Amateur Short – Official Selection – April 2020
Esto si es negocio | Mexico | 2020 | 04’
Director: Mario Ayala Urias
Writer: Mario Ayala Urias
Producer: Mario Ayala Urias
Cast: Héctor Sauceda Ruiz, Jonathan Padilla Jaramillo , Áxel Sánchez López
Synopsis: [English] Omar is about to become a drug dealer, there is no other option.
[Español] Omar esta a punto de convertirse en un traficante, no hay otra opción.
Just play | Russian Federation | 2020 | 03’
Director: Kirill Chikalin
Writer: Kirill Chikalin
Synopsis: Two adult desk lamps play chess. A young playful lamp tries to understand the rules of the game, but in its own way. The young lamp jumps onto a chessboard and scatters all chess pieces, and ruins the game. Will the adults accept the new rules?
Animation Short – Official Selection – April 2020
Fly | Australia | 2019 | 07’
Director: Morteza halimi
Writer: morteza halimi
Producer: morteza halimi
Synopsis: After losing his family as an egg, the little penguin finds his own reason to live. His reason is his desire to fly.
Crick | United Kingdom | 2020 | 01’
Director: Nick Crimmen
Writer: Nick Crimmen
Producer: Nick Crimmen
Synopsis: A pilot contemplates home, but Crick Island calls to him
L.M.J | Canada | 2020 | 03’
Director: Areg Savchenko
Cast: Milica Vicentic, Raymondd Parisien
Synopsis: L.M.J Is an animated film centered on an energetic punk trying to escape a monstrous Business Man after spray painting his condo
Her Voiceless Song | Japan | 2020 | 17’
Director: Nobuyoshi Suzuki
Writer: Nobuyoshi Suzuki
Cast: Yu Mashiro, Ai Hazumi, Hana Uzuki
Synopsis: The first video work by Nobuyoshi Suzuki who directed, animated, screenplay, music, sound design, and edited all by himself.This work depicts the heavy subject and sin of having a dog.I would like more people to see my work, but especially those who have dogs, people who want to have dogs, and people who have had dogs before.
The Carousel | Italy | 2019 | 11’
Director: Valerio Berruti
Producer: Roberto Pisoni, Cristina Pistis
Synopsis: Nina is a little girl forced to work at the merry-go-round of her treacherous grandfather. Geppo is an adult boy with a childish soul who creates chaos in the village among the customers of the carousel. Hints of provincialism, resignation and fear of differences are transformed into a great desire for freedom. The carousel is actually made of flying birds…
Melted | United States | 2020 | 02’
Director: Nikki Chapman
Writer: Nikki Chapman
Producer: Ringling College of Art and Design
Cast: Shelby Lewis
Synopsis: A macabre girl laments about the inevitability of death after being given a melting cartoon character popsicle.
Meaningless | Australia | 2017 | 05’
Director: Tyson Di Rosa
Writer: Tyson Di Rosa
Producers: Medo Rashed, Tyson Di Rosa
Synopsis: A quiet man struggles to get a boulder to the top of a hill however making it to the top might not be his only task.
Stop Talking to Me | United States | 2020 | 04’
Director: Eric Fritz
Writer: Eric Fritz
Producer: Eric Fritz
Cast: Eric Fritz
Synopsis: Stop Talking to Me features a dialogue between yourself, the viewer, and Tony. You’ll find that he’s more than happy to chat (just give him a moment to warm up to you). The film explores the conflict between a desire to be left alone and the human need for social interaction. Viewers will follow Tony as they hang out with each other over the course of the day.
Commercial/Ad/TVC Short – Official Selection – April 2020
Safe Water | Germany | 2020 | 01’
Director: Mario Dahl
Writer: Mario Dahl
Producer: Stefanie Gödicke
Cast: Giulia Pecoraro
Synopsis: Safe water: more important than ever.
it works! | Germany | 2020 | 01’
Director: Mario Dahl
Writer: Mario Dahl
Producers: Stefanie Gödicke, Sophie Lotsch
Cast: Philipp Reinheimer, Florian Mania
Synopsis: It really does.
Feel It | United States | 2018 | 01’
Documentary Short – Official Selection – April 2020
The spider crab | France | 2020 | 12’
Director: Tristan Francia
Writer: Tristan Francia
Producer: Tristan Francia
Cast: Pierre Bontemps
Synopsis: A 70-year-old man remembers his journey to his dying father’s bedside, between hope and fear, between reality and imaginary.
Touch and Go Chess Party | 2019 | 03’
Director: Paul Restivo
Cast: Cecil Locke
Synopsis: “Chess is a game of war without Violence.” Touch and Go Chess Party is an experimental documentary on Cecil Locke and his 26 foot long 200 pound collapsable chess table located on Michigan Avenue in Chicago Illinois. He has set up outside of the art institute 6 days a week from April to November since 1998. Not only is Touch and Go Chess Party a unique street art installation, but also a staple of the chess community and passersby alike.
