SXSW FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES MIDNIGHT FEATURES & SHORTS

AUSTIN, TX – Today the SXSW Film Festival revealed their Midnight Features & Shorts program.

The Midnighters section of SXSW is known for premiering the work future stars of the horror genre. Filmmakers Eli Roth, and Ti West, are a few notable directors who have had their films screened during the Midnight Features.

”Our midnight programs are the bloody, beating heart of SXSW,” said SXSW Film Conference & Festival Producer Janet Pierson. “Since the beginning, midnight films have been an essential ingredient to what makes SXSW so exciting and fun, and this year’s selections are no exception.”

Out of over 3000 short films submitted, only 150 were chosen, and will screen as part of twelve overall shorts programs.

“After months of reviewing a record number of submissions, we’re tremendously happy to share the final program,” said Shorts Programmers Claudette Godfrey and Stephanie Noone, “The short films selected this year delve into the space between families, lovers, strangers and the void within ourselves, examining what those spaces mean, and the length to which we go to fill, cope with, conquer and mend them. We can’t wait for the SXSW audiences to experience them!“

MIDNIGHTERS

The Divide (US-Canada)

Director: Xavier Gens, Writers: Karl Mueller & Eron Sheean

To survive the end of the world…you must first survive each other. Cast: Michael Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia, Lauren German, Rosanna Arquette, Courtney B. Vance (World Premiere)

SXFANTASTIC

KILL LIST (UK)

Director: Ben Wheatley, Writers: Ben Wheatley & Amy Jump

A dark and twisted horror from the mind of director Ben Wheatley. Cast: Neil Maskell, Michael Smiley, MyAnna Buring (World Premiere)

Full list of features and shorts in the Press Release below.

PRESS RELEASE

SXSW FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES MIDNIGHT FEATURES & SHORTS

Austin, Texas – February 10, 2011 – The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival is thrilled to announce features in the Midnighters and SXFantastic sections, as well as the complete short films lineup, which will debut at this year’s Festival, which runs from March 11 – 19, 2011 in Austin, Texas.

A key component of the SXSW Film lineup, the Festival offers two midnight feature programs, each including five titles.  The long-standing Midnighters section has hosted the premieres and fostered the careers of such filmmakers as Ti West, Eli Roth, and Scott Glosserman, and is programmed by SXSW Senior Programmer & Conference Manager Jarod Neece.  In 2009, SXSW added the SXFantastic sidebar, a series of midnight films programmed by Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S. Last year, the section was home to the world premieres of Gareth Edward’s Monsters and the much buzzed about A Serbian Film.

”Our midnight programs are the bloody, beating heart of SXSW,” said SXSW Film Conference & Festival Producer Janet Pierson. “Since the beginning, midnight films have been an essential ingredient to what makes SXSW so exciting and fun, and this year’s selections are no exception.”

150 short films were selected from 3,089 short film submissions, and will screen as part of twelve overall shorts programs. Short film submissions saw an increase of 29% over 2010.  A comprehensive list of the short films lineup is detailed below. For more information on Midnighters and the complete SXSW Film Lineup (features and shorts), visit www.sxsw.com/film. For more information on SXFantastic and Fantastic Fest, visit www.fantasticfest.com/sxfantastic/.

“After months of reviewing a record number of submissions, we’re tremendously happy to share the final program,” said Shorts Programmers Claudette Godfrey and Stephanie Noone, “The short films selected this year delve into the space between families, lovers, strangers and the void within ourselves, examining what those spaces mean, and the length to which we go to fill, cope with, conquer and mend them. We can’t wait for the SXSW audiences to experience them!“

The SXSW Film Festival will open on Friday, March 11, 2011 with Duncan Jones’ Source Code.  In addition to nine full days of film screenings, SXSW Film will ultimately feature over 80 sessions of panels and workshops in the Film Conference.  For details on the confirmed sessions, selected from proposals submitted via the SXSW PanelPicker™ interface, visit www.sxsw.com/film/talks.  The final panel and conference lineup will be announced on Tuesday, February 15.  Visit http://www.sxsw.com/film for more information and updates.

Joining the previously announced features, the additions to the 2011 SXSW lineup are:

MIDNIGHT FEATURES

MIDNIGHTERS

Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative after-dark features for night owls and the terminally curious.

