The Oxford Tales + Q&A with Mike Newell, Cleone Clarke & Guests
15 113 mins
15 113 mins
The Oxford Tales is a student film created by the Oxford University Filmmaking Foundation with mentorship from director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Donnie Brasco) and producer Cleone Clarke (The Father, Loving Vincent).
Inspired by short-film anthologies such as Paris, je t’aime (2006) and New York, I Love You (2008), The Oxford Tales features five short films depicting the Oxford student experience – written, directed, and produced entirely by Oxford students.
Hinkssie is a mockumentary comedy that chronicles the adventures of Oxford University’s Loch Ness Monster Sighting Society as its members prepare for their big expedition. A parody response to Oxford’s many eccentric student societies, it descends into an increasingly absurd spiral that ends in a bang – comedy-of-errors style.
Food for Thought is a gothic satire that follows Myra, an anxious Oxford fresher, who grows suspicious of her brilliant tutorial partner Victor and sets out to uncover his sinister secret. Merging elements of dark academia, gothic horror, and comedy, it explores how knowledge is consumed and weaponised by those closest to power.
Free Drinks is a black comedy centred around an Oxford college bar’s offer of free drinks in exchange for items stolen from rival colleges that seduces thirsty students to perform increasingly bizarre stunts. In its grotesque escalation, it exposes the dark underbelly of student life at Oxford: drinking culture, hedonism, and addiction.
Freshers is a comedy-drama that joins William, a disillusioned third-year student, as he reminisces about his glory days of Freshers week at Oxford – until he bumps into an old friend who challenges him to rethink his narrative. This coming-of-age story interrogates the near-mythological status assigned to a week of excessive partying and networking.
Thursday is a medical drama that follows Anna, a junior doctor and Oxford PhD student, as she copes with the events of a single A&E night shift. Drawing on real-life experiences and a naturalistic style, it contrasts the calm, structured pursuit of abstract knowledge with the concrete realities of serving at the front line of medical practice.
Directors: Hannah Bridgland, Jasmine Gill, Boyi Li, Julia Schaub, Lea Smith
Starring: Ezana Betru, Caeli Colgan, Irisa Kwok, Zee Lloyd-Elliot