More with Less Singapore | 2020 | 16’
Directors: Kevyn Puah, Aronn Lim
Producer: Amanda Jane Lim
Synopsis: Minimalism is often associated with words like ‘boring’ and ‘deprivation’, where it is pegged with negative connotations to the uninitiated. More with Less is a short documentary that explores the benefits minimalism brings to those who adopt it and the positive impact it has on the environment. The film reveals an unknown and misunderstood part of this lifestyle choice, through the lives of Jane, a pastry chef, and Amanda, a KonMari consultant-in-training. We dive deeper into the challenges they face and how they overcame them in their minimalism journeys.
A Room in Moscow | Russian Federation | 2019 | 32’
Director: Alexander Zubkov
Writer: Marina Sapunova
Producers: Ekaterina Dyba, Alexei Novikov
Synopsis: Is it so easy to give up the idea of owning something in favour of renting? Now the urban people are learning the benefits of sharing. The proximity of housing to work, the gym, the city centre comes to the fore nowadays. And the house is just a set of boxes that you can always take with you in a small truck.
The Texture of Air | United Kingdom | 2020 | 24’
Directors: Ben Evans James, Olivia Bellas, Laura Mitchison
Writers: Laura Mitchison, Olivia Bellas
Producers: Guy Noble, On the Record CIC, ScreenDeep
Synopsis: The Texture of Air is a collective memoir of two lost hospital buildings and the extraordinary perceptual worlds within them. It unfolds in the last days of the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, located at no. 330 Grays Inn Road for nearly 150 years, and the Eastman Dental Hospital, a few doors down, established 1930. Vignettes of the staff and patients are ‘overheard’ spilling into psychedelic corridors, waiting rooms and walnut gardens. Witness the moment a cochlear implant is switched on for the first time, the music journalist awakening to a phantom orchestra, the numinous experience of a perfectly pitched anaesthetic, the trills and purrs of voice therapy, until the entire human sensorium is assembled before you. Buildings, bodies and memories are three notes striking a chord in these intimate stories. The film’s music – eight original pieces recorded on site – gives architectural substance and tension to the voices. An oboe and a clarinet call back and forth to one another, reverberating off hard floors and high ceilings. Pitch and melody are shaped by the sounds of machines and corridors. Rhythms are taken from the gallop motion of rocking horses in the play-area. An underwater recording of the hospital fountain triggers notes on a piano, the droplets finally yielding to the hum of Victorian piping. The sonic history of each building unravels with spools of 16mm film – a nod to George Eastman, who built one of the hospitals with the billions generated by his Kodak camera company. The film stock used in this experimental documentary was discovered in a drawer at the Eastman Dental Hospital – it had literally passed its sell-by-date. Buried treasures relating to each vignette rotate, dream-like: a ‘museum’ of ‘ear trumpets’, a sliced head, an art Deco stairwell, an ark-load of specimens ranging from a pygmy shrew to a giraffe. The nostalgic pastels of 16mm film bleed, through a repurposed microscope lens, into futuristic 3D-scan animation. It is as if the dental technicians were dreaming of the 3D scanning technology that will displace their analogue skills. “We’ll all still be together, won’t we?” we hear one of the therapists ask her colleagues. Hospital staff had worked together for 25 years or more, fallen in love with one another, volunteered for one another’s experiments, fed each other’s terrapins with fresh shrimp. The Texture of Air engages dozens of staff, patients and local musicians in documenting two sites replete with medical firsts – the discovery of oto-acoustic emissions, the first NHS cochlear implant programme, the rehab of celebrity vocal chords. But it’s the everyday senses of place that count. “It’s the texture of air”, says a nose patient who has lost his sense of smell, describing his uncanny experience of a perception severed from its former physical architecture. This is a fitting title for a film about closed hospitals that persist in the imagination. Services transferred to a smaller combined site on Huntley Street between 2019 and 2020.
