Audience applauding at the BILLF 2026 Autumn Edition Shorts Evening;
Credit: Ali Sahib, Chronicle.lu
On Wednesday 23 September 2026, the British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg returned to the Cinémathèque @ Cercle Cité (screened in the 142-seat Cité Auditorium, on the 2nd floor above the city library) for its Shorts Evening.
Festival Organiser Geoff Thompson started by launching the 4th edition of the Young Filmmakers Competition (see separate article) which aims to encourage the next generation of filmmakers.
He then explained that the shorts selection was made to illustrate the different ways of storytelling with a mix of genres (two dramas and four documentaries). The storylines took the audience from vinyl records and bustling bazaars to bowling roads, Galway’s history, and two very different dramatic stories.
A Vinyl Goodbye, 23 mins (documentary) by Garret Daly: An insightful and sentimental look at Grammy winning record producer PJ Curtis who reflects on a life in music as he prepares to donate his lifelong vinyl collection.
Bowling Roads, 11 mins (documentary) by Laura Mahler: The sport of road bowling is only played in this small corner of Ireland, but here in West Cork, it is King. Hannah wants nothing more than to be its Queen.
Galway: A City That Shaped Ireland, (10 mins) by William Murray and Theo Fedorov: On Ireland’s Atlantic edge, Galway has always punched above its weight. This short documentary shows how a small western city, through its language, music and storytellers, came to shape the cultural life of a nation.
Holly, 13 mins (drama) by Margaret Kane-Rowe: In the lead-up to Christmas, Clare is being bullied and her mother and father are arguing… Her father is trying to hold the family together and realises that Clare needs attention…
Old Dogs, New Tricks, 14 mins (drama) by Maeve Shaw: An elderly woman flees her controlling grandson and longs for the good old days; she signs up for a psychological study at a secluded Swedish retreat where residents live as one did in the 1960s, hoping to reclaim her independence and redefine who she is.
Bazaar, 20 mins (documentary) by Geoff Thompson: A look behind the scenes of the International Bazaar, Luxembourg's longest-running and largest community-based charity event, including charting its history from its early days in the 1960s.
Post screening, one of the two winners of the Young Filmmakers Competition 2025-26, Theo Fedorov, looked back to winning last March with The Road to Nowhere Flowers – a two-minute drama – and talked about the very different approach needed for Galway: A City That Shaped Ireland, their 10-minute documentary about Galway. The audience appreciated hearing how the genre, length and subject changed the way they approached the filmmaking process.
