Random Acts

Random Acts returns with a new host and a new series of the best creative short films on television. Presented by Jordan Stephens, the new series of six, 30-minute episodes showcases this generation's most exciting film-making talent: from music to animation, dance to spoken word and anything visually random in between. This episode features a modern day Romeo and Juliette story shot entirely by drones, and the world premiere of Roadkill, a gripping drama written.

Jordan Stephens presents more of the best creative short films on television, from music to animation, from dance to spoken word and anything visually random in between. Hot Chip side-project New Build's hilarious music video Luminous Freedom quickly becomes an addictive word game. Blackest Day is a moving dance piece inspired by accounts of shell-shocked soldiers who fought at the Somme. Again and Again and Again is a supersaturated satire on the future of data storage by artist Rachel McLean. Springing is a pastel-hued film by fast-emerging filmmaker Sophie Littman about a boy overcoming his nerves at a trampoline club. In Leo Leigh's deliciously noir comedy Sometimes Chinese, a downtrodden husband has an epiphany when he orders takeaway. Finally, Recode, one of Jordan's favourite films of the series, is a monochrome dance and spoken word performance about the experience of living with dyslexia by Birmingham's Man Made Youth Company.

Jordan Stephens presents more of the best creative short films on television, from music to animation, dance, spoken word and anything visually random in between. Shot at night in an almost completely unpopulated Basildon town centre, this episode opens with an extraordinary music video directed by Kim Laughton for Danny L Harle's track Without You, inspired by the morning after a night before. Plus: a paranormal dark comedy from Fred Rowson, inspired by an American woman who believed her toaster was haunted in 1984. Jessica Bishopp's beautiful quasi-documentary ponders the issue of life extension and what it might be like to live well into a second century, by speaking to scientists, anthropologists and members of the public. Magical, minimal animated short All in the Mind explores humans' impact on nature and was created by Eden Koetting and her father Andrew. And Danni Spooner's dance piece Fag! challenges preconceptions around gender identity.

Jordan Stephens presents more of the best creative short films on television, from music to animation, dance, spoken word and anything visually random in between. George Wu's delightful animation explores the delicate dance of an office romance and an elephant in the room. Filmed in Berlin, visual art piece Mirrored by Ill-Studio explores architecture and our experience of it. In Saeed Taji Farouky's spectacular period piece They Live in Forests, They Are Extremely Shy, an indigenous Australian man comes face to face with a horrifying spectacle in an exhibition in Victorian London. A musical performance by 88 cymbals is shot from above in Florian Habicht's piece, Boredoms, which is a collaboration with the Japanese band of the same name.

Jordan Stephens presents more of the best creative short films on television. Noah Harris and Andy Biddle's stop-motion animation Salvation repurposes an eclectic array of charity shop finds to explore the nature of evolution. Set in an old people's home, Edwin Mingard's dreamy aerial dance piece Flying/Falling features octogenarian dancers conquering time and space. Jack Scott's super-8 film Jam! takes the concept of food porn to a beyond-logical conclusion. Plus: Riz Ahmed's video for the track Zayn Malik, performed by Riz's rap group side project Swet Shop Boys. The Game, a machine-gun dialogue penned by and starring Random Acts' very own Jordan Stephens and directed by Michael Middleton-Downer, questions the idea that to win at life we should treat it as a game. Finally, in a wonderful animation by Nicolas Menard, one man's quest to find God becomes entangled with an unexpected romance.