Although Pentabus’s live theatre is concentrated in rural areas, it has a thriving online presence capturing recordings of its live productions as well as original filmed works. In conjunction with the Rural Media Charity, the company has now launched The Pentabus National Young Writers ArtFlicks Project—six young writers each creating three 90-second films to be released across the Art Flicks TikTok Channel weekly, starting in September and running through to October.

There is no set format for the films. Some have a rural setting, while others adopt a domestic one. Some writers link the three films together as chapters in an overall plot, while others adopt a short-story format within a common theme. The only elements the films have in common are the high production values and the quality of the writing and performances.

Daniel Grimston’s Trespasses has a rural setting and uses the separate film format to tell the story of queer awakening in nature from the viewpoint of different characters. Despite being in bright daylight, the rural setting is not idealised, with scenes of ominous winding footpaths and derelict vehicles. Impressively, the film concludes visually rather than verbally.

This is not the case with Izzie Harding-Perrot’s Boxes, which ends with a belting punchline. This is a charming, off-centre comedy built around the possibility that when a person claims to be able to perform witchcraft they may not be speaking figuratively. You have to admire a viewpoint which considers it more acceptable to talk to a tree than to a mobile phone.

After the antics of Boris Johnson, it is hard to imagine anyone would find clowns erotically appealing. However, Raina Geifer’s The Shame, The Foreplay, The Climax uses human actors, puppets and cream pies to explore coulrophilia sympathetically, as well as the wider issue of being willing to acknowledge kinkiness.

Actors do not make a physical appearance in Jacob Kay’s She, Them, and It, which adopts a short-story format. All performances are verbal, as the film, shot in a stylised distorted manner, is essentially the type of spooky story told around campfires and achieves an enjoyably jumpy mood throughout.

Lily Bedigan’s L.T.O.S. employs a Kafkaesque approach to examine violence towards women. The sense of paranoia is enhanced by the film being presented as a tiny ‘film within a film’ size screen to give the impression of someone being stuck in a place from which there is no escape and compelled to consider unappealing aspects of their character. A pair of permanently smiling, Jehovah's Witness-style interrogators are both comedic and sinister.

ArtFlicks concludes with Leah Gayer’s The Allotment, which will be online from 14 October.

The release schedule for the Artflicks is:

  • Trespasses I, II and III and Boxes: now available
  • She, Them & It: now available
  • Week of 23 September: L.T.O.S. 1, 2 & 3
  • Week of 30 September: The Shame, The Foreplay, The Climax
  • Week of 14 October: The Allotment 1, 2 & 3

ArtFlicksoffers the opportunity to appreciate the work of emerging talent, and it is well worth checking out the films as they become available.