Written by Jorge Morais Valle, Silvia Pazos Hermida; Directed/Produced by Jorge Morais Valle
From the darkness of the lost cliffs, a crazy painter–marked by his past, and his faithful assistant try to find a solution to the perpetual storms. The sea is destroying their home. A magic boiler and some tormented ghosts will help them to find the light.
20 min
Written/Directed by Scott Folsom, Gail Folsom; Produced by Trip Hope, Pam Hargrove, Lianna Lawrence
‘Twas the night before Christmas at the League of S.T.E.A.M. headquarters, but there’s mischief afoot! The League of S.T.E.A.M. (Supernatural and Troublesome Ectoplasmic Apparition Management) is an organization comprised of inventors, scientists, adventurers, craftsmen, monster and creature hunters, and paranormal researchers!
You can see more of League of S.T.E.A.M. and our Steam Punk adventures at leagueofsteam.com.
3 min
Written by James Aloysius Von Seitz; Directed by Kamal John Iskander; Produced by Kamal John Iskander, Michael Silberman
An unexpected guest drops in during an underworld poker game in this dark comedy film noir. Starring Steve Eastin (Catch Me If You Can, The Black Dahlia, Up in the Air), Claudia Christian (Babylon 5, Freaks & Geeks), and Alex Veadov (Drag Me To Hell, We Own The Night). Sometimes, a second coming can be…painful!
13 min
Written/Directed/Produced by Bryan Hopkins
Qing Lou Nu is a stylistic film that explores the life of an Asian prostitute trapped by a contradictory world of passion and obligations. All of which climaxes when one of her naive clients confesses his love. Inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart, Qing Lou Nu is an edgy reinvention of a classic. This macabre tale of east meets west is noted for its potent performances by the leads Cindy Chu and Axel Harney; along with the carefully orchestrated imagery which combines to create a moment of beauty that will not be soon forgotten.
25 min
Written/Directed/Produced by Afsaneh Zamani
An old man and a little boy left their drought-stricken and abandoned village to the endless world (infinite) seeking any sign of life.
They keep traveling through the desert, but the land becomes more bare and lifeless, until they reach the most dried and cracked land. The old man and the boy lag behind. The old man applies ointment to his hands and feet while the child applies ointment to the cracks of the land.
This is the moment when the sky begins to cry.
10 min
Written/Directed by Ben Bays; Produced by Ben Bays, Chad Dutka, René Kline
A darkening sky. An ominous figure. A town on the edge of nowhere. The horseman approaches….
Set against the epic backdrop of post-Revolutionary War America, THE HORSEMAN chronicles the arrival of an unknown outsider to a remote village in the New England wilderness. The townspeople greet him with curiosity and suspicion. Equally as mysterious as the man are the contents of his satchel that he guards with aggressive fervor. Is it a mercy or malice that the horseman brings?
The film unveils the character and history of the horseman layer by layer, revealing a persuasive commentary of an outsider who is closer to our core than we may like to believe.
33 min
Written/Directed/Produced by Lily Sun
A girl struggles to revive her beloved dead dog.
3 min
Directed by Stephen Jennings; Produced by Kathy Buxton, Tiffany Webber
Inspired by St. George and the Dragon, The Sacrifice is a moody retelling of the classic myth. A dragon nests in the well of a medieval village. Panicked and irrational the fearful villagers attempt to appease the dragon by offering a virgin to the beast. The dragon is satisfied, but not for long. One by one the women of the village vanish as they are offered to satiate the demon’s desires. This trade of women for water escalates until only a young Princess remains. Held captive, she is taken to be offered to the dragon. Forced onto the ledge of the well she awaits her doom as the dragon beats it’s enormous wings lifting it’s mass aloft out of the well. Is there no-one who would save her?
Visually unique with hand illustrated, pop-up book aesthetics and nightmarish undertones, the dark and moody atmosphere mirrors the fable’s themes of self-satisfaction, apprehension, fear and sacrifice.
2 min
Written by Davey Sherwinter, Isabelle Carruthers; Directed by Davey Sherwinter; Produced by Luke Howard, Davey Sherwinter
A veteran detective, Carl Lambeth (Jerry Durkin) investigates a beautiful young woman, Leslie Renfrew (Sarah Karjian) about the brutal stabbing of her husband, Timothy Renfrew (Robert Axel). As she retells the day’s gruesome events in detail, it becomes unclear whether or not the crime in question was truly ‘self-inflicted.’
8 min
Written by Brandon McCormick, Charlie Wetzel, Nick Kirk; Directed by Brandon McCormick; Produced by Brandon McCormick, Nick Kirk
“Heartless: The Story of the Tin Man” is an adaptation true to L Frank Baum’s original story from his book The Wizard of Oz. In this tragic story, a young ambitious woodsman falls in love and loses his heart in his work and to his own efficiency.
While trying to stay true to the source material, the filmmakers have re-imagined the world of Oz and its inhabitants with their own creativity and style.
