THE RED LADY FROM FOLEY STREET, 10min., Canada
Directed by Tanin J. Risdon
In a new spin on urban legend slashers, we meet Beth, a teenage outcast, who, at the end of her birthday party learns that her boyfriend Jesse is cheating on her, leading her to exact her revenge on him and all of the people involved with the help of an urban legend of Beth’s own creation.

https://www.instagram.com/foleystreetfilm/

Get to know the filmmaker:
The DOP Max Humphreys and I just began watching slashers films and got really into the idea of making one ourselves. The next step was to look for writers and we got lucky enough to have Haya Abdul-Hadi and Pablo Lopez take interest in it and come up with the idea for The Red Lady from Foley Street.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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JUST SHORT OF REALITY, 37min., Canada
Directed by Matt Alfano, Chad McFadden
Just Short of Reality is a series of shorts that are told through the genres of surrealism, silent film and dance. Co-existing in one neighbourhood, seven individuals are presented with adversity and choice in this allegorical tale.

https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/AtHome

Get to know the filmmakers:

The Golden Era, vaudeville, silent film and movement-based storytelling have always inspired both of us from when we were aspiring artists and continues to throughout our professional careers. Dance is a universal language that can be shared by everyone.

Physical narrative is a genre that we intend to modernize and reintroduce. It’s such an effective, unique and beautiful way to create. We were trusted with the opportunity to develop our series of shorts for the new digital department at the Stratford Festival,

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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THE MAN IN THE RED BERET, 104min., USA
Directed by Derek Bridges
Chess Master Jude Acers has set up his “World Chess Table” on Decatur Street in the New Orleans French Quarter since 1981, where he continues to play all comers for $5 a game. This is his story.

http://judeacers.com/
https://instagram.com/themanintheredberet/

Get to know the filmmakers:

I wanted to learn how to make a movie, and I’d already written a long article about Jude Acers and I knew he would be a great subject for a documentary. And I was inclined to make a documentary rather other genres because it’s perhaps the most forgiving genre when it comes to technical proficiency, which seemed important since I didn’t know what I was doing.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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LOVE WITHOUT PAROLE, 27min., USA, Documentary

Directed by Greg Womble

Michael falls deeply in love and matrimony follows. But married life can be tough when you’re serving a life-without-parole sentence in a notorious Alabama prison. The union soon dies, but the love doesn't. When Michael is miraculously freed after serving 36 years for relatively minor crimes, will the romance be reignited?

https://www.womcom.net/love-without-parole

https://www.facebook.com/Love-Without-Parole-a-short-film-by-Greg-Womble-Elaine-Witt-108611718616646

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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BRING BACK THE WHISTLE DOG, 18min., Canada
Directed by Bob Simpson
Fast food menu items come and go, but none have ignited lasting passion quite like Canadian restaurant chain A&W’s Whistle Dog. This “hot dogumentary” profiles diehard fans fighting the good fight to bring back the iconic dog.

Get to know the filmmaker:

Most of the team that worked on this film works at Rethink, A&W’s ad agency, and the Whistle Dog has always held a place in our hearts. This documentary came out of our own curiosity about it, the quirky name, the fact it’s an oddball item at a burger chain, and, most of all, the cult-like passion behind it.

When we found out A&W was bringing it back, the initial plan was to show up at a bunch of diehard fans’ homes and surprise them with Whistle Dogs, then use the best of these surprises for a TV spot. But it quickly dawned on us that dragging a film crew across the country just for a couple minutes at each stop seemed like such a waste. We had cameras, we had crew, we had super passionate fans—we had to do more with this. Our art director Ashley blurted out, “We should do a documentary!” We just laughed. A documentary! About the Whistle Dog! How ridiculous! But then we started talking about it and realized, no, there really was a story here. Let’s do it!

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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DAY FLIPPERS, 16min., USA, Dark Comedy
Directed by Isaac Cushman
The production of a home renovation TV series is disrupted by the presence of a malevolent spirit.

