A festival of bite-sized blockbusters

The second annual Sunderland Shorts Film Festival got underway last night.

The four-day festival was launched at Sunderland Minister and viewers had the chance to watch eight short documentaries, films and animations.

This year 230 pieces were entered into the competition, with the final 50 shortlisted being screened at seven venues across the city.

An awards ceremony will take place on Sunday

Mark Murray, associate director, said: “The standard of films which have been submitted is incredible. We have had 230 entries from 28 countries across the world. This puts the event well and truly on the film festival map. ”