LEGACY
MOTION
in
Sam ATMANE, Pierre-André BLANC, Faustine GUISSE, Camille LE BOUCHER, Léo RESENDE
France
(Re)Call // 6:04
CONTAINS: Animated Parental Abuse
Directors Statement: We are five animation students fueled by a deep love of crafting and telling stories. With our short, "(Re)Call", we wanted to take a unique spin on a kind of story that nearly everyone can identify with. Our aim is to tell stories that we are fond of and wish to treat them with the utmost care, as we hope everyone can feel moved by them.
Synopsis: A young man, who has a conflicted relationship with his mother, gets thrown into his own mind while memories resurface.
William Manning
Canada
Love At First Sighting // 4:56
CONTAINS: Alien blaster
I'm an 18 year old boy from Toronto and ever since I was young I loved making and watching movies. Around grade 6 was when I really started making films since I directed "Will Bond: Adventures in Hawaii." After that I continued making films and got significantly better at it. In 2019 I applied to Etobicoke School of The Arts for film and got in, from then on I've just been making movies and having fun.
Synopsis: A nice weekend at a cottage turns horrific after something falls from the sky
Iván Vigara
Spain
A La Carte// 7:40
CONTAINS: Talk of transphobia
Iván Vigara was born in october, 1996 in Madrid. When he was seventeen, he started his acting studies in Yllana’s school. After that, he trains in RESAD (gestual theatre), graduates in William Layton’s Lab and attends 3rd grade in Juan Codina’s Studio. He also has nine years of training in choral singing, where he stars in musicals such as “Dronámbulo”, “Algo en que soñar” and “Juan Nadie” directed by Jaime Buhigas.
Synopsis: One letter can tell more than a lifetime. Iván faces the moment of opening up to his recent date after returning from dinner. When they get home and everything seems ready for their first sexual encounter, Iván surprises Mónica with a letter that will reveal a reality that she ignored.
Jennifer Cella
United States
Dam$els of Luxury // 5:05
CONTAINS: Language, Smoking
Jennifer Marie Cella (born March 17, 1999) is an artist and filmmaker who grew up in southern New Jersey. At the age of 20, she attended college in Philadelphia for a career in animation. This film is her return to animation after a brief hiatus. She is currently working on another animated project with her crew of friends and artists.
Synopsis: Amanda's stoner slumber party is put to a halt when one of the guests is nowhere to be found.
Beowulf Lerman
United States
Moonrise // 10:32
Beo Lerman an award winning writer and director and a recent graduate from the University of Texas at Austin, with a bachelor's in Radio-Television-Film. They enjoy writing horror-comedies and love colorful lighting. Beo is passionate about creating stories with underrepresented voices both in front of and behind the camera, and blending the surreal with the mundane.
Synopsis: Raquel, a werewolf in her early twenties, goes to a house party on the night of the full moon to try and woo the girl of her dreams.
INTERMISSION // 15:00
RAFAEL Castro LOPES
Brazil
Call Me Brown // 3:42
CONTAINS: Language, Smoking, Talk of Racism, Gun Violence, Police Brutality
Synopsis: Slam poem about being brown in Brazil.
Jordin Amoah
United States
The Unwanted // 3:15
With routes in the theatrical scene, Jordin has a deep passion for all forms of story telling. She has written and directed multiple plays such as "Case 1515" which has premiered at GVHS Theater and has been recognized by a Summer Residential program at Radford university. Although only a Junior in high school Jordin has embraced her love of cinema through her creation of films like "The Unwanted" and will continue to do so in the near future.
Synopsis: A teenage girl discovers an alien has been residing under her bed. Flooded with feelings of terror and fear, she must try to find a way to confront this scary creature before it is too late.
Ronnie Cheng, Leo Litke
Canada
Becoming Queer Joy // 5:58
CONTAINS: Talk of Transphobia, Talk of Suicide, Talk of Racism
Ronnie Cheng
Ronnie Cheng (they/she) is a Hong Konger interdisciplinary artist based in British Columbia, Canada, whose primary mediums are film/animation, media art, writing, and printmaking.
Ronnie’s interest in the arts stems from a love for people, and a desire to tell stories that reflect the human condition while uplifting a variety of marginalized communities. Some key themes are social justice and human rights, focusing primarily on the preservation of the Hong Kong identity and 2SLGBTQIA+ stories. However, other projects about mental health and climate change have also been made.
