Category: Films in Competition

When a janitor cleans an empty auditorium after graduation of the high school he’s worked for decades, he gives his ‘own’ commencement speech on the night of his retirement. It’s the speech he thinks the graduates should have heard, and more importantly, the one he wishes he had heard when he graduated from high school. No one is left out.
Directed by Sal Tassone (USA)

Love fought for by the barrel of a gun. The ambush follows the masked man as he and his brothers lover attempt to rescue said brother. Standing between love and loyalty stands the steadfast marshal and his deputy’s. Watch as the impending conflict plays out on the bleeding, bruising, winter prairie.
Directed by Jeffrey Altwasser and Jeremy Davis (Canada)

In New York City, 1986. Two gangs are about to rumble after one member goes missing.
Directed by Rob Barriales (USA)

On the verge of becoming a slave to his psychotic episodes, a once brilliant professor searches for answers to his

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Mikey is assigned to kill a man for not paying the mafia what he owes, only to find out that Mikeys victim is his former elementary school teacher who saved him from the bullies 35 years ago.
Directed by Jonathan Espolin (USA)

A world temperature increase of 1.5 °C is already inevitable and a 2 °C increase is very possible considering the path we are on now. As the climate changes, droughts will become more commonplace as major cities like Capetown and Los Angeles are predicted to lose all access to their natural water reserves. Nations such as the Maldives and Bangladesh will completely disappear underneath the ocean’s surface and desertification will destroy much of Northern Africa and the Middle East (and all of this by 2050)! Even though these problems seem existential and preventable, there is one place where the threat of Climate Change is currently manifesting itself: the beautiful country of Perú. Within their borders are 70% of the world´s tropical glaciers and over the last 40 years, they have lost almost half their surface areas. The country of 27 million all depend on these glaciers either directly or indirectly for potable water, irrigation, and hydroelectric energy. With the rise in temperature many if not all these glaciers will completely disappear. As they do, the livelihoods and water resources of the people impacted will vanish as well. There is no saving them, only to adapt to a new way of life or pack up and move.
Directed by Mark Gregory (Peru)

Ruby Baby is a story written by MH von Loewenstern – author/producer. and a published poet.

Lee McQueen is the director, and one of the lead actors, Lee is very talented and experienced working in film, he is hungry to start pre production.

Raphael is the producer, with years of working in film and advertising, he also runs festivals with complex production as well as tour managing in the music industry.

The story draws the viewer into the life of Adam, a young Boy living on a farm, motherless and with a violent father. To survive the emotional and physical trauma of his father, he turns his attention to Cathrin, the daughter if the charwoman who comes to help Fromm time to time tokeep the farm house in order. Insecure and shy he admires her from a distance. Unexplainable things happen on the farm..unexplained death.
Directed by Lee McQueen (UK)

Two distant sisters reunite after the death of their mother.
Directed by Steve Royall (USA)

In celebration of the rich tradition of live storytelling, this short film features Kurt Rosenquist telling his cherished 25-year old story in real-time to a group of close friends during a dinner party.

To the guests’ delight, Kurt artfully and meticulously delivers his tale that captures the events of one evening in the early 90’s in New York, when he unsuspectingly finds himself under the spell of an innocuous pair of vintage hand-me-down patent leather shoes.

The initial purpose of this short film was to simply document Kurt telling this wonderfully quirky story in his particular distinct storytelling-style and to share this event with a wider audience. After completing the shoot and reviewing the footage, we realized that the spontaneous playful interplay between the guests, the crew and Kurt was almost as important as the ‘story’ itself. By including this activity throughout the film, the message has broadened to offer the film-viewing audience a glimpse into the intimacy and magic of a communal storytelling experience.
Directed by Susan Lori Frank (USA)

Meet 5 Middle-Age Career Ladies who are dear friends. Join them as they find the humor in the other change of life: menopause.
Directed by Jill Maxcy (USA)