Experimental Short – Official Selection – April 2020
The Texture of Air | United Kingdom | 2020 | 24’
Directors: Ben Evans James, Olivia Bellas, Laura Mitchison
Writers: Laura Mitchison, Olivia Bellas
Producers: Guy Noble, On the Record CIC, ScreenDeep
Synopsis: The Texture of Air is a collective memoir of two lost hospital buildings and the extraordinary perceptual worlds within them. It unfolds in the last days of the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, located at no. 330 Grays Inn Road for nearly 150 years, and the Eastman Dental Hospital, a few doors down, established 1930. Vignettes of the staff and patients are ‘overheard’ spilling into psychedelic corridors, waiting rooms and walnut gardens. Witness the moment a cochlear implant is switched on for the first time, the music journalist awakening to a phantom orchestra, the numinous experience of a perfectly pitched anaesthetic, the trills and purrs of voice therapy, until the entire human sensorium is assembled before you. Buildings, bodies and memories are three notes striking a chord in these intimate stories. The film’s music – eight original pieces recorded on site – gives architectural substance and tension to the voices. An oboe and a clarinet call back and forth to one another, reverberating off hard floors and high ceilings. Pitch and melody are shaped by the sounds of machines and corridors. Rhythms are taken from the gallop motion of rocking horses in the play-area. An underwater recording of the hospital fountain triggers notes on a piano, the droplets finally yielding to the hum of Victorian piping. The sonic history of each building unravels with spools of 16mm film – a nod to George Eastman, who built one of the hospitals with the billions generated by his Kodak camera company. The film stock used in this experimental documentary was discovered in a drawer at the Eastman Dental Hospital – it had literally passed its sell-by-date. Buried treasures relating to each vignette rotate, dream-like: a ‘museum’ of ‘ear trumpets’, a sliced head, an art Deco stairwell, an ark-load of specimens ranging from a pygmy shrew to a giraffe. The nostalgic pastels of 16mm film bleed, through a repurposed microscope lens, into futuristic 3D-scan animation. It is as if the dental technicians were dreaming of the 3D scanning technology that will displace their analogue skills. “We’ll all still be together, won’t we?” we hear one of the therapists ask her colleagues. Hospital staff had worked together for 25 years or more, fallen in love with one another, volunteered for one another’s experiments, fed each other’s terrapins with fresh shrimp. The Texture of Air engages dozens of staff, patients and local musicians in documenting two sites replete with medical firsts – the discovery of oto-acoustic emissions, the first NHS cochlear implant programme, the rehab of celebrity vocal chords. But it’s the everyday senses of place that count. “It’s the texture of air”, says a nose patient who has lost his sense of smell, describing his uncanny experience of a perception severed from its former physical architecture. This is a fitting title for a film about closed hospitals that persist in the imagination. Services transferred to a smaller combined site on Huntley Street between 2019 and 2020.
The silence of the forest | Greece | 2019 | 13’
Director: Valentina Xhialli
Writer: Valentina Xhialli
Producer: Valentina Xhialli
Cast: Andreas Konstantinou, Sophia Hill
Synopsis: A man alone in the forest, a dream within a dream, while reality is mixed with fantasy.
Go! | Italy | 2019 | 07’
Director: Vittorio Campanella, Riccardo Maione
Writer: Daniele Condemi, Luca Pescaglini, Vittorio Campanella
Producer: Lucia Carolina de Rienzo
Cast: Emanuele Piras
Synopsis: The dancing migration through a day, periphery and body.
quarantine | Russian Federation | 2020 | 20’
Director: Nikita Chisnikov
Writers: Irina Burdenkova, Jana Kononova, Victoria Sotnikova
Producer: Nikita Chisnikov
Cast: Asya Kalinina, Maxim Peshkov
Synopsis: The first short fiction film for smartphones (screenlife iPhone 11) about love, virus, quarantine, and cats. Asya’s wedding is in danger – because of the virus pandemic, the borders are closed, the groom got stuck in Germany, the dress is lost, and her ex knows her phone’s password! But is the hope lost?
Panem et Circenses | Turkey | 2019 | 05’
Director: Sofi
Writer: Sofi
Producer: Gizem Albohayre
Cast: Deniz Tekin, Deniz Punkculture, Dogukan Kaynak, Gizem Albohayre, Kubra Balcan, Giaandrogyny
Synopsis: Named after ancient Roman poet Juvenal’s famous phrase “Breads and Circuses”, Panem Et Circenses focuses on the collective suffering of being limited by conceptual boundaries, which suppress a being’s uniqueness, creativity, and sought self fulfillment. Inside a metaphorical universe, which is inspired by an aquarium, original characters depict their individual journeys in life, accompanied with a goldfish’s tale of seeking a way out his habitat that is togged up with distractive ornaments. As each character tries to realize themselves in fashion, choreography, emotions and identity, the goldfish simultaneously continues his journey as an element that reflects their collective dreams, hardships, joys and disappointments. Having created and developed by a team of volunteers, Panem Et Circenses aims to express the will to embrace and lead change and transformation under challenging circumstances, while leveraging the power of being unique and acting collective to overcome social, economical and political challenges.
TACET | France | 2017 | 15’
Director: Feriele Beggour
Writer: Chris Garcia
Producer: Septième
Cast: Chris Garcia, Alexis Desseaux, Athénaïs Régnier
Synopsis: At the time, Dylan was considered a young piano prodigy. But after his father’s death, Dylan finally stopped any activity for no reason. But two years later, an event will revive this passion, where love and past grudges will mingle…
And also, for youth | Canada | 2020 | 03’
Director: Eamon Hillis
Writer: Eamon Hillis
Cast: Liam Hillis, Breanna Reid
Synopsis: A young couple experience the ecstasies of youth.
Grounded: Cecil | United States | 2020 | 09’
Director: Matthew Johns
Writer: Matthew Johns
Cast: Emily Mitchell, Matthew Johns, Brandon Schroeder
Synopsis: A young artist tainted by a ruthless past struggles with feelings he’s begun to have for his two best friends, thrusting those feelings into his work.
