Fanomenon Short Film Competition 2

The very popular fantastic genre shorts selection at LIFF is now a competition, with three programmes of fantasy, horror, comedy, sci-fi and more.   A lonely alien develops an all-consuming crush on an astronaut after finding his phone following a mission. This sweet little sci-fi shows that loneliness is a universal ill, no matter what planet you may come from.UK Premiere | Omer Ben Shachar | USA | 2025 | 10 mins | English Following a suicide pact, a bullied teenager visits a hotel suite looking to end her life. But things change when an unexpected suggestion is made. A difficult watch at times, this is a remarkably crafted film with true compassion for its central character.UK Premiere | Jaehee JEONG | South Korea | 2024 | 22 mins | Korean After putting her daughter to bed, Aura finds an elderly lady in her living room and it soon becomes apparent, she might have witchy intentions. A creepy, bloody, and ultimately funny encounter with a slightly disoriented witch.Hoku Uchiyama | USA | 2024 | 5 mins | English Jess is about to be evicted. But perhaps an unlikely alliance with the ghost who haunts her apartment might solve her problems. This quirky short looks into the real horror of gentrification with a quirky and twisted sense of humour.Sam Rudykoff | Canada | 2025 | 17 mins | English Polly has been dumped, and she might have gone a bit too far to cope with her pain. Emma Ramsay crafts a deeply relatable story of heartbreak. Love truly will make you do the craziest things.Emma Ramsay | UK | 2024 | 14 mins | English Home alone and unable to sleep, a young woman begins to experience strange lapses in her reality as her sleep deprivation reaches deadly new depths. With a powerful central performance, Barnaby Boulton has finely crafted a film that will keep you on your toes.Yorkshire Premiere | Barnaby Boulton | UK | 2025 | 11 mins | English A young waitress allows an older woman to take shelter in her closing café on a stormy night. Before long she realises that perhaps this isn’t entirely a coincidence. A compelling time-bending story that will keep you guessing until the end.Yorkshire Premiere | Jack Howard | UK | 2025 | 12 mins | English