U.S.
NARRATIVE SHORT FILMS
Actresses / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jeremy
Hersh) -- The film follows the relationship between a
young, aspiring actress and an established off-Broadway star.
A.D. 1363, The End of Chivalry /
U.S.A., New Zealand (Director and screenwriter: Jake Mahaffy) -- A little-known historical catastrophe leads to the definitive end
of the era of chivalry and questing.
Color Neutral / U.S.A. (Director: Jennifer
Reeves) -- A color explosion sparkles, bubbles, and
fractures in this handcrafted 16mm film. Jennifer Reeves utilizes an array of
mediums and direct-on-film techniques to create this exuberant, psychedelic
morsel of cinema as material.
Dog Bowl / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Gordy Hoffman)
-- A heartbroken girl spiraling through life
stumbles upon the true nature of her existence after stealing the vest off of a
service dog.
Hugh the Hunter / U.S.A. (Director: Zachary
Heinzerling, Screenwriters: Zachary Heinzerling, Jesse Soursourian) -- This fable, inspired by the artwork of Hugh Hayden, follows a
fictitious hunter of the Scottish Highlands on a daylong quest to capture the
elusive red grouse.
A Million
Miles Away / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jennifer Reeder) -- Melancholy as survival strategy: A woman on the edge of failing
and a pack of teenage girls simultaneously experience a supernatural
coming-of-age. The transformation unravels to the infectious beat of a heavy
metal anthem rearranged as a lamentation.
Mulignans / U.S.A.
(Director: Shaka King, Screenwriters: Shaka King, Kristan Sprague) -- mulignan(s) /moo.lin.yan(s)/ n. 1. Italian-American slang for a Black
man. Derived from Italian dialect word for "eggplant." See also:
moolie. Source: Urban Dictionary and pretty much every mob movie ever.
Myrna the Monster / U.S.A. (Director and
screenwriter: Ian Samuels) -- A heartbroken alien
dreamer from the moon transitions into young adult life in Los Angeles just
like any other 20-something.
Oh Lucy! / Japan, Singapore, U.S.A. (Director and
screenwriter: Atsuko Hirayanagi) -- Setsuko,
a 55-year-old single so-called office lady in Tokyo, is given a blonde wig and
a new identity, "Lucy," by her young unconventional English-language teacher.
"Lucy" awakens desires in Setsuko she never knew existed.
Pink Grapefruit / U.S.A. (Director: Michael
Mohan, Screenwriters: Michael Mohan, Chris Levitus) -- A young married couple bring two of their single friends to Palm
Springs for a long weekend. It does not go as planned.
Rabbit / France, U.S.A. (Director: Laure de
Clermont-Tonnerre, Screenwriters: Laure De Clermont-Tonnerre, Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold) -- A therapist working in tandem with a correctional facility's Pet
Partnership Program entrusts a small rabbit to a female prisoner. In the
confinement of her cell, will the inmate be able to transcend her circumstances
and connect with the animal?
SMILF / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Frankie
Shaw) -- A young single mother struggles to balance
her old life of freedom with her new one as mom. It all comes to a head during
one particular nap-time when Bridgette invites an old friend over for a visit.
Stop / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Reinaldo Marcus Green) -- A young man's livelihood is put to the test when he is stopped by
the police on his way home.
Superior / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Erin
Vassilopoulos) -- A stranger passing through town sparks a
teenage girl's desire to distinguish herself from her identical twin sister. As
one sister struggles to break free, the other insists on preserving their
distinctive bond.
INTERNATIONAL
NARRATIVE SHORT FILMS
Back Alley / France (Director and screenwriter: Cécile
Ducrocq) -- Suzanne, a prostitute for 15 years, has her
turf, her regular johns, and her freedom. One day, however, young African
prostitutes settle nearby, and she is threatened.
The Chicken / Germany, Croatia (Director and
screenwriter: Una Gunjak) -- The day-to-day life of a six-year-old
girl growing up during unstable times in Sarajevo is shaken up when a chicken
joins her family.
Daytimer / United
Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Riz Ahmed) -- London,
1999: A young boy gives school and home the slip to attend his first daytime
rave.
Followers / United
Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Tim Marshall) -- Lynn, an elderly woman stricken with grief after her husband's
death, finds solace in an apparition of Jesus on the swimming trunks of a young
gay man at her adult swimming class.
Great
Northern Mountain / Sweden (Director and screenwriter: Amanda Kernell) -- Elle, 78, doesn't like Sámi (Laplander) people -- even though she
is Sámi. Pressured by her son, she returns north for her sister's funeral. When
she realizes he's planned for them to stay with their relatives, Elle checks
into a hotel.
Greenland / Israel
(Director and screenwriter: Oren Gerner) -- Oren
packs his belongings at his parents' house before moving in with his
girlfriend. Through seemingly simple interactions, family dynamics are
revealed. The house constitutes the space in which past, present, and future
mix into a chronicle of separation.
