2018 Official Selections – Films
Click on any film title to learn more.
Americana
Apostasy
Cal & V
Crosby
Disfluency
Dysphoria
Fall Repeat
Family: A Love Story
First Dates
Fringe Territory
Girl Eating Banana: Audition
Half a Glass
Here After
Jeffington
L’oiseau qui danse
Last Wish
Light Me Up
One Bedroom
RFLKTR
Shark Week
Sickies Making Films
The 5th
The Blogger
The Honorable Society
The King in the Ring
A Bad Feeling
The Truth
Until They’re Gone
(Films are in alphabetical order.)
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Americana
A gritty comedy short about 4 modern day greasers who must save their deceased friend’s ashes from collecting dust on a mantelpiece.
Directed by: Andrew Meyers
Written by: Michael Gangloff
Produced by: Michael Gangloff
Starring: Deaken Bluman, Michael Gangloff, Don Dipaolo, Brooke Sikkema, Ashlee Arson, Chris Lark
Apostasy
In between a mental psychosis and a fleeting sanity, Matthew, a man forced to face himself, must do the unthinkable.
Directed by: Brandon Smith
Written by: Garrett Fraser
Produced by: Brandon Smith & Connor Garelick
Starring: Connor Garelick
We all have demons, but rarely do we lock those demons in the trunk of a car.
Cal & V
Cal & V are two lovers stuck at a crossroads until Cal places his successful movie career on the line to try and win Vanessa back.
Directed by: Timothy Offor
Written by: Timothy Offor
Produced by: Jheanelle Brown, Ian McClellan
Starring: Lian Amado, Sean Dominic
The Brooklyn way!
Crosby
Al Fitzhugh faces life as a high schooler in New York City, all while his parents navigate a divorce. One day, an eccentric, unearthly ‘guide’ named Crosby appears, who, for better or worse, has his own ways of solving Al’s problems.
Directed by: Vincent Salvano
Written by: Vincent Salvano
Produced by: Austin Harris, Aaron Daniel Jacob
Starring: Aaron Daniel Jacob, Luke Wehner, Bailey Newman, Thea McCartan
The not-so-imaginary friend.
Disfluency
Disfluency follows Jane through her daily life, from her passive usage of the phrase “I’m sorry,” to her rape and the emotional aftermath.
Directed by: Laura Holliday
Written by: Anna Baumgarten
Produced by: Anna Baumgarten
Starring: Lib Barer, Dylan Arnold, Julia Barrett-Mitchell,
Yoshi Sudarso, Jon Berry.
Dysphoria
Best friends Hazel and Lyla catch up at a diner but Lyla is hiding something that may explain why they haven’t seen much of each other for a while.
Directed by: Natalie Falt
Written by: Natalie Falt, Holland Olmsted
Produced by: Natalie Falt, Holland Olmsted
Starring: Holland Olmsted, Adrienne Smith
Lies don’t hurt as much as the truth.
Fall Repeat
A dancer compromises for the sake of ambition while her mentor pushes boundaries of power.
Directed by: Elise Sievert Bhushan
Written by: Elise Sievert Bhushan
Produced by: Karma B Productions & MFI
Starring: Elise Sievert & Ariel Eliaz
A dance around the boundaries of power.
Family: A Love Story
Documentary: When Hope & Jesse passionately wanted to adopt a child they chose to navigate the Foster Care system. The heartbreak and joys of creating their family, becomes an education on the Foster Care System and inspired them to mentor others by sharing their journey.
Directed by: Sarah Prikryl
Produced by: Sarah Prikryl, Hope Mackey, Jesse Mackey
Starring: Hope Mackey, Jesse Mackey
As of 2017, nearly 428,000 children are in Foster Care in the United States.
First Dates
Navigating the most perilous of all social interactions: The First Date
Directed by: Patrick Cohen
Written by: Patrick Cohen
Produced by: Patrick Cohen, Angel Acevedo
Starring: Anisha Adusumilli, Patrick Cohen
Dating is daunting.
Fringe Territory
In a post-apocalyptic junkyard, a lone salvager fights for survival against an enemy he can’t see.
Directed by: Stephen DeLorme
Written by: Stephen DeLorme
Produced by: Stephen DeLorme
Starring: Patrick Logan, Heidi Rew, Sean Luke
Eventually, you run out of everything.
Girl Eating Banana: Audition
While young woman is auditioning for the role “girl eating banana” the unexpected discovery within the banana pushes her psychological boundaries to limits.
Directed by: Natasha Babenko
Written by: Natasha Babenko
Produced by: Natasha Babenko
Starring: Malin Barr
An audition turned into a psychological challenge.
Half a Glass
Two apparent strangers cross paths at a Los Angeles Bar where they must come to terms with the actions they have made.
Directed by: Thomas Petborisooth
Written by: Thomas Petborisooth
Produced by: Jesse Cohn and Chris Madrigal
Starring: Corey Powers and Dana Pollak
It’s Last Call.
Here After
When a young girl loses her father, her only key to survival is just a touch away. Discovering a different paradise with a unique perspective causes Autumn to value her place in life.
Directed by: Jonah Mazer, Edaan Moskowitz
Written by: Jonah Mazer
Produced by: Jonah Mazer, Edaan Moskowitz
Starring: Madison Williams, Paul Ganus, Ellen Ganus
A Vision of the Future.
Jeffington
A first-time voter wanders into a fringe campaign rally and learns something about mob psychology.
