunger to everything she makes. She currently serves as Creative Executive at The International Screenwriters’ Association. Please can we add the link to their website that I shared earleier. Thank you

Darcia is a British film and television director known for Riches written by Abby Ajayi for Amazon Prime /ITVx,  and feature length episodes of The Chelsea Detective. A new series entitled Three Little Birds created by Sir Lenny Henry, executive produced by Russell T Davies (It’s a Sin, Dr Who) was recently released with the final two episodes directed by Darcia. 

During a career which began in documentaries Darcia has worked with Neal Street Productions, Shondaland, Greenacre Films and BBC studios. She is working with Element8 and ZDF on the upcoming Brontë Girls. 

Her short film First gained U.S distribution and Darcia was selected to join BFI Network x BAFTA Crew 2021.  Indignitas is due for release in 2025.