Women in Film: BBC Introducing Arts (2021)

Hearts of Christmas

When Alice, a beloved neonatal intensive care unit supervisor, is forced to take early retirement, her young colleague Jenny decides to turn the upcoming staff Christmas party into a surprise celebration for her. The plan is complicated by Matt, the hospital’s new CFO, who’s been tasked to cut costs. Initially at loggerheads, Jenny and Matt get to know and understand each other —a sweet Christmas gift neither saw coming.

Little Women

With their father away as a chaplain in the Civil War, Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy grow up with their mother in somewhat reduced circumstances. They are a close family who inevitably have their squabbles and tragedies. But the bond holds even when, later, male friends start to become a part of the household.

Never Me

“Never Me” is a student film about Serafina, a 16-year-old girl who endures the tribulations of attempting to receive an abortion in her home state of Texas after the overturn of Roe v. Wade. The story explores the importance of friendship and family as they journey through love and loss. Serafina treks a narrow path, but in the end became closer to those who matter most and gained a newfound respect for adulthood.

AIRBAG

In Timothy Leong's debut short film, Howie and his daughter, Jane, get into a fight on the roof of a parking garage. When Howie gets stuck at the exit, his anger targets the people around him.

The Prince of Tides

A troubled Southern man talks to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist about their family history and falls in love with her (and New York City) in the process.

Hanging Up

Three sisters - Georgia, Eve, and Maddy - do what they do best with life, love, and lunacy on the telephone lines that bind - when their curmudgeonly father, Lou, is admitted to a Los Angeles Hospital. After years of wild living, intermittent affection, and constant phoning, he is finally threatening to die.

Mansfield Park

Fanny, born into a poor family, is sent away to live with wealthy uncle Sir Thomas, his wife and their four children, where she'll be brought up for a proper introduction to society. She is treated unfavorably by her relatives, except for her cousin Edmund, whom she grows fond of. However, Fanny's life is thrown into disarray with the arrival of worldly Mary Crawford and her brother Henry.

Actos impuros

Oscar works in a public bath, where he murders several people.

Jump or Occurrence at 4:48am

Five young people. Five minds. Five particular universes. An intersex, a boy living with HIV, a college student, a raped girl and a participant in the Blue Whale game. The violent hour: 4:48 am, when lucidity and desolation meet. They are powerful nights, almost unbearable, where they cry out in their painful relations with delirium, the uncontrolled enjoyment and the tragic desire in an attempt to communicate with a figure who is always busy.

Love Under the Crucifix

The basic story in Love under the Crucifix is about Ogin, daughter of a tea master, who are both Christians in feudal Japan. Ogin falls in love with a feudal prince, also a Christian who is already married, and that creates problems. Further, when the Shogun bans Christianity, the situation worsens.

Holland

Nancy is a teacher whose life with her husband in Holland, Michigan, tumbles into a twisted tale when she and her colleague become suspicious of a secret.

For Fun

Required to retire from his job as a utility man at a Peking Opera theater, Old Han is at loose ends, wandering the backstreets of Beijing looking for something to correct.

No Mercy, No Future

Doctors say that Veronika, a woman in her 20s, is schizophrenic. She is compliant, which makes her an easy target for men. She's religious, believing she is God's favorite child; she searches for Jesus. She has sent a letter to a filmmaker suggesting her life as the subject for a movie. We see her raped then take up with a series of men she believes are Jesus, each willing or insistent on sex. A young man with his own crisis of faith invites her to join a cult. We see her involuntarily committed to an asylum from time to time where medication and constraints await. Her wealthy parents are helpless. Will a medical professional ever talk to her? If one did, would it help?

Macondo

A drama centered on an 11-year-old Chechnyan refugee living in Vienna whose life is thrown into disarray when a friend of his deceased father materializes.

Travelling Circus

A small traveling circus from Hanoi arrives at a village struck down by famine, trying to sell magic and dreams.

Nick Crumbs and the Mystery of the Missing Cake

With a Boston cream pie reported eaten, self-proclaimed private detective Nick Crumbs decides to take the case.

Yes, God, Yes

Fifteen-year-old Alice has always been a good Catholic, but when an innocent AOL chat turns unexpectedly racy, she finds herself suddenly obsessed with sex.

Pigtails

The earth shook. The sea roared. And then… There is a small house solitary standing by the seaside. A young girl has been living there alone since that fateful day. Mail is no longer delivered, but even this morning, she’s hanging out the laundry as usual. She’s unaware that all around her, the clothes pegs are quarreling, the pillow argues with the umbrella about the outside world, and the new toothbrush is unsuccessfully trying to charm the grumpy older ones. Do objects exist to be used until they are consumed or broken? Are they afraid of being thrown away once their life cycle is complete? A delicate story of hope in a cruel and gentle world after an unnamed disaster.

The Receptionist

Weighed down by financial problems, Tina takes a job as a receptionist at an illegal massage parlour in London. As she slowly gets to know the women who work there, Tina is forced to question her values and morals. But how far will she be drawn into this world, and can she avoid losing herself in the process?

Stick It

Haley is a naturally gifted athlete but, with her social behavior, the teen seems intent on squandering her abilities. After a final brush with the law, a judge sentences her to an elite gymnastics academy run by a legendary, hard-nosed coach. Once there, Haley's rebellious attitude wins her both friends and enemies.

The Color of Milk

Selma's mother died giving birth to her, and Selma's step aunt is living proof that men only cause trouble. So the 11 year old girl makes a deal with her best friends that they will stay away from boys and dedicate their lives to science. And by the way, Selma was probably born on another planet and not meant to fall in love with anyone. But what happens when her friends break the pact, and she actually meets a boy who's not like the rest?