Interview with:

Director Isaac Cushman

Producer Dylan Samson

Cinematographer Brendan Parker

Production Designer Alex Royston

Makeup/Sound Sarah Sweet

From filmmaker Isaac Cushman:

Honestly, it was my buddy Alex Royston, who was the Production Designer on the film. I first shared the idea with him and Dylan Samson (Producer) when we were out shooting a fake Mountain Dew ad for a class. It was an idea that was inspired by films like Grave Encounters (2011) and Ghostwatch (1992), both of which feature the crew of a television program encountering actual paranormal activity. Having most of my experience in comedy writing, I thought taking an HGTV-style show and putting those characters into a similar situation would be ripe for a hybrid of comedy and horror. It was an idea I proposed as a non-school project because it seemed too “big” to do as an assignment but since we had no other ideas we liked for our upcoming final project, we moved forward with it. I was skeptical at first but Alex championed the idea and rallied the troops. I couldn’t be more grateful for that, I was right that it was going to be difficult but because of Alex’s enthusiasm for the idea, I was given an opportunity to prove to myself that I was capable of more than I thought and we made something that I am really proud of. I now see just how possible even the most insane ideas can be with the right people and a little ingenuity.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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HOME, 13min., USA, Dance
Directed by Shari Coleman
When her parent’s domestic violent relationship comes to a head, Harley must choose between protecting her family and keeping her sanity.

Get to know the filmmaker:

Growing up, I unfortunately witnessed the terror that is a domestic violent relationship. Though it did get me thinking about how the scope of what domestic violence is and who it affects is very spotlighted on the couple but how about the children? What does it do to them?

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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STRIKE, 5min., USA, Action/Thriller
Directed by Oliver Li. Cinematography by Teddy Jian

Get to know the filmmaker:

Action is a genre that I have always wanted to try, but I rarely have the opportunity to do so. Fortunately, my cinematographer, Teddy, and I got a chance to experiment with action when we audited a directing course that focused on action in films. During the course, we were assigned to shoot a dance/fist fight/chasing scene. Initially, I had planned to shoot a car chase sequence. However, after some test shooting, Teddy convinced me that it was beyond our current capabilities. Consequently, we decided to only shoot a fist fight scene that included a chasing sequence. To give the fight a story setting, I came up with a Bourne Identity-style plot.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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HOW TO THRIVE, 96min., Australia, Documentary
Directed by Duy Huynh
Is there a secret formula to happiness? Positive psychotherapist Marie McLeod takes 7 people on a transformative journey to learn the secret formula to happiness The film’s premise is; if we offer the science of happiness to people experiencing struggle; what difference would it make? Is happiness a learnable skill and can we teach people skills to live a happy, healthy and meaningful life? With unprecedented access; the result is an intimate, heartfelt and hopeful film that offers a rare glimpse into the lives of 7 people who make incredible transforms as a result of learning ‘How to Thrive?’

http://www.howtothrivefilm.com/
https://www.facebook.com/HowToThriveFilm/
https://www.instagram.com/howtothrivefilm/

Get to know producer Andrew Kelly & director Duy Huynh:

Duy Huynh, Director: As a first generation Vietnamese refugee, I have my own connection to early life adversity. Some of my earliest memories of life was being lifted into a tiny fishing trawler with over a hundred others below deck; violence at sea, loss of life, inhumane refugee camps and of course watching the consequences of this experience on family and friends.

Despite the impacts from these memories I found my way through and have always considered myself one of the lucky ones. For some of my contemporaries this experience created a lasting legacy of mental health challenges and I’ve always wished I could do more to help. What separates those of us who can undergo adversity and come through the other side ok, versus those for which adversity creates ongoing struggle. I thought if we could understand this better and package it up in a helpful way, then it would be a worthwhile mission.

