COOKING INSIDE: FROM PRISON TO HOME, 23min., USA
Directed by Brent Lambert-Zaffino
Two men who were formerly incarcerated together recreate a prison meal exactly as they made it inside. Cooking Inside explores America’s cruel and broken prison system through the humanity of food.

https://southerndocumentaryfund.org/cooking-inside-from-prison-to-home/
https://instagram.com/brentlzfilms

From director Brent Lambert-Zaffino:

Adrian, our producer and one of the subjects of the documentary said, “I want to be able to talk about my time inside without depressing everybody.” Telling that story through the crazy MacGuyver-like methods he had to utilize to have a decent meal kind of sprouted from there.

Interview conducted by Matthew Toffolo

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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THINGS WE SHOULDN’T TALK ABOUT, 11min,. USA, Documentary
Directed by Robbie Kruithoff
The mental health impact of religion on the LGBTQIA+ community is unchecked and misunderstood. Alone and largely ignored, queer individuals from conservative, religious communities commit suicide at alarming rates. How many must die before we start talking about it?

https://thingsweshouldnttalkabout.com/

From Robbie Kruithoff:

This film first started when I was doing research for my memoir. Growing up the gay son of two Pentecostal Pastors from a small town in Australia, I know first hand the mental health struggles that religious trauma and suicide survivors face in the religious world. What I didn’t know was how prevalent suicide among religious queer individuals is in today’s society. This spurred me to find other survivors to understand the issues a little better.

Interview conducted by Matthew Toffolo

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 FIRST, 14min., USA, Crime/Thriller
Directed by Emily McDougall
When her teenage sister starts showing interest in a much older, more dangerous man, Rowan must decide between getting involved, or keeping her sisters secret.

https://www.cwuladiesoffilm.com/
https://www.instagram.com/the_first_short_film

Conversation with:

Director: Emily McDougall

Producer: Diana Jacobsen

Cinematographer: Phoebe Mcgarry

Sound Mixer & Score: Alyssa Morris-Hatch

From Emily McDougall:

This film was the product of an all female crew of senior filmmakers from Central Washington University. Since I wrote the script, my main motivation was to see my words brought to life on screen. I was super fortunate to be working alongside extremely talented filmmakers Emily McDougall, Diana Jacobsen, Phoebe Mcgarry, and Alyssa Morris-Hatch. They are the reason I was so excited to make this film, and the reason why it turned out beyond my wildest dreams.

Interview conducted by Matthew Toffolo

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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MODUS OPERANDI: BRISBANE’S RIPPER SUSPECT, 8min., Australia, Documentary
Directed by David Hodkinson, Alice Walker
A student film that explores a myth of over 130 years. Did ‘Jack The Ripper’ flee to Australia and lay to rest in Brisbane’s Toowong Cemetery?

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15522038/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
https://www.instagram.com/dghfilms

Get to know the filmmakers:

Alice: I think what motivated me to make this film was that I wasn’t always connected to this project – I joined it because I found myself getting invested in the story researching it in my spare time and I thought “oh, this is actually a very cool and unique story that I would love to help actually turn into reality and portray it on a screen.” I also knew I could do it in a really unique way with David, and I really wanted to be able to go in there with his whole crew that had already been established with the story and kind of show them my perspective on it, and introduce our audiences to new angles and nuances about the story and it’s origins.

David: I always feel that Brisbane gets left out of Australian stories compared to Sydney and Melbourne. I wanted to tell something unique to Brisbane and what could tie it to the rest of the world and this ‘myth’ pops up occasionally in our media as a joke. Well that was enough for me to say ‘Hey! Let’s explore it and see for ourselves’. Boy did we see for ourselves with endless rabbit holes and over a century of history to research. I was compelled from the very start and never looked back.

Interview conducted by Matthew Toffolo

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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ELLIDA, 85min., Switzerland, Drama/Relationships
Directed by Leon Mitchell
Producer/Star: Katrina Syran
Writer: Birgit Syran Myaard
Based upon Henrik Ibsen’s famous play, The Lady From The Sea. It’s set in a timeless period shot south of Norway where Munch painted his masterpiece The Sun. We follow the journey of Ellida’s world of loss, love and passion, heightened with the compositions of Grammy winner Mark Thomas and cinematography of Bafta-nominated Ian James Gray.

From Katrina Syran:

Being Norwegian I’ve grown up with Ibsen and I have played many of his roles, Gerd from Brand, Hilde from The Master Builder, Nora from The Dolls House & I have even translated for U.K. big theatre director Mike Alfreds the play, Ghosts.

After writing 3 of his plays into monologues, Hedda Gabler,The Dolls House & The Lady From The Sea and producing & directing them I realised The Lady From The Sea is a very visual play and could work beautifully as a movie.