Films screening in Midnighters are:

Attack The Block (UK-England)

Director & Writer: Joe Cornish

A funny, frightening action adventure movie that pits a teen gang against an invasion of alien monsters. It turns a tower block into a sci-fi playground. It’s inner city versus outer space. Cast: Jodie Whittaker, John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones, Simon Howard, Luke Treadaway, Jumayn Hunter and Nick Frost (World Premiere)

The Divide (US-Canada)

Director: Xavier Gens, Writers: Karl Mueller & Eron Sheean

To survive the end of the world…you must first survive each other. Cast: Michael Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia, Lauren German, Rosanna Arquette, Courtney B. Vance (World Premiere)

Hobo With a Shotgun

Director: Jason Eisner, Writer: John Davies

A Hobo finds himself in an urban hell. When he witnesses a brutal robbery, he realizes the only way to deliver justice is with a shotgun. Cast: Rutger Hauer, Gregory Smith, Molly Dunsworth, Brian Downey, Nick Bateman

Insidious

Director: James Wan, Writer: Leigh Whannell

Dark spirits have possessed the home of a family whose son has fallen into a coma.  Trying to save him, the family moves only to realize that it was not their house that was haunted. Cast: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, Ty Simpkins, Barbara Hershey (U.S. Premiere)

Phase 7 / Fase 7 (Argentina)

Director & Writer: Nicolas Goldbart

Coco just moved to his new apartment with 7-month pregnant wife. When the building is in quarantined for a deadly flue. The neighbors became unexpected enemies. Cast: Daniel Hendler, Federico Luppi, Jazmin Stuart, Jose “Yayo” Guridi (North American Premiere)

SXFANTASTIC

Mind-bending Midnighters, hand-selected by our friends at Fantastic Fest.

Films screening in SXFantastic are:

Cold Sweat / Sudor Frio

Director: Adrián Garcia Bogliano, Writers: Adrián Garcia Bogliano, Ramiro García Bogliano, Hernán Moyano

What do you do if you are a right-wing Argentinean terrorist and your state-sanctioned organization is disbanded?  We can’t say, but it involves chat rooms, bare breasts and a generous slathering of nitro-glycerine. Cast: Facundo Espinosa, Marina Glezer, Camila Velasco, Omar Musa, Noelia Vergini (International Premiere)

George the Hedgehog / Je? Jerzy (Poland)

Director: Wojciech Wawszczyk, Writer: Rafa? Skar?ycki

Jez Jerzy is a skateboarding hedgehog who likes to drink beer and fondle breasts.  He finds it hard to pursue his passions, however, while being tormented by neo-nazi skinheads, mad scientists and a drooling, flatulent clone of himself. Cast: Borys Szyc, Maria Peszek, Maciej Male?czuk, Sokó?, Micha? Koterski (International Premiere)

KILL LIST (UK)

Director: Ben Wheatley, Writers: Ben Wheatley & Amy Jump

A dark and twisted horror from the mind of director Ben Wheatley. Cast: Neil Maskell, Michael Smiley, MyAnna Buring (World Premiere)

Little Deaths (UK)

Directors & Writers: Sean Hogan, Andrew Parkinson & Simon Rumley

A psychosexual horror anthology comprised of three separate stories dealing with the twin themes of sex and death. Cast: Kate Braithewaite, Daniel Brocklebank, Brendan Gregory, Siubhan Harrison, Jodie Jameson (North American Premiere)

The FP

Directors & Writers: Jason Trost & Brandon Trost

For years an underground war has raged for dominance over the town of Frazier Park between two clans. Dominance isn’t determined through fistfights or petty brawls, but the dancing video game Beat-Beat Revelation. Cast: Jason Trost, Lee Valamassy, Caitlyn Folley, Art Hsu, Nick Principe (World Premiere)

SHORT FILMS

NARRATIVE SHORTS

A selection of original, well-crafted films that take advantage of the short form and exemplify distinctive and genuine storytelling. The winner of our Grand Jury Award in this category is eligible for a 2012 Academy Award nomination for Best Narrative Short.

Animal Control

Director: Kire Paputts

Before Sammy, all his best friends were stuffed animals.

The Announcement

Director: Joshua Funk

A woman makes a big announcement to her friends.

Boobie

Director: Bryan Gaynor

Two young men find themselves at a precarious crossroads during a typical afternoon of horseplay.

BOY

Director: Topaz Adizes

A 10 year old experiences a rite of passage that will forever change him.

