In the organizer's words:

Retrospective (Part 2): "Scala Rising: Anarchic Shorts from London's Legendary Underground Cinema"

Short film program from the wildest cinema in the world

Scala Cinema was founded in London in 1978 and found its iconic venue in a 1920s cinema in King's Cross during the repressive Thatcher years. Until its closure in 1993, Scala attracted a wide audience of self-proclaimed outsiders and misfits with a wild mix of cult films, Hollywood classics, arthouse programs, B-movies, queer themes and endless movie nights. It has also become a film school for many aspiring filmmakers, musicians, actors and artists, including Tilda Swinton, Peter Strickland and Isaac Julien.

With this year's retrospective, the British Shorts Film Festival pays tribute to the versatility of independent cinema. The short film program "Scala Rising: Anarchic Shorts from London's Legendary Underground Cinema" brings together important works that were shown at Scala Cinema at the time. The program was co-curated by Jane Giles.

Plus Q&A with co-curator Jane Giles!

Scala Cinema (Documentary), dir.: Ali Peck, Victor De Jesus, 03:46 min.
Shot on VHS, this student film gives an impression of what Scala Cinema looked like in 1992. The voice-over commentary, recorded in 2023 when the film was rediscovered, is by Paul R White. He was a fellow student of Ali Peck and a regular at Scala.

Relax (Drama), dir.: Christopher Newby, 23:17 min.
A young man learns that one of his sex partners has AIDS. He has himself tested by a doctor and has to wait a few days for the result. While his carefree friend tries to cheer him up, he imagines a number of different scenarios in his head. Christopher Newby's drama deals with the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 90s and the stigmatization of the victims.

Coping with Cupid (Comedy), dir.: Viv Albertine, 18:56 min.
Three female, blonde aliens come to Earth in search of an energy source called "love". They land in London's red light district of Soho and have just 48 hours to find out what's behind it. This biting social satire was directed by Viv Albertine, who was a member of the feminist punk band The Slits.

Ballad of Reading Gaol (Experimental), dir.: Richard Kwietniowski, 11:23 min.
This lyrical film collage illustrates quotes by Oscar Wilde from his trial for fornication in 1895, followed by the current locations of his "crimes" in London and his grave in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris. In his poetic reflection, Richard Kwietniowski draws clever parallels with homophobia in the 1980s.

Smart Alek (Drama, Horror), dir.: Andrew Kötting, 18:39 min.
A dysfunctional family's vacation trip to a vacation resort on the English coast turns into a real horror trip. And not just when they encounter a group of wanted criminals. Director Andrew Kötting experiments with different film formats and styles. The character of "Smart Alek" is played by comedian Sean Lock († 2021), who also co-wrote the screenplay.

The Mark of Lilith (Horror, Experimental), dir.: Bruna Fionda, Polly Gladwin, Zach Mack-Nataf, 33:16 min.
A vampire faces an existential crisis and questions the genre conventions of horror films. She finds a humanities scholar who becomes her ally and lover. The feminist essay film was made by the student group "Women Challenge Film Education" and deals with the politics of power, race and gender within relationships.