A crowd favourite at Sundance, Brian and Charles is a quirky, cheerful comedy about robots, cabbages and friendship.

During a harsh and lonely winter a few years back, Brian Gittins discovered he has a knack for building things. Ever since, he’s passed his time making stuff: if you need an egg belt or a flying cuckoo clock, he’s got just the thing. His latest project is his most ambitious yet: combining DIY gumption, a washing machine and a salvaged mannequin’s head, Brian successfully builds a sentient robot. Self-identifying as Charles Petrescu, the childlike android quickly becomes besties with his creator. But like all children, Charles will eventually become that most disturbing of monsters: a teenager.

Less Frankenstein and more Wallace (sans Gromit), Brian and Charles expands director Jim Archer’s award-winning short film of the same name, elaborating on its delightful low-key humour and big-hearted eccentricities. Written by and starring David Earl and Chris Hayward, it tacks an understated mockumentary approach onto a homemade sci-fi frame constructed from gentle absurdity and deadpan hilarity. Earl’s Brian garners empathy as the delighted, and despairing, parental figure, while Hayward imbues the seven-foot Charles with an endearing pathos. Together, they’ll help each other find love, fight bullies and learn the true meaning of family.

“A delight: a happy-go-lucky story about found family, or in this case a created one.” – The Film Stage

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Please note: The Tuesday 9 August screening will be a Crybaby Session. Click here to find out more about Access at MIFF 70.