Chalk

Director: Martina Amati

Two teenage professional gymnasts are competing in a national training camp, when their friendship is put to the test.

Eat

Director: Janicza Bravo

After being locked out of her apartment, a young woman seeks the help of her lonely neighbor.

EX-SEX

Director: Michael Mohan

He broke her heart. Then she broke his.

FATAKRA

Director: Soham Mehta

Sparks fly as a family reunites.

FLOW

Director: Christina Choe

An odd young woman paralyzed by severe OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), discovers dance as way to deal with her rituals.

Fran’s Daughter

Director: Eric F. Martin

A woman learns that she may have been switched at birth.

The Good Neighbor

Director: Jacob Vaughan

A man tries to surprise his neighbor with dinner and wine, but her pet guinea pig ruins everything.

Heliotropes

Director: Michael Langan

This short documents the parallel goals of man and nature, through the most primitive and sophisticated means, to simply stay in the light.

Howling at the Moon

Directors: Jason Tippet & Elizabeth Mims

Matt’s grandmother believes that man has never set foot on the moon. Matt got a telescope for Christmas and intends to show her otherwise.

John’s Gone

Directors: Josh Safdie & Benny Safdie

He is punch drunk (not with love) but something far more strange and lost. One can only say John’s Gone.

Join the Dots

Director: Jessica Lux

A new girl at St. Andrews University discovers a world of preppy girls who dream of strategically seducing fellow student Prince William. Isolated, she finds hope in a mysterious boy who wears a silver jacket.

Muscles

Director: Edawrd Housden

Richard’s sister Millie wants to be a world famous body builder. What happens when she is a better boy than he is?

Nocturn

Director: Leanne Welham

Unable to sleep one night, Jody goes to the local gas station and meets a passionate young couple that will turn her night, and her life, upside down.

Ornamental

Directors: Carolina Giammetta & Schuman Hoque

Danielle loves her friends, but they are very, very different from anybody else’s…

PIONEER

Director: David Lowery

A father tells his son the most epic bedtime story ever.

Prom Night

Directors: Celia Rowlson Hall & Jae Song

Prom night is ritual, disco balls, expectation, corsages, dresses, holding, sweating, status, entering in twos, balloons, school gyms, dancing slow and fast.

Roosevelt‘s Big Deal

Director: Craig Elrod

Don’t lose your shirt on a dinner with the coach.

Scenes From The Suburbs

Director: Spike Jonze

Director Spike Jonze teams up with Arcade Fire to create a thirty-minute short film inspired by their critically acclaimed album, The Suburbs, and its themes of war and coming of age in suburbia.

A SHORE THING

Director: Jess Manafort

A couple spends a lovely day at the beach arguing about love.

Slow Dance

Director: Joe Cobden

A stunning slow-motion bar brawl. A woman has to literally fight her way through a Montreal ballroom just to get to a man she might want.

Sophie

Director: Sean Rourke Meehan

A young woman works another night at her strange and intimate job.

The Strange Ones

Directors: Christopher Radcliff & Lauren Wolkstein

A man and a boy, traveling to an unknown destination, find respite in a motel swimming pool. On the surface all seems normal, but nothing is quite what it seems to be.

The Third One This Week

Director: Felix Thompson

A doctor only has one chance to deliver bad news… or does he?

Woman Waiting

Director: Antoine Bourges

A middle-aged woman is faced with poverty.  As she struggles to find help within the system, her only option is to wait.

YUKIKO

Director: Eric Dinkian

A man is mortally wounded by a woman. As the remaining minutes of his life keep ticking, he examines his conscience.

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS

Unfiltered slices of life, from across the documentary spectrum.

39-A: Een Reisverhaal Van Eindeloos (A Travel Tale of Interminable)

Director: Evan Mather

In this insightful autobiographical mashup of Super-8 home movies, vibrant animated cartography, and Dutch pidgin-speak, a family’s 1981 vacation to the Kennedy Space Center is chronicled in exquisite detail.

100 Bands In 100 Days

Directors: Shout It Out Loud Music & Nick Sonderup

Come along as one music fan endures 100 consecutive nights of live music, beer and self-discovery. Let’s go binge gigging.

Diplo

Director: Wing-Yee Wu

Join Wesley Pentz, a.k.a. DJ Diplo and part of Major Lazer sound system, for one day behind the scenes at the annual Philadelphia block party of record label Mad Decent.

