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Directors include Bifa winners Jason Wingard and Carol Salter.

The Uncertain Kingdom, the £200,000 short film initiative aiming to provide a portrait of the contemporary UK, has unveiled the 20 films on its slate.

Actors participating in the projects include Alice Lowe (Sightseers), Mark Addy (Game Of Thrones), Steve Evets (Apostasy), Hugh Dennis (Fleabag), Andy Hamilton (What We Did On Our Holiday), Ruth Madeley (Years & Years) and Laurie Davidson (Cats).

Screen can also reveal an exclusive first look at one of the titles, Hope Dickson Leach’s Strong Is Better Than Angry, above.

Each film is receiving £10,000. The finance is privately raised.

Verve Pictures to distribute completed films at the end of the year.

The £200,000 short films initiative The Uncertain Kingdom, launched in December 2018, has finalised the 20 directors who will each receive £10,000 to finance a short film project.

Joining the previously announced Hope Dickson Leach (The Levelling) are the Oscar-winning Orlando Von Einsiedel (The White Helmets), International Emmy winner Guy Jenkin (Outnumbered) and Bifa winner Carol Salter (Almost Heaven).

Also on the roster are four former Screen Stars of Tomorrow: actor/writer/director Antonia Campbell-Hughes, writer/director Rubika Shah, and producers Helen Simmons and Yaw Basoah.

The full list of project teams can be found below.

The pyschological drama genre remains a font for indie filmmakers looking to explore deep character arcs without the expectations of some of the pricier genres. Asylum premiered last night in Hollywood at Cinespace, a venue fast becoming the city’s Cbgb’s of web series, to a capacity crowd of supporters. Not a bad foot to start a show off on. The big question however is will this indie have the muster to break through? A week ago I opined that this might be this year’s Compulsions, with its similar genre, release timing and early indie buzz. Now having watched the full six-episode opening season of Asylum, the comp still holds water, meaning we might see a nom or two come awards season here. At the onset, we are taken inside St. Dympna Hospital for the Criminally Insane, a tired, state-funded outfit badly overlooked by any sort of authority.

Several more films have been announced this week as attending the 2010 Oklahoma Horror Film Festival including Dan Donley's Shellter. The film is a heart murmur on celluloid, as a world has been overrun by the undead. Yet, in an underground medical shelter, where one would expect to received treatment, a crazed medical doctor performs triage styled amputations in what is a medieval solution to a rapidly spreading virus. Have a watch of the trailer for Dan Donley's latest and prepare for the festival by visiting the Oklahoma Horror Film Festival at the link below, which begins September 3rd (Labour Day).

The synopsis for Shellter here:

"Zoey, (Cari Sanders,) awakens in the medical facility of an underground fallout shelter. The Doctor, (Will Tulin,) explains that an infection has killed most of the population. The only people left are either a few lone survivors like her and the infected: The living dead.

The Cinema Slaughter Horror Film Festival will begin Friday, April 23rd and run until May 7th. Two films will show, which include Neighbor and Shellter. Shellter involves an underground medical facility and the living dead. The film sees a world infected with a virus where "the only way of curing the infection is by surgically removing the affected area" (Shellter). On the other side of the coin, Neighbor is about an anonymous girl who goes door to door "torturing and slaughtering anyone" who gets in her way (Neighbor). Trailer locations for both films are below and this event will be held in West Hollywood, with location details inside.

Neighbor

Release Date: April 23rd (Limited Release).

Director/writer: Robert A. Masciantonio.

Cast: America Olivo, Christian Campbell, Mink Stole, Lauren Rooney, Pete Postiglione, Joe Aniska, Sarah McCarron, Amy Rutledge, Giovanna Galdi, Tracy Toth, Meredith Orlow, and Stink Fisher.

Official site for Neighbor...