PRIFF 2026: Ties That Bind

Ties That Bind brings together six films about the bonds that hold us and the weight we carry through life. In a Cornish care home, a woman who can no longer speak sets her all-female family on a hilarious quest to understand one simple wish. A woman desperate for a baby receives a strange visitation, and something unexpected begins to grow inside her. A film on bone marrow donation reminds us that saving a stranger's life can be simpler than we think. A filmmaker unravels the family secret handed to him by his father twenty years earlier. A lifelong freediver looks back on the sea, the landscapes and the loved ones that shaped her. And a Super8 diary from the Greek island of Andros captures summer's beauty alongside a quiet grief for a changing world.

Info: Introduction by a member of the PRIFF team.

Info: Lovely' is a 12-minute family comedy-drama set in a Cornish care home. It follows Penelope, a 67-year-old firecracker of a woman who, after five years living with PSP, a rare degenerative illness, can no longer verbally communicate with those around her. Surrounded by her vibrant, all-female family, Penelope is determined to ask them for something seemingly simple: to take her to the beach. As attempts to understand her spiral into a hilarious series of misunderstandings, the family navigate frustration, love and laughter. 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.

Info: SEED is the story of a woman, Fiona, who has been struggling to get pregnant. Because she has become obsessed with wanting a baby, she now suffers from insomnia and her grip on reality begins to elude her. After exploring her plant-filled garden one moonlit night, she receives a supernatural visitation in a dream. In the weeks and months that follow, she begins to experience symptoms of pregnancy, although the medical establishment believes her to be delusional. As it turns out, however, there is something growing inside her - but not what one might expect.

Info: The film explores the theme of bone marrow donation from two perspectives:
1. From the donor's side – helping others is neither difficult, nor painful, nor dangerous. Join the registry – save a life.
2. From the recipient's side - there are people who are willing to give a helping hand for free to save the life of a complete stranger.

Info: At 21, my father hands me an envelope containing a family secret. Twenty years later, I try to untangle the lies and things left unsaid that defined both mine and my family's lives.

Info: Mia has spent her whole life freediving, fishing and gliding through seaweed and rocks. Time has passed, tracing its lines on her body, and shaping the landscapes around her. Loved ones have vanished. Tonight, Mia remembers.

Info: The Other Side of Paradise is an intimate diary film shot on Super8, tracing summer days spent on Andros island through drifting images, field recordings, and a voiceover that lingers somewhere between memory, confession and documentary observation. Beneath its serenity runs a quiet unease: water shortages, climate strain, and a subtle grief for what feels both fleeting and already changing.

Info: Q&A TBC

Event venue & nearby stays

The Fellowship Inn, 100 Randlesdown Road, London, United Kingdom

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.

Get the app →

Discover more events by tag