Mini Short – Official Selection – April 2020
Modern Times…Now | United States | 2020 | 02’
Director: Courtney B Ropp
Writer: Courtney B Ropp
Cast: Courtney B Ropp, Cody Hamilton
Synopsis: These are the new times we live in…socially.
Murphy’s Law n.2 | Italy | 2020 | 02’
Director: Valerio Galli
Writer: Valerio Galll
Producer: Valerio Galli
Cast: Valerio Galli
Synopsis: A guy, locked at home for the Covid-19 emergency, reflects on the moment the world is living
Alex | Australia | 2020 | 03’
Director: Jean Pierre Addinall
Writer: Jean Pierre Addinall
Producer: Jaden Bowen
Synopsis: Lost and stuck in a rut at the age of 25. Alex decides to take a leap of faith, sell his belongings and leave Sydney with nothing but his motorcycle and the clothes on his back. Arriving in Brisbane Alex re-discovers his love for arial arts and joins Red Dragon. He quickly works his way up to becoming an instructor with a dream of winning a world championship. In order to continue his training, he must find a balance between his goals and his reality. His reward? He finds himself in the most beautiful way possible.
Aire | Spain | 2020 | 02’
Director: Marc Lesperut
Writer: Marc Lesperut
Cast: Carla Mercader
Synopsis: An emotional phone call of a nurse to her mother sets the tone of this short moving piece dedicated to all health workers fighting against corona virus all over the world.
Fashion Short – Official Selection – April 2020
Fate | Spain | 2019 | 03’
Director: Jahel Virallonga
Writer: Jahel Virallonga
Producers: Jahel Virallonga, Sergio Sicilia
Cast: Maurybell Rivas, Sergio Sicilia
Synopsis: FATE is a Fashion Film with a gender viewpoint that shows a strong woman throwing the cards and modifying her circumstances to finally face the consequences. The film is a metaphor of women’s history, who for centuries have had to abide by the destiny society had assigned to them and are now able to create their own.
My love is epiphyllum | Russian Federation | 2019 | 04’
Director: Maxett Pribylov
Writer: Maxett Pribylov
Producer: Alexander Ponomarev
Cast: Sofia Filileeva, Ivan Vorobev
Synopsis: My video has the spirit of the first pure love. The video “my love is epiphyllum” Lat. (your love is flower) tells about the summer dreams of lovers, when mutual care is metaphorically represented as the care of a person for a houseplant.
I chose the form of a science fiction film for my video. The voiceover used in the video is a plant care instruction from a gardening book. The sound is made by the voice of Siri.
Perhaps this work will be useful to the viewer in such difficult time in the world.
Narrative Short – Official Selection – April 2020
I’m coming! | Sweden | 2020 | 06’
Director: Maria Forslin
Writers: Maria Forslin, Henric Wallmark
Producers: Maria Forslin, Kjell Åhlund
Cast: Isabella Forslin, Ludvig Karmalm, Ella Dahlberg
Synopsis: A group of teenagers party outside. Anja, a seemingly quiet and shy girl, gets an opportunity (via the game hide-and-seek) to be alone with Simon whose girlfriend Isabella counts. Alone with each other and bit drunk, they hook up. They reach their climax when Isabella shouts “I’m coming!”
Carpe Noctem | United Kingdom | 2020 | 19’
Director: David Bartkiewicz
Writers: David Bartkiewicz, James Cornwall
Producers: David Bartkiewicz, James Cornwall, Samuel Chen
Cast: Ian Williamson, Roseanna Brear, Paul Synnot
Synopsis: Carpe Noctem is a dark, noir, murder mystery thriller set in the claustrophobically small village of Peterchurch in West England. Officer Poppy Thorne, a hardworking 26 year old with a lot to prove and Detective Edward Stevenson, a hardened, insomniac 30 something, uncover a trail of bodies – women found murdered and raped throughout the village.
Tensions run high after clues lead to dead ends and Edward’s mental state rapidly degenerates as he loses sleep and his nightly hallucinations begin to plague his waking life.
Rabbit | China | 06’
Director: Yangyixin Wei
Writer: Yangyixin Wei
Producer: Yu Jiang
Cast: Zhitong Zhou, Jingrui Liu, Wei Xing
CARMA | United States | 2019 | 20’
Director: Sunny Na
Producers: Tien Nguyen, Amanda Lau, Unique Cooper
Cast: Robert Chestnut
Synopsis: Edmond, a desperate husband, drives you through the most thrilling and intense night of his life.
No/Low Budget – Official Selection – April 2020
Like You Said You’d Be | United States | 2020 | 13’
Director: Cole Bacani
Writer: Cole Bacani
Producers: Cole Bacani, Norrie Palmer
Cast: Nicole McCullough, Damon McKinnis, John Lane
Synopsis: After her latest project is canceled due to uncontrollable circumstances, Nicole turns to the music in her head as she searches for an escape from her disappointment.