FRANK FAIRFIELD

Director: Austin Wilson

Living proof that time travelers are among us.

The High Level Bridge

Director: Trevor Anderson

Trevor drops his camera from Edmonton’s High Level Bridge in memory of those who’ve jumped.

Kevin

Director: Jay Duplass

Kevin Gant was an inspired and beloved Austin musician, but in 1995 he disappeared from the scene. Who is Kevin? What happened to him? And, can he get back what he lost?

Library of Dust

Directors: Ondi Timoner & Robert James

Death becomes art when a photographer captures images of deceased patients at a mental hospital.

Love Lockdown

Director: Nadia Hallgren

This short is the story of Shoshanna, a young mother from NYC. Told through late-night phone calls on public radio, she awaits the fate of Felix, her children’s father, incarcerated and on trial.

Man & Machine: A Naked Robotic Love Story

Directors: Jesse Roesler & Jonathan Nowak

Explores the challenges and delights found in sustaining a creative identity within a romantic relationship and the controversial “new music” generated by an unconventional pair of artists in Ghent Belgium.

Mothersbane

Director: Jason Jakaitis

A personal documentary that explores the filmmaker’s ambivalent relationship to his mother’s physical disabilities and chronicles his attempts to be at peace with her suffering and disfigurement.

My Big Red Purse

Director: Giancarlo Iannotta

In this three-minute experimental documentary, the director’s mother reminisces about a childhood memory involving her prized big red purse.

Noc u Tane ní (Night at the Dance)

Director: Annie Silverstein

A profile of the last days of a Czech dance hall in rural Texas—and the old-timers who come there to polka.

Professional

Director: Skylar Nielsen

Metal-fabricator Neil Youngberg never planned on taking over his grandfather’s business and is now faced with passing on his legacy.

RUN AND RETURN

Directors: Michael Thelin & Jose Louis Rios

This film, taken from Live at Stubb’s Vol. II, explores the Grammy-nominated artist Matisyahu’s creative philosophy and passion for music during his 2010 summer tour with his band Dub Trio.

Satan Since 2003

Director: Carlos Puga

Richmond, VA becomes a battleground for moped gangs.

Tugs

Director: Jessica Edwards

An ode to the hardest working boats on the waterways and the people who pilot them.

You Cannot Learn How To Be Honest

Director: Jason Oppliger

Confronting the disturbing and incoherent Hi-8 footage he’s agreed to edit, a filmmaker attempts to find a catharsis amongst the chaos by turning the images loose on himself and his apartment.

SXGLOBAL SHORTS

A showcase for cutting-edge documentary shorts from around the world.

IL CAPO (Italy)

Director: Yuri Ancarani

This short describes the extraordinary way of communication used by the chief in a marble quarry: a non-conventional language of gestures and signs.

Lost Every Day (UK-Scotland)

Director: Michelle Coomber

This is a film about a woman who has a medical condition and when she wakes each morning, her walls seem to have moved overnight.

My Dream (UK-Bangladesh)

Director: Md. Rezwan Ali Khan

Sumon, a shrewd businessman, makes a decent living as a disabled beggar.  He doesn’t just keep it for himself though.  He has a dream.

PS Your Mystery Sender (UK-Scotland)

Director: Ben Wigley

Finding the meaning behind the unwrapped and unusual objects that Paul Smith, the fashion designer, has been receiving in the post for the last 20 years, from a mystery person.

SCREENING AT THE TATRY CINEMA (Poland)

Director: Igor Chojna

Dariusz Ambroszczyk runs one of the oldest cinemas in ?ód? – Tatry.

Shave and a Haircut (Hong Kong)

Director: Lavina Tien

A coming-of-age portrait of a visit to the barber by an old man and a little boy.

Skateistan: To Live And Skate Kabul (UK)

Director: Orlando von Einsiedel

Skateboarding in Kabul.

Wajeh (Israel)

Director: Murad Nassar

The daily routine of Wajeh, the coffee seller in Qalandiya checkpoint.

Wood If (Canada)

Director: J.B. Sugar

A cinematic meditation on the works and process of whimsical furniture designer Judson Beaumont.

ANIMATED SHORTS

An assortment of stories told using a mix of traditional animation, computer-generated effects, stop-motion, and everything in-between. The winner of our Grand Jury Award in this category is eligible for a 2012 Academy Award nomination for Best Animated short.

