Nickel Film Festival: A LITTLE TENDERNESS

Seven feel-good short films

 

Kid me not

Dir: Nathalie Javault · 6 min · Canada

Jenny can't stand kids. So when her pregnant boss sticks her with a children's art class, she knows it's not going to be fun. But in the middle of the chaos, mess, and noise, something starts wearing down her defenses. A sweet comedy about the people who crack through your armour when you least expect it.

Bad News Go to Therapy

Dir: Jana Gillis · 6 min · NL

After a bad night and a worse almost-romance, Ange (Cheney Emberg), spirals their way to a friend's apartment (MK Morris), where embarrassment and reassurance give way to an unexpected dance lesson. A relatable two-hander about an unstable friendship that steadies you.

Last Love Letter

Dir: Rhonda Buckley · 6 min · NL

When a love-letter contest comes to her small-town post office, lonely postal worker Lily Belle (Renée Hackett) can't resist reading the entries — and soon she's quietly meddling in other people's romances. Featuring a charming turn by Andy Jones as a fellow postal worker with a romantic streak, this comedy is as warm as it is funny.

Candles

Dir: Kwame Lestrade · 13 min · UK

At the restaurant she once ran with her late husband, Benita prepares a candlelit table for one last conversation — hoping the past can let her move on. An intimate portrait of love, loss, and starting over.

 

The Dress

Dir: Lynn Panting · 8 min · NL

In this lyrical short, a dress becomes a vessel for memory, desire, and a romance that never quite arrives. Lynn Panting directs this story about the beauty of near connections, ships passing in the night, and the joy that can live in the unfulfilled.

 

Jazz infernal

Dir: Will Niava · 16 min · Canada

Newly arrived in Montreal from Côte d'Ivoire, a young trumpeter tries to build a life and a sound beyond the shadow of his famous father. Jazz Infernal is a warm, character-driven drama about inheritance, identity, and finding your own voice in a new city.

 

The exchange

Dir: Amaia Yoldi · 14 min · Spain

Two strangers arrange to meet through a classifieds app — she wants to sell something, he wants to try it. When he runs into trouble, she debates whether he's worth saving or not.