Love/Sick | United States | 2020 | 09’
Director: John Pope, Nokomis
Writer: Leaman Logsdon
Producer: John Pope
Cast: Nokomis Leaman Logsdon, John Pope, Jorge Gutierrez
Synopsis: A privileged, stay-at-home couple are at odds in their relationship.
Dog | Israel | 2020 | 07’
Director: Anat Eisenberg
Writer: Anat Eisenberg
Producers: Anat Eisenberg, Etty Ben On
Cast: Omri Rave, Roni Einav, Esty Kosovitzki
Synopsis: Yuda, handsome and self-confident, wants to bring back Yael, the love of his life. In the gray and depressing space of the library where she had set up the meeting, he is trying to convince her to give it a one last chance. Yuda uses all his familiar tactics, he is sure that he got it in the bag, but in front of him stands Yael, and she looks at him different. When he gets too carried away trying to get what he decided he wants, suppressed by the librarian’s stiff voice, he loses control, and for a moment becomes an animal.
Q di Q | Italy | 03’
Director: Gianmarco Donaggio
Synopsis: The film was thought and completed in 48 hours, to compete in the 2020 AAFF 48-hour contest. The director responded to the 48-hour film contest’s premise “who could have guessed” with three elements: temporality, presence, and being. Although filmed in one day, the film juxtaposes a variety of different perspectives resulting in a not linear perception of time and a bent vision of space.
FREEDOM & FEAR | Germany | 2020 | 14’
Director: Johannes Ziegler
Writer: Johannes Ziegler
Producer: Johannes Ziegler
Cast: Sita Ziegler-Robert, Amalia Ziegler
Synopsis: The world in 2025. Strict restrictions and quarantine measures still apply. The global economy plunged into a deep crisis from which it has not yet recovered. The silent fear of the COVID-19 virus and state control are widespread. A mother and her daughter live in silent fear of a virus and the oppression, the invisible control that is supposed to protect our society. Everyday life has changed. He has become calm, characterized by simple tasks and the urge to survive. In these circumstances, the mother tries to complete a work whose completion becomes the symbol of our time. It is a serious decision that our society has to face: fear or freedom. – “This film was created during global quarantine efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Impronta | Italy | 05’
Director: Daniel Greenway
Writer: Hannah Farrell
Producer: Daniel Greenway
Cast: Corneliu Dragomirescu
Synopsis: A film poem looking to shine a light on over-consumption and pollution caused by the human race.
Do you see me? | Germany | 2019 | 08’
Director: Maren Link-Nennmann
Writer:Maren Link-Nennmann
Producer: Maren Link-Nennmann
Cast:Juliane Selesnew, Ben Hüwelmeier, Alina Birgel, Fabrice Kiffel
Synopsis: Lena, a young lady who grew up without her father, feels trapped in her relationship. When she starts dreaming of another man, she slowly realises, that it’s not about the men in her life at all. A dreamlike journey about a young woman’s growing self awareness.
School Bus Karaoke | Hong Kong | 2020 | 08’
Director: Tse Chun Ting
Writers: Tse Chun Ting, Wong Hoi
Producer: Ng Pak Yin
Cast: Simon Chung, Marcus Chan
Synopsis: Simon, who drives school bus for living and is passionate about music. He also sings in a bar at night to share his enthusiasm for music, best way to earn money and to fulfil hisinterest. He always wanted to perform and share with others about a song composed by himself, “Thanks for your presence”. However, it is a pity that he could not be able to sing his song while driving on bus or at the bar due to different incidents. When Simon feel frustrated, he then realises that the one who appreciate his music is around him already.
Short Comedy – Official Selection – April 2020
KNITTING CLUB FOR MEN OVER 40 | Russian Federation | 2020 | 20’
Director: Egor Gavrilin
Writer: Egor Gavrilin
Producer: Lucya Kravtsova
Synopsis: There’s a new member in the mysterious knitting club for mature men. On his first day he sees that there’s someone who wants to seize power over the club. He decides to bring back justice. The bad guy has already mastered the skill of knitting but our hero has resolve and best intentions. But… are they that good after all?
CRACK A SMILE | France | 2020 | 13’
Director: LEVY CLAUDE
Writer: LEVY CLAUDE
Producer: JONATHAN BOLUS
Cast: DIOMAY SARR, AUDREY QUOTURI, ZOE CORRAFACE, ANTHONY BROUARD, DAPHNE HILARION, DYLAN PEDRON
Synopsis: On a sunny day, the lives of 9 young people intertwine in Paris, against a backdrop of pop culture, passion about photography and relationships between men and women.
