"TLT"

6 April 2026

27 mins 38s

The future is still.

This extraordinary short film by writer/director pairing Hugo & Dean tackles some ambitiously big themes. It imagines a dystopian future where humans are forced to live in underground bunkers and oxygen is in scarce supply. The behaviour of many has become depraved while others gather to admire the Earth's last surviving tree.

While co-director Dean Woodhouse's portentous narration unfolds the story of a man manipulated into criminality, the real heart of the film lies in the reading of a letter written by a Native American chief in the 19th century in response to the US government's request to buy some of his tribe's land.

Whether the decision to largely construct the film from a sequence of photographs was one of pragmatism because of budgetary constraints or a stylistic choice is unimportant... because it works. Your attention is held firmly in place and the imagery is no less grim for its lack of moving parts. It is a remarkable achievement both in terms of storytelling and filmmaking.

UK

Short Film