The Abiding, 11min., USA
Directed by Ally May
A lonely woman reminieces about the three great loves of her life while she decides if trying again is a risk worth taking.

https://writerdirectorallymay.com/

https://www.instagram.com/allymay/?hl=en

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
Honestly, my motivation was/is to take every opportunity to develop as a director. I was at a festival, I had a room, a crew and actors, so I put it together really fast and shot it.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
I wrote the script several years ago and had it sitting in my computer. Then I got the bright idea to shoot in about a month before we did. So, realistically, about a month.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
Intimate, mature.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
The biggest obstacle was blocking the scenes. We did not have access to the hotel room until the day we shot, so had no time to plan out blocking.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
The first woman was very sterile, it seemed like she hadn’t watched it and was just reading text. The other two that gave feedback seemed very genuine and thoughtful.

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Shame, 5min., USA
Directed by Kelly Lynn Warren
When a woman is sexually assaulted by a mutual friend the night before, her confrontation with her best friend leads to tragic consequences.

https://www.instagram.com/shametheshortfilm/

Get to know actor/writer/produer Ashna Sharan:

What motivated you to make this film?

I was a peer counselor in college and know of people in my life who have been sexually assaulted. I wanted to raise awareness of the issue and show it from the perspective of two friends instead of focusing on the assailant. The ultimate goal of Shame was to take it to universities and spark dialogue among students.

From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

9 months

How would you describe your film in two words!?

must-see, impactful

What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

One of our actors had an emergency and had to back out of filming on Day 1, so I had to recast the same night because we were shooting the next day. Our actor, Sophia Cofino, stepped in and nailed the part.

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As Long As You Want, 22min., Canada
Directed by Matt Santos
For as Long as You Want is a tender, conversation-driven short film about two actors, Liz and Brad, running lines in a quiet basement one afternoon. What starts as a simple rehearsal slowly turns into something deeper as they begin to open up about their relationships, their dreams, and the things they’re afraid to admit out loud. Liz is in a relationship that no longer feels right, with someone who doesn’t really see her. Brad’s charming, grounded, and unexpectedly honest. As they talk, laugh, and share food, the connection between them grows easy, real, and a little bit electric. With Liz’s train out of the city approaching, she has to decide whether to go back to the life she’s been trying to make work, or stay in this moment just a little longer. Quiet, raw, and full of heart, For as Long as You Want is about timing, chemistry, and the things we don’t plan for.

www.instagram.com/check_please_productions/

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COOP, 19min., USA
Directed by Moriah Doepken
After sustaining a bad injury, a stubborn retired sheriff must learn to talk with his estranged son as they build a fence together, or risk losing the relationship.

Hannah Ehman chats with the lead actor of the award winning short film COOP

——

Follow Interviewer Hannah Ehman on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ehmanhannah/

Watch Hannah’s commercial spots: https://www.ispot.tv/topic/actor-actress/bP8/hannah-ehman

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Rock Island Prison 1864, 7min,. USA

Directed by Joy Shannon

Guarding Confederate POWS in a Civil War prison, a runaway slave now Union soldier, desperately fights for power, or faces returning to slavery.

https://www.rockislandprison.com/

Hannah Ehman chats with the lead actor of the award winning short film ROCK ISLAND PRISON 1864)

Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/omiette/

——

Follow Interviewer Hannah Ehman on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ehmanhannah/

Watch Hannah’s commercial spots: https://www.ispot.tv/topic/actor-actress/bP8/hannah-ehman

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INTERWOVEN, 24min., USA
Directed by Dawn Carpenter
In the wake of the textile industry’s decline, a community in North Carolina fights to reclaim its economic future through innovative worker-owned cooperatives and sustainable practices, transforming the remnants of their industrial past into a beacon of hope and resilience for future generations.

http://www.interwoven-film.com/

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-interwoven

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Grandpa's Got A Brand New Pill, 9min,. USA

Directed by Jacob McCaslin

Written by Jeffrey Molina

Grandpa's Got A Brand New Pill is a short musical film that features an original song inspired by writer, producer, performer Jeffrey George Moline's eighty year old mother. Grandpa's Got A New Pill tells the story of Tootie, a headstrong, independent woman on the eve of her ninety-sixth birthday. Tootie feels unseen and constrained by the rules and regulations of Shady Nook Retirement Home. With a little help from her friend Awesome Lee Bodacious Queer Country Superstar - Tootie decides to make sure her party has a happy ending!