This film is about some of what I’ve learnt from the sciences of thriving. Turns out there’s quite a lot of research available about how to live a happier, healthier and more meaningful life. These learnable skills are so essential in a world where loneliness and mental health challenges are steeply on the rise.

My vision is for a world where these ‘thriving skills’ are available to all of us, and film is an incredible medium to not only create this awareness but inspire action. Personal action, political action and systemic change to the way we think about mental health.

Andrew Kelly, Producer: I’d been working in the corporate film production world for some time and decided it was time to take my skills and use them for social impact. Duy presented wellbeing science and positive psychology to me and I knew this was an under-represented area we could really make a difference in. A chance meeting with our now lead presenter and Positive Psychotherapist sealed the deal for me. I knew we could make this work.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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(UN) SEEN, 7min., India, Dance
Directed by Anjana Ghonasgi, Pratik Iyer
‘Tethered between her own worlds of captivity and escapism, Maya finds herself.’

http://www.anjanaghonasgi.com/

https://www.instagram.com/anjana.ghonasgi

Get to know the filmmaker:
– (UN)SEEN is a deeply personal story. My creative expression has always been about connecting with myself. There are certain stories & experiences that can only be expressed through a visual medium and not told in words. This film was my way of doing just that.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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THE DENDROVERSE, 4min., Mumbai, Experimental
Directed by Deep Malhotra
Fear of heights, cockroaches or dark. Fear can differ; some fears are minor, while others can be big. And when you overcome them, you feel more substantial than you were as you understand they were only panic inside your head and nothing else. And you just needed a bit of courage to win over them. But what if some phobias are so real that they might kill you and the species if you don’t crush them? Maybe such fears are those you don’t mess with to save your life. This poetry can sometimes become a nightmare in reality. Is the option in our hands to choose?

https://linktr.ee/deepruptive
https://facebook.com/deepmalhotra
https://instagram.com/deepruptive

Get to know the filmmaker:

This film was made for the India Film Project (IFF), an International 50-Hr film competition with the concept of “Fear”. I thought of twisting the idea with a message that is hard-hitting and relevant in current times and the need of the hour.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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ENTANGLEMENT, 32min,. India, Fantasy
Directed by Yashaswini Nath
A couple struggles to make sense of the past, and their vastly different versions of the bizarre event that made their relationship spin out of control.

Get to know the filmmaker:

I had been writing scripts to turn into my first film, but out of everything I’d written, this story spoke to me with the greatest immediacy. The idea came to me in bits and pieces as philosophical themes and metaphysical ruminations. Musings about emotional consequences of people and events we can’t quite make sense of, and psychological implications of realities we aren’t familiar or comfortable with. I wanted to put these questions out there to a larger audience.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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SWISH, 5min,. USA, Drama
Directed by Andrew Roland
Two brothers grow up in the sport of basketball, pushing and challenging one another. Until one day, one gets killed. Years after grieving, it drives the remaining brother to keep the standard and work ethic that he and his brother shared.

https://instagram.com/brokenpockets_

Get to know the filmmaker:
It’s loosely based on my life. Ultimately, it’s the story of grief, so I used my life experiences, added my favorite sport and a little drama. It took about a month to complete. It was shot over two days.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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WIN(D) OVER CANCER, 9min., USA
Directed by Andrew Jowett
Last summer the world was closed, but our waters were open. This crew took the opportunity to make a difference – More Kids On Sailboats, a 501(c)(3) organization is proud to present our first short film – WIN(D) OVER CANCER.

https://morekidsonsailboats.org/
https://www.instagram.com/more_kids_on_sailboats/