Interview conducted by Matthew Toffolo

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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CLOSURE, 9min., USA, Action
Directed Gui Agustini
A detective. A mercenary. Of course it didn’t work out but when a relationship ends messy, can you ever really have Closure?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt13954882/?ref_=nm_knf_i2
https://www.instagram.com/nycstagecombat

From Kaitlyn Farley:

This project began as part of a stage combat summer intensive with the goal being to create new opportunities, help actor-combatants put to use their trained skills and create a space for the crew to play and gain experience in the world of action. Personally, I began producing to create strong female leads and opportunities to play complex characters in the action world.

Interview conducted by Matthew Toffolo

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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SPOONS, 3min., USA, Comedy
Directed by Daniel Young
Spoons. What more is there to say?

https://instagram.com/skinnyguyproductions

From Daniel Young:

“Spoons” was an incredible script to read. Ed and I had been looking to collaborate again before we had officially teamed up, and it just all came together. I wanted to do fun, and strange in a way people hadn’t seen before

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.

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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PIT & PENDULUM, 27min., Canada, Drama/Horror
Directed by J. Aldric Gaudet
It is the terrorizing story of a person sentenced to death who becomes the plaything of their jailers. They are sent walking through a dark room in hopes they will fall into a pit. When that doesn’t happen they are tied down on a table to watch the painfully slow descent of a swinging pendulum with a sharp-edged blade aimed at their stomach. Escaping from the blade did not mean freedom. The walls of the dungeon grow blistering hot first, then squeeze together to push them to the brink of the pit, before being saved at the very last second.

https://www.pit-pendulum.com/

From J. Aldric Gaudet on the obstacles he faced making the film:

Walking the tightrope between showing too much and showing too little, while at the same time complimenting Poe’s words without embellishing.

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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QUEER MONGOL, 16min., USA, Documentary
Directed by Brandt Miller
Queer Mongol follows four characters over the course of Mongolia’s LGBTQ+ Pride Festival, who embody a diversity of gender and sexual identities. The film is a meditation on queerness in the non-west and a nuanced glimpse into a nascent movement on the Central Asian Steppe.

From Brandt Miller:

I’ve been working with the queer community in Mongolia for 16 years, first as a study abroad student doing research. I then returned to Mongolia on a Fulbright Fellowship in 2009 and created a multimedia exhibition about the very underground community back then—the first of its kind in the nation. Back then, the exhibition had to be faceless because it was too dangerous for individuals to reveal their identities to the public. I helped co-found the Mongolian LGBT Center and returned in 2019 to film Queer Mongol. I feel a deep connection with the place. The story of the Mongolian LGBT movement is a story I will be documenting my whole life.

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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WE’RE NOT GOING BACK!, 79min., USA, Documentary
Directed by Pamela Torrance
Pro-choice documentary film to promote awareness of what’s at stake before and now that Roe v Wade has been overturned.

https://torranceproductions.com/were-not-going-back-1
https://www.facebook.com/RoeRoeRoeYourVote
https://www.instagram.com/roeroeroeyourvote/

From Pamela Torrance:

I wanted to do something impactful to support reproductive rights when I saw Roe v Wade being threatened in late 2021.

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.

Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

BLOOD BUDDIES, 12min., Canada, Drama
Directed by Suzanne Marie Moreau
A friend in need is a friend indeed – or are they? Two best childhood friends go to their first summer camp together – and it tears them apart.

From the filmmaker:

I felt motivated to tell the female experience of puberty including that momentous occasion, a first period, since it seemed to be missing from the screen. I looked into ‘first period’ stories and discovered an online trend was shaping up among today’s generation. It made sense emotionally and theoretically to try to capture the experience and how it coincided with friendships in a sensitive, vulnerable way with a mature perspective that drew from my own remembered feelings.

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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BLACK KNIGHT SATELLITE, 88min., USA, Documentary
Directed by Melissa Tittl
Award Winning executive producer and director Melissa Tittl follows Best-selling author and entrepreneur, Billy Carson as he uncovers the truth coming from an unknown signal. Carson has spent most of his life studying the unseen to uncover why humanity is here and where we came from. When he discovers a NASA image depicting an unknown object, Carson knows this could be the answer to his questions. Known as The Black Knight Satellite, Carson contacts a team of renowned scientists, authors, and researchers to uncover its mysteries. We embark on a journey from cracking unknown signals to tracking down evidence of extraterrestrial communication in government documents. He finds this story goes back to our ancient origins, and what he uncovers about humanity is more than just the story of a satellite. It’s a signal that could rewrite the future of our species.

Director Statement

I made this film because I was always fascinated with the story of the mysterious Black Knight Satellite. Years later when I heard how passionate Billy Carson was about the topic and his views on where he believed it originated from, I thought this would be an opportunity to open up this investigation in a new way. There are many twists and turns throughout the film, suggesting there is more than one outcome. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey of working with Billy and gaining his knowledge.

Interview conducted by Matthew Toffolo

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.

Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

THE DEAD THAT LIVE, 9min., USA, Drama/Horror
Directed by Mark Oguschewitz
A lonely zombie must fight for his life during the zombie apocalypse

From the filmmaker:

Writer/Producer Mario Mabe brought me the 7-page script and I immediately fell in love with the last page and a half.

