It is good to be back in the Filmhouse after the crowdfunded rescue and a beautiful refurbishment. Run by a new charity, Filmhouse (Edinburgh) Ltd, the staff are welcoming, the decor contemporary and warm on this cold winter night. The bus stops right outside and, inside, the bar serves hot food and drink.
Seeing the nineteenth Manipulate Festival, which specialises in animation, puppetry and visual theatre from the plush new seating is a treat. On this night, there were eight animated short films. Other nights included short horror films and a daytime dance workshop for over 14s at Dance Base led by two outstanding Italian improvisational breakdancers. The festival runs from 4th – 10th February.
Within the eight short animated documentaries, you are gripped by the psychological trauma of solitary confinement. Three personal stories capture the imagination. One inmate was innocent and incarcerated at just sixteen years old. Inside, the Valley Sings by Natasza and Nathan Fagan from Ireland is an important fifteen minutes. It highlights the cruelty of the American penal system and to what effect? It makes you question established systems and educates without patronising.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Harbourmaster by Mia L Henriksen and Konrad Hjemli from Norway. The anthropomorphism was funny with the titular swan characterised as a husky-voiced smoker determined to keep his family safe from humans on the river. His “wife” tells her side of the story as she knits. This seven minute student film won the “Make-Believe Award” for best animated mockumentary at the Rising of Lusitania Animadoc Festival.
Veni Vidi Non Vici by Leonor Calaça (Scotland/Spain) is just seven minutes long. It begs you to question culture and its validity as an argument to maintain practices which are cruel and unnecessary.
Both Veni Vidi Non Vici and Inside, the Valley Sings look at established and accepted rituals and rights which require examination and revision – in very different contexts. One the bull bred for the bullring and ultimately suffering at the hand of a heroic bullfighter, yet many defend the practice; the other the accused criminal suffering at the hands of the gaoler who is given the power and authority to torture through imposed seclusion from human contact and deprivation of reading matter, writing matter, sunshine and the sound of birdsong.
Both made me think. Surely, the world has enough trauma to deal with from causes like storms, drownings, disease, hunger and war without us humans adding more to the mix?
I Died in Irpin by Anastasiia Falileieva (Czechia, Slovakia, Ukraine) is highly personal. In just eleven minutes it describes fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I particularly liked the seat visual which illustrates how we all cling on to sentimental objects: they become symbols of ourselves and it is painful to let them go, even when your life is endangered. The contrast between the narrator who saw survival as all-important, and the stubborn resistance to coercion of her boyfriend’s family, despite imminent danger, is intriguing as an exploration of our complex and incomprehensible human psyche.
I found the visuals delightful in Our Uniform by Yegane Moghaddam of Iran, while My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes was a romp with a provocative title disguising a family history and ode to a dead father. Ur Heinous Habit by Eugene Kolb of the USA caused embarrassed giggling in the auditorium.
Percebes by Alexandra Ramires and Laura Gonçalves (Portugal) looks at the development of Portugal as a tourist destination over the last fifty years. Using local voices, the narrators describe their relationship with the sea, Portuguese seafood, and the tourist trade. This eleven-minute film is created in water colour with a limited palette to reflect the sunshine and the significance of the sea. With many communities being ousted by the airbnb and hotel industries, much of Portugal’s access to its own lands, towns and cities is being sacrificed for the sake of income from abroad. Yet the percebes survive – hidden, armoured and delicious.
Reviewer: Kathleen Mansfield
Reviewed: 7th February 2026
North West End UK Rating: