Private Project

NO BALL GAMES

Compassion casts you out. In this cyclical fever dream, a woman struggles to win over the crowd.

  • Sam Brewster
    Director
    Fingernails, Undone
  • Sam Brewster
    Writer
    Fingernails, Undone
  • Lily Bowerkail
    Producer
  • Faye Butler
    Producer
    Keeping The Faith
  • Beth Moroney
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    2 minutes 35 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 28, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    850 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Super 8mm
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Cannes Film Festival
    Cannes
    France
    May 22, 2023
    World Premiere
    Straight8 Top 8 2023
  • BFI Southbank London
    London
    United Kingdom
    May 27, 2023
    UK Premiere
    Straight8 Top 8 2023
  • Prince Charles Cinema
    London
    United Kingdom
    June 29, 2023
    Straight8 Top 8 2023
  • SHORT To The Point
    Bucharest
    Romania
    August 15, 2023
    Won Best Micro Short
  • Encounters Film Festival
    Bristol
    United Kingdom
    September 29, 2023
  • EFN Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    September 30, 2023
    Awards Night
  • Canal180 at Cinemateca
    Lisbon
    Portugal
    October 4, 2023
    Porugal
  • Canal180 at Cinema Trindade
    Porto
    Portugal
    October 6, 2023
  • Bolton Film Festival
    Bolton
    United Kingdom
    October 7, 2023
  • Lowestoft Film Festival
    Lowestoft
    United Kingdom
    October 20, 2023
  • Sunderland Shorts Film Festival
    Sunderland
    United Kingdom
    October 22, 2023
  • PÖFF
    Tallinn
    Estonia
    November 9, 2023
    Baltic
  • London Short Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    January 21, 2024
Director Biography - Sam Brewster

Sam Brewster is a writer and director based in London. He’s known for his absurdist and melodramatic style.

His films have been screened at prestigious festivals, including Cannes Film Festival 2023 and twice at London Short Film Festival.
Currently, Sam is working on a short film about heartbreak whilst also developing a feature film about lorry drivers in the 1970s.

During his formative years, he attended an international school situated on a NATO base close to Brussels. This upbringing exposed him to a vibrant mix of nationalities and a fascinating fusion of American and Belgian culture. As a result, he forever associates delicacies like gaufre and frogs' legs with Big Red chewing gum and Texan rodeos.

Relocating to England was a culture shock that has influenced his work — in his short film, Writer, he re-drew a contemporary interpretation of the 'angry young man' archetype. Subsequently, he has explored other themes, such as trauma in Undone, isolation in his lockdown short film Fingernails, and most recently, emotional alienation in NO BALL GAMES.

Sam also works as a freelance creative art director and illustrator

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Director Statement

The story is a look at how compassion can lead to alienation. People can be ostracizsd from their communities because of compassionate behaviour, when it's directed to the 'other'. Perhaps this is something in us all, ancient, buried within what it is to be a human. I see it every day, and No Ball Games is my way of articulating it.