Channel 2 Shorts

If forced to choose a subtitle for this, it would be 'Sort-of documentaries'. Many of our most engaging film submissions this year were personal or observational pieces, in which the filmmaker set out with no obvious agenda other than to explore the world around them. This is a selection of some of the best. Includes death metal diaries (

13 Instances

- dir: David Poolman), the hunt for a mysterious graffitist (

Marker

- dir: Karina Griffith),

Cutting Up My Friends

(dir: David Hopkinson, of singing laptop fame) and an introduction to

Chicken Shit Bingo

(dir: Rachel Meyrick). Families also feature quite heavily, from singing siblings in

Twin Talk

(dir: Sue Challis) via

Daddy Goes to the Dentist

(dir: Su-Ying Lee) to

Uncle Hyman Cleans Up

, Neil Needleman's wonderful portrait of an obsessive-compulsive relative. There's also a great snapshot of

Two Days in Champaign, Illinois

, in which Deke Weaver and partner attempt to deal with life after Chicago by thumb-wrestling and bouncing up and down in the yard with tights on their head.

www.dekeweaver.com Stop press:: We are delighted that Karina Griffith and David Hopkinson will be up in Birmingham for this screening.

Chicken Shit Bingo image by Ray Lewis.