Frozen River

After her husband deserts her, working-class mother Ray Eddy is in great need of money to find a home. Lured by the possibility of easy cash, she joins Lila, a widowed Mohawk who earns a living by smuggling immigrants from Canada to the U.S. across the St. Lawrence.

Alazar

In contemporary Ethiopia, a farming community's exodus is disrupted when the patriarch of a prominent family disappears from his grave. Tessema, his son, begins to question the church's divine explanation, forcing him to launch his own investigation.

My Senses Are All I Have to Offer

Lourdes and Lana met telepathically using “sensory pills”, a technology that allows access to other people’s sensations from a distance. After months of relationship, Lourdes decides to visit the country house of her parents, Vicente and Carl, and introduce them to her girlfriend.

Weeping Lady

Laura is frustrated at having to take care of her baby alone, but what she doesn't know is that her worst nightmare is yet to come.

On Which Foot to Dance

When Teddy's mom asks him for help cleaning out his grandmother's attic, Teddy uncovers that his grandmother's past holds more mystery than he previously thought... This film was created by two undergrad students with a budget of $12, months of hard work, two iPhone cameras, an incredible passion for the art of film making, and one borrowed microphone.

Quantum Love

Pierre has been happily married for fifteen years and a good father. Still in love with his wife, he enjoys his wife and family and is content. One evening, he meets Elsa at a party and are immediately attracted to each other. Fifteen days later, they happen to meet again and the mutual attraction turns into infatuation. But his love for his wife and Elsa's rule about not dating married men prevents them from taking the next step. Instead, they fantasize about each other, and soon the fantasies mingle with the reality.

Saudade

Aurora and Bernardo are experiencing moments of happiness, but their joy is interrupted by the onset of war.

Pas de Deux

Mireia has just come out of a toxic relationship that prevents her from enduring physical contact when she is offered the lead role of "Sleeping Beauty" at the ballet school where she attends, and has to dance with the Blue Prince.

The Bridge Partner

A timid housewife is jolted into a fight for her survival or sanity when she thinks she hears her new partner at a weekly bridge game whisper a shocking threat.

Xavier and Miguel

Xavier decides to shoot with his cell phone his weekend with his best friend Miguel to tell the world and his father, Nicolas, that he might be in love with him. Xavier and Miguel is the sequel of the short film Xavier (2015).

The David Dance

Away from the microphone, David is soft spoken, shy and unsure of himself. However, as his on-air alias ‘Danger Dave,’ the host of “Gay Talk,” he’s poised, witty, and every listener’s best friend. His sister, Kate, a thrice divorced banker has a yen for Schumann and cats. Though successful, the siblings suffer from a secret, yet vast, sense of inadequacy. Kate decides to adopt and asks David to be a father figure. David gawkily romances his coworker. Past and present intertwine to tell the story of a man learning to love and accept himself.

In Good Faith

Teenage siblings Hannah and Timotheus grow up in a strict evangelical family and lead seemingly fulfilling lives in their free church community. When Hannah falls in love with their new neighbour, Max, and Timotheus discovers he is attracted to men, their feelings collide with their family's values.

Boca Chica

Twelve-year-old Desi is in pursuit of becoming a famous singer. As Desi braces to leave her hometown, she's met with deep-seated secrets that have long tormented her family and their coastal Dominican community.

Sound of Waves

Umi’s hearing is so sensitive that even notes played slightly out-of-tune give her a headache. Violinist Yuko arrives from Tokyo to play a concert on Umi’s small island near Okinawa, and gradually befriends the girl. Both struggle with friendships and family relationships, but are brought together by music.

Inside the Box

We're in the year 2023, and the world seems open and enlightened. At least, it appears that way. Millions of people from other countries live among us, trying to find their way, fulfill their dreams, and advance in their careers. But for refugees, it's not that simple. In the short film Inside the box, we explore social injustices, prejudices against foreign fellow citizens, and the German passport, which is believed to make everything better.

Blame

A drama teacher's taboo relationship with an unstable student strikes a nerve in her jealous classmate, sparking a vengeful chain of events within their suburban high school that draws parallels to "The Crucible".

The Glassblower

Marie violates tradition in a small German town of Lauscha, to become the first female glassblower in in 1890. Her glass ball decorations find a new market in America.

The Virgins

When the two actors starring in a short film, titled "The Virgins", leave around at the last minute, a young director will have to act alongside the only other person who knows the script by heart: the boom operator.

Girls of the Night

In the wake of the 1956 Prostitution Prevention Law, a young woman recently released from one of Japan's new rehabilitation centers struggles to build a new life.

The War Game

Two boys quarrel over a toy pistol in an ever escalating game.

Jemima + Johnny

A white boy and a black Jamaican girl have a day out in a city where racial hostility prevails.

Crown

A girl with financial struggles who lives alone in poor neighborhood is threatened to get kicked out of her flat for late payments. Thus, considering to 'sell her body' though fear of getting her dignity stripped off is haunting her.

Six Shooter

Overwhelmed by grief following the death of his wife, Donnelly shares a train carriage home with a troubled young man identified only as the 'Kid'. As the Kid becomes more agitated and foul-mouthed, the journey takes on a violent and dangerous hue – for the bereaved Donnelly and for other hapless passengers on the train. Academy Award Winner: Best Live Action Short Film – 2005

Love & Sex

When her rather explicit copy is rejected, magazine journalist Kate is asked by her editor to come up with an article on loving relationships instead, and to do so by the end of the day. This gets Kate thinking back over her own various experiences, and to wondering if she is in much of a position to write on the subject.

The Mirror Has Two Faces

Rose Morgan, who still lives with her mother, is a professor of Romantic Literature who desperately longs for passion in her life. Gregory Larkin, a mathematics professor, has been burned by passionate relationships and longs for a sexless union based on friendship and respect.