The Beaufort Diaries

Director: Alex Petrowsky

When you’re a dying breed in Hollywood, sometimes it’s tough to go with the floe.

BOOBatary

Director: Leah Shore

A secretary types with her boobs.

Denmark

Director: Daniel Fickle

Pily, a lovable crustacean of mixed origin struggles to escape his underwater home when it becomes threatened by pollution.

Dinosaur Ballet

Director: Ross Butter

A short animation, showcasing the grace and poise of our prehistoric forerunners.

The Eagleman Stag

Director: Mikey Please

If you repeat the word ‘fly’ for long enough it sounds like you’re saying ‘life’. This is of no help to Peter. His answers lie in the brain of a beetle.

Get With The Program

Director: Jennifer Drummond Deutrom

The complacent inhabitants of this near-future society devise ways to adapt to the constant demands of the techno dystopia they have created.

Heart

Director: Erick Oh

An exploration of transcendence. This short presents questions through abstract metaphors and symbols, illustrated by the human heart.


A LOST AND FOUND BOX OF HUMAN SENSATION

Directors: Martin Wallner & Stefan Leuchtenberg

When his father dies unexpectedly, a young man seeking to cope with his grief goes on a powerful emotional journey through time and space.

Paths of Hate

Director: Damian Nenow

A short tale about the demons that slumber deep in the human soul and have the power to push people into the abyss of blind hate, fury and rage.

Preferably Blue

Director: Alan Dickson

Not everyone loves Christmas.

Teddy Goldblatt

Director: Rob Munday

In a post-apocalyptic world a lemon called Teddy finds his legs.

Weather Report

Director: Olivia Taussig

A catalogue of nine headlines, illuminating apocalyptic undercurrents. Headlines become ironic expositions, highlighting fantastical variables and animals play.

The Wonder Hospital

Director: Beomsik Shimbe Shim

A surreal journey through a mysterious hospital that alters the perception of physical beauties.

MIDNIGHT SHORTS

Bite-sized bits for all of your sex, gore, and hilarity needs.

ATTACK

Director: Adam White

When Harold discovers he has a brain tumor he is unaware that the tumor is an independent world of it’s own, fighting to survive.

Billy’s Birthday

Director: Thomas Wohlford

It’s Billy’s Birthday.

BUNNY BOY

Director: Brandon LaGanke

When a young child walks home from school he encounters a strange-looking man in a full bunny costume.

Canary Suicides

Directors: Natalia Provatas & Valerian Zamel

The story of five canaries, that just couldn’t take it anymore.

Christeene, “Bustin’ Brown”

Director: PJ Raval

In “Bustin’ Brown,” the fourth installment of the CHRISTEENE Video Collection, CHRISTEENE confronts the ever-present bastardization of anal sex from mainstream bourgeois heterosexuals by returning “da buh-hole” to its rightful owners.

Good Morning, Beautiful

Director: Todd Cobery

After the death of his newborn daughter, a man deals with his grief as he struggles to keep his grasp on reality.

Hello Caller

Director: Andrew Putschoegl

A suicidal woman makes a call for help with unexpected results.

The Laying on of Hands

Director: Nick Twemlow

Martial arts death dealing meets biblical faith healing.

LGFUAD

Director: Kelsey Stark

Ghosts just wanna have fun!

Love Analysis

Director: Lucas Mireles

Give me one good reason to date your sister.

Special Needs

Director: Scott Smith

Politically incorrect foreplay helps a young couple explore the boundaries of their fantasies.

Waffle

Director: Rafael De Leon Jr.

A disfigured, science fair champion invites her new friend over for dinner, but by the time dessert comes around, the two schoolmates will discover each other’s true, unpleasant natures.

MUSIC VIDEOS

A range of classic, innovative, and stylish work showcasing the scope of music video culture.

