The Deep in the Heart Film Festival announced the film lineup for its 6th edition, which will combine in-theater screenings July 21-24, followed by an online encore July 24-30. Deep in the Heart FF will open with a special presentation of short films, the Texas premiere of Juliet Landau’s thriller A Place Among the Dead will be the Spotlight screening, and then close the film festival with the world premiere of Michael McNamara and Aaron Hancox’s documentary Catwalk 2: The Comeback Cats. The popular Waco-based film festival will present 123 films (5 features, 109 shorts and 9 music videos).
Deep in the Heart FF co-founders and directors Samuel Thomas and Louis Hunter, said, “We recognize the impact this film festival increasingly makes on the Waco filmmaking ecosystem, just as it solidifies its place each year as a key stop on the map for filmmakers attending regional film festivals on the national tour. Giving our filmmakers more opportunities beyond the wonderful interaction with our Waco audiences to help with their development as artists, and maybe encourage them to come back to town to shoot their next project here is a central focus for this film festival. Of course, the sense of fun and love of cinema that Deep in the Heart FF will be omnipresent once again as our ability to spread the gospel of our films and what we do has become stronger and made us quite a force to be reckoned with.”
The Deep in the Heart Film Festival has made a name for itself as one of the top curated film festivals when it comes to short films and this year has decided to emphasize its celebration of short films that much more by dedicating Opening Night to the art of the short film. Selections include; Tyler Wisner’s Adamah, about a newly created world where there is no memory of the past where a young man discovers the dark side of being human; Jack Reynor’s Bainne, where a stoic farmhand in Ireland encounters a ghostly figure stealing milk; Jack Saxon’s Billy about an obsessive professor who experiences a series of tragic events after uncovering new information surrounding the subject of his latest research; Sam Rudykoff’s Cruise about a hapless telemarketer trying mightily to give away a free cruise; and Esmeralda Hernandez’s Dream Carriers, where a college-bound Chicana reflects on past generations of women through the telling of the migration of monarch butterflies.
Michael Charron’s First Impressions follows the wayward efforts of a man trying to impress his girlfriend and her friends at their weekly game night with his favorite game; Casey L Floyd’s Kind Eyes focuses on a man seeking romance on a dating app date who sees a promising candidate turn into something else entirely; Joshua Koszewski’s Millennial Tiny House USA! Comments on our binge-watching culture via its story of a couple receiving a surprise visit from real estate reality show hosts; and Jonathan Hammond’s We All Die Alone sees an inept conflict negotiator leading two warring gangs into an 8-way standoff. Dave Garcia’s documentary short, Added Years looks at an aging man’s love and devotion for his horses, and the joy and optimism they bring him, and Natasha Straley’s music video One of Them Guys completes the evening’s Opening program.
Horror genre favorite and Hollywood royalty, Juliet Landau will come to Waco for the Texas Premiere of her film, A Place Among the Dead, for Deep in the Heart FF’s Spotlight screening. Directed, co-written, and starring the Landau, famed for her place in the “Buffy” universe, having starred in both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, as well as being the daughter of Academy Award-winner Martin Landau, the genre bending thriller explores the repercussions of growing up under the sway of narcissism and evil, blending fact with fiction, as it does so.
Closing night will feature the world premiere of Michael McNamara and Aaron Hancox’s documentary Catwalk 2: The Comeback Cats. The film tells the larger-than-life story of the people – and the cats – on the competitive cat show circuit. Members of the cat community are enjoying their newfound fame following their appearance in the first Catwalk documentary. As the film became an internet sensation, however, allegations emerge about one of the hobby’s most prominent members – Kim Langille faces a lifetime ban from the Canadian Cat Association (CCA). Hurt, but never sidelined, Kim decides to bring her cat Bobby out of retirement. This hilarious documentary once again proves that fact is funnier than fiction.
Leading the remaining trio of feature films presented this year is Aaron Hosé’s One Pint at a Time, looks at the heritage, history, and traditions behind American brewing culture. Today, Black-owned breweries make up less than 1% of the nearly 9,000 currently in operation. This documentary follows the Black brewers, brand owners and influencers across the country who are reshaping the craft beer industry and the future of America’s favorite adult beverage. Adding to Deep in the Heart FF’s genre offerings this year, Zachary Endres’ ghost story Home Body follows a shut-in who dies alone and returns as a housebound ghost, finding himself at the mercy of a world that didn’t even notice he was gone. Rounding out the features lineup is Micah Stathis’ The Sisters Karras, which focuses on two estranged half-sisters who must form a complicated bond in order to retrieve their rare and precious inheritance, which their late father inexplicably left to the mysterious man.
A major focus of this year’s edition of the film festival is the celebration of Waco as a film location. Given the proximity to both the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex and Austin, Waco effectively serves as a connection point between these production hubs. With a supportive community to filmmakers and filmmaking and the city’s beautiful and versatile location, it is easy to say that Waco is Made for Movies.
Leading the remaining trio of feature films presented this year is Aaron Hosé’s One Pint at a Time, looks at the heritage, history, and traditions behind American brewing culture. Today, Black-owned breweries make up less than 1% of the nearly 9,000 currently in operation. This documentary follows the Black brewers, brand owners and influencers across the country who are reshaping the craft beer industry and the future of America’s favorite adult beverage. Adding to Deep in the Heart FF’s genre offerings this year, Zachary Endres’ ghost story Home Body follows a shut-in who dies alone and returns as a housebound ghost, finding himself at the mercy of a world that didn’t even notice he was gone. Rounding out the features lineup is Micah Stathis’ The Sisters Karras, which focuses on two estranged half-sisters who must form a complicated bond in order to retrieve their rare and precious inheritance, which their late father inexplicably left to the mysterious man.
A major focus of this year’s edition of the film festival is the celebration of Waco as a film location. Given the proximity to both the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex and Austin, Waco effectively serves as a connection point between these production hubs. With a supportive community to filmmakers and filmmaking and the city’s beautiful and versatile location, it is easy to say that Waco is Made for Movies.
2022 Deep in the Heart Film Festival Official Selections
OPENING NIGHT FEATURED SHORTS AND MUSIC VIDEOS
Added Years
Director: Dave Garcia
Country: United States; Running Time: 9 min
A film essay of an aging man’s love and devotion for his horses, and the joy and optimism they bring him.
Adamah
Director: Tyler Wisner
Country: United States; Running Time: 11 min
In a newly created world where there is no memory of the past, a young man discovers the dark side of being human with his own hands.
Bainne
Director: Jack Reynor
Country: Ireland; Running Time: 18 min
In the last year of The Great Famine in Ireland, a stoic farmhand survives working for the local landlord. When he encounters a ghostly figure stealing milk his morality is questioned and he is beguiled on a journey of faith.
Billy
Director: Jack Saxon
Country: United States; Running Time: 13 min
An obsessive professor experiences a series of tragic events after uncovering new information surrounding the subject of his latest research – Billy, the Pygmy Hippopotamus.
Cruise
Director: Sam Rudykoff
Country: Canada; Running Time: 7 min
We’ve all received scam phone calls, but what about the person making the calls? Cruise is a dark workplace satire about a hapless telemarketer trying mightily to give away a free cruise. And if he fails, there will be dire consequences.
Dream Carriers
Director: Esmeralda Hernandez
Country: United States; Running Time: 7 min
On a final ride through her neighborhood, a college-bound Chicana reflects on past generations of women through the telling of the migration of monarch butterflies.
First Impressions
Director: Michael Charron
Country: United States; Running Time: 9 min
Randall wants to impress his girlfriend and her friends at their weekly game night with his favorite game, but things don’t quite go as planned…
Kind Eyes
Director: Casey L Floyd
Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min
Seeking romance on a dating app date and believing he’s finally found it, Cody looks up to see his promising date turn into something else entirely.
One of Them Guys
Director: Natasha Straley
Country: United States; Running Time: 3 min
Millennial Tiny House USA!
Director: Joshua Koszewski
Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min
At their most vulnerable moment, a couple receives a surprise visit from real estate reality show hosts. Millennial Tiny House USA! Is an extreme parody that explores the influence binge-watching culture has on our society.
We All Die Alone
Director: Jonathan Hammond
Country: United States; Running Time: 14 min
The hubris of an inept conflict negotiator leads two warring gangs into an 8-way standoff. The consequences are both comical and tragic in this whip-smart short.
SPOTLIGHT SELECTION
A Place Among the Dead Texas Premiere
Director: Juliet Landau
Country: United States; Running Time: 77 min
A Place Among the Dead is a genre-bending art film, which explores the repercussions of growing up under the sway of narcissism and psychological abuse. In this revealing, terrifying, entirely scripted, meld of fact, fiction, and the fantastical, actress/filmmaker “Jules,” driven by the demons of her past, embarks on a journey at the potential cost of everything she knows and loves.
CLOSING NIGHT SELECTION
Catwalk 2: The Comeback Cats World Premiere
Directors: Michael McNamara, Aaron Hancox
Country: Canada, United States; Running Time: 63 min
Catwalk 2: The Comeback Cats tells the larger-than-life story of the people – and the cats – in the competitive cat show circuit. Kim Langille faces a lifetime ban from the Canadian Cat Association (CCA). Hurt, but never sidelined, Kim decides to bring Bobby out of retirement, entering him in a new international association. There is only one problem – Bobby has gained a ton of weight. Is Bobby past his prime, or does he still have some magic left for the show hall? Little does Kim know that a greater challenge than any they’ve encountered is lurking around the corner. The cat show world is about to face COVID head on. Can our heroes and their hobby survive the pandemic? And what will become of all the cats with dreams of reaching the podium?”
ADDITIONAL FEATURE FILMS
Home Body
Director: Zachary Endres
Country: United States; Running Time: 77 min
When a shut-in dies alone and returns as a housebound ghost, he finds himself at the mercy of a world that didn’t even notice he was gone.
One Pint at a Time
Director: Aaron Hosé
Country: United States; Running Time: 89 min
Craft beer generates tens of billions of dollars annually for the US economy. Despite beer’s Egyptian and African heritage, these traditions have been mostly forgotten and are rarely found in American brewing culture. Today, Black-owned breweries make up less than 1% of the nearly 9,000 breweries in operation. Eager to shift the historical perception of who makes and drinks beer, Black brewers, brand owners and influencers across the country are reshaping the craft beer industry and the future of America’s favorite adult beverage.
The Sisters Karras
Director: Micah Stathis
Country: United States; Running Time: 81 min
A story about the things that matter: Family, legacy, success, and textiles. Yes, textiles. Two estranged half-sisters form a complicated bond as they work together to retrieve their rare and precious inheritance, which their late father inexplicably leaves to the mysterious Marco.
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
A Thorn in the Brain
Director: Nate Southard
Country: United States; Running Time: 9 min
A short documentary about finding out where you came from and dealing with the consequences.
Come On Time
Director: Chris Vernon
Country: United Kingdom, United States; Running Time: 40 min
The story of Clive Kennedy, a music documentary about a performer who can’t perform. A story of incredible talent gone unrealized turns into a joint effort between subject and filmmaker to battle Clive’s mental health and find catharsis in his songs.
Communio
Director: Christian Oliveira
Country: Germany, United States; Running Time: 13 min
Communio is a poetic short documentary exploring the theological transformation of German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer whilst attending a Black Baptist church in Harlem.
Hello Sunshine
Director: Joe Quint
Country: United States; Running Time: 13 min
Roz Pichardo is more than a domestic violence and gun violence survivor, she’s a warrior. Despite of – or because of – being thrown off a bridge by an abusive ex-boyfriend, the unsolved murder of her brother, and the suicide of her identical twin sister, she’s able to channel her trauma into service by helping the often-forgotten people of North Philadelphia. From giving comfort to families of murder victims to saving the lives of over 500 men and women in active opioid addiction, Roz knows that her healing and her survival depends upon healing others.
Mama, I’m Through
Director: Morgan-Bennett
Country: United States; Running Time: 20 min
After the death of her 102-year-old great-grandmother during BLM protests, Emma seeks advice from her three friends about Black motherhood. Their words, paired with a montaged family archive, create a film that examines the lines between racial violence, resilience, and afrofutures.
The Middle of the World
Director: Andrew Quinton Holzschuh
Country: United States; Running Time: 4 min
Endurance runner and artist, Aaron Garcia pushes himself to the limit physically and emotionally during his Grand Canyon rim-to-rim-to-rim run.
Riding the Shadow
Director: Blair Thomas, Steve Vanderhiede
Country: United States; Running Time: 20 min
20 years after his involvement in a school shooting, one man wrestles for answers while bikepacking the Colorado trail across Colorado.
Superheroes Wear Hoodies
Director: Jason Osborne
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 10 min
A group of British Black youths from one of London’s most notorious estates defy public perception by supporting their local community when they needed it the most. Not all superheroes wear capes. Sometimes they come dressed in hoodies.
Texas Wines
Director: Robert Burks
Country: United States; Running Time: 29 min
A short Documentary taking you through the Texas Wine industry of the early years of how it began, to where it is now and how the wine industry has boomed along with international recognition.
Three Seconds Later
Director: Justin Sweidel, Christopher Shepherd
Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min
On December 5th, 2017 four men were working on a corn farm when they hit a natural gas pipeline. The resulting explosion took the lives of two farmers, a father and son. This tragedy had a devastating impact on the farmers families and the entire community around them.
To Examine One’s Self
Director: Pedro M. Afonso
Country: Portugal; Running Time: 13 min
Medical Schools are swarmed every year by countless eager students. A rite of passage awaits: the study of gross anatomy. These anonymous corpses will be their companions throughout this journey and challenge them to deal with the vacuity of life.
Where the Winds Die
Director: Pejman Alipour
Country: Iran; Running Time: 13 min
Sardasht is a kurdish city in West of Iran. Sardasht is the first city in the world to be victim of chemical weapons with mustard gas bombs at 4:15 p.m on Sunday, June 28th 1987. This film is about before, after the bombing, and a romantic relationship in the effects of the post-war.
NARRATIVE SHORTS
7 Star Dinosor Entertainment
Director: Vaishali Naik
Country: India; Running Time: 19 min
Few years back, Sudhir and Vinod- two brothers- put up a Business together, ‘7 Star Dinosor Entertainment’. Dressed as giant dinosaurs they would dance to Bollywood songs at weddings, birthday parties and mall events. But today we find them two years deep into the pandemic. We find the brothers jobless and hungry. The giant dinosaurs cramped with them in a single tiny room of the shoddy tenement. The food is running out and so is the patience.
A Dame Walked In
Director: Erika Waldorf, Jesse GrothOlson
Country: United States; Running Time: 6 min
Incompetent bill collector Tommy Paight puts his best foot forward in this noir race-against-time to find marital bliss before the years wilt his dwindling charm.
A Father’s Job
Director: Frank Christian Wagner
Country: Germany; Running Time: 20 min
In 1940’s Germany, Johann’s role in the war separates him from his Jewish wife and child. When her letters stop arriving he fears a previous flirtation has distracted her, and nothing will be the same again.
A Little Dead
Director: Ben Richardson
Country: United States; Running Time: 13 min
Hailey and her brother Kevin visit their grandpa’s farm for the weekend. They discover that the caretaker has vanished, and Grandpa has a new nightly ritual of sharing a drink with his deceased wife and another unseen entity.
A Machine For Boredom
Director: Marc Cartwright
Country: United States; Running Time: 3 min
Isolation drives a man to rethink his position within a capitalistic society.
Beefies
Director: Adam Lebowitz-Lockard
Country: United States; Running Time: 10 min
A man tries to make his recently deceased mother’s Passover recipe for a pandemic Seder, but discovers he must re-connect with his estranged brother to honor their mom by doing the only thing that makes sense: Cooking. Beefies is a comedic short about family, connection, and trying not to burn down your kitchen.
Cave Ablaze
Director: Daniel Williams
Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min
Cave Ablaze follows the story of a cowardly caveman who must learn to make fire with the help of his living cave paintings in order to survive.
Cutter
Director: Dan Repp, Lindsay Young
Country: United States; Running Time: 16 min
A teenage cutter in recovery and her overbearing mother are haunted by a ghost who seeks to keep them at odds.
Dateleap
Director: Jack Evans
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 14 min
Amidst media controversy, a virtual reality dating app whisks Callum and Rachel back to the 1930s. But when their swinging fling takes an unexpected turn, any hope of a future together hangs in the balance.
Deep Fears
Director: Ryan Chu
Country: United States; Running Time: 3 min
A sea otter who is afraid of the ocean is challenged to face his fears when he loses his precious pink shell necklace at sea.
El Rey
Director: Jonathan D London
Country: United States; Running Time: 9 min
An unfamiliar smell on Gustavo’s shirt causes his wife Lupe to grow suspicious. Then when he arrives home late that night for dinner her fears are all but confirmed: he is a lying rat! Lupe tells God that night that it would be easier if Gustavo was a rat… and the next morning she wakes up to a big surprise!
Even if it Kills Me
Director: Chris Dickerson
Country: United States; Running Time: 21 min
A man who possesses an extraordinary ability grapples with the impending loss of his mother.
Family Recipe
Director: Kamari Bright
Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min
A girl’s baking lesson from her grandfather teaches her acceptance as she learns the similarities between ingredients and people.
Feast
Director: Jeff Hamm
Country: United States; Running Time: 6 min
A vampire hunter plans his hunt.
Fieldtrip
Director: Soren Bendt, Paul Arion
Country: Iceland; Running Time: 20 min
FIELDTRIP is a 20 minutes science fiction short movie about a man in a robotic spacesuit, who crashes into his own minefield and has to navigate through it. A dark comedy about the ‘collaboration’ of man and machine.
Find the Light
Director: Abdullah Khan
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 12 min
Zak Anwar, a young Pakistani boy, is continually victimized and sees no reprieve. Battered from his latest attack he decides to end the suffering and attempts to drown himself, only for the critical moment to reveal a purpose worth living for.
First Day
Director: Suzanne Weinert, Julia Barnett
Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min
A helicopter mom has an embarrassing meltdown when she drops her daughter off for the first day of middle-school.
Foiled
Director: Hao-Wei Timothy Chang
Country: United States; Running Time: 11 min
Foiled is a family comedy about ten-year-old Dylan and his younger brother Cody who accidentally rip their best friend’s baseball card. They must fix it otherwise they’ll lose their best friend and never get to play baseball again.
Fractal
Director: Kiarra Goldberg
Country: United States; Running Time: 11 min
Grace experiences a miscarriage after a first date leads to an accidental pregnancy. Fractal follows the story of her struggle across three different realities; memory, present-day, and a dream of what could have been. How do you mourn the loss of something that you never had?
Freya
Director: Camille Hollett-French
Country: Canada; Running Time: 16 min
Jade considers FREYA (her Federally Regulated Enquiry and Yield Assistant) a friend. But when a one-night stand doesn’t go as planned, Jade is forced to question FREYA and the system she represents. Set in the not-too-distant future, FREYA will make you second guess your relationship with technology, social media, and The State.
Gen V
Director: Lauren Noll
Country: United States; Running Time: 7 min
Ziba, the daughter of immigrants from Transylvania, navigates high school as a vampire stuck between the world of Vampire tradition and culture and the American human high school experience.
The Gesture and The Word
Director: Helen Alexis Yonov
Country: United States; Running Time: 23 min
A lonely postman (Gilbert) secretly recreates postcards for a woman (Aurore) on his postal route when her boyfriend’s homemade postcards stop arriving from his travels around the world. With the help of his friend Mr. Rostalle, (Paul Dooley) a blind widower and retired literary professor/poet, Gilbert (James Michael Tyler) learns to open himself up to the prospect of love, and in the process of trying to bring someone else happiness, discovers it for himself.
Go Home
Director: Razan Madhoon
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 14 min
When a young Palestinian woman tries to claim asylum in the UK, she faces the indifference of British bureaucracy and the disillusionment of a Polish asylum officer on the verge of leaving the country for good.
Gold
Director: Eliza Helm
Country: United States; Running Time: 7 min
Kicked out of the Mormon church for having sex out of wedlock, headstrong Ava drags her rigid twin sister Lavinia through the dangerous California wilderness in search of a new life with their uncle, who is rumored to have found gold in a nearby town. When they find themselves lost, alone, and out of food, the twins must decide whether to push on toward a life that is unknown but free or to return to a life that is certain but stifling.
Golem
Director: Ryan Cauchi
Country: Australia; Running Time: 5 min
Nazi-occupied Prague, 1939. A group of German soldiers search for a fugitive Rabbi in the basement of an abandoned synagogue – unaware of the horror awaiting them.
Got Your Back
Director: Mitch Hudson
Country: United States; Running Time: 18 min
In the 1960s, a group of high school buddies decide to climb their local water tower… Based on a true memoir, and produced in loving memory of Steve Cruea and Jim “Turd” Swanson.
Growing Pains
Director: Jack Curtis
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 14 min
Rhea, 13 years old, is the primary carer for her father Martin who self medicates with cannabis. When school bullies find out that Martin’s medicine is home-grown, Rhea quickly learns that sharing is not always caring.
Guilt
Director: Cedric Thomas Smith
Country: United States; Running Time: 23 min
Two women come face to face to discuss the burden of guilt placed on the innocent in sexual assault.
Harold & Mary
Director: Stephen Gallacher
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 12 min
Harold and Mary are in their fiftieth year of marriage, unfortunately the cracks in their relationship start to show as a disease takes hold of Harold and tests the very foundations of their love.
Heart Failure
Director: Will Wightman
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 11 min
In this EDM musical, Frank does everything he can to avoid another horrible breakup. He does not do a good job.
Help! I’ve Stolen Amy Adams’ Nose!
Director: Katherine Press
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 9 min
A celebrity-obsessed ballet dancer wakes up one morning sporting the nose of her idol, A-list actress Amy Adams.
Hireth
Director: Konrad Begg
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 12 min
A young man fighting in the war gone by awakens from potentially fatal slumber to be faced with the world as it is now – a tense and snarling place with echoes of his own past ringing in his ears.
Hot Dogs!
Director: Frank Volk
Country: United States; Running Time: 7 min
A hot dog man has a crisis of faith.
How Do I Tell You This
Director: Chad Hill
Country: United States; Running Time: 19 min
Two long-time internet friends – Ted, the hometown artist, and Liz, a globe-hopping humanitarian – finally meet in person and explore the possibility of a future together. Neither knows that the other loves them.
Hubbards
Director: Kevin Ralston
Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min
An intense dive into the world of one man and his quest.
Implant
Director: Andy Racoti
Country: United States; Running Time: 10 min
After one of their own goes rogue, two IMPLANT field agents are deployed with intent to neutralize the renegade. The mission begins to take a toll on one of the agents as she is confronted by suppressed memories of the past.