Hole / Canada
(Director and screenwriter: Martin Edralin) -- A daring
portrait of a disabled man yearning for intimacy in a world that would rather
ignore him.
I am Hong Kong / China (Director and
screenwriter: Flora Lau) -- The recent Umbrella Movement, ignited by the
youth of Hong Kong, shows how citizens' passion and desire for a more fair and
just future can bring about a peaceful but powerful social movement, despite
criticism, defamation and attacks.
The
Little Deputy / Canada (Director and screenwriter: Trevor Anderson) -- Trevor tries to have his photo taken with his father.
Out of
Sight / United Kingdom (Director: Nick Rowland, Screenwriter: Joe
Murtagh) -- To clear a debt with a loan shark, Martin, a
recoverimg drug addict, agrees to lock a stranger in his spare room while they
go cold turkey. As the days pass, Martin suspects something far worse is at
play.
Russian
Roulette / United Kingdom (Director: Ben Aston, Screenwriter: Oli Fenton) -- London becomes a little less lonely when Lucy meets a libidinous
cosmonaut on Chatroulette.
Saturday / United
Kingdom (Director: Mike Forshaw, Screenwriters: Mike Forshaw, Greg Forshaw) -- April 15, 1989: A soccer match changes Liam's life and the city
of Liverpool forever... This fictional account relates how the Hillsborough
Stadium disaster -- which claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool supporters --
unfolded for a family in Merseyside, England.
Spring / Mexico
(Director and screenwriter: Tania Claudia Castillo) -- Elba, an introverted, lonely 14-year-old, wants to bond with her
sister Fernanda before she leaves home.
Take Me / Canada
(Directors and screenwriters: Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, André Turpin) -- A nurse working at a center for the disabled is confronted by his
principles when he's asked to accomplish a particular task.
VOLTA / Greece
(Director and screenwriter: Stella Kyriakopoulos) -- As a mother and daughter start out from downtown Athens, Greece,
and head to the northern suburbs, little Nina thinks they're simply going for a
walk.
DOCUMENTARY
SHORT FILMS
The 414s: The Original Teenage Hackers / U.S.A.
(Director: Michael T. Vollmann) -- In 1983,
a group of Milwaukee teenagers gained notoriety when they broke into dozens of
high-profile computer systems. The ensuing media frenzy terrified a nation
previously ignorant of the capabilities of computer interconnectivity.
Abandoned
Goods / United Kingdom (Directors: Pia Borg, Edward Lawrenson) -- Patients committed to Netherne psychiatric hospital between 1946
and 1981 created an extraordinary collection of artworks in a pioneering studio
under artist Edward Adamson. Abandoned
Goods is a moving portrait of the little-known history of UK postwar asylum
life.
The Collectors: Beekeeping / U.S.A. (Director:
Steven Cantor) -- Dennis van Engelsdorp, former state apiarist
for Pennsylvania and current entomology professor at the University of
Maryland, is worried that bees -- a crucial part of humanity's ecosystem -- are
dying.
Every Day / U.S.A. (Director: Gabe Spitzer) -- At 86, Joy Johnson was the oldest woman to run the 2013 New York
City Marathon. The story of an inspiring athlete with an uncommon passion for
her sport, and for life.
The Face
of Ukraine: Casting Oksana Baiul / Australia (Director: Kitty
Green) -- Adorned in pink sequins, little girls from
across a divided, war-torn Ukraine audition to play the role of Olympic
champion figure skater Oksana Baiul, whose tears of joy once united their
troubled country.
Hotel 22 / U.S.A.
(Director: Elizabeth Lo) -- Each night in Silicon Valley, the Line 22
public bus transforms into an unofficial shelter for the homeless. This film
captures one dramatic night on the "Hotel 22" bus.
It's Me, Hilary: The Man Who Drew Eloise / U.S.A.
(Director: Matt Wolf) -- This portrait of Hilary Knight, the artist
behind the iconic Eloise books, sees
him reflecting on his life as an illustrator and his relationship to his most
successful work.
Making it in America / U.S.A. (Director: Joris
Debeij) -- A Salvadoran immigrant who fled to the
United States as a teenager is now a single mother striving to build a future
for her family in Los Angeles.
{THE AND} Marcela & Rock / U.S.A. (Director: Topaz
Adizes) -- Exploring the intimate spaces of modern-day
relationships, THE AND is the best couples therapy session you'll ever witness.
Midnight Three & Six / U.S.A. (Director: Joe Callander)
-- A mother awakens at midnight, 3:00 a.m., and
6:00 a.m. every day so her daughter will wake up in the morning.
