DAD

Dir: Daniel Mulloy

Mulloy has impressed with his emotional shorts. His third film, Antonio's Breakfast, was selected for the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and went on to win a Bafta for best short film.

Mulloy's latest film, Dad, is about a sexually active elderly couple and their disgusted son. Produced by Sister Films, the film premiered at Sundance earlier this year and is nominated for a European Film Award. It was backed by the UK Film Council's Completion Fund.

Contact: Jim Tracy, Sister Films, (44) 07813 389 889 /

sisterfilms.info@gmail.com

MY MOTHER

Dir: Elaine Wickham

The directorial debut of producer Wickham, My Mother tells the story of a daughter tasked with driving her mother, who has advanced dementia, to a hospice.

The film was produced by Jan Dunn, Wickham's partner in Medb Films. Dunn and Wickham's feature credits include 2005's Gypo and Ruby Blue, starring Bob Hoskins. With a soundtrack from Requiem For A Dream's Clint Mansell and backing from Screen South, the film premiered at the UK's Rushes Soho Shorts Festival.

Contact: Jan Dunn, Medb Films, (44) 1843 852 934 / jan@medbfilms.com

THE VISITOR

Dir: David Smith

A world premiere at Encounters, The Visitor is a tense thriller about a widower who lives with his two young sons. Late one night he is disturbed by his younger brother with the body of a man he has run over while drunk-driving.

The second film from writer-director Smith, The Visitor was backed by the UK Film Council and EM Media through the Digital Shorts Scheme.

Contact: David Smith, (44) 07905 614 997 / daveasmith@hotmail.com

THE MAKING OF PARTS

Dir: Daniel Elliott

Winner of the Prix UIP at The Venice Film Festival last year, Elliott's The Making Of Parts follows a man who realises that the love and tenderness he once shared with his wife is slipping away from him.

Backed by Northern Film + Media and told with minimal dialogue, the 15-minute film is both quiet and poised. Lifesize Pictures' Rebecca Mark-Lawson says: "It's an absorbing character study told in a subtle, Eastern European way. The film is produced by Third Films with who Elliott will be making his next short, Jade. We are delighted to continue to support Dan and Third Films through Digital Shorts Plus."

Elliott's previous work includes Fender Bender, which won the Prix UIP award at the Tampere International Short Film Festival in 2004.

Contact: Daniel Elliott, (44) 191 440 5899/danelliott500@netscape.net

OVER THE HILL

Dir: Peter Baynton

Hand-drawn and animated through Flash, Baynton's debut short is about a group of grandmothers in the Over The Hill Rest Home who hit upon a sinister plot.

This crowd-pleasing film premiered at London's Rushes Soho Shorts Festival in July and went on to win the McLaren Award for New British Animation at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival. "Peter Baynton is a real talent to watch," says Mark-Lawson. "His impeccable storytelling and accessible style give the film international appeal."

Over The Hill was produced by Margaret Milner Schmueck and Ian Culbard for EM Media and the UK Film Council.

Contact: Peter Baynton, (44) 0786 223 7825 / peterbaynton@gmail.com

CHERRIES

Dir: Tom Harper

Cubs, Tom Harper's debut short, established the director as a real name to watch. A fast-paced tale of a nocturnal urban foxhunt the film scored a British Independent Film Awards (Bifa) win and a Bafta nomination and played widely on the festival circuit. His new film Cherries is a coming-of-age ensemble piece set in a near future where the military draft is a reality in the UK. The film focuses on a group of schoolboys as they learn their fate. "Tom Harper distils contemporary political and social issues into powerful short films," says Lifesize Pictures' Rebecca Mark-Lawson.

Produced by Free Range Films, Cherries was funded through the Digital Shorts Plus scheme and has been nominated for the Best British Short Film at this year's Bifas.

Contact: Lisa Williams, Free Range Films, (44) 20 7292 4702 / williamslisas@aol.com

SOFT

Dir: Simon Ellis

The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw describes Soft as "shocking and violent, and ingeniously, intimately upsetting in a way I can only compare to the controversial scenes in Gaspar Noe's Irreversible", while Encounters' creative director Mark Cosgrove compares it to Michael Haneke's Hidden. "Simon is an exciting story teller. He is a great example of the talent that we aim to develop through Cinema Extreme," says Rebecca Mark-Lawson.

Produced by Jane Hooks as part of the UK Film Council and Film4's Cinema Extreme scheme, the $100,000 (£50,000) film has won several prizes on the festival circuit, including the best of the festival prize at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films. It has also been nominated for a European Film Award. A prolific short film-maker, Ellis recently shot his first feature. Dogging: A Love Story is produced by Vertigo Films and is an offbeat romance set in the al fresco swinging scene.

Contact: Simon Ellis, (44) 115 8411258 / simonellis@bubtowers.com

WISH

Dir: Matt Day

The first film from Day, Wish tells the story of Sarah and Jane, two best friends who invite some boys to Jane's house while her parents are away. As the evening progresses all is not as it seems and with the flash of a Polaroid we see the extremes to which teenage friendships can push people.

Starring Imogen Poots, the film was shot on HD and was produced by Quark Films. It was produced as part of The UK Film Council's Digital Shorts scheme, through Film London.

Contact: Anna Higgs, Quark Films, (44) 0771 423 7776 / anna@quarkfilms.com

ENCOUNTERS SUPPORTERS

Funders: Bristol City Council, South West Screen. Principal sponsors: Cartoon Network, EA, Hewlett Packard, Aardman.

Partners: UK Film Council, BBC Three, BBC New Talent, BBC Film Network.