In The Event Of My Death
Director: Brian Scott Steele
Country: United States; Running Time: 20 min
Jeremy. Just. DIED. So, in the event of his death, he leaves behind a series of clever clues and witty video messages for his best friend and bandmate Sam, and his brash sister Mandy, which sends them on an adventure through their shared past. They get to experience one last day with Jeremy after he’s gone, and in the end are compelled to mourn the best way they know how.
Jettison
Director: JJ Pollack
Country: United States; Running Time: 11 min
A restless young woman ships off to fight an interstellar war, only to struggle with the effects of being cut off from her home by both time and space.
Jim of Earth
Director: Justin Arwood
Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min
A lonely man searches the stars for signs of extraterrestrial life.
Joe Returns a Video
Director: Robert Neilson
Country: United States; Running Time: 13 min
Joe realizes that his rental of Steven Seagal’s above the law is overdue by 10,592 days.
June
Director: Dwayne Cameron
Country: New Zealand; Running Time: 15 min
June is a story about the fragility of life; the primal forces that drive and control us and the mystery of hope and new beginnings. Willow and David receive a serious diagnosis from their doctor and attempt to deal with the mundane as their world disintegrates in the following 24 hours. This one day in June for the couple holds raw despair, unleashing carnal natures but a transcendent occurrence offers them the hope of new life.
Just Like The Butterfly
Director: Adam Paul Stone
Country: United States; Running Time: 22 min
A husband with a brain disorder that affects his long and short-term memories recounts his marriage and discovers why it’s ending.
Kafkas
Director: Nick Blake
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 17 min
Massachusetts, 1987. Fran is a college-educated bag of nerves with a head full of philosophy and an unhealthy obsession with Franz Kafka. In the late hours of the night she cold-calls men across America who have the surname Kafka in hope of finding her soul mate.
Kalamiti
Director: Glenn Pack
Country: United States; Running Time: 14 min
Missy goes to school all day, bartends nights, and raises Kalamiti in between. Chuck chose the wrong day to skip work and toy with his rat rod. Internal combustion sparks a sudden separation.
Larry Bird Tomato
Director: John Redlinger
Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min
A young internet reporter uncovers a family secret when interviewing a regular guy whose TikTok about a tomato inadvertently went viral.
Logic of Women
Director: Ben Tedesco
Country: United States; Running Time: 4 min
Lone Wolves
Director: Elliot Gaynon
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 13 min
A short contemporary thriller exploring the extremist right-wing radicalisation of a young white man in the digital age, through the eyes of his concerned father.
Love Ya Like Poison!
Director: Max Azulay, Rosie Yadid
Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min
Twenty-something Louise returns to NYC after university abroad. She is reunited with her firecracker of a Jewish mother, Nadine, and their relationship seems to pick up right where it left off. While Nadine wants her back for good, Lou is desperately trying not to get too comfortable. When she reveals news of her engagement, old wounds are reopened as Nadine reveals secrets about her own failed marriage.
Mac & Cheese
Director: Daniel Pennington
Country: United States; Running Time: 8 min
A young man fed up with his boring life decides to spice things up by searching for a murderer who dropped an anvil on a girl’s head.
Male Fadàu (Sub Eng) / Ill Fated
Director: Matteo Incollu
Country: Italy; Running Time: 20 min
Baunei, Sardinia, 1942. When the village idiot retrieves a radio from a crashed German warplane, a mysterious, eerie voice emerges from the radio and starts to haunt him.
Man Seeking Man
Director: Travis White
Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min
A man seeks another for a discreet favor.
Miss Susie Had A Steamboat
Director: Chip Hale
Country: United States; Running Time: 22 min
Two dysfunctional morning show hosts bestow helpful advice to their even more dysfunctional audience with varying degrees of success.
Monkey-Love, Please Hold
Director: Greg Fox
Country: Canada; Running Time: 23 min
An offbeat dark comedy that follows the life of the reclusive, heartbroken and karaoke loving Ben. When he receives an unsolicited package from a mysterious delivery man, his stale dreary life is turned upside down, taking him on a wild ride that brings a new love into his life.
My Own
Director: Courtney Hope Therond
Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min
My Own tells the story of Bianca, a nonbinary person, struggling to find the place for gender fluidity within the rigid world of ballet. Bianca finds their own voice, in this dance-filled rumination on coming out, not as one thing or another, but as something in between.
Nasty
Director: Paige Dillon
Country: United States; Running Time: 7 min
The weird girl in class invites the hottest guy in school to her dinner party.
Never Trust a Man in a Hawaiian Shirt
Director: Joe Neil Hayes, Adam Somang Karlson
Country: United States; Running Time: 13 min
An overworked youth just wants to leave the parking lot, but is stopped by a mysterious man in a Hawaiian shirt. His life will never be the same.