L’ultimo whisky con il cappellaio matto | Italy | 2020 | 15’
Director: Nello Petrucci
Writer: Nello Petrucci
Producer: Satyr M.B. production
Cast: Titti Nuzzolese, Ciro Cascina, Beniamino Brogi, Bret Roberts, Egidio Carbone
Synopsis: What would happen if Alice found the Mad Hatter after many years? An unusual meeting where time has been out of the clock for quite a while…
The Astonishing Adventures of Alfred | United Kingdom | 2020 | 13’
Director: Joe Pearson
Writer: Rory Cargill
Producer: Rory Cargill
Cast: Rory Cargill, Johnny Mindlin, J.P. Turner
Synopsis: ALFRED, a 1950’s ten-year-old schoolboy who loves to go on wonderful adventures, has come into possession of a magical magnifying glass – through mysterious circumstances.
Doffice | Belgium | 2019 | 20’
Director: Leclercq David
Writers: Othmane Moumen , David Leclercq
Producers: Vincent Tavier
Cast: Michel Carcan, Othmane Moumen
Synopsis: An old guy works into the same office, everyday. But one day, a young colleague arrives and puts his world upside down.
HotHed | United Kingdom | 2020 | 25’
Director: David Spring
Writers: Stephen Pitt & David Spring
Producer: Ajo Kacmar
Cast: Nimisha Odedra, Victoria Broom, Amber Doig-Thorne
Synopsis: A young Youtuber is hired by a struggling energy drink company, HotHed Inc., to become their mascot in exchange for fame and money. Their partnership becomes an incredible success story, with the Youtuber driving enormous brand awareness due to the popularity of her entertaining stunt videos, resulting in soaring profits for HotHed. But just when the stunts become more and more grueling and painful for their mascot, the HotHed execs decide to stage a spectacular – and rather dangerous – event which would propel them into the internet stratosphere.
Short Drama – Official Selection – April 2020
JULIA. DECEMBER 13 | Poland | 2019 | 10’
Director: Lukasz Madziar
Writer: Lukasz Madziar
Producer: Lukasz Madziar
Cast: Maria Patykiewicz, Sebastian Cybulski, Andrzej Popiel
Synopsis: The young man lost contact with his pregnant girlfriend. The policeman assisted by a psychologist visits him and explains that his girlfriend is a victim of postpartum psychosis and last night there was a row in the hospital. The man falls into despair. The girl, assisted by the police, recognizes her child’s corpse lying on the wharf. The policeman tries to visit the man again, but he is not in the apartment. We see him committing suicide in loneliness, near a large coal incinerator.
PRASKOVYA | Russian Federation | 2019 | 06’
Director: Alexander Solovyov
Writer: Alexander Solovyov
Producer: Ksenia Kovaleva
Synopsis: Praskovya continues working in the Bank despite hunger in the freezing siege of Leningrad. Her husband went to war. The only thing he left is the ink pot. This gift is the onlyitem which makes Praskovya feel warm. In the most critical moment when no hopes or energy is left only the ink pot acts as a twist of destiny.
York At Night | United States | 2020 | 06’
Director: Spencer Gibson
Writer: Spencer Gibson
Cast: Tenzin Dhondup, Whisper Washington, Treeman
Synopsis: A lonely man dreams of making a song dedication on his favorite love radio show.
The Voice of Waves | China | 2019 | 11’
Director: Mobai Zhang (PATO BRANCO)
Writer: Mobai Zhang (PATO BRANCO)
Producer: Shushan Liu
Cast: Xingxing Zheng
Synopsis: In a small town in northern china, a young woman was mysteriously missing. The police found unsent package in her home and found a solitary writer based on the address above. The writer seems to be unaware of it, but the things in the package have evoked his memories. Does the woman exist? What is the relationship with the work he is working on?
Janet | United States | 2019 | 12’
Director: Wendi Tang
Writer: Wendi Tang
Producers: Yutian Feng, Elliot Gong, Wendi Tang
Cast: Catherine Taormina, Nokomis Leaman Logsdon, Mark A. Keeton
Synopsis: Stuck in a broken marriage, a desperate middle-aged woman must confront her rebellious daughter and convince her to continue school.
BUNNY IN THE RAIN… | Russian Federation | 2020 | 21’
Director: Oksana Barkovskaya
Writer: Oksana Barkovskaya
Producer: Natalia Bernyakova
Synopsis: A six year old boy diagnosed with autism suffers from a lack of parents love. The only person whom he loves and who understands him is his nanny. Once an unsettling story takes place on a playground – his nanny is arrested. The boy is left alone in a big world that is more than hostile towards him.
Student Short – Official Selection – April 2020
Faraway, so close | United States | 2019 | 05’
Director: Gustavo Milan
Writer: Gustavo Milan
Producers: Gustavo Milan , Eris Qian
Cast: Evan Ulven, Clemmie Evans, Robert Gregory , Logan Sutherland, Marianne Goodwell
Synopsis: A young man relies on the support of his greatest ally in order to live the excitements of a double life
FREEDOM OF CHOICE | Russian Federation | 2020 | 21’
Director: Alexey Medvedev
Writer: Sergey Surzhikov
Producers: Anna Rumyantseva, Pavel Yurinov
Synopsis: A fatal accident – hostage-taking in a faraway country – brings together an important diplomat, his unfaithful wife and her lover. To be saved, they need to act together, but is it possible when hatred is stronger than the desire to live, a sense of duty is more important than reputation, and betrayal is higher than love?