This is where the script turned into something different – it showed some real humanizing elements still present within the zombie character. Unlike most zombie films, this script took the zombie’s perspective and challenged us to understand him. The zombie wasn’t just a mindless body walking around trying to kill people. I thought that was interesting and wanted to explore that idea more.

Interview conducted by Matthew Toffolo

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.

Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

LILI, 15min., Puerto Rico, Drama/Thriller
Directed by Brian Rios
A father and daughter must cross the border in order to find a better life, but the daughter cannot speak.

From filmmaker Brian Rios:

My main motivation was to humanize and make people feel empathy for the immigrants coming into America, especially the children that were being separated from their parents. I wanted to make a short film that could get to the emotional core of an audience member no matter what their personal politics are.

Interview by Matthew Toffolo

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.

Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

PULLING THE GOALIE, 23min., USA, Drama
Directed by Hiag Avsharian
“Avsharian has cleverly framed his film about male infertility from a conventionally male perspective using hockey as a metaphor to provide both context and levity. Sport provides an immediate connection to an uncomfortable and embarrassing topic with both situations and language that are laughingly familiar to both men and women. As an entry into the increasingly complex and demoralizing process of the infertility treadmill about which men frequently feel baffled and disengaged, Avsharian uses that parallel to create a deeply personal and compelling narrative.

http://www.ptgmovie.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pullingthegoaliemovie
https://www.instagram.com/ptgmovie2022/

From the filmmaker:

I have been writing this screenplay on and off again after the birth of our first child Megan (with the help of infertility treatments), in 2009. As emotionally difficult as our infertility journey was at times, I became aware of how much more difficult the journey had been for others (e.g. multiple miscarriages). I also learned that infertility is relatively common and on the increase as couples wait until later in life to get pregnant while at the same time nearly all pop culture gives us the sense that it is easy to get pregnant. Furthermore, stories are almost always about men resisting their wives’/girlfriend’s desire to start a family, which works for drama and comedy but greatly misrepresents men, and especially men going through infertility. Lastly, and importantly, infertility treatments are expensive and insurance coverage varies widely based on where you happen to live. Thankfully we could afford the level of treatment we needed, but I thought it would be a social injustice if a couple couldn’t have a child because they couldn’t afford treatments. All in all, I felt like this was a story that I needed to at least try and tell once it had rooted itself in my head.

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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REFUGIO, 9min., Bolivia, Documentary
Directed by Rebecca Basaure
Sergio, a 27 year old environmental engineer, veterinary student and environmental activist in Bolivia makes it his life’s mission to save animals and the vulnerable ecosystems we depend on. His journey takes us to Senda Verde, an animal refuge in the jungle with over 900 wild animals rescued from the illegal wildlife trade. Sergio and Senda Verde work to inspire us to take action and create a world that is kinder and more responsible with nature.

http://www.co-labs.us/

https://facebook.com/rebeccabasaure

https://instagram.com/rbasaure

From Rebecca Basaure:

As a filmmaker, I am very passionate and motivated to use film to teach, learn and inspire people about conservation. The stakes are so high and giving people who deserve a platform to speak up about environmental degradation and climate change, is not only important but necessary.

In 2019, fires were raging in Bolivia, largely as a result of intentional burning to convert forests to farmland. As our forests continue to burn and our governments continue to put profit over life, it is hard not to feel powerless and betrayed. We want to call them out and make them accountable for not only allowing but fueling these environmental disasters. And we should. But we often overlook those who tirelessly fight to protect our ecosystems, those who save and protect wildlife, and who dedicate their lives to conservation. This film was made to celebrate those people.

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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HAPPY 4 U, 9min., USA, Comedy
Directed by Shannon Coffey - https://www.instagram.com/coffey/
happy 4 u is a short film that explores the dynamics of a latinx friend group navigating the entertainment industry that demands competition and tries to diminish community.

From Nikki Osborne - https://instagram.com/nikki0h

The #1 motivating factor was a tight deadline for a short film competition that presented itself sort of out of nowhere! Myself and others involved happened to have the time and flexibility (which almost never seems to happen) so we had to take advantage of that divine timing.

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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MATCH DAY, 14min., USA, Family
Directed by Clay Randel
After watching her favorite team lose in dramatic fashion, a young soccer fan must navigate the stages of loss with the help of her recently divorced father.

http://www.clayrandel.com/matchday
https://www.instagram.com/clay.film.foto/

From Clay Randel:

Two years ago the sports world paused while Covid redefined our society. After months of anticipation, live sports came back and though it looked and felt different, I was overjoyed with the return of something familiar, my fandom. My optimism and expectations were quickly crushed while I watched my team give listless performances on the way to unexpected losses. I was confused and devastated. This experience is the inspiration that led to me writing the script “Match Day.”

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.

Subscribe to the podcast via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook