Bristol's film festival to showcase new talent

A pop-up cinema in a disused shop, a model-making workshop from the makers of Wallace & Gromit and a seminar from the director of Withnail and I all feature in The Encounters International Film Festival this year.

The festival, held in Bristol and now in its 17th year, will host 180 new short films and animations over the course of five days in venues throughout the city, starting next week. Here's our guide to some of the festival's best new short films and workshops.

Short films:

Pitch Black Heist

Two criminals work together to rob a bank protected by a light-sensitive alarm, but one of the men knows a secret about the other's past.

Hurdy Gurdy

Filmed with a tilt-shift camera that makes everything look miniature and toy-like, Hurdy Gurdy is a time lapse film following the comings and goings of the people in a colourful town.

La Detente

Reminsicent of the film Waltz with Bashir, which also uses the medium of animation to deal with the serious issue of war, this animation is set inside the mind of a soldier. Grenades here are lollipops and medals are chocolate coins - at first. The fantasy slowly decays and turns into a horror as reality pushes against the walls of the fantasy world.

God View

A video game style film which follows a man from an aerial perspective. He appears detached from his environment as he walks through his neighbourhood towards the birthday party of his estranged daughter.

15 Summers Later

A comedy where a girl is holidaying with her boyfriend and an old flame turns up. Savour the discomfort as he begins to reminisce about the mistakes of the past.

Luminaris

A surreal fantasy which captures the monotony of working life and the magic of love.

Talks and workshops:

Desert Island Flicks

Ren & Stimpy creator, John Kricfalusi, offers advice on getting into animation, and discusses his favourite and most influential films.

Model animation workshop

Jim Parkyn from Aardman Animations, the creators of Wallace and Gromit, explains the basics of sculpting and claymation.

Directors UK Presents Bruce Robinson

Bruce Robinson is the writer and director of Withnail and I and the director and screenwriter of The Rum Diary,  and adaptation of Hunter S Thompson's novel, starring Johnny Depp. He will discuss the process of writing for film, along with his current projects in film and literature.

Bristol Encounters International Film Festival runs from 16 to 20 November 2011.

www.encounters-festival.org