In 2025 our Kino Short of the Week series featured shorts of all genres ranging from drama to comedy, from fashion films to documentaries and more.
We continued to feature films on a non-exclusive basis, including distributing films via our own channel and, to help maximise viewership for filmmakers, helped support releases from Omeleto, Dust, and Directors Notes as well as those filmmakers who chose to self-distribute on their own channels.
We of course think every film we selected is worth a watch, but here’s 10 films from our online distribution platform that stood out this year!
10. MILKING THE DOG
Directed by Joe Murphy
Produced by Joe Murphy & Clare McCahery
Phil Rochester battles to conquer Manchester's toughest standup contest, revealing the relentless drive of an artist to perform - even when he's not thanked by audiences for doing so.
9. BUSY
Written & Produced by Megan Smith
Directed by Jane Moriarty
Emma-Leigh and her friends decide to put their next date in the diary, but it proves harder than they anticipate.
8. PLOP
Directed & Produced by Darius Shu
Written by Arron Blake
A desperate woman from the society of rejected singles, known as the Leftovers, takes a bold leap of faith on a revolutionary new dating app, risking everything for one last chance at love.
7. Freedom to be alone
Written & Directed by Alexandre Laurent
Produced by Maël Hajos
Jade opens up through a poem, sharing her story of an intense relationship with a former lover, marked by a toxic hold fuelled by stereotypes and the societal pressure to avoid being alone. Their breakup, far from being a tragic end, becomes a liberation a journey back to herself where solitude emerges as a soothing and healing remedy.
6. DECKSDARk
Written, Directed & Produced by Kane Wilson
Co-Produced by James Freeman
In a dystopian realm where consciousness is encased within neural implants, Logan, a solitary Decksdark, finds himself intertwined with an ethereal entity.
5. AMIGO
Directed by James & Harrison Newman
Written by James Newman & Tom Waterhouse
Produced by Guy Lindley
'Amigo', the rent-a-friend app has taken London by storm. An unfriendly Amigo's life comes crashing down when he finds out his life is a lie.
4. Florescence
Written and Directed by D I • A L (Alice Gatti & Diego Indraccolo)
Produced by Peter Wilson
A visually stunning and thought-provoking exploration of the cultural, biological, and symbolic roles that flowers play in our understanding of gender and sexuality. Blending elements of a fashion film, short documentary, and experimental visual essay, Florescence dismantles the simplistic, often gendered associations that flowers have been assigned throughout history.
3. CONTEMPORARY
Directed by Zaeem Asad
Produced by Emma Raz
This short documentary explores the transformative power of art through the stories of three groundbreaking UK-based artists—Denai Moore, a vegan Jamaican chef revolutionizing cuisine; Mr Cenz, a graffiti artist reshaping urban landscapes; and Bimini, a drag performer pushing the boundaries of identity and performance.
2. SATISFACTION
Directed by Bailey Tom Bailey
Written by Christopher Buckley
Produced by Marek Lichtenberg & Nathan Craig
Georgian England. A society lady raises her pistol to duel with her aristocratic mentor over a grave insult.
1. ALONE ACROSS GOLA
Written, Directed & Produced by Jude Kriwald
Edited by Christian Burnett
This gripping short documentary follows Jude’s extraordinary solo journey through Liberia's dense Gola rainforest - a landscape uncharted by roads or paths, where every step meant battling through thick undergrowth with nothing more than a bicycle and a tent.
SHORTS CLOSE TO HOME
Kino is of course run for the benefit of filmmakers, by filmmakers.
While it didn’t quite feel right patting ourselves on the back for our own work by including these in our Top 10, we’re proud of our Kino Original work from festival director & CEO Dustin Curtis Murphy, the work of our Senior Festival Programmer Gillian Harker and Festival Programmer Mark van Heusden.
EVERYTHING IS OUT TO GET ME
JINX
I UNDERSTAND
