PRIFF 2026 Presents: Awards Season Shorts - From the Oscars to BAFTA
About this Event
Part of PRIFF 2026, now in its fifth year, this special showcase brings together four acclaimed short films recognised across the 2026 awards season, including three nominees from the 98th Academy Awards and the 2026 BAFTA winner for British Short Animation.
The Girl Who Cried Pearls, directed by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, is a haunting stop-motion fable about sorrow, love and the corrupting pull of greed. The film was nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the 98th Academy Awards, where it went on to win the Oscar. It had previously premiered in competition at Annecy and won Best Canadian Film in TIFF’s Short Cuts programme.
In Butcher’s Stain, Samir, a Palestinian butcher working in an Israeli supermarket, is accused of tearing down hostage posters and must prove his innocence to keep the job he desperately needs. Directed by Meyer Levinson-Blount, the film was nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the 2026 Academy Awards and received a Silver Medal at the 2025 Student Academy Awards.
Jane Austen’s Period Drama, from Julia Aks and Steve Pinder, turns Regency romance into irreverent comedy when a long-awaited marriage proposal is interrupted by the arrival of a period. The film was nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the 98th Academy Awards and has received multiple festival honours, including Best Comedy at Aspen Shortsfest and audience awards at Indy Shorts and Santa Fe International Film Festival.
Completing the programme is Two Black Boys in Paradise, directed by Baz Sells and based on the poem by Dean Atta. The animated short follows Eden and Dula on a journey of love and self-acceptance towards a place free from shame and judgement. The film won British Short Animation at the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards and was nominated for Best British Short Film at the 2025 British Independent Film Awards.
Together, the four films offer sharply different approaches to animation, comedy, social drama and queer storytelling, while showcasing some of the short-form work that defined the 2025–26 international awards season.
Agenda
🕑: 02:45 PM - 02:50 PM
INTRO
Info: Introduction by a member of the PRIFF team.
🕑: 02:50 PM - 03:07 PM
The Girl Who Cried Pearls (Short Film) dir. by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbo
Info: A haunting fable about a girl overwhelmed by sorrow, the boy who loves her, and how greed leads good hearts to wicked deeds.
🕑: 03:07 PM - 03:33 PM
Butcher's Stain (Short Film) dir. by Meyer Levinson-Blount and Oron Caspi
Info: Samir, an Arab Israeli working in a supermarket in Tel Aviv, is accused of tearing down hostage posters in the break room. He sets out to prove his innocence to keep this job that he desperately needs.
🕑: 03:33 PM - 03:46 PM
Jane Austen's Period Drama (Short Film) dir. by Julia Aks and Steve Pinder
Info: England, 1813. In the middle of a long-awaited marriage proposal, Miss Estrogenia Talbot gets her period. Her suitor, Mr. Dickley, mistakes the blood for an injury, and it soon becomes clear that his expensive education has missed a spot.
🕑: 03:46 PM - 03:56 PM
Two Black Boys in Paradise (Short) dir. by Baz Sells, Ben Jackson, Dean Atta
Info: Eden (19) and Dula (18) are two Black boys on a journey of self-acceptance. Their love for each other, and their refusal to hide it, lands them in a paradise free from shame and judgement. Based on the poem by Dean Atta.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 11.55