21 min
Written by Derek F. Meyer, David B. Whitmore; Directed by Derek F. Meyer; Produced by Laurie Bookhardt
William, a young and eager shop attendant, works in the magnificent world of chemicals and artistry as a hatter’s apprentice. His passion for hat making is only matched by his desire for Sophia, a local flower peddler.
Inspired by constant belittling from his off kilter master and the overly pompous Earl of Longford, William creates his own hat, directly defying the Hatter’s warnings.
At first, his creation seems perfect, as it gives him the confidence to approach Sophia. But when an unexpected side effect turns his fantasy into a nightmare, it’s a struggle to escape before the madness takes over.
16 min
Written/Directed by Franklin P. Laviola; Produced by Franklin P. Laviola, Jack Lambert, Michael Gallart
“Happy Face” is a psychological thriller about a troubled Hollywood starlet named Katie who seeks to escape from the media spotlight by hiding out in a rehab facility on Long Island. However, when Les, her overbearing agent, tracks her down and attempts to whisk her back to LA, Katie must plan her next move, even if it means taking drastic measures that will affect the course of their twisted relationship and her own identity forever.
14 min
Written/Directed by David Baas
An animated mock documentary about the ecological plight of penguins in the Antarctic, possibly foretelling cataclysmic results for the rest of the world.
5 min
Written/Directed/Produced by Bryan Papciak
As I look back on my childhood in the late 1970s & early 80s, I realize that a religious up-bringing, and my love for “special fx” movies of the era have become conflated in my memory. This film is probably the result of that.
3 min
Written/Directed by Andrew W. Jones; Produced by Andrew W. Jones, Jeanette McNeil, Priscilla McEver
In the annoyingly sparkly future-scape of Neo-Mega-Ultra Tokyo, reporter Holly Malone tracks a murderous urban legend. She discovers that a chain of drug-related killings leads down a supernatural trail—a trail that ends with no average pill pusher, but Frank Dancoolo: Paranormal Drug Dealer!
A comedy featuring a goofy blend of computer generated overkill, cartoon physics, and stop-motion monsters.
8 min
Written by Marc Roussel, Mark Sanders, Mark Thibodeau; Directed by Marc Roussel, Mark Sanders; Produced by Marc Roussel, Mark Sanders, Ron Basch
Blaine Sutherland, an industrial chain manufacturer, is a newly rich man. Being filthy rich is not one of the Seven Deadly Sins, at least, so he thought. Suddenly he has a target on his back as well as his wallet vis-à-vis his gold digging wife, Angela, and her hunky “boy toy,” Lance.
Suddenly, Senorita Peligro and her ruthless band of international art thieves invade Blaine’s office and demand the whereabouts of a certain individual. Blaine has no idea! He just wants his severed body parts re-attached. Angela doesn’t care but certainly wants the reward. Who is the Elusive Man?
15 min
Written/Directed by Jonas Klinkenbijl; Produced by Jonas Klinkenbijl, Floris van der Weijden
Pete Oldman enjoys his life in retirement. He likes to smoke his cigar, to drink his cognac and he loves his goldfish. When his apartment gets outfitted with a high-tech surveillance system to check upon its residents, Pete’s life takes a turn for the worse. All his guilty pleasures seem to be prohibited and with each transgression a mysterious progress bar is updated with a Strike. After a showdown Pete is subdued into cooperation with the new system. The camera decides he will not get away that easily and takes matters into its own hands.
12 min
Directed/produced by Tal S. Shamir
The film is a short powerful manifestation of the Desert of the Real—a critical note raised by French philosopher J. Baudrillard in Simulacra and Simulation.
3 min
Written by Jonathan Katz, Tom Leopold; Directed by Mike Salva, Tom Snyder; Produced by Jonathan Katz, Mike Salva, Tom Snyder
Jonathan Katz is a man who is on both death row and Weight Watchers. With Tom Leopold. (It takes the “D” out of Death Row and puts it back in “Delicious” where it belongs!)
3 min
Written/Directed by Dennis Hauck; Produced by Aimée Barth, Dennis Hauck
Jill is on a first date with Arthur. She doesn’t know why. Looking at them together, you wouldn’t know either. Jill’s young and beautiful and Arthur’s not. But she’s bored and lonely and figures the internet couldn’t yield any worse crop of candidates than the guys she meets in her line of work. Anyway, the night is wearing on fairly painlessly until Charlie makes a point of running into her. Charlie’s a small time gangster that thinks Jill owes him a favor. That favor is to discretely drug a boxer that refuses to throw tomorrow night’s fight. Jill’s job is to walk through boxing rings holding up a sign that lets everyone know what round it is. Charlie thinks this will make it easy for her to get access to the stubborn boxer. It’s a stupid plan, but Jill isn’t in a position to argue. After that, the night goes from worse to absolute crap, until Jill decides it’s time to start pushing back. Hard.
18 min