Leo Litke
Leo Litke (he/him) is a filmmaker and writer. Born in Vancouver, BC, and currently studying in Montreal, QC, his avid interest in the world around him has brought him many places — physical and otherwise. With an interest in both film theory and production, he has attended festivals as a filmmaker, panelist, and audience member. He enjoys studying the culture surrounding film as much as the medium itself, and hopes to pursue graduate studies. Beyond film, he is a contributor to The Link newspaper, and always aspires to be a pleasure to have in class.
Synopsis: Tien is the first Asian trans man to publicly come out in the Vancouver, then, gay and lesbian community of 2001. In this profound and inspiring film, Tien shares his story as a trailblazing, racialised, transgender immigrant and his journey to discovering his true purpose in life — cultivating and becoming joy.
P. Chann
United States
A Brush Story // 2:52
Synopsis: A journey in electric toothbrush repair.
Pierre Gauchard
France
Anatomy of a Fir // 6:00
Synopsis: Someone meets a fir
Enrique García-Vázquez
Spain
Juan Carlos // 9:31
CONTAINS: Explicit Languange
Enrique estrena en el tercer trimestre de 2021 su primer largometraje documental “Buscando la película (verano 2020)” en el marco de la 66 edición de Seminci. Esta película arrancaba desde su pueblo: Laguna de Duero. En el festival, Enrique gana el premio “Seminci Factory” que financiará su nuevo cortometraje “Juan Carlos”. También estrena su cortometraje “Los comedores de loto” en el festival Feelmotion, en el cual gana el premio a mejor fotografía. Poco después también estrenará “Quizás mañana” en el festival de Medina del Campo, cortometraje en el que es productor. Este corto es la ópera prima de su directora: Lucía Lobato.
Durante los sucesivos meses se van dando una serie de nominaciones a festivales nacionales e internacionales como el festival de cine global de Santo Domingo, el premio Rizoma de Madrid, festival de la Palma, Semana internacional de Medina del campo (con dos cortometrajes), Toulouse, etc.
La película gana el premio a mejor documental internacional en el Festival de cine de Nador y el cencerro del a tierra en la Etnovideográfica de Zamora. Todo esto coincide con el asentamiento de su productora de cine Moraleja Films en Valladolid.
En 2022 inicia el trabajo hacia su propio festival de cine. LAZOS: Festival de cine descentralizado llevará a concurso nacional a 6 cortometrajes y 3 largometrajes, poniendo el foco en la España vaciada. Es un éxito de participación, con más de 300 obras inscritas. El festival, que se celebra del 8 al 12 de junio de 2022, contando con la presencia de personalidades como los nominados al Goya Arturo Dueñas y Óscar de la Fuente.
En ese mismo primer trimestre, Enrique García-Vázquez comienza sus tareas de productor para el largometraje “Stream”. Se trata del primer largometraje de ficción en el que el lagunero es productor. El rodaje se lleva a cabo durante el mes de mayo de 2022, e incluye Laguna de Duero como una de las localizaciones principales.
En ese mismo mes se inicia la distribución y estreno de “Buscando la película (verano 2020)” en las salas comerciales dominicanas y españolas. En España, se inician los trámites del ICAA para optar como candidato a la próxima edición a los premios Goya, donde Enrique ya ha sido candidato por el sonido de “Meseta”.
También rueda su primer largometraje de ficción como director: “Gallo Rojo”. Esta película se fue rodada durante el mes de agosto en Castromembibre, con el también cineasta Arturo Dueñas a la co-producción del proyecto.
Ratings
Synopsis: Four robber drag queens take an old fashioned man hostage.
Isabel Pahud
Switzerland
Forza, Rea! // 3:17
Born in 1999 in Morges, Switzerland and soon after moved to Ponte Capriasca, Ticino. In 2023 she
graduated with a Bachelor in Animation from HSLU (Hochschule Luzern, Design & Kunst) with her short
film Forza, Rea! (2023). She specializes in digital 2D animation and clean up.
Synopsis: In a hill-side village in Ticino, Rea is on her way to deliver a love letter to her crush. But, before she has the chance to deliver it, it flies away downhill through the town. In a panic, Rea embarks on a breakneck tumble through the village to catch the letter and finally confess her feelings.
