Brexit: Keeping Calm and Carrying On

It often takes a while for the cinema of a country to deal with issues of great importance. British feature films have yet to tackle the subject of Brexit – and the divisions it has left within the UK – with any great significance. Short films have been quicker to hit the mark, and there are now quite a few that deal with the issue.

What was surprising when compiling this programme was that while some dark dramas about the situation exist, many of the Brexit takes were rooted in absurd or black humour. In many ways, this is a typical British approach to any given situation: if in doubt, laugh in its face. There’s a certain amount of gallows humour abound here, with the consequences of and the reasons for Brexit dealt with in an absurdist flourish.

Those of you not acquainted with me might not know that I am British and make no pretence of the fact that I think Brexit is a monumentally stupid idea that diminishes every single person involved. But even if I wanted to make a programme that could be described as fair and balanced, it would be extremely difficult to do so as the films available are less about political machinations or modern politics. Instead, they’re laughing into the abyss about a divided nation and the absurdity of it all.

This is the Winter

Great Britain

Year: 2019

Film duration: 00:20

English

The year is 2023, and a separatist movement has ignited civil war in the North of England. The UK government has built a wall dividing the country to protect the people of the South. Trapped in a refugee camp north of the border, a teenage girl has to choose between loyalty to her father and her growing political ideology.

Fingers crossed

Great Britain

Year: 2019

Film duration: 00:13

English

In London, four years after Brexit, Alison isn’t going to let social collapse ruin her evening.

Magnus, on a bike dynamo, generates power for what’s left of their home. Alison is annoyed he didn’t do this earlier. It’s bad enough living in fear, but being trapped with an idiot husband is the cherry on this shit-cake.

Citizen of Nowhere

Great Britain

Year: 2019

Film duration: 00:07

English, French, Hebrew

In the wake of the UK's vote for you-know-what, Mireille applies for French citizenship. Only problem is, she's stuck at home all day waiting for the embassy to call. What's a citizen of nowhere to do?

Capital

Great Britain

Year: 2018

Film duration: 00:15

English

When a misjudged referendum on capital punishment comes back 50.9% in favour of hanging, a group of inept junior civil servants meet on the first day of their new job in the Department of Capital Punishment. It's up to them to give the British people back control... by bringing back hanging.

Conte Anglais

Great Britain

Year: 2019

Film duration: 00:15

English, French

Shot in 16mm, Conte Anglais is a lyrical drama about love, Brexit, and Anglo-French differences. It is a heartfelt tribute both to French new wave director Éric Rohmer and to the coast of Essex in the East of England.

All Inclusive

Finland

Year: 2019

Film duration: 00:15

Finnish

Kalervo has felt powerless all his life, unable to fight back, until Annukka ­– a woman who loves him – gives Kalervo a life altering gift.