Thank you to all the filmmakers who participated in the 2026 April Lift-Off Showcase!

We want to extend a giant thank you to everyone who took part and a special congratulations to all the incredible talent that went into making these projects.

Reel Love

Director/Producer: Chloe Wilcox
Writer/Producer: Rebecca Harrod
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Genre: Shorts

Synopsis: Reel Love is a short-form comedy set during a sponsored content shoot with influencer couple Jess and Tavish.
As they promote sportswear, cappuccino pods, and their own relationship, we watch the cracks widen- between takes, between them, and between reality and performance.
A satire of influencer culture, toxic positivity, and the quiet horror of staying together for the algorithm.

God Forbid

Director/Writer/Producer: Aaran McKenzie
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Genre: Shorts

Synopsis: What begins as a quiet reunion between mother and daughter slowly unravels into a reckoning no prayer could soften.

Two Moons

Director/Writer: Craig Skerry
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Genre: Short

Synopsis: Fleeing captivity into a forest haunted by mutated creatures, two brothers discover that freedom comes at a terrifying price.

Dead Water

Director: Robert Harari
Director/Producer: Joe Riley
Writer/Producer: Steve Passmore
Producer: Ellie Torrez
Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Synopsis: When Ben and Jennifer travel to America to claim an unexpected lakeside inheritance, they are tasked with completing one final request for their mysterious benefactor.

Hockey Mom

Director/Producer: Mikaela Lily Davies
Writer: Clara Altimas
Producer: Katrina Peralta
Country of Origin: Canada

Synopsis: Melissa, a perpetually distracted working mom, shows up to her 14 year old daughter Ava’s hockey game having forgotten the one thing that matters most: Ava’s goalie stick. With the game about to start and her daughter already humiliated, Melissa has to find a way to make it right - before she loses more than just the game.

Morceaux de Moi: The Short Film

Director/Writer: Carlton Dossou
Producer: Dessaline Etienne
Country of Origin: United States

Synopsis: A visual journey based on Carlton Dossou's poetry book, "Morceaux de Moi." A journey to healing through poems, therapy, and self-reflection. From resistance to acceptance.

BURNING PAGES

Director/Writer: Josephine Barbara van Duren
Producers: Syed Hussain Ali, Jashan Doshi
Country of Origin: Netherlands, United Kingdom
Genre: Short, Drama

Synopsis: Lisane (19) embarks on a journey through the streets of London to find peace with losing the part of herself that will always be in love with Ben(23).

Traces

Director/Writer: Edward Murphy
Producer: Cal McLoughlin
Country of Origin: Ireland
Genre: sci-fi, dystopian, drama

Synopsis: In a dystopian Ireland, Daithí, a grieving widower, lives in isolation. Haunted by the past and cocooning himself away from danger he lives in repetitive solitude. His only companion is CARA, an artificial intelligence confined to a homemade terminal. Yet, locked away in away deeper in his compound is something far more precious - ROBYN, or rather, the fragmented digital reconstruction of his late wife. Desperate to preserve her memory, Daithí spends his days painstakingly refining her personality and with CARA’s guidance, chasing the illusion of bringing her back.

The Lift-Off Season Awards is an annual event that celebrates the very best of indie film. Following each Lift-Off film festival, films that have excelled in their respective category are short listed for a Season Awards Nomination.  At the end of the year, once all the 12 city-based festival have taken place, the shortlisted nominated films are reviewed again by the jury and Official Nominations are designated.  Click here for more information about the Lift-Off Season Awards.