Draft Day | United States | 2020 | 09’
Director: Angel Caro
Writer: Angel caro
Producers: Angel Caro, Sjon Blackwell
Cast: Benjamin Coleman, Ahmad O’Neal, Melissa Lloyd-Wade, Ryan Mcvey
Synopsis: Rumors of a third world war make a way into the lives of a small family when the oldest sibling has his dreams of playing college ball shattered after receiving a draft notification.
STARFISH | United Kingdom | 2020 | 19’
Director: James Ho
Writers: James Ho, Callum Williams
Producers: James Ho, Tyler Okely
Cast: Paris Stangl, Daniel Whitington, Dave Lee
Synopsis: A burdened father faces a dilemma as he is forced to choose between his next aerospace assignment or reunion with his troubled son.
SCENES BY THE SEA | Russian Federation | 2019 | 20’
Director: Oksana Degtyareva
Writer: Oksana Degtyareva
Synopsis: Nina spends her time at her parents’ busy with the preparation for her younger sister’s wedding. Unexpectedly for her, her husband Nikita comes there too. Nina and Nikita have been going through a family relationships crisis. In order not to spoil the event, they try to pretend that everything is OK between them. How will their reluctant mutual vocation end? Will they be able to batter the wall between them down or will this wall get even higher?
Navigating Echoes | United States | 2020 | 04’
Directors: Daniel Monzel, Bridget Olson
Synopsis: “Navigating Echoes” provides a glimpse into the journey of a strange creature as it travels through a mathematical world of fractals. These 3D fractals — called Mandelbulbs — come together to form a never ending dimension that repeats infinitely at a smaller and smaller scale. The cyclical repetition draws parallels to our own spiritual growth, comparing how the warm concept of reincarnation might be similar to the cold math formulas that derive the fibonacci spiral.
Header | Germany | 2020 | 13’
Director: Mark Kuhlmann
Writer: Mark Kuhlmann
Producer: Mark Kuhlmann
Cast: Doron Heegner, Anton Lindner, Yasmin Ott
Synopsis: When Lars (13) gets further and further behind in the initially still funny duel with his brother Kai (11) and thus also threatens to lose the love of his mother, he is faced with a decision: Will he fight against his unfairly playing brother or will he give up?
Stop Talking to Me | United States | 2020 | 04’
Director: Eric Fritz
Writer: Eric Fritz
Producer: Eric Fritz
Cast: Eric Fritz
Synopsis: Stop Talking to Me features a dialogue between yourself, the viewer, and Tony. You’ll find that he’s more than happy to chat (just give him a moment to warm up to you). The film explores the conflict between a desire to be left alone and the human need for social interaction. Viewers will follow Tony as they hang out with each other over the course of the day.
Blind Corners | Australia | 2019 | 13’
Director: Catherine Nickson
Writer: Catherine Nickson
Producer: Catherine Nickson
Cast: Roy Barker, Verity Higgins, Eleanor Webster, Robert Awad, Nicholas Stribakos, David King, Julia Day
Synopsis: Blind Corners is a suspense drama involving a retired Melbourne professor convinced a subversive organisation is orchestrating the current world chaos. Passing his findings on to a security agency friend, the professor also counters the group to a growing number of followers online. Following a recent fatal accident, strange occurrences intensifies the professors paranoia as he becomes increasingly concerned his past may be catching up to him.
Short Fantasy/Sci-Fi – Official Selection – April 2020
CR: Complete Reality | Canada | 2019 | 16’
Director: Stanton Chong
Writers: Stanton Chong, Berlin Lu
Producers: Berlin Lu, Stanton Chong, Hugo Raymundo
Cast: Berlin Lu, Nalani Wakita, Mitra Suri, Kaylah Zander, Brenna Llewellyn, Ken Do, Tina-Marie Springham, Rebecca Kwan, Donna Soares, Nicholas Wong, Priya Madhwan, Darren Staten, Chris Champagne, Andrew Nadanyi, Shakti Shunmugam, Sade Deroche, Sunny Zhou
Synopsis: Inspired by his partner’s selfless care, a computer genius born with a rare debilitating skin condition unlocks the disconnect between his mind and body, freeing him from disability; but his determination to cure the world from physical impairments burdens his relationship and his own mind.
The Bargain | United States | 2020 | 09’
Director: Shange Zhang
Writer: Shange Zhang
Producer: Yuru Zhang
Cast: Bo Wen, Xiangbo Wang
Synopsis: A struggling young man parts with his most valuable commodity in a mysterious pawnshop, but gets far more than he bargained for.
Ungbi and non-human friends | Republic of Korea | 2020 | 18’
Synopsis: Ungbi, in need of a playmate, and an unidentified creature covered in black fur. The relationship between these two, who were ‘human’ and ‘non-human animal’, gradually reverses.
