✩ BAFTA Nominated
Best British Short Film 2022
Independent Documentary / 30"
Directed, Produced, Filmed +
co-edited
Every day, on the top floor of an iconic 1960’s shopping centre near the heart of the city, hundreds of regulars take up their usual spots in the London Palace Bingo Club. Some come for the cheap dinners and the free tea and coffee, but many stay to relax, socialise, play bingo, dominoes, gossip, and party together.
As this area’s billion pound redevelopment nears its finish, the club finds itself the last piece of the old neighbourhood now sitting within a drastically altered picture, surrounded on all sides by gleaming towers of high-end apartments.
The Palace film is a loud, emotional portrait of a unique community rooted in South London saying a reluctant goodbye to their social hub and playground of the past 20 years. Told through the stories of the regulars that loved and depended on it, and the owner who couldn’t save it.
Shown on Bertha DocHouse
Featured in festivals worldwide 2021/2022:
★ Best Documentary Winner - Short To The Point
★ Best Cinematography Nominee - Queens World Festival
★ Best Documentary Short Nominee - Queens World Festival
★ Finalist - Independant Short Awards
★ Semi Finalist - ARFF Paris
★ Official Selection - Aesthetica Film Festival
★ Official Selection - Bolton International Film Festival
★ Official Selection - London Short Film Festival
★ Official Selection - Älvsbyn Film Festival
★ Official Selection - Gindie Film Festival
★ Official Selection - Helsinki International Film Festival
★ Official Selection - Ponferrada International Film Festival
Screenings:
Screening 26th Apr 2023 - Urban Backstages, The Garden Cinema
Screening 1st Dec 2o22 - Algiers International Film Festival, Algeria
Screening 23rd Oct 2022 - Filmets Badalona Film Festival, Spain
Screening 24th Sept 2022 - Remembering Elephant, Draper Hall, London
Screening 10th Sept 2022 - Beyond Beck Road, Open House Festival, London
Screening 10th Sept 2022 - Brunswick Park Festival, London
Screening 14th Aug 2022 - Supernormal Festival, Oxfordshire
Screening 6th Apr 2022 - The Cinema Museum, London
Screening 6th Mar 2022 - BAFTA Sessions, BAFTA piccadilly, London
Screening 21st Jan 2022 - London Short Film Festival - ICA, London
Screening 4th-6th Nov '21 - Aesthetica Film Festival - Friargate Theater, York
Screening 30th Sept 2021 - Bolton International Film Festival - Bolton Museum & Library