Get to know the producer Brett Langolf:
The motivation was the desire to do SOMETHING! My wife, Katie, and I were sitting in the dining room both working (pandemic online elementary school teacher and me trying to run a Creative Advertising department remotely) and we started talking. We had just received our 501(c)(3) status for our non-profit More Kids On Sailboats. We decided to find a path to do something with kids and activate them in these crazy times. Andrew was involved in the new non-profit and was one of our new Board Members. In the real world, he and I had been doing TV Commercials, Sailing Shorts, etc but it was the pandemic and this work had taken a pause. Getting a group together outdoors was basically our only option. So we plotted the course, and we got this crew together….we were not sure what would unfold or what may or might not happen. So we hit record and let the story come to us.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

BUZZ Pollen Nation, 9min., USA, Documentary
Directed by Mike Machian
Bombus occidentalis, the Western Bumblebee, was one of the most common species found in the western US. Since the late 90’s, this species has experienced steep decline. Kellie Hayden volunteers her time to help track and conserve native bumblebee species.

From Mike Machian:

I had known Kellie for a few years and she had been sharing her journey to citizen scientist on social media. Like most of my documentaries i thought “this is neat, other people should know about this.”

Playing on the Film Festival Streaming service later this month. You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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THE LOVE SONGS OF OEDIPUS REX, 21min., Canada, Documentary
Directed by Luke Sargent
Documentary about musician Benjamin Hackman (The Holy Gasp) processing personal loss and heartbreak, through creating a massive concept album.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3303039/?ref_=fn_al_nm_2

From the filmmaker:

Filming was a pleasure, but also a real challenge to do all by myself. I’d do things like plant the Zoom audio recorder in one room, and then shoot into that room from another room to make it feel like there was a bigger crew. Also, because we were shooting in the same studio for the whole time, I prepared by listening to the temp-tracks of these songs (which sort of act like another character in the piece) and tried to establish a visual theme for each song. That way it wouldn’t feel repetitive or boring in the edit.

Playing on the Film Festival Streaming service later this month. You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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THE END OF BLINDNESS, 55min., Documentary
Directed by AJ Martinson
Dr. Samuel Bora is the only ophthalmologist for over 3 million people living in rural Ethiopia. His mission: end all preventable blindness in the country.

http://www.theendofblindness.com/

Playing on the Film Festival Streaming service later this month. You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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ISLE OF RUM, 52min,. Documentary

A glimpse into life on a remote Scottish Island, human inhabitants about 37 and counting...

https://www.sarahvianney.co.uk/

Playing on the Film Festival Streaming service later this month. You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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“From renowned adventure filmmakers Safari Productions and cinematographer Hamish Pattison comes Andrew Englisch’s world first attempt to cross treacherous Bass Strait on his Wing Foil. A stunning, intimate and raw portrait of Andrew’s journey to raise himself out of the depths of depression and be the first person to cross one of the most dangerous stretches of water on the planet, despite only learning to wing foil 12 months earlier and before his 55th birthday.”

https://gonewiththewing.com.au/
https://instagram.com/englisch

Director Statement

I am a pirate. I travel to the world's most dangerous, beautiful and scary places and bring back the loot. A bounty of film, photos and stories. When not scouring the world for interesting stories I work to improve awareness around mental health.

Playing on the Film Festival Streaming service later this month. You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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Anjela Pencheva has suffered from Cerebral Palsy since birth, but the difficult diagnosis has never broken her spirit and has turned her into a writer, an actress and a dancer. Through her work and with her computer generated voice, she participates in various initiatives for the rights of the people with disabilities and inspires everyone who has met her.

Director Statement

Anjela's story has haunted me for 13 years, even before I started making films. Life encountered me with it again and again, in different situations, until the time to tell it came. Or not, time she tells it through me came. Her need to communicate with the world has led her to art, where, although snuggled down in a wheelchair, she flies. It was this freedom of spirit that I wanted to recreate with animation - brave, vivid, light as a feather Anjela. The incredible animation artist Dimitar Dimitrov-Animiter magnificently captured that. And so, in 16 minutes Anjela can do everything she has always dreamed of, and we can only benefit from her strength.

Playing on the Film Festival Streaming service later this month. You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

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