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Alicia Arwgar
Spain
Analog Z Love// 3:22
Synopsis: Filmed in Super 8 Analog Film. A girl narrates through audio how she met another girl at a bus stop. How does a
person go from being a stranger to being your center of attention?
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Abigail Espinal
United States
Cover Up // 7:09
CONTAINS: Transphobia, bullying, Self directed written slurs
Abigail Espinal is a queer, transgender writer, filmmaker, and performer who enjoys creating weird, comedic stories. She has nine years of on-stage experience and is currently a Film and Television and Theatre Studies major at Montclair State University. She has written multiple stage plays, screenplays, and is working on two books. She has won many awards as a performer and writer. She lives in New Jersey and hopes to never stop telling stories.
Synopsis: After a disheartening encounter, a young transwoman regains confidence with the help of her kind-hearted crush.
Shailaja Padindala
India
Love and Let Love // 7:47
Shailaja is a painter turned to film maker, an openly queer artist, identifying as a lesbian with the pronouns SHE & HER. Shailaja started her career into media as a television producer and later entered films through her short film MEMORIES OF A MACHINE in 2016. Shailaja is known as queer film maker in south India and predominantly makes films revolving around themes of LGBTQAI, sexuality and women freedom
Synopsis: The film Love and Let Love silently speaks about the taboos of Indian Patriarchal society. The film portrays a middle aged widow who has been a single parent most of her life, who finally decides to let go of her past and go out on a date for Valentine's Day. A young lady and closeted lesbian also go on a date that very day to the same cafe. In sheer coincidence, both confront each other and there is a brief moment of shock. What follows is the progressive act of both mother and daughter standing in solidarity with each other and their choices of love in a patriarchal society.
This film is a tribute to all closeted queer members, struggling to seek a dignified life. Love and Let Love has no dialogue and the narrative is conveyed through music and performance.
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Merle Zurawski
Germany
Happily Ever After // 12:34
CONTAINS: Flashing Lights
Merle studies theater directing at the Academy of Performing Arts in Ludwigsburg. During a guest semester at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Merle's film debut "Happy Ever After" was made in collaboration with other students from the two universities. Before Merle's studies, Merle performed in the youth clubs of the Oldenburg State Theater, and worked at the Theaterhaus Jena as an assistant director and assistant dramaturge. Now, Merle has been researching the intersection of acting, performance, music, text, and political activism for almost two years as part of their studies, trying to weave these elements into new utopias in ever-changing forms. In doing so, Merle's work is always about queerfeminist ideas and the attempt to translate political responsibility into artistic creation.
Synopsis: "Happy Ever After" picks up where Disney's Cinderella leaves off: the ball is over, the wedding is finished, no more butterflies in the stomach. 'Cindy' and her prince are now at the point in the narrative where things get serious: Life decisions are coming up, buying a house is within reach, and even if everything seems to be going perfectly at first glance, something seems to be missing. By chance, Cindy meets three non-binary fairies who help her discover a space for queer utopias, polyamorous desires, and alternative ways of living.
Jia Lin
United States
Wet Girls // 7:45
CONTAINS: Bullying
Jia Lin is an emerging queer student filmmaker studying at Loyola Marymount University. Through her work, she explores the intimate complexities of identity and human connection. Rooted in the nuance of her experiences, Jia's films pursue both an observance and a celebration of love beyond the binary.
Synopsis: Within the confines of an all-girls Catholic high school, two friends navigate the delicate balance between friendship and love as they find solace within their emerging identities.
Adedeji Daniel Olowu
Nigeria
Contaminated // 7:39
Synopsis: Society' definition of love is based on the mundane heterosexual view of life. Love is majorly known to exist between opposite sexes and any other type is not understood or given enough attention. The movie "Contaminated" is focused on a queer couple that shows the similarity in issues and emotions between two people. Love is not based on the gender you decide to settle down with, its based on the compatibility and connection you choose to build with a significant other.
CONTAINS: Couple arguing, discussion of unsaftey
Nina Chatterjee
United States
Evolution // 2:01
Synopsis: An adolescent allows themselves to experiment with style, before ultimately making a decision about themselves and their presentation.
