Another of Raindance's shorts programmes - Absense Sense - in order of screening:

LATITUDE CHASE dir Mark Wilkins {1 min} - The winner of Latitude 2010, a young girl runs through Latitude Festival away from something; it ends up being her mother, I think. I didn't get the sense that she was running away from anything, I thought she was running towards something. She ends up running towards a tent and going to sleep. If this was the winner, I wander what the contender's were like. 

SIGN LANGUAGE dir Oscar Sharp {5 mins} - A sweet and memorable romantic short. It is dedicated to the sign holders of Oxford Street, who have since been banned from the streets. Ben has been a sign holder for his entire working life, his dad having done the same job, but he has been promoted, so this is his last day on the job. He introduces us to all the sign holders and their quirks. And they don't look like anything much until the end. Entertaining, light and endearing. 

MISSED CONNECTIONS dir Christopher Presswell {22 mins} - Jamie's girlfriend breaks up with him, he gets depressed. When a friend comes to visit, bringing the newspaper with him, he, inadvertently, gives Jamie the idea of using the missed connections column to find dates to get over his break up. He begins to answer all of them, being utterly cynical about the sudden connections between people. He connects with a girl on the tube, who smiles back at him. He eventually reads an ad in the column that seems to be from that same girl. He finds out that it is someone completely different - ultimately experiencing the sadness and disappointment he caused others by answering their ads. Interesting concept, but some of the acting doesn't do it justice, the dialogue not coming across as natural. 

BAD CALL dir Geoff Searle {7 mins} - BAD CALL begins with the guy above text back and forth and we realize that he is using his girlfriend's phone. By the tone of the texts, it appears that she is cheating on him and decides to take justice into his own hands. Another guy is in the same situation. Do you see where this is going? We find out that both of the guys' respective girlfriends are having an affair. Both guys, one carrying a gun, the other a knife, eventually meet and end up killing each other. Silly and obvious, but quite funny. 

RED SHOES dir Marta Loza Alonso {10 mins} - RED SHOES was my favourite of the whole programme. A woman wearing the title's red shoes arrives in a remote place in the country as she is there to answer a job ad for a secretary. She tries to walk to the mansion, where she is to be interviewed at, and a little girl makes her take a wood path instead. As she is walking through the woods, the camera movements make it appear as if she is being followed. She eventually sits on an old tree log, from underneath which a hand pops out and grabs one of her red shoes. Scared she runs away. She stops and goes back to the log. Using the remaining red shoe to attract the hand out again, she makes it give back the other red shoe. It seems like a not very convincing story, but it made with such charm and the actress's (Beth Winslet) performance is top notch and believable. A charm of a short, really interesting and simple. 

TRAILER: http://www.edldesigns.com/red_shoes

MEET PURSUIT DELANGE dir Howard Webster {25 mins} - It's Christmas and Pursuit Delange is freshly unemployed. We are taken on a ride and Pursuit has a very interesting life. He meets a mysterious stranger at a pub where he takes her mobile phone by mistake. When she calls him, he is being abused by a guy and makes it sound as if he is a peeping tom. Hilarious after hilarious incident take shape, especially since Charles Itchy Forrester enters the picture (above). Hilarious from beginning to end, definitely a short not to be missed. I really hope they get Pursuit his own comedy series!

TRAILER: http://www.pursuitdelange.com/ 

POPPING ROUND dir Martin Gooch {6 mins} - POPPING ROUND is literally about when a woman pops round to the main character's house and tells her flat out that her boyfriend is cheating on her. With her. A fight ensues. Nothing constructive, more than a bit meh. 

ORIGIN dir Danny Stack {14 mins} - A family falling apart. Theson is bitten by a mysterious creature while in the woods and falls seriously ill. The father is only interested in getting his tea. The mother feel disaffected and cheats on her husband. The son dies in his father's arms. The only link that kept this family together is gone. Affecting stuff, I really enjoyed it. Clever and understated. 

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:  http://www.originshortfilm.co.uk/

STALKER dir Phil Haine {10 mins} - A city boy fins that an intruder is on his flat. How did she get in? He forces her to tell him all, including why his best friend got the NY promotions and he didn't. All the stalker wants is to feed Mr Bones (the dog), give him a present and go on a date with him. The city boy remains indifferent to her, only being interested on the promotion he missed out. It was funny in parts, interesting concept. 

TRAILER:  http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6684971/trailer%2001.mov

INTERLUDE dir Ruaridh Webster {7 mins} - INTERLUDE is just about that an interlude. Two people, a man and a woman, rush to get to the local swimming pool, they both dive. When underwater, the interlude happens. The interlude to their lives. They float and swim around elegantly, in a chase, they embrace and kiss. They both come out of the pool. The end. Beautiful underwater shots and a nice score.