Animated shorts are a powerful medium for addressing mental health issues, offering a unique and often visually compelling way to explore complex emotions and inner struggles. These 9 short films vividly depict experiences like anxiety, depression, trauma and personal growth, often capturing the nuance of these conditions in ways that words alone cannot.
Doors 6:30pm, Start 7pm
Tickets £8-10
Animated shorts are a powerful medium for addressing mental health issues, offering a unique and often visually compelling way to explore complex emotions and inner struggles. These 9 short films vividly depict experiences like anxiety, depression, trauma and personal growth, often capturing the nuance of these conditions in ways that words alone cannot. By destigmatising mental health struggles the films also serve as a valuable tool for raising awareness, fostering conversations and promoting understanding about emotional well-being. And apart from anything else - they will make you laugh and make you cry!
Several of the filmmakers will be in attendance after the screening to talk about these astounding and heart-felt films in a roundtable discussion. Panellists will be announced in November.
Please visit https://liaf.org.uk/ for more details
The Flames of Me (Je m’appelle Daniel)
Created with fire and soot, this animated short recounts one man’s journey through shadow and light after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder in his thirties.
Canada 2026 Dir: Daniel Léger 10’00
Stumbling Blocks
When everything falls apart, how do you find your balance again? From literal loss, to masking identity struggles, anxiety and depression… This is a film that illustrates the combustion that happens when you try to hold something in.
UK 2025 Dir: Tortor Smith 3’50
Small Hours
Struggling with alcohol addiction and mental illness, an artist reaches out to an old friend.
UK 2026 Dir: Oscar Wyndham Lewis 11’00
Misophonia
A visceral risograph animation plunges the audience into a disquieting world where sound and image collide.Inspired by an aural disorder, its unsettling soundscape and hypnotic visuals turn everyday trigger noises into an intense sensory experience.
Malta 2025 Dir: Michelle Gruppetta 3’10
I wish I was There
Whilst relaxing abroad on a solo holiday, a woman receives a series of phone calls from the hospital. She decides to ignore these in effect to enjoy her vacation, but her imagination gets the better of her. An unpleasant time ensues, with the growing realisation that she needs to confront her fears.
UK 2025 Dir: Flora Martyr 9’45
The Art of Understanding
Through art, storytelling and personal reflection, young refugees and asylum seekers share candid experiences of mental health, belonging and identity in a new city. A poignant portrait of finding connection, navigating uncertainty and building a new life in Nottingham.
UK 2026 Dir: Isolde Godfrey, Jess Harvey 4’20
Yellow Line
Alone in the city, a girl on the edge. Growing up without care, is she about to make a leap across the line? Into the darkness or the light?
UK 2026 Dir: Maggie Norris 12’40
Safe Place
Charlie lives with PTSD after her brother’s suicide. Beneath an outwardly ordinary life, she faces invisible struggles that isolate her from others and that make even simple interactions difficult. Through therapy and time, she slowly develops tools to cope and regain stability.
Switzerland 2026 Dir: Darma Genuardi 6’35
Keith
The story of the filmmaker who found a dead body behind the rubbish bins at his flat in Glasgow, Scotland.
UK 2025 Dir: Steven Fraser 8’00