CONSUME | Argentina | 2020 | 14’
Director: Bruno Gradaschi
Writer: Bruno Gradaschi
Cast: Andres Daian, Javier Roson, Flora Ferrari, Christian Grilli
Synopsis: A world where everyone lives in the work stations and eats liquid food coming from dispensers. Workers that are only numbers fulfill incomprehensible and alienating tasks to earn points and reach a target to move up the chain and access a better life. We know him as 079 and he keeps falling short leaving that promotion too far to reach. So he decides to steal the remaining points from his next door neighbor.
Inner-critic | United States | 2020 | 05’
Director: Tara Tusher
Writer: Tara Tusher
Producer: Tara Tusher
Cast: Tara Tusher
Synopsis: A heart broken woman battles her inner critic as she works on a potion to bring back her dead lover.
G A B R I E L | Spain | 2020 | 20’
Director: Pierfrancesco Artini
Writers: Pierfrancesco Artini, Claudio Masenza
Producers: Claudio Masenza, Luis Morenes
Cast: Isabel Ordaz, Antonio Ibañez
Synopsis: Agatha is struck by her husband’s death. She feels old and lonely, yet she starts to experience unexpected sexual desires that would lead her to buy the ultimate version of a male sex robot, Gabriel. Will she find happiness?
Stop Motion/Time Lapse – Official Selection – April 2020
Giant Baby Loves Food | Dominican Republic | 2019 | 01’
Director: Alfonssette Medina
Writer: Alfonssette Medina
Producers: Alfonssette Medina, Sara Ab
Cast: Giant Baby
Synopsis: Giant Baby Loves Food explores our curious desire to overcome our limitations. Even so, eating them until there’s none of it left! Our character experiences self-doubt, purpose, and then rejoice. After all, we are about what we feed ourselves. Feed yourself fear, and grey days will come your way. Feed yourself hope, and you will conquer all.
Meaningless | Australia | 2017 | 05’
Director: Tyson Di Rosa
Writer: Tyson Di Rosa
Producers: Medo Rashed, Tyson Di Rosa
Synopsis: A quiet man struggles to get a boulder to the top of a hill however making it to the top might not be his only task.
Short Horror – Official Selection – April 2020
Pose | China | 2019 | 19’
Director: MA YUE
Writer: MA YUE
Producers: MA YUE, Chan Hau Chun, Chui Chi Yin
Cast: Karen Swinton Young, Monster Leaf
Synopsis: A young model was running away, a man in black was chasing her, and the girl’s photographer boyfriend was also looking for her. Meanwhile, a mysterious camera kept taking pictures of the girl’s pose.
The Spellbook | United States | 2020 | 10’
Director: Julian C. Santos
Writer: Kevin J. Nittolo
Cast: Lainey Woo, Samantha Brooks
Synopsis: After the death of someone in their hometown, two estranged childhood friends reunite for a sleepover. Together, they must confront a literal demon and their own unresolved issues.
Make A Wish | United States | 2019 | 09’
Director: Dinh Thai
Writers: Ivan Tsang, Dinh Thai
Producers: Diane Foster, Edward Hong, Josephine Chang
Cast: Edward Hong, Josephine Chang, Roman Moretti
Synopsis: A dark comedy about a man who discovers that that his fiancé has kidnapped his high school bully for his 30th birthday with the hope that he’ll take his revenge.
The Music Box | United States | 2020 | 25’
Director: Ryan Riddle
Writer: Ryan Riddle
Producer: Bryant Marcontel
Cast: Yuwi Kim, True Chan, Ginny O’ Keefe, Jasmine Orpilla
Synopsis: A girl and her father move to America after experiencing tragedy and are eventually haunted by the loved one they both lost.
Sleep Tight | United States | 2020 | 12’
Director: Michael Seabolt
Writer: Michael Seabolt
Producer: Michael Seabolt
Cast: Bec Doyle, Wes McGee, Mason Wells
Synopsis: Preston’s adoptive parents Daniel and Kate think that he is just going through a phase, but Kate fears it may be more because of Preston’s haunted past. Are the monsters in Preston’s closet his past coming back to haunt him? Or is it just another kid with an over active imagination? One thing is for sure, its going to be a night everyone will remember…
Susie | United States | 2020 | 16’
Director: Jordan Doig
Writer: Jordan Doig
Producers: Stephanie Gould, Ian McGuire
Cast: Cat Olson, Andrea Murillo
Synopsis: Susie and Andy’s relationship has become toxic. In order to deal with Andy’s controlling and emotionally damaging actions, Susie begins to manifest a real and physical horror.
Dreamer’s Journey | Canada | 2019 | 19’
Director: Mitchell Branget
Writer: Mitchell Branget
Producers: Sebastien Gaspar-Woods, Mitchell Branget
Cast: Kitu Turcas, Eric Branget, Samantha Lillian, Kathy Roberts, Liam Couvion
Synopsis: A man is forced to face his deepest fears when he’s faced with an episode of sleep paralysis.