!!!,  “Jamie, My Intentions Are Bass”

Director: Saman Keshavarz

Ben Harper & Relentless 7, “Skin Thin”

Director: Daniel Stessen

Cate Le Bon, “Shoeing the Bones”

Directors: Casey Raymond & Ewan Jones Morris

Cathy Davey, “Little Red”

Director: Lorcan Finnegan

Cee Lo, “No One’s Gonna Love You”

Director: SKINNY

Dave Sitek, “Groove Me”

Director: Carlos Lopez Estrada

Eliza Rickman, “Cinnamon Bone”

Director: Damon Stea

Eyes Lips Eyes, “Pretty”

Director: Collin Mapp

Hollerado, “Americanarama”

Director: Greg Jardin

HUMANS, “Bike Home”

Directors: Peter Ricq & David Poirier

Jác, “Polar Bear Trophy”

Director: Rubén Collado

Mayday Parade, “Kids in Love”

Director: Josh Mond

The New Pornographers, “Moves: The Rise And Rise Of The New Pornographers”

Director: Tom Scharpling

Ninja Sex Party, “The Decision”

Director: Jim Turner

Patricia Vonne, “Worth It”

Director: Marcel Rodriguez

Philip Selway,  “By Some Miracle”

Director: David Altobelli

Sims, “Burn It Down”

Director: Isaac Gale

Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, “The Mighty Sparrow”

Director: Jack Ferry

Tim Knol, “When I am King”

Director: Sverre Fredriksen

Toby Goodshank, “Untitled”

Director: Preston Spurlock

U.S. Girls, “Red Ford Radio”

Directors: Jacqueline Castel & Preston Spurlock

Warm Ghost, “Open The Wormhole In Your Heart”

Directors: John Carlucci & Brandon LaGanke

Zola Jesus, “Sea Talk”

Director: Jacqueline Castel


TEXAS SHORTS

An offshoot of our regular narrative shorts program, composed of work shot in, about, or somehow relating to the Lone Star state.

8

Directors: Julie Gould & Daniel Laabs

A daughter spends the anniversary of her father’s death with her mother.

Brewed

Director: Mike Mann

Jeff Young brews beer for a living.  This is why.

Chainsaw Found Jesus

Director: Spencer Parsons

A suburban fairytale about uneasy dreams, an unexpected play date, and a search for whale songs.  Mistakes are made.  Rocks could be thrown.  Officer Schnauzer, are you gonna arrest somebody?

Drawback

Director: Daniel Rigdon

When you have lost everything, what can you hope to find?

Elevator Ride

Director: John Venable

The story of two men, one black, one white, who become trapped in an elevator. With nothing but time on their hands they have a very frank discussion about race.

Grey

Director: Marko Slavnic

After a young man witnesses a brutal shooting, he is torn about what to do next.

Jeremy Messersmith, “Tatooine”

Director: Eric Power

The original Star Wars trilogy re-imagined in glorious cut paper animation!

Neal

Director: Geoff McGee

A comedic short film about a polaris pool cleaner named Neal.

Parachute Kids

Director: Allen E. Ho

A story about a troubled Asian American youth during Christmas in Los Angeles.

SHORTS SCREENING WITH FEATURES

Chief Serenbe (Narrative Short)

Director: Evan Curtis

A Neo-Realist animation about a hitchhiker.

The D Train (Narrative Short)

Director: Jay Rosenblatt

An old man reflects on his whole life in less than 5 minutes.

Guard Dog Global Jam (Animated Short)

Director: Bill Plympton

An experimental Internet recreation to Bill Plympton’s Oscar-nominated Guard Dog short, each scene re-imagined and animated by different artists from all over the world.

Mokhtar (Narrative Short)

Director: Halima Ouardiri

Based on a true story, Mokhtar recounts the tale of a young boy in a remote Moroccan village as he adopts a fallen owl.

Room 4 Rent (Narrative Short)

Director: Max Weissberg

Anna is looking for a place to rent.

Shinya Kimura (Documentary Short)

Director: Henrik Hansen

The story of Shinya Kimura, a creator of custom motorcycles which he designs with a unique philosophy of love, life and simplicity.

Two Laps (Narrative Short)

Director: Owen Trevor

Two friends. One race. Two laps. No prisoners.

Training Session (Narrative Short)

Director: Christian Lalumière

What at first appears to be a simple training routine evolves into a world where symbolic movement is explored.

FUTURESTATES

This one-off Special Event returns with a second season of short films transforming today’s complex social issues into visions of America in the not too distant future.

Asparagus

Director: Robby Henson

In a regimented near future, an agricultural engineer learns a lesson about life and love from a renegade asparagus.

Beholder

Director: Nisha Ganatra

When a conservative parent’s unborn child tests positive for the recently discovered “Gay Gene,” and she is offered the option to modify it in vitro, she conflicts with her husband over the child’s fate.