Interview with: Director Jacob McCaslin, Writer/Performer Jeffrey Moline, Producer Terrence Mark Franklin.

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ECHOES, 8min., Japan
Directed by Yusuke Nakamae
The Third World War has left Earth’s resources depleted, pushing humanity to the brink of extinction. Learning from the repeated mistakes of history, humanity turns to the advanced decision-making capabilities of AI to find a path forward. The solution proposed by the AI is an ambitious plan: transporting energy from outer space back to Earth.

https://www.instagram.com/yusuke.nakamae

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?
The release of ChatGPT in 2022 really sparked something in me.
As a UX designer at Hulu Japan, I’ve always been close to technology and digital experiences—but that moment made me seriously reflect on what creativity means in an age where AI can generate content.
That question became the seed of ECHOES.
The sci-fi setting naturally came from my own personal taste and the kinds of stories I love to watch and tell.

What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
I was deeply moved and surprised by how many people picked up on the symbolism and emotional undertones. Seeing that the themes I care about resonated across borders and cultures was incredibly rewarding.

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CALIBURN, 16min., USA
Directed by Bryce Ury
The legendary King Arthur goes to the Lady of the Lake for guidance, recounting both his noble deeds and tragic mistakes.

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?

I’ve always been fascinated by medieval fantasy and the power of fairy tales to distill reality into one story. My wife used to teach the story of King Arthur to her 5th grade students and the image on the front cover was of a hand reaching out of the water, grasping Excalibur. That image was very impactful and I felt like there was a way to explore that chapter in the legend of Camelot in a way that was fresh and surprising while also feeling thoroughly Arthurian.

From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

About five years passed between the first inkling of an idea and the final edit being made on the project. Passion projects can take a long time. The “passion” can come and go. One of the greatest lessons I learned was that waiting for creativity to surface is much less productive than diving in and finding it yourself.

What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

The audience feedback video I received from the festival was very surreal to witness. Knowing that there were people I hadn’t met who were watching my film and enjoying it, lauding the parts of it I was proud of, was very encouraging.

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BAD BLOOD, 19min., Argentina
Directed by Guillermo Ronco
Abandoned by the state and with his daughter’s life at stake, police officer Rafael chooses to break his deepest convictions and commit a crime to resolve his situation. But when what was supposed to be a robbery turns into a kidnapping, he discovers that there are limits he cannot cross.

https://www.instagram.com/lucero_audiovisual/

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?
In 2018/19, I began developing my first feature film, “Saints of Buenaventura”, but it was canceled due to the COVID pandemic. So, my next move to push forward this project was to shoot a short film with similar characteristics in terms of tone and artistic style. So, I took the structure of the third act of the first draft of that script and turned it into a story with a beginning and end in less than 20 minutes.

What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
It was awesome! The way they got engaged and moved by the story, and their comments about the right pacing and the sound score building suspense and anticipation. I work so consciously on those topics that it makes me very proud that I got them right. Feedback is priceless for us filmmakers. Thanks so much for that!

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GROCERY SHOPPING, 38min., USA
Directed by Harry Roseman
I am at the grocery store three to five times a week. It has become a ritual, picking out the items, going over the shopping list, interacting with the same people year after year. It seems to me, an important aspect of my and many other people’s lives. Something utterly familiar. Though filmed it becomes somewhat mysterious, seen anew, to be rethought about.

