SHORT FILM 🎬 The Widow’s Last

 

Set in Ireland, during the third year of The Great Hunger in 1847, The Widow’s Last tells the story of Kathryn Healy, a hardened widow who fights to keep her young son alive during one of the darkest times in human history. Starving from lack of food and with her son stricken by fever she stumbles across an English landlord, wounded and himself on the edge of death. This encounter with the enemy sets her on an unexpected path where she is forced to confront her own inhumanity and make choices… Can she find it within herself to help a man she considers the enemy? Then faced with a neighbour bent on vengeance against the English, can she hold to her newfound convictions without putting herself and her son in further danger? And will the choices she makes lead to destruction or might they ultimately save her? With her debut short, director Vanessa Perdriau has produced a powerful, moving film that examines the nature of our humanity, anchored by outstanding performances. At its core, this is a profound story of forgiveness, sacrifice and redemption, poised to keep you on the edge of your seat. 

Director: Vanessa Perdriau 

Writer: Vanessa Perdriau 

Stars: Charlotte Peters, Matthew Wolf, Damien Hasson

 

SHORT FILM 🎬 The sound

 

Beth lives a quiet life on a remote family farm… until everything changes. One day, her mother begins hearing a strange sound — low, constant, and impossible to ignore. No one else can hear it. But it’s real enough to unravel her completely. As her mother spirals into pain and obsession, Beth sets out to track down the source. What begins as a search for silence turns into something far more haunting. 

Director: Antony Petrou 

Writer: Chris Dundon-Smith 

Stars: Sienna Guillory, James Hyland, Jahannah James

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SHORT FILM 🎬 Icarus

 

LA-newbie Emily cannot believe her luck when Hollywood A-Lister Harris Shaw instigates a romantic entanglement, but the night takes a dark turn when his charm quickly dissolves and something darker rises to the surface. 

Director: Natalie Schwan

Writer: Nell Lawson 

Stars: Malin Barr, Ali Badalov

 

SHORT FILM 🎬 Dirty Towel

 

A teenage girl grapples with feelings of shame and guilt after having sex for the first time, leading to a thoughtful exploration of generational shame, societal expectations, sexual empowerment, and self-worth. 

Director: Callie Carpinteri 

Writers: Callie Carpinteri, Emma Parks 

Stars: Emma Parks, Laura Coover, Ben Krieger

 

SHORT FILM 🎬 Never Getting Rid of Me, Bitch

 

Kinley and Willow are identical twins. They embark on a mountain trek together. It's the last hike before one of them moves away, which will likely change their dynamic in the future. A heartwarming and humorous short film exploring the bonds of sisterhood in the face of loss. 

Director: Dream Thanika Jenjesda 

Writer: Bella Rose Prince, Olivia Rose Prince 

Stars: Olivia Rose Prince, Bella Rose Prince, Wyatt Hinz

 

SHORT FILM 🎬 Patience

 

Over the course of a week, experienced NHS district nurse Flora mentors final year student Kev. As they visit patient after patient, neither of them is sure Kev will see it through as the work is challenging and the career is tough. However, as the duo makes their visits in Flora’s beaten up old car ‘Neil’, they slowly start to bond during a rollercoaster of highs and lows, laughter and tragedy, love and loss, and Kev realises he might just have what it takes and Flora’s passion for nursing is reignited. 

Director: Louis Chan 

Writers: Hayley Calleia, Angus Roughley 

Stars: Hayley Calleia, Angus Roughley

 

SHORT FILM 🎬 O.C.D.

 

A neurotic delivery driver named Owen battles his OCD at a local convenience store while his TikToker girlfriend plans an exposure therapy dinner date at home. But when she helps him resist his compulsion, it subsequently triggers the apocalypse. 

Director: Luca Pizzoleo 

Writer: Conor Patrick Walsh, Luca Pizzoleo 

Stars: Steven Ogg, Raz Fritz, Ariel Martin

 

SHORT FILM 🎬 Papers, Please

 

This film is an official adaptation of the award winning game "Papers, Please" by Lucas Pope. Its interesting, cold-war climate from behind the eastern part of the Iron Curtain has now been transferred to another medium. A group of filmmakers, in cooperation with the creator of the game, Lucas Pope, created a short film showing the hard life of a border guard in a fictional Arstotzka. Nikita and Liliya Ordynskiy worked on the film. The main character is an employee of one of the fictitious, totalitarian countries of the Eastern Bloc. His task is to check documents of people trying to cross the border and decide who will be able to receive this honor. His work is made difficult not only by paperwork, but also by his own conscience. 

