PainkillerThe latest in our Short Film Cinema series comes commissioned by the BBC Writersroom and B3 Media. Painkiller stars the rather brilliant Benedict Wong (Moon, Prometheus) and Franz Drameh (Attack the Block), and is the latest short from director Mustapha Kseibati.

Selina Lim makes her debut here as a screenwriter. And if you like what you see here, we have a longer, 30-minute short to look forward to in the near future, Keeping Up with the Joneses, written by Lim and commissioned by BFI and Lighthouse.

“Street-smart Dominic’s armed robbery of a convenience store goes wrong when he crosses paths with hard-working Jay, a taxi driver with nothing left to lose. Mutual contempt soon turns into a kind of understanding, but not without some pain along the way.

#The film contains scenes of a violent nature.”

Kseibati is currently prepping his final short film, Mohammed. The film has been commissioned by BFI and Lighthouse, and is one of a handful that has been selected to receive £25-50k funding from an £800k grant.

And producing here (and for Mohammed) is Michael Berliner, of Pico Pictures.

Whilst we wait for that to arrive, here’s the full Painkiller short for you to enjoy. You can keep up to date with Lim through her website, and with Kseibati on Twitter and through his website.

Quick warning: This short is NSFW.

 

Painkiller. HD from Mustapha Kseibati on Vimeo.