Oscar buzz begins for short film from Wales

Stephen Price

A Welsh short film is enjoying an outstanding run on the international film festival circuit, with 68 film festival selections, 49 nominations and 25 award wins to date.

Something Pointless, written by Neil Graham has picked up a huge run of accolades, with recent honours including the 2026 Jury Prize for Best Short Film at Baaría Film Festival, Best International Short Film at the 2026 Zepstone Film Awards, Best Drama and Best Original Screenplay at the 2026 French Duck Film Festival, and Best Actor for Owen Teale at the 2026 Beyond Hollywood International Film Festival.

Hiraeth Productions Cyf and Screen Wizards Pictures’ acclaimed short film Something Pointless is based on Graham’s first-place winning screenplay in the 2010 Canadian Short Screenplay Competition (CSSC), and since its release has earned rave reviews.

The team behind the short film are now aiming for the stars, as it begins its Academy Award-qualifying theatrical run at San Francisco’s historic Roxie Theater from Friday 28 August to Thursday 3 September, screening as part of First Looks, the Roxie’s official Oscar-Qualifying Theatrical Release programme.

This positions Something Pointless for consideration in the Best Live Action Short Film category at the 99th Academy Awards.

Something Pointless has screened at festivals around the world, including the USA Film Festival, Yorkton Film Festival (Canada), and Carmarthen Bay Film Festival (Wales), where it was nominated for the prestigious John Hefin Best Short Film Made in Wales Award. The film’s continued festival success has seen it receive further accolades, including Best Short Film at the 2026 Ideal International Film Festival (India) and Athens International Monthly Art Film Festival (Greece), Best Picture at the 2026 East Village New York Film Festival, and Best Narrative Film at the 2026 Unseen Film Festival.

Something Pointless follows an intergenerational bond that forms between a lonely, bullied boy and an elderly man whose quiet, pointless daily ritual becomes an unlikely act of defiance against insignificance.

The film has also drawn praise from Rotten Tomatoes critic Jeff York; a Chicago Indie Critics member and writer of The Establishing Shot, who said “As a critic who’s covered the Academy Award-nominated shorts for 15 years now, this one feels like a genuine contender…”

The film was directed by Asa Bailey (Silo,100 Years of Solitude) and stars Leo Harris (The Count of Monte Cristo, Lost Boys & Fairies), alongside BAFTA® -winner Owen Teale (Game of Thrones, The Rig), six-time Olivier Award-nominee and winner Sophie Thompson (Gosford Park, EastEnders,), and SAG Award-nominee Sule Rimi (The Day of the Jackal, Andor).

The film was shot entirely in Newport, with a Welsh-led cast, and is picking up accolades fast, having been nominated for the Best Short Film Made in Wales (John Hefin) Award as part of the Carmarthen Bay Film Festival, among additional Best Short Film nominations for scheduled upcoming international film festival screenings.

The short’s Emmy-nominated Producer David Cormican shared: “This film has been a labour of love — rooted in a remarkable screenplay that has patiently waited nearly fifteen years to reach the screen. We believe audiences are going to feel it deeply.”

The film also has an unbelievable 15-year backstory, with the screenplay winning Canada’s Short Screenplay Competition in 2010 before it finally reached the screen.

Director, Asa Bailey added: “Something Pointless is a film that embraces pure, unapologetic sentimentality.

“It’s a rare opportunity to portray what it means to be human without frills or fads — just heartfelt storytelling rooted in the textures and truths of a real community.

“We are so proud of what this extraordinary cast and crew have made, and we can’t wait for audiences to experience it.”

The stellar cast features BAFTA winning Welsh actor Owen Teale (Game of Thrones, Dream Horse), Olivier winner Sophie Thompson (Gosford Park), Sule Rimi (SAG nominee, The Day of the Jackal, Andor), and Swansea-based young performer Leo Harris (The Count of Monte Cristo) in the lead.

The film world-premiered at the USA Film Festival in Dallas this spring, and American critic Jeff York — who’s covered the Academy Award shorts for 15 years came out of that screening calling it “a genuine contender for such accolades.”

Working with a Welsh cast, in Wales, was vital for the production. Cormican said: “Neil Graham’s script — which won the Canadian Short Screenplay Competition back in 2010 — was always rooted in a very specific kind of community. A place where people still know their neighbours, where a strange old man painting eggshells on a wall might actually be left alone to do it. That felt intrinsically Welsh to us.

“When Asa came on board, he brought his own deep connection to that landscape — he lives and works in Bala, in the heart of north Wales — so the casting followed naturally. Owen Teale is one of the great Welsh actors of his generation. Leo Harris, our young lead, is from Swansea. We wanted audiences in Wales to see themselves on screen — and audiences everywhere else to discover something they didn’t know they were missing.”

As for the long journey to bring the production to life, he added: “There’s something almost fitting about a film that asks whether anything truly pointless can leave a lasting mark, taking fifteen years to reach the screen. Neil Graham won the CSSC competition in 2010 with this script. We’ve carried it carefully ever since, waiting for the right moment, the right team, the right home. Wales gave us all three.”

Film critic Jeff York wrote: “Something Pointless, written by Neil Graham and David Cormican, and directed by Asa Bailey, is an involving tale, smartly told in just over 14 minutes. It tells the parallel story of two troubled individuals in a small town in the UK: a sensitive boy being bullied in middle school and a senior citizen whose life philosophy is put to the test as his days start to wane.

“The way Something Pointless is put together expresses both artistry and adroitness. It’s economically shot and edited, with no fat or excess, but it packs an emotional punch almost every second. Case in point, the unhappy boy is shown repeatedly in a montage having to clean out the stains from his shirts in a school sink, time after time, suggesting that this ordeal is daily and goes on for months.”

“It never uses subtitles to suggest the passage of time, only crisp editing. And that suggestion of time is important to the timeline, as parallel to the boy’s troubles are Evans’ efforts to collect as many eggshells as he can from his breakfast each morning to use in a town art project he’s started.

“Both lead actors are subtle, portraying their angst and insecurities without overplaying the pathos. Just how their stories will converge remains one of the cleverest conceits of the imaginative script. And the production values rival any feature, from its lovely cinematography by Keefa Chan to the rich score by Andrea Belluci. The whole enterprise moves fast, but never feels rushed. And don’t be surprised if there’s a tear in your eye by the end.

He added: “As a critic who’s covered the Academy Award-nominated shorts for 15 years now, this one feels like a genuine contender for such accolades. I’m sure it will figure in the awards at many of the festivals it will be a part of in the coming months.

“I won’t say anything else about Something Pointless except to implore you to look for it playing at a festival near you, or perhaps on a streaming platform you subscribe to, in the near future.

“And while you’re at it, seek out other exceptional short films too as they not only often have all the storytelling qualities you’d find in features, but they’re short and sweet for everyone’s fractured world and sparseness of time.”

Watch the trailer for Something Pointless here.

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