Director: Nikita Ordynskiy 

Writer: Nikita Ordynskiy, Liliya Tkach, Lucas Pope 

Stars: Igor Savochkin, Evgeni Tokarev, Viktoriya Tsygankova

 

SHORT FILM 🎬 The Diner

Written and directed by David Shih

Cast: James Gioia, Lauren Norch

 

SHORT FILM 🎬 Koreatown Ghost Story

 

Based on a Korean ritual during Chuseok, the autumn festival, Koreatown Ghost Story centers around a woman who is presented with a rather macabre marriage proposal from an old family friend who is particularly good at acupuncture. 

Director: Minsun Park, Teddy Tenenbaum 

Writer: Minsun Park, Teddy Tenenbaum 

Stars: Margaret Cho, Lyrica Okano, Brandon Halvorsen

 

SHORT FILM 🎬 Philosophy

 

Director: Yanis Politov 

Writer: Andei Sorokin 

Stars: Dmitry Balabanov, Ellada Meshveliani, Elena Pandzharidi

 

SHORT FILM 🎬 Any Sign at All

 

This raw, unvarnished short drama is essentially a brief but vivid portrait of a woman at a precipice in her life. Jessie is pregnant and set to give up her baby for adoption; she's on the way to the meeting with the agency. But when her car runs out of gas and her phone dies, she's forced into a pause that allows her to confront her feelings and wants. 

Written and directed by Faryl Amadeus 

Stars : Jeanine Mason, Katy Sullivan, Clint Jordan

 

SHORT FILM 🎬 Medical case

 

Set in 1989 this Russian film was directed in 2022 by Mikhail Kukushkin.

Stars: Aleksandra Vlasova, Alexander Rapoport and Georgiy Ratishvili.

 

SHORT FILM 🎬 Alone Time

 

Trapped in a drab world, spending her life in a small office cubicle, young Ann is fed up, yearning to break free from the shackles of her modern and hectic lifestyle. Under those circumstances, Ann takes the decision to get away, in need of some time alone in the bosom of the rugged and undisturbed forests of the Adirondacks. Only there, before the eternal nature, man becomes whole again. 

Director: Rod Blackhurst 

Writers: Rod Blackhurst, David Ebeltoft 

Stars: Rose Hemingway, David Chokachi, Jonathan Gundel

 

SHORT FILM 🎬 If You Knew

 

Robin is a young Finnish-Swedish man living in Sweden with his mother. But as a male citizen of Finland, Robin must leave his home and travel to Finland, where he is to report for national military service, which is required for all male citizens. He does not want to go, desperately searching for information on how to avoid it, even up to the hour of his departure. As Robin reaches the point of no return, he takes drastic action to avoid service, later facing questioning. But as he gets closer to leaving Sweden, his expressive eyes convey a growing storm of feelings: anger, sadness and fear. As he answers questions during his interrogation, he faces his most complicated memories, where great pain is intertwined with genuine love and immense heartbreak. 

Directed by Christoffer Tambour and Viktor Wiberg 

Written by Filip Slotte, who also plays the lead role of Robin

 

SHORT FILM 🎬 The Bus Stop

 

Angela, an elderly woman is bullied by a group of teenagers. She crosses paths again with, Carter, one of the bullies. Their confrontation leads to an unexpected outcome. 

Director: Magalie De Genova 

Writer: Magalie De Genova 

Stars: Kerry-Lee Finkle, David Knoll, Jovan Kocic

 

SHORT FILM 🎬 Wash

 

Being a mother is supposed to be joyful. Being a child is supposed to be fun. Having a family is meant to be life-affirming. But nothing in this home is like it's supposed to be. 

Director: Kristofer Kiggs Carlsson 

Writers: Kristofer Kiggs Carlsson, Amelia Clay 

Stars: Amelia Clay, Ida Ljungqvist

 

SHORT FILM 🎬 Lunchbox

 

Shirley is a Taiwanese-American woman preparing a meal from her childhood. Using her deceased immigrant mother’s recipe book, she makes zongzi, turnip cake, and hand-cut noodles. Each dish she makes evokes a childhood memory, tracing a history of growing up balancing the pull of two cultures -- and growing more distant from her Taiwanese culture and mother as Shirley gets older. Shirley assimilates as she gets older, culminating in her election to Homecoming Court in high school. But when Shirley’s mother makes a mistake and embarrasses Shirley, Shirley lets loose the resentments and grievances of many years, culminating in cruel words that have haunted her since. 

Directed and written by Anne Hsu (who plays the lead role of Shirley as an older teen and adult)

 

SHORT FILM 🎬 Post Office

 

A Chinese-American mother's attempts to help a seemingly abandoned child has unforeseen consequences. 

Directed By David Karp & Courtney Loo

 

SHORT FILM 🎬 I'm Good

 

A copywriter decides to stop working, sending an entire ad agency into chaos. ‘I’m Good’ is a modern retelling of the classic short story “Bartleby, the Scrivener” by Herman Melville. Updated to a modern setting in a creative agency, the themes from the original story remain as relevant as ever. 

Directed and written by John Merizalde