Nickels
Director: Chris Sage, Stephen Schroeder
Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min
Struggling to connect with his fiance’s daughter, Craig seeks advice from the monster under her bed.
Noel
Director: Robert Rabanal Ramírez
Country: Spain; Running Time: 4 min
Maria and Noel live quietly accompanied only by loneliness. While Noel is entertaining, Maria prepares dinner like every day. On this occasion something strange will happen; An unexpected companion will change their lives forever. From that moment, loneliness will cease to exist and they will have to learn to live with it the rest of the days.
Oh Deer
Director: Richard C. Jones
Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min
A dark comedy about the perils of parenting.
Out of Tune
Director: Erika Hamilton
Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min
Maya adjusts the microphone. We aren’t sure where she is or what she is about to perform. All we know is, she’s terribly nervous. What follows is an uncomfortable journey of self-acceptance. From adolescence to adulthood Maya has wrestled with the often narrow boundaries of racial identity. She wants to be rooted in but not restricted by her Blackness. But instead of being a liberated fangirl, Maya feels boxed in by the Black gaze. As the first notes reverberate and the pressure begins to mount, will Maya finally stop denying her own authentic voice to fit in?
The Outing
Director: Joanne Mitchell
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 16 min
1970’s: A lonely divorcee, Nellie, meets widower Frank on a trip to the seaside. Nellie lets herself be swept away by the hope of connection. But as the seagulls circle overhead and Frank begins to ask too many questions, Nellie realizes she will never be able to escape a monstrous family secret.
OverKill
Director: Alex Montilla
Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min
OverKill’ is a film with a comedic take on a familiar setup: when too-woke-for-their-own-good college kids are terrorized by an unstoppable masked killer, the final girl must outsmart him to survive. Only in this movie, the killer literally cannot be stopped (or killed).
Pap Trap
Director: Rachel Napolitano
Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min
Based off of a true life experience, PAP TRAP is a short “gyne-comedy” about a pill poppin’ party girl in search of her next fix, only to find herself in the middle of a well woman exam gone wrong.
Part Forever
Director: Alan Chung-An, Ou
Country: Taiwan; Running Time: 12 min
Pox
Director: Simon Young
Country: Austria; Running Time: 4 min
In a burned out shack in the great American dust bowl, a pox rages through a pioneer family.
Placenta Pâté
Director: Tia Salisbury
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 12 min
New mum Libby has breastfeeding woes, but when her wife, Erin suggests a traditional placenta remedy is the answer, underlying tensions rear their head and it’s not just the kitchen getting messy.
Promises of Snow
Director: Matthew Ramsaur
Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min
An FBI agent arrives in a small Louisiana town to investigate a sex trafficking ring, prompted by the arrest of a girl whose situation seems terribly familiar.
Rescue
Director: G.G. Hawkins
Country: United States; Running Time: 6 min
A newly adopted puppy contemplates his escape from the couple he thinks kidnapped him.
Saving Elodie
Director: Jessica Hughes
Country: Iceland; Running Time: 11 min
A story of a family reconnecting in the age of social media. When surly teenager Elodie reluctantly visits her Grandad at his remote Icelandic cabin, her world is turned upside down when the WIFI dies, and she is forced to look up from her phone.
Saving Salvador
Director: Luisa Maria González
Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min
A dark comedy about three sisters who take matters into their own hands when bureaucratic chaos prevents them from doing what’s right for their father.
She
Director: Matt Greenhalgh
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 5 min
A frantic young woman struggles against an unforgiving inner voice that battles against all logic, rhyme or reason… Compelling her to endure a physical, mental journey that takes her right to the very edge.
Slippery Slope
Director: Siri Martir, Blake Hennigan, Jackson Spencer Spencer
Country: United States; Running Time: 2 min
A dad and his daughter hit the slopes!
Something You’ve Never Told Me
Director: Katie Colosimo
Country: United States; Running Time: 19 min
Long-time, twenty-something friends, Frances and Eliza, embark on a getaway at a secluded vacation home for a weekend of camaraderie and relaxation. But underlying tensions and stoned revelations soon find the two friends at odds. In an attempt to reset the course, they venture out for a night at the local dive bar, only to see their unconscious rivalry flair up as they vie for the attention of the local barback. Caught in a game of cat and mouse, they bring him back to the house where the evening quickly devolves into booze-fueled competition.
Specter of Weeping Hill
Director: Matthew Barber, Nathaniel Barber
Country: United States; Running Time: 7 min
A young woman returns to an abandoned cemetery that has haunted her since childhood to confront the recent loss of her sister.