Directed by: Ryan Larkin
Written by: Ryan Larkin
Produced by: Ryan Larkin
Starring: Sam Panarese
“How can speech be dangerous?”
L’oiseau qui danse
Music Video: Created and animated with particles in the spirit of Visual Music, this video for Canadian electro band Tennyson features the journey of an origami bird in a mysterious field of light.
Directed by: Jean-Marie Marbach
Song by: Tennyson
Last Wish
Best friends since high school, Will is dying of a rare disease when a revelatory interaction shifts the dynamic of their friendship.
Directed by: Hayden Croft
Written by: Hayden Croft
Produced by: Stephen Laddin
Starring: Jason Darcy; Kevin Louis White; Heidi Heaslet; Kamall Shaikh
What are friends for?
Light Me Up
After yet another heartbreaking miscarriage, Ivy follows a sprite into a fantasy world to escape her pain. When presented with the choice to stay or return, she must find the courage to reunite with her husband Josh and start again.
Directed by: Miri Stone
Written by: Miri Stone
Produced by: Vicky Davenport
Starring: Trin Miller, Conner Marx, Eden Campbell
Life begins in the dark.
One Bedroom
Love means never having to give up your apartment.
Directed by: Darien Sills-Evans
Written by: Darien Sills-Evans
Produced by: Devin Williams, Darien Sills-Evans
Starring: Devin Nelson, Darien Sills-Evans, Amber Reauchean Williams, Stephen Hill, Jon Laster
Breaking up is easy. Moving out is hard.
RFLKTR
A pilot crash lands on an alien planet where she faces an unexpected enemy…
Directed by: Matt K. Turner
Written by: Matt K. Turner
Produced by: Matt K. Turner, Breeda Wool, Saam Gabbay
Starring: Breeda Wool
You are your own worst enemy.
Shark Week
A man is forced to confront his eating disorder when his sister shows up at his door with baggage of her own.
Directed by: Jeremy Radin
Written by: Jeremy Radin
Produced by: Caroline Gottlieb, Jeremy Radin, Mary-Kate van den Berg
Starring: Jeremy Radin, Caroline Gottlieb
Sickies Making Films
A love letter to the movies, Sickies Making Films examines America’s history and questions our urge to censor movies. By focusing on the nation’s longest lasting censor board, the Maryland Board of Censors, we discover reasons both absurd and surprisingly understandable.
Directed by: Joe Tropea
Written by: Joe Tropea and Robert Emmons Jr.
Produced by: Joe Tropea
Featuring: John Waters, Laura Wittern-Keller, Robert Headley, Pat Moran, Ross Freedman, and many more.
The 5th
In the wake of a shocking revelation, a boxer haunted by his past and a trainer weighed down by a history of bad choices must decide whether they are prepared to throw it all away.
Directed by: Katharine White
Written by: Robert Jekabson & Andrew Oliveri
Produced by: Robert Jekabson, Andrew Oliveri, Q Fortier, George Perez, Peter J. Dorsey
Starring: Robert Jekabson & Andrew Oliveri
Weighed down by a history of bad choices, will they throw it all away?
The Blogger
Blinded by selfies, Marcus doesn’t understand that his guests only came to take advantage of him – everyone, that is, except Didier.
Directed by: Lorenzo Sterzi
Written by: Lorenzo Sterzi
Produced by: Lorenzo Sterzi
Starring: Sacha Bourque, Karl Hardy, Léane Labrèche-Dor, Michel Dorion, Louise Marleau
In the depths of his eyes, I could see my own beauty reflected.
The Honorable Society
Even today, the oldest organization dominates and controls our world. Once inside, it’s impossible to get out of it and It’s everyone for himself. John, a young Sicilian, is ready to do anything to get into the hierarchy of this society, even to break his own values …
Directed by: Vincent Bonin-Arena
Written by: Vincent Bonin-Arena
Produced by: Vincent Bonin-Arena, Nicolas Beaudry
Starring: Dino Tavarone, Mathieu Baron, Vince Benvenuto
“Yes, good to know, I have an idea.” – Luciano
The King in the Ring
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Through a documentary lens, this drama follows an underground boxing ring where participants fight a man who looks like Jesus Christ.
Directed by: Heather Hillstrom
Written by: Heather Hillstrom
Produced by: Heather Hillstrom, Jonathan Graves
Starring: Jason Eftimoski, Ngozi Andrade Messam, Cyrille Autin
What would you give to fight this man?
A Bad Feeling
The day after suffering a miscarriage, a cosplaying couple attend their local comic con.
Directed by: Charlotte Barrett & Sean Fallon
Written by: Charlotte Barrett & Sean Fallon
Produced by: Bettina Barrow
Starring: Lily Rabe, Eric Ladin, Patrick Carroll, Patrick Zeller, Mel Shimkovitz, Emma Bruton with Rosana DeSoto and Robert Picardo
He loves her. She knows.
The Truth
During a therapy session, a young man relives the moment he witnessed a family get murdered as a tragic truth is revealed to him.
Directed by: Brandon Doo
Written by: Pavel Slanina
Produced by: Pavel Slanina, Brandon Doo, Carol Sneed
Starring: Pavel Slanina, Lorell Bird Dorfman
Until They’re Gone
Until they’re gone is a film about landmines, the people who remove them, and hope.
Directed by: Christopher Lockett
Produced by: Alex Ramsey & Christopher Lockett