Libby Mai

'Lovely' is a 12-minute comedy-drama set in a Cornish care home. It follows Penelope, a 67-year-old firecracker of a woman who, after five years of living with PSP, a rare degenerative illness, can no longer verbally communicate with those around her. So when Penelope is determined to go to the beach, her family’s attempts to understand her spiral into a hilarious series of misunderstandings. Although the challenging topic of terminal illness sits at the heart of the story, 'Lovely' celebrates the enduring power of family and the humour that can exist even in life’s most difficult moments.

Awkward teen Lucy escapes dull suburbia and archaic gender constraints when she’s thrown into the absurd world of the buff and brilliant builder Louisa at ‘Nails & Beauty’. This is the alternative beauty salon where Louisa and her assistants perform unconventional beauty makeover treatments involving power tools, cement baths, and unique builders-tea ‘hot-stone’ therapies. Through a revelatory transformation à la Louisa, Lucy discovers a new mode of womanhood and a space where she belongs.