IFFG 2026 — Shorts 3

Run Club follows Scott a young person on the run. We think towards his ex girlfriend he cheated on 6 months ago but in fact Scott is running away from the hardest thing thats ever happened to him. The film also explores how often women are expected to solve mens problems, what if they didn't (!), and the absurd things we can be driven to do in grief. Under the guise of a desperate cross-country run to win back a lost love, a hilariously relentless journey unravels into a frantic attempt to outrun unbearable grief and tragedy.

Orisa, a queer refugee from Nigeria receives her refugee status in the UK and finally is able to move out of the lodging given to her by the Home Office. With the help of her lawyer she finds a new place to live and moves in with Alice, a queer singer-songwriter. Their stories entwine as we learn more about Orisa and her being persecuted and threatened by an anti-gay hate group in her home country of Nigeria, forcing her to flee to save her life, and Alice shares her upbringing and how her mum kicked her out of the house. The gravity of the past trying desperately to drag these two down brings us to today in this shared two bedroom flat in London and how these two queer women show us their resilience, power, and strength, and bring about a sense of stability and safety within each other's lives through cups of tea, fish and chips, and Alice underscoring the growth of their friendship through the only way she knows how - music.

The male gaze is diverted for a moment.

1999, the Bible Belt. A thirteen-year-old girl gets her first period, forcing a reckoning between the shame she's been taught and something wilder rising in her.

A young couple are on the run - from the world, each other, and themselves.

Forced to leave her baby daughter with the child’s father, young mother Esther is caught in desperation and longing. Through the night she chases touch and comfort, seeking ways to hold on to who she loves the most.

1 / 1 Personal Best is an elegiac ode to the art of urban running. A collaboration between poet Kevin P. Gilday and director Nadia Valkanova, the film was shot guerilla-style on the streets of Glasgow over the course of a year, charting the changing character of a city in flux. A dynamic confluence of images mimics the propulsive movement of running while the poetic composition meditates on what we’re really running from when we lace up our trainers. A film poem capturing the loneliness of the long-distance runner while celebrating exercise as an egalitarian means of escape from societal anxiety.

Two strangers. One locked toilet. Eleven hours to kill. After missing the final ferry, Emily and Carla find themselves stuck overnight in a ferry terminal bathroom. What begins as an awkward inconvenience quickly becomes an emotional pressure cooker, as secrets surface, defenses crack, and assumptions fall apart. By morning, both women will leave changed—if they can survive the night together.