If there’s a film better than writer/director Phil Sheerin’s short film NORTH at the Cambridge Film Festival then I can’t wait to see it. This short was almost unwatchable, not for bad reasons, but because it was so bloody heart-breaking. Aaron (Barry Keoghan), a young lad in modern day Ireland, lives on the farm with his mum (Emer McCourt). But there is one problem: she’s dying. Sheerin has written a simple story, set over one day, in one location, with a small number of characters, yet it leaves you thinking big, contemplating everyone you love and what you would do when that time comes. As a man from Essex, there were moments when I had to look away and think about Gazza scoring against Scotland, or Frank Bruno winning the WBC heavyweight championship belt, in order not to tear up. An amazing film from a real talent.

Under three minutes long and Rob Savage’s ABSENCE (2015) has a better twist than most two hour Hollywood films. Savage and co-writer Jed Shepherd penned a script with almost no words, yet they pack so much in. The story begins with a man (Paul McGann) waking up and caressing the empty side of the bed. As the audience settle down for a drama about loss, the plot swivels within a frightening image. By the end you’ll consider a pants transplant. Fantastic writing, plus Ollie Downey’s cinematography is as sneaky as the script.

Bathya (Miriam Zohar) is an aging actor of yesteryear living with her actor husband Michel (Ilan Dar) in Israel. She’s been offered to audition for a good part in a German film, but just before the audition she finds blood in her urine and there’s a problem with her kidney again. Hadas Ayalon’s short film PARIS ON THE WATER (2014) shows love and death relating to one another: we have the forty-five year happy marriage of the couple next to the lurking gloom of death. Ayalon’s script doesn’t play for cheap schmaltzy shots, instead she wins out by showing the dignity of the characters. PARIS ON THE WATER is a magnetic watch, which has you rooting for Bathya from the first minute to the last.

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Olive and Al are about to say “I love you” for the first time in Daisy Aitkens’s delightful 96 WAYS TO SAY I LOVE YOU (2015). This short film illuminates attitudes towards love. As Olive and Al are encouraged by their friends not to do it, the story splices with talking heads from people who are either deeply in love, pretending they’re in love, bashful about love or remembering love. This is a clever use of withholding information from the viewer, making us wait for the big moment when the protagonists say the sentence. Aitkens is a smart writer, she switches the story and gives it a great twist-in-the-tale. Acting from Georgia Tennant (Olive) and Joel Fry (Al) is romantic comedy perfect. A charming story full of hope and love.

If you’re thinking about starting a family you might want to give Stefan Georgiou’s SEXLIFE (2014) a miss, but you’ll be passing on an outstanding short film. Mia (Jemima Rooper) and Dan (Dylan Edwards) are first time parents, and they’ve said goodbye to sex. Kefi Chadwick’s uplifting script uncovers what we do for people who we really love in order to make them happy. Kate Sutton’s superb costumes reveal more about the characters than any words can. This is a heart-warming film about true love.

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Glenn Paton’s H POSITIVE (2015) will leave you wondering what just happened. The screen is dominated by an affluent, powerful man (Roger Barclay), as he sits in his luxury property. A man who has everything. With a slight twitch of the eye or a clenched jaw monologue, Barclay skilfully displays his character’s disgust at being sick and dying; something, you feel he never imagined happening to him. Andy McGraw’s editing adds to the unwell tone of the short film as he chops from shot to shot, and the gamut of emotions which run across the protagonist’s sallow face makes this strangely addictive; the viewer is desperate to know more.

Isabel Garrett’s BYE BYE DANDELION (2014) is a sweet animated short film about a creature finding, following and saying goodbye to the head of a dandelion as it floats through the countryside. Music by Tom Stark ties the story together, and Pete Cudmore’s sound design is evocative.

These short films in the Fusion: Love and Death series are wonderful as standalone pieces, but together they relate to one another, giving a joyful experience that audiences don’t often have the opportunity to enjoy.

FUSION: LOVE & DEATH screens on 4 September at 17.30 at APH

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