The Dig

Director: Bennett Cohen

An archaeological dig trying to uncover why an ancient civilization fell in an environmental disaster leads to the unexpected discovery of faith.

Remigration

Director: Barry Jenkins

In this economically polarized future, a disenfranchised family is brought back to San Francisco in an effort to replenish the working class.


That Which Once Was

Director: Kimi Takesue

A boy displaced by global warming fends for himself as an “environmental refugee” in a hostile metropolis. When he forges an unlikely friendship with a similarly displaced ice-carver, the boy learns the value of memory.

White

Director: A. Sayeeda Clarke

An expecting father must sacrifice his pride and his racial identity as he is forced to sell the new currency of a society radically altered by accelerated global warming.

TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL SHORTS

Texas High School students offer a glimpse of a bright future for Texas filmmaking.

(___)

Director: Chad Werner

Where technology rules communication, one girl realizes she doesn’t have a voice.

B-Boying

Director: David Olivares

This documentary gives a glimpse into the world of B-Boying and the different competition elements and techniques.

Chair Love: Some Strings Attached

Directors: Kara McCormack & Emily Hagins

A love struck chair must face hardships to find her long lost love.

Circuit Breaker: Episode III

Directors: Mathew Cunningham & Whitney Bennett

Tobias, a hard working robot, finds himself at odds with government thugs as he tries to woo his coworker through increasing acts of daredevil recklessness.

Coonpipes

Director: Madeleine Mathis

A stop-motion short in which a junkyard dog chases a thieving raccoon through the forest, only to discover something about the vermin that he did not expect.

The Doorman

Director: Ryan Kline

There’s something wrong with this motel. All of the answers lie behind the door…

Dreamcatcher

Director: Lesleigh Hammer

An eerie short film about an innocent girl searching for the meaning of a recurring nightmare.

Driving Miss Crazy

Director: Zach Prengler

A comedic short film depicting a couple pulled over for a traffic stop.

Eggs

Director: Gabriel Lopez

Eggs are the objects of desire for the guy in this film. And gets them eventually, just in a way he never imagined.

Followed

Director: Sam Medley

A girl is running from people through the streets of a city.

G.E.T. P.A.I.D.

Director: Jose Rodriguez

Get Education Today – Pursuing All Ideal Dreams

Groenten

Director: Max Montoya

A narrated western film about two gunslingers known as Bill Hickins and “the kid.”

The History of Nikola Tesla – a Short Story

Director: Jeremiah Warren

Nikola Tesla: genius, scientists, inventor. This entertaining short story tells the life of the man who has been forgotten by history, and eclipsed by the inferior Edison.

Joe the Clay Guy and the Crystal Sword

Director: Jeff Novaez

An epic adventure where Joe, a clay-man, armed with his powerful toothpick sword, explores a dangerous monster-infested cave in search of the legendary Crystal Sword.

A Journey of One

Directors: Kim Hauser & Michelle McChristian

“No love, no friendship can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some marks on it forever.”  –Francois Mauriac

Neighborhood Watch

Director: Zachary Booth

Chronicles the “stream of consciousness” of a manic depressive chunk of clay.

Never Too Late

Director: Marco Bottiglieri

It is never too late to follow your dreams. That is the message Deanne Moore is trying to get out in her music video ‘Never Too Late.’

One Last Bite

Director: Marco Bottiglieri

Matt’s friends and family have had enough with his annoying habit of never being able to finish anything he eats or drinks.

Reversion

Director: Grace Kim

A girl awakens in a field and begins to question her reality.

Sparky

Directors: Tiffany Giraudon & Kalen Doyle

Hunger or Love, which is stronger?

Sun and Moon

Director: JJ Rubin

A beautiful drama that examines the pain, fear and impending loss associated with Alzheimer’s.

Superior

Director: Julian Moreno-Pena

A music video created for the song “Superior” by the San Antonio band Buttercup.

Volition

Director: Maqui Gaona

How much control do we really have over our future? Do we live our lives with free will lined by predetermination? Volition challenges these theories and evokes us to question each motive of chance.

Worm War I

Director: Lydia Tallon

A humorous documentary about earthworms plotting to take over the world.

Z

Directors: John Fernandez & Austin Loving

The story of a survivor during an outbreak of unknown origins desperately seeking the answer to the chaos caused by something only known as ‘the sickness.’