Harry Roseman is a sculptor, photographer, draftsman, practitioner of web based works, and professor of art at Vassar College where he currently chairs the Department of Art. In addition to having had many solo exhibitions, Roseman has produced a number of major commissioned public sculptures.

For more info, go to his Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Roseman

https://www.instagram.com/harryroseman/

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?

My work takes many forms. An aspect of some of my work in photography, installation, and film centers on my interactions with people in my community as I go about doing errands. I had done some shorter film focused on checking out at the register with my purchases. These interactions are important to me because of the frequent interactions I have with the same people over months and years. They are specific kinds of relationships, These exchanges have an aspect of friendship, though bracketed by the relatively brief interchanges but enlarged by time and repetition. This film stems from those interactions, but also a way of showing a frequent and mundane activity as being worthy and possibly interesting as art. Possibly giving the viewer a new take on their own regular day to day activities, In addition I found aspects of the visual possibilities rather beautiful, as still lives, such as piles of fruits and vegetables. The added addition of bits of conversation that either I had with people or overheard was also interesting to me.

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LIVE FROM THE GENEVA!, 13min,. USA
Directed by Nick Leahy
Amidst the hysteria of the Red Scare in 1953 Chicago, a nightclub staff becomes entangled in a political scandal when their star performer’s iconic red-and-gold pocket square becomes the focal point of media chaos.

https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1295719-live-from-the-geneva
https://www.instagram.com/livefromthegeneva/

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?

I wanted to write a story that tackled themes of misinformation on the Internet, and especially how they influence our beliefs socially, politically, and economically. And I wanted to sort of find a good way to wake people up to sort of what’s been going on around them by comparing that period in which we live in today to that of the Red Scare, and sort of show a compare and contrast between what we know as a terrible period of American history and the Red Scare, and sort of seeing if there is anything we can really learn from it and apply to towards misinformation online today in order to not repeat the same mistakes that we may have already learned in the past.

What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

It was kind of crazy, because I hadn’t heard direct feedback before from people outside my friends and family, so I was a little nervous to see what people would say. But generally, the comments were very nice, and people said that they liked a lot of the stylistic choices and themes. They liked the creativity behind the project, which I am really grateful for. I think I got my message across in a good way. So that’s always good news. And yeah, I just appreciated all the kind words.

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Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ4sVMUQHho

Depraved is a slasher that takes place at a college campus. A serial killer stalks the campus mutilating their victims while two detectives work tirelessly to try and identify the culprit. More and more bodies mount up until we end with a shocking twist that no one will see coming.

Get to know the writer:

Depraved should be produced because it is different to other slasher movies out there. The film moves away from the stereotypical ‘serial killer identity’ and takes us in a new direction that is rarely seen in the horror genre. It explores themes that while present in the real world are rarely shown on screen. It also breaks a number of the trends and clichés seen in most slashers. Depraved is a fresh new take on the genre and will appeal to lovers of horrors as well as being more inclusive of groups who seldom have pivotal roles within the slasher genre. The script has already garnered interest within the industry with people reaching out to me about it.

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Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzIUindvgrg

Based on the best-selling book about Officer Sam Harris, a bomb squad leader, and her team of experts as they race against the clock to save innocent live from a serial bomber, including their own. Our lead also happens to be a lesbian , navigating her way through a male dominant culture, inspired by the author’s real life experience as a lesbian in law enforcement.

https://srichey147387.wixsite.com/inspirationaldreamer
https://www.facebook.com/garcia.lightemup.9
https://mobile.twitter.com/samkat429
https://www.instagram.com/samkat429/

Get to know the writer:

This one- hour serialized action thriller, based on the bestselling book, Light ‘Em Up, Officer Sam Harris, a bomb squad leader, and her team of expert’s race against the clock to save innocent lives from a serial bomber, including their own. Our lead also happens to be a lesbian, navigating her way through a male dominant culture, inspired by the author’s real life experience as a lesbian in law enforcement.