Object / Poland (Director: Paulina Skibińska) -- A creative image of an underwater search in the dimensions of two
worlds -- ice desert and under water -- told from the point of view of the rescue
team, of the diver, and of the ordinary people waiting on the shore.
One Year Lease / U.S.A. (Director: Brian
Bolster) -- In a story told almost entirely through
voicemail messages, Brian, Thomas, and Casper endure a year with Rita, their
cat-loving landlady.
Papa
Machete / U.S.A. (Director: Jonathan David Kane) -- Two hundred years ago, Haitian slaves defeated Napoleon's armies
with the same tool used to work the land: the machete. Papa Machete explores a martial art evolved from this victory
through the practice of one of its few remaining masters.
Pop-Up
Porno: f4m / Canada (Director: Stephen Dunn) -- Pop-up Porno: f4m tells the story of a
breast cancer survivor trying to reclaim her sexuality.
Pop-Up
Porno: m4f / Canada (Director: Stephen Dunn) -- A
painfully illl Dutch Montrealer has to use the bathroom while his date is in
the shower.
Pop-Up
Porno: m4m / Canada (Director: Stephen Dunn) -- A lonely
traveler on a business trip to New York finds himself in a heated Grindr chat
with his worst nightmare.
Serenity / U.S.A. (Director: Jack Dunphy) -- An animated memoir recounting first love, addiction, losing one's
virginity, and turning to pizza in times of crisis.
Starting Point / Poland (Director: Michał Szcześniak)
-- Aneta rebelled at age 19 and wound up in
prison for murder. Nine years later, her daily routine takes her from behind
prison walls to a nursing home.
ANIMATED SHORT FILMS
Bath House / Sweden (Director: Niki Lindroth von Bahr,
Screenwriter: Jerker Virdborg) -- Six characters meet in a public bathhouse: the
pedant bathhouse manager, a couple with a strange way of communicating and a
gang with shady intentions. Something goes wrong.
Beach Flags / France (Director and
screenwriter: Sarah Saidan) -- Vida, a young Iranian lifeguard, is determined to
be the one to participate in an international competition in Australia.
However, when Sareh, who is as fast and talented as her, joins the team, Vida
faces an unexpected situation.
The Horse Raised By Spheres / U.S.A., Ireland
(Director and screenwriter: David OReilly) -- Horse ponders his loneliness.
Mynarski
Death Plummet / Canada (Director and screenwriter: Matthew Rankin) -- A
completely handmade historical micro-epic combining wartime aviation melodrama
with classical and avant-garde animation techniques, Mynarski Death Plummet is a psychedelic photo-chemical war picture
on the themes of self-sacrifice, immortality, and jellyfish.
OM Rider / U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Takeshi
Murata) -- In a vast desert bathed in
neon hues, a misfit werewolf tears full speed ahead over forbidding terrain
while his hoary counterpart awaits.
Palm
Rot
/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Gillis) -- An old Florida fumigator discovers a mysterious crate in the
Everglades that ruins his day.
Storm
hits jacket
/ France (Director and screenwriter: Paul Cabon) -- A storm reaches the shores of Brittany. Nature goes crazy, two
young scientists get caught up in the chaos. Espionage, romantic tension and
mysterious events clash with enthusiasm and randomness.
The
Sun Like a Big Dark Animal / U.S.A. (Directors: Christina Felisgrau,
Ronnie Rivera, Screenwriters: Ronnie Rivera, Bernardo Britto) -- A computer and a woman fall in love,
only to be torn apart because of their inappropriate feelings for each other.
Symphony
no. 42 / Hungary (Director and screenwriter: Réka Bucsi) -- The film applies an unconventional narrative. It presents a
subjective world through 47 scenes. Small events, interlaced by associations, express
the irrational coherence of our surroundings. The surreal situations are based
on the interactions of humans and nature.
teeth / United Kingdom,
U.S.A., Hungary (Directors and screenwriters: Daniel Gray, Tom Brown) -- Things of worth are often neglected
in favor of that which is more immediately gratifying. Unfortunately, things
that are neglected are often lost forever. In teeth a misguided and intensely focused man's life is
chronicled through his oral obsessions.
Tupilaq /
Denmark (Director and screenwriter: Jakob Maqe) -- The
Tupilaq is both a symbol of the spirit of a forefather and a curse. This
personal and moving short film revolves around the themes of cultural
alienation, abuse and the contrast between mythological greenlandic nature and
western urban culture.
Two
Films About Loneliness / United Kingdom (Directors and screenwriters: William
Bishop-Stephens, Christopher Eales) --
A split screen separates the worlds of Jonathan Smallman, who is recording his
online dating profile, and Philip Button, Internet chef and hamster, who is
noisily recording his new cooking video.
World
of Tomorrow
/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Don Hertzfeldt) -- A little girl is taken on a mind-bending tour of the distant
future.