Brought to the Femme Filmmakers Festival 2026 from Swansea University sees student film – Scroll Or Stroll. Written, directed and produced by Ceri Gavins and Lita Segal, this story is told in one-shot with only a budget of just £30. The film achieves so much in its 6 minutes and 53 seconds running time. Scroll or Stroll is told without the use of dialogue and relies on sound and visual storytelling to tell its story.
Played simply through the character’s facial expressions – lead actress Claudia Schreuder gives a very natural performance of a student who requires a much-needed break. Unwinding from the stress of university essays, and unplugging from the hectic noise of social media, we follow the female student protagonist as she walks away from her desk and decides to roam free. Moving from the library to the fresh outdoors, she transposes from static to active. Irritating notifications pop-up on her phone trying to distract her.
Scroll Or Stroll: Being Aware of Your Surroundings
Music plays a big part in this short film, telling the story and the protagonist’s feelings. As soon as she walks outside, she turns on her playlist, and it acts as a soothing mechanism for all her worries to fade away. Focusing on her walk, there’s an interesting decision for her to wear one earphone.
This is essentially encouraging the audience as well to listen to music but also to be aware of your surroundings – wearing one earphone in and the other left out. The tracking shot pans around from following her to showing the protagonist’s emotions to then taking in the environment around her. The filmmakers here really utilise their setting. They transport the protagonist from mundane university hallways to the bright green grass.
There’s a beautiful shot of her walking along the stepping stones. How it’s captured in a wide lens manages to engulf both her emotions and her environment. It’s like she’s taking the camera with her to follow alongside this journey. But the lyrics in the song she listens to on her journey cleverly mirror her emotions. From speaking about time with ‘tell me it’s life that’s worth living’ to becoming aware of your surroundings in the line, ‘maybe it’s time I started listening.‘
It’s clear the filmmakers here really utilised their setting. From the stepping stones used as imagery in her journey to the hedges providing camera blocking. As she wanders the campus exterior, the lyrics sing ‘your lost and found.’ She then stops and sits in the grass – waving to a friend across the field. A notification breaks her out of the peace of listening to her playlist.
Unwinding From Everyday Stresses
But as she’s walking away the realisation kicks in that she needs human connection and ultimately this stops her in her tracks. Throughout her journey she’s managed to just be by herself and a lack of interaction with others. But she’s pausing and contemplating. Eventually she unplugs her earphones and cracks a smile.
Scroll Or Stroll reminds us to unwind from everyday stresses and pressures particularly as university students. But it also speaks on unplugging from social media and ignoring the constant notifications. Although most importantly it encourages us to get outside more.
For good mental health and wellbeing, this short film in the Student Showcase reminds us to take more breaks, step away from our screens, and take a walk outside. You never know when you may need it most. As the end line quotes, ‘Spend your time wisely.’
Rating: 4 ½ stars
Scroll Or Stroll is part of Filmotomy’s coverage on the Femme Filmmakers Festival 2026.
You can read more reviews from the festival, including Beam Me Up (2024) here.