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MARION GRUBER: PREPAREDNESS IS PREVENTION, 30min. USA
Directed by Donald Rayne Mitchell
Dr. Marion Gruber is a world-renowned expert in vaccine development, regulation, and licensure. She worked at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for many years, serving as the director of the Office of Vaccines Research & Review (OVRR) from 2012-2021. In this short film, Dr. Gruber and several of her colleagues describe their efforts to ensure that life-saving vaccines were available during some of the most recent and well-known public health emergencies and why preparing for the next infectious disease threat is critical.

https://hillemanfilm.com/marion-gruber

Get to know the filmmaker:

In collaboration with the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, I helped to create the educational initiative we call the Vaccine Makers Project (VMP). The VMP is made up of K-12 curricula which are supported by a variety of films and animations, the feature documentary, HILLEMAN among them. From the beginning, one of our goals with the project has been to put a human face to the science of vaccines. There’s a lot of noise out there around vaccine science but at the heart of the conversation are people that, in many cases, have dedicated their lives to protecting their fellow human beings through the prevention of disease. Marion Gruber is one of those people and her inspiring career is what motivated us to make this film.

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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JOI, 3min., USA
Directed by Caleb Viti, Alan Yammin
JOI is a showcase of unique collections portrayed by three diverse fashion designers. It combines film and fashion industry together and reveals artistic expressions of each designer. Emphasizing various mediums such as politics, escape from reality and animal extinction. It is organized around musical composition, visual and editorial storytelling, setting the pace and atmosphere of each collection. It is a fashion film that reminds us of the importance of awareness in today’s world.

https://instagram.com/calebcorleone

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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A WOMAN’S FACE, 8min., UK
Directed by Susan Lynch
A woman’s face. A short film about the aftermath of suicide on a man’s bereaved wife. The story begin when Anna’s husband’s body is retrieved from a canal. Anna walks out on her young children and retraces the steps of her dead husband.

Get to know the filmmaker:

My mother died a couple of years and it coincided with the end of my marriage. I wanted to do a film about loss and grief, but also the toll such emotions can take on your mental health. The conclusion I suppose is that there are so many loves in your life that hold you and in some ways your memories of who you lost also hold you. I wanted there to be hope for the main protagonist in the end.

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 WORLD OF WITHOOS, 10min., Netherlands, Experimental
Directed by Hans Withoos, Inge Theunissen
Together with filmmaker Inge Theunissen of Itmoves, I Hans Withoos made a surrealist film about my quest for the amalgamation of the works of our ancestors and our photography.

https://hanswithoos.com/
https://www.facebook.com/hans.withoos
https://www.instagram.com/hanswithoos/

Get to know the filmmaker:

Working as an photographic artist with so many filch elements it was a need for me to change my artworks into a film. Then I was asked by a museum, during preparation of a museum show if i also could deliver a film about me and my work. I did not want a documentary so asked Inge Theunissen to create a short film together to bring my thoughts to life.

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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RESTLESS, 15min., Canada, Drama/Thriller
Directed by Dhun Sharma
A sex worker is coerced into a situation that gradually becomes more violent.

https://www.instagram.com/sharma.dhun/

Get to know the filmmaker:

I was looking to do something interesting after my last short. I had just finished writing Restless as a feature and I wanted to use it as a pitch to fund the larger project. The part that i turned into a short is actually just an introduction to Rebel and as redemptive as it was in the short, the feature version is very different.

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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IT’S NOT ABOUT THE LEMONS, 13min., USA, Drama/Family
Directed by Caitlin Presberg
A young woman comes home after the death of her abusive father to reconnect with the sister she left behind.

https://www.instagram.com/itsnotaboutthelemons/

Get to know the filmmaker:
I made this film as my thesis. I wanted to tell a story about the healing and strength that occurs after a trauma. As a survivor myself this story was very close to home, and it allowed me to come to terms with a lot of things in my life. I found that a child has more strength than a hundred men, but we often overlook 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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