Clean to screen in competition at Clermont Ferrand 2023

Miranda Stern's short documentary 'Clean' has been selected to screen in the 35th International Competition of Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival.

The festival received 8500 submissions and only 78 films were chosen to make up the International Competition.

Very happy that Miranda's deeply personal and poetic film has been recognised and will be screening at this prestigious festival in 2023.

Clean:

A short and personal female-centred documentary about addiction and long-term recovery from it. This film weaves together observational and lyrical elements to take us into the challenging, deeply personal and relatively unknown world of recovery – along with the processes of care that follow in the years after a period of active addiction.

This is one couple’s journey together as they negotiate the world of recovery and how to plan for a future with so much uncertainty in it.

A female-centred film about addiction. And long-term recovery from it. Made by an addict. Not by an outsider pointing a camera at addicts struggling with relapses and failure and turning that struggle into entertainment for others.

Not focusing on the dark descent into heroin’s seedy underworld but rather taking us into the challenging, deeply personal, and unknown world of recovery and hope.

Most representations we see on these topics sensationalise a manic, animal-like desperation for the next fix, but rarely frame it in the context of why people are that way...

Miranda Stern

Screening date and tickets

Schedules and tickets will become available mid January.

Miranda Stern

Miranda has worked as a self-shooting PD for the BBC and other broadcasters, as well as making campaign shorts, PSAs and immersive 60” films for Scottish Ensemble, UK Says No More, The Red Cross and others.

Her short drama ‘Revert’ was selected by the BFI Sharp Shorts scheme (2021), she came second place at 16 DAYS 16 FILMS and has had work screened at the Ch4 cinema in association with Film 4.

Further information

• Directed and Edited by Miranda Stern

• Cinematographer: Julyan Sinclair

• Producer: Reece Cargan

• Executive Producer: Sue Bourne

• Composer: Rotem Frimer

• Edit Consultant: Emiliano Battista

• Colourist and Online Editor Karolina Matela

• Sound Designer: Alina Ushakova

• Dubbing Mixer: Joseph Russell

Developed, supported and executive produced by the Scottish Documentary Institute's Bridging the Gap programme and Screen Scotland.

Screening or distribution requests

Please contact Alexandra via festivals@scotdoc.com

'Boifriend' selected for Cinemart 2023

Bombito producer Reece Cargan will be heading to Cinemart in January 2023, with writer director Jack Goessens to present feature project Boifriend.

Boifriend

When a fresh-faced lesbian starts to explore dating and the LGBT community, it quickly becomes clear the story doesn't end once you come out. Plagued by disturbing visions of Dysphoria and Euphoria, she starts to question her identity and place in the community once again.

The Team

Writer Director: Jack Goessens Producer: Reece Cargan of Bombito Productions

Jack and Reece worked together as director and producer on short film Everyman (2021) commissioned through the Scottish Documentary Institute’s Bridging the Gap programme. It recently won an RTS award for best short form.

It won Best Short Film at SQIFF and Euregion film festivals, as well as being shortlisted for a Grierson Award and screening at multiple BAFTA and Oscar qualifying festivals worldwide.

Their second short collaboration 'Who I Am Now', was funded by Creative Scotland & LEAP sports. The script was written by Michael Lee Richardson and starred Adam Kashmiry and Talisa Garcia. This film premiered at Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2022.

The Project

Boifriend is at first draft script stage and has been developed with the assistance of Screen Scotland and BFI NETWORK with its delivery partner Short Circuit via their first features scheme.

Jack has received additional support from Cinesud through their Career Lab and from winning the Royal Film Pitch with this project.​

Jack Goessens on Boifriend:

Boifriend is a character-driven, coming of age story exploring the feelings of gender dysphoria and euphoria. Tegan is disconnected from their body and consequently themself and desperately wants to feel a connection with somebody.

It’s a story about the fluidity of gender and sexuality. Although in the logline I have described a lesbian, by the end of the story the main character will realise that this label does not fit and they identify as transmasculine.

This story is not about gender transitioning, but the (potential) lead up to it. The process of working out what your gender identity is. It’s about what it means to be male or female in this world. It’s about body image, sexuality and identity; and about learning to love who you really are.

Cinemart

Cinemart is a co production market and the competitive industry platform which runs in parallel with the 52nd edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).

20 titles have been selected for Cinemart 2023 with only 2 from the UK. Presentations to international sales agents, programmers and buyers will take place on February 1st 2023.

Goals at Cinemart

Ideally we would like to find a European co-production partner, international sales agent and distributor interest.

Chat about the project

If you would like to chat about the project or want to come onboard - drop a line to Reece Cargan - reece@bombito.co.uk

Prosopagnosia: For Your Consideration at the 95th Academy Awards

Steven Fraser's short documentary Prosopagnosia is currently qualified for the 95th Academy Awards and the voting has begun! The film has been submitted by distribution partner The New York Times in the Best Documentary Short category.

We are very excited to qualify and our keeping everything crossed that this Scottish, Stop Motion Animation and deeply personal account of Prosopagnosia can make it to the Academy Award shortlist and maybe bring a gold trophy home to Glasgow in March 2023.

The film

Steven's film uses expressive animation to investigate intimacy, communication and memory.

Prosopagnosia

Prosopagnosia means face-blindness and to understand this neurodiverse behaviour, the contents of a memory box are intricately explored.

Steven uses his sketchbooks, photographs and diaries to tell a unique, engaging and personal story.

In partnership with the New York Times - you can watch the film via their Op Docs site.

If you are a voting Academy member in documentary - please watch the film and of course - vote for it if you like it.

The film had its International Premiere at the world renowned IDFA Documentary festival in Amsterdam. Steven returned to screen the film again and take part in multiple Q&A sessions as part of the IDFA School Programme Screenings.

Other screenings

Since the premiere, the film has appeared at over 40 International festivals and had many more screenings. It was Grierson nominated and has won multiple awards for best film, experimental awards and a variety of grand jury prizes.

The Sebastopol Documentary Festival was our first Academy Award qualifying festival where the film won the Jury Award.

Sebastopol Jury Note:

“Beautifully shot, edited, and produced.

A warm, uplifting story about resilience and creativity. “A personal, vulnerable, and vibrant exploration of a fascinating yet little known topic – face blindness.

The jury was impressed by the visually rich design and stop motion animation, poignant narration, and profound questions raised.”

North American screenings and successes

The film continued stateside success and won an inaugural Marvels of Media award sponsored by AMC networks. Following this Steven attended the event to pick up his prize and artefacts from the film are now hosted in the Museum of the Moving image (MOMI).

The film is continuing to show across venues in North America across 2022 and 2023 thanks to Reel Abilities.

Watch the trailer

Watch the film online via the New York Times

We were thrilled when we gained support from the New York Times and if you have a subscription - Prosopagnosia is now featured to view on their Op Docs site.

Further information

• Developed and supported by the Scottish Documentary Institute's highly acclaimed Bridging the Gap programme and Screen Scotland.

• Written, animated and edited by Steven Fraser

• Produced by Reece Cargan

• Composed, sound designed and mixed by Tom Drew

• Colourist: Jack Lang at MTP