Telos
Director: Natalie LaValley
Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min
Danika designs a groundbreaking probe after an autoimmune disease prevents her from being an astronaut.
The Tale of the Daughter
Director: Savannah Sivert, Taylor Hinds
Country: United States; Running Time: 23 min
When a stroke-ridden mother’s outstanding debt arrives for the reckoning, her estranged caretaker daughter must bear the cost in order to survive. This quirky allegory explores the reconciliation of a daughter and her mother.
These Hands Were Made For Knockn’
Director: Laura Herring
Country: United States; Running Time: 18 min
After losing his title match, a dispirited boxer must reconnect to his family legacy in order to overcome his demons and get back in the ring.
Traveler of the East
Director: Ric Maddox
Country: United States; Running Time: 18 min
A imaginative boy in a suppressive home discovers his worth entering another realm.
Unveiled
Director: Ryan Graff
Country: United States; Running Time: 2 min
Something is moving in the shower, but it will take more than a curtain to unveil it.
Vanderchap
Director: Chris White
Country: United States; Running Time: 24 min
The first day of shooting on Charlotte’s senior thesis film. Today she plans to shoot the film’s emotional and romantic climax: a sexy kiss that will involve her father and Charlotte’s mentor, favorite professor, and ideal new mom, Ilsa Sanderson.
Vlada Goes to London
Director: Arti Savchenko
Country: Israel ; Running Time: 22 min
Vlada is a pizza delivery girl who lives in Haifa and dreams of becoming a famous DJ. Within a five-hour shift, we get a glimpse into her world full of pressure where she’s willing to do whatever it takes to find the money for a flight to perform at a festival in London.
Wake
Director: Andrew Patrick Torrez
Country: United States; Running Time: 11 min
As Jackie mourns her husband’s death at his own wake, her best friend Gwen is on hand to console her amidst an unforgiving family as Jackie discovers the truth behind his untimely death.
Waves
Director: Margarita Milne
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 16 min
On a surfing trip, an Australian woman questions her decision to move to the other side of the world for love.
We Want In
Director: Luke Larsen
Country: United States; Running Time: 8 min
Max (a disgruntled teen) and his friend Benny agree to join a student revolution movement against their government. The government has imposed a tax on all left shoes and in return has alienated the lower working class by making it harder for them to wear complete footwear. Max and Benny meet with the leader of the rebel group and take action.
Welcome, Megan
Director: Lily Richards
Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min
A desperate young woman sets out to join a secretive and elite spin class by any means necessary.
White Winged Horse
Director: Mahyar Mandegar
Country: Iran; Running Time: 20 min
A man returns to his Iranian hometown, which was destroyed in the war 20 years ago. He is searching for his childhood sweetheart who had promised him eternal love – if he were to return as a white-winged horse. Past and present overlap in the poetic memory and imagination of the boy he once was.
Yellow Balloon
Director: Kirby Gamel
Country: United States; Running Time: 9 min
A young man finds himself lost in his thoughts, fantasizing about ways he wish he could have said goodbye to his friend.
MUSIC VIDEOS
Back Together
Director: Gregory JM Kasunich
Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min
Black Bayou
Director: Kasey James
Country: United States; Running Time: 4 min
Bones
Director: Jill Sachs, Angeline Armstrong
Country: Australia, United States; Running Time: 5 min
Consensual
Director: Jeff Hilliard, Joey Danger
Country: United States; Running Time: 4 min
Depression
Director: Jeanette Greenwood
Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min
Eyes Wide Shut
Director: Bryson McBee, Collin Selman
Country: United States; Running Time: 3 min
Movin On
Director: Jessica Driskill, Tyler Driskill
Country: United States; Running Time: 4 min
Wait a Minute
Director: Marta Renzi
Country: United States; Running Time: 4 min
SHORT SCREENPLAY COMPETITION
A Good Guy with A Gun
Writer: Gregory JM Kasunich
The Audition
Writer: Gregory JM Kasunich, Lauren Noll
Because It Was Her Because It Was Me
Writer: Daniel Talbott
Blood Splattered Pearls
Writer: Shanna R Riker
The Boneyard
Writer: M.r. Fitzgerald
But I’m a Shoe
Writer: Chen Drachman
Closure
Writer: Saskia Lynge
Consummation
Writer: Paulina Manseau
Enchantress
Writer: Brian Rawlins
Family Affair
Writer: Ernest Anemone
Gloomy Sunday
Writer: Kevin Machate
Homunculus
Writer: Will Berry
Reverie
Writer: Kelli Horan
Six to Wash
Writer: Joshua Marc Allen
Skinny Dip
Writer: Daniel Pappas
This Modern Love
Writer: Nate Southard
