Aesthetica Short Film Festival: Top Ten Films To See at this week's event in York

MORE than 300 short films from 40 countries worldwide will be shown between today and Sunday, making it incredibly difficult to pick a Top Ten for the 2014 Aesthetica Short Film Festival. From the mix of drama, comedy, animation and documentary, to the new strands of fashion and advertising, try these...

1. Drama: The Ringer, Chris Shepherd (Autour De Minuit / Polkadot / The Bureau).

After a life time apart a son finally meets his father. The son wants to know about his history, where he came from and how he came to be, but his dad gives him a surprise.

2. Comedy: Girl Power, Benjamin Bee (Attercop Productions).

1997. Into a dizzy world of glamour and false promises comes Cass, a recent graduate. Innocent Publishing appears perfect – but behind cool Britannia there lurks a much darker place.

3.Fashion: Red Shoes, Lorna Tucker (Finished Films).

Inspired by Vivienne Westwood’s Climate Revolution, Red Shoes is a journey through a dark, enchanted space where decay and opulence sit side by side.

4.Thriller: Keeping Up With The Joneses, Michael Pearce (Incendiary Pictures & Agile Films).

MP's wife Celia discovers her husband's true colours when she is taken hostage by his criminal business associates. Maxine Peake stars and BAFTA-nominated Michael Pearce directs.

5.Experimental: Léthé, Harald Hutter (Scotland Screen Academy).

Léthé is an invitation to go astray; an invitation to forget one’s self, embarking with our vagrant protagonist as he searches to forget his past.

6.Animation: Coda, Alan Holly (And Maps And Plans).

A lost soul stumbles drunkenly through the city, where Death finds him and shows him many things. A hand-drawn film voiced by Brian Gleeson and Orla Fitzgerald.

7. Music video: Jim James: State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U.), Staci DeGagne / Alexander Fletcher (Clean White Lines Productions).

Wandering through an urban landscape of lonely people, a man who is part technology streams the inner desires of those who touch him, but when it’s all too much he craves release.

8.German special screening: Alfonso, Jan-Eric Mack (Zurich University of the Arts), courtesy Kurzfilmtage Winterthur and Embassy of Switzerland.

Alfonso is a hypnotist at a local talent show. The winner will receive generous prize money, but when the routine gets out of control, the only way out is a stylish retreat.

9.Documentary: Gyre: Creating Art from a Plastic Ocean, JJ Kelly / Josh Thomas (Dudes on Media / National Geographic).

Gyre: Creating Art from a Plastic Ocean surveys the work of a group of artists and scientists who travelled the Alaskan coastline to raise awareness of plastic pollution.

10. Even more Experimental: Viviente, Ivalo Frank.

Viviente is a music video that explores the issue of identity through modern dance, lyrics and music. It highlights how body language and music can overcome all cultural barriers.

The 2014 Aesthetica Short Film Festival runs from today until Sunday. Festival tickets and passes are available from asff.co.uk/tickets and you can join the ASFF conversation @asffest and on facebook.com/aestheticamagazine


Video: Chris Parker


Video: Chris Parker


Video: Chris Parker


Video: Chris Parker