Aesthetica Short Film Festival

Aesthetica Short Film Festival
Aesthetica Short Film Festival Collage 2013
Status	Active
Genre	film festival
Date(s)	Four days, beginning of November
Frequency	Annually
Venue	Various, across York
Location(s)	York
Country	UK
Inaugurated	2011 (2011)
Website
http://www.asff.co.uk

The Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF) is an international film festival which takes place annually in York, UK, at the beginning of November. The festival is a celebration of independent short film from around the world, and an outlet for supporting and championing short filmmaking. The programme includes film screenings, industry masterclasses, hosted networking sessions and panel discussions. ASFF showcases over 400 international films from emerging and established filmmakers in various venues across the city of York. Hosted by Aesthetica, the festival is supported by York St John University, the City of York Council, Arts Council England and the British Film Institute.

The event, which lasts five days, attracts thousands of entries each year and is now in its seventh edition. It is a BAFTA Qualifying film festival.

The Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF) is hosted by Aesthetica. Founded in 2002, Aesthetica is a British art and culture magazine. Launched in 2010, initially as the Aesthetica Short Film Competition, winning films were included on a DVD released with the December/January edition of the magazine. The competition received a significant number of entries, and it developed into the Aesthetica Short Film Festival.

The first Aesthetica Short Film Festival took place in 2011. The festival brought to the city of York filmmakers and audiences attending from locations including South Africa, New Zealand, the USA and from across Europe.

Among those delivering masterclasses were Mark Herman (Screenwriter, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas), Ivana Mackinnon (Executive Producer, Slumdog Millionaire) and the Senior Commissioner for Channel 4. Alongside screenings, there were panel discussions and special events such as Meet the Filmmakers.

ASFF 2011 received positive feedback and was covered in The Guardian.

ASFF 2012 screened 200 films from 25 countries across 15 different locations around the city of York.

Masterclasses were held by Danny Cohen (BAFTA nominated cinematographer of The King’s Speech, The Boat That Rocked and Glorious 39), Barry Ryan the head of Warp Films (Dead Man’s Shoes, Four Lions, This is England and Submarine) and Matt Greenhalgh (BAFTA winning screenwriter of Control and Nowhere Boy). The festival also included screenings, panel discussions, special events and parties.