Logan Thomason
United States
Arlo // 12:31
Logan Thomason is an actor, writer, and director whose work is often informed by his own queer family history. Logan has originated theatrical roles across the country and has worked internationally on camera, but is most proud of his work as a writer-director with the incredible young actors at YATC. His most recent short films August and Royalty screened at festivals including Outfest and the Cannes Film Festival's American Pavilion, where he was nominated for the Emerging Filmmaker Award.
Synopsis: Arlo, a trans teenager who’s been living on his own for two years, comes face to face with a missing poster of himself that uses his deadname and a school picture taken years before he transitioned. He calls the number on the phone and complains about being deadnamed to the hotline operator, who recognizes the voice on the phone and reveals herself to be Arlo’s mother. She begs him to come home and he hangs up on her, then scratches out his deadname on the poster and corrects it to Arlo. After, a group of girls watch him steal a candy bar and follow him to a nearby swing set, where they hand him a bag of supplies and ask him about his life. Arlo explains that he’s making his way across the country to the ocean, and the girls offer up that they have a class assignment to help someone, which is why they bought the bag in the first place. Arlo takes a picture with the girls and walks to a covered bridge to go through the bag they gave him as it starts to rain. When he wakes, his older brothers Lucas & Wyatt are watching over him, holding the missing poster he defaced. They tug at old wounds, bringing up arguments they never settled as kids, and Arlo informs them that he’s never going home. Lucas hands him some money and offers to drive him the rest of the way to the ocean. Together, the three of them walk onto the beach as Arlo looks out at the waves, breathing in the salt air and smiling at the thought of what the rest of his life might offer.
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Ekaterina Nikolaevna Guseva
Russian Federation
I. (Self-portrait. Manifesto) // 6:29
I was born and lived all my life in an ordinary, poor family in the Moscow region. All my life I was raised by only one mother. At the age of 17, I started earning my own living, studying at the university at the same time. All my life I have been looking for my destiny and talent. After finding my own full-fledged family with two children, I finally realized what brings me real happiness, pleasure - it's creativity, namely videography and directing.
Synopsis: Everyone hears a lot of evaluation, criticism, praise, beliefs from his birth!
All of it is growing on him in a thick layer. Being an "adult" he goes, carrying with him a lot of excess, but at the same time directly affecting his thoughts, decisions, actions.
About 3% of the population are really super successful, and the rest are not. That's how they feel at least. People spend their whole lives fighting: for earnings, for health, trying to find a better job, trying to improve their business. Eternal achievers who do anything are guided by the opinions of others. Strong social and environmental pressure. Parents are not happy with their grown-up children, The media cancels public people. Political beliefs divide people into ‘black and white’. People spend hours in the offices of psychologists in an attempt to remove these external beliefs, this pressure.
But the main component of success is the attitude of a particular person to life! Without external influence, without external pressure! Only the dialogue between a specific person and the situation facing him.
I am the only source of what is happening in my life! I am able to choose, focusing only on myself! So you can! So it is necessary! So normal! I can always choose! No one from outside. Just me from the inside.
And today I choose myself! I choose to choose and see the good. I don’t choose to be a victim, I choose to manage my life. Because I am the only source of what is happening in my life!
Benja Thompson
United States
Leafmold // 7:21
A practicing queer archivist, Benja Thompson interweaves historical narratives with formal experimentation to reveal obscured truths.
Synopsis: An essay film / experimental documentary about gender decay. Spun from chambered secrets and texts read under the full moon, 'leafmold' explores contradictions of masculinity and the feminine threshold.
Venus Patel
Ireland
Daisy: Prophet of the Apocolypse// 19:59
Venus Patel's work concerns her experience as a trans femme of colour, trying to navigate the world. Through the use of costuming and loose gender expression, she encapsulates the campy blend of her queer identity. Venus questions the heteronormative society we live in, why the need to conform is so heavily enforced, and how that affects the perceptions of ourself, others, and the world around us. Although her work deals with serious subject matter, she utilises a unique mix of humour, absurdity, and abjection to create multi-faceted performances and films
Synopsis: ‘Daisy: Preacher of the Apocalypse’ is a mockumentary/experimental film that follows a radical Trans preacher and her cult following. After an encounter with a queer goddess atop a mountain, Daisy embarks on a journey to prophesy the end of the world, and save as many people as she can. She promises salvation for those who denounce heterosexuality, resulting in their ultimate rebirth as monsters in the New Queer World.
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Zoe Purcell, Raymond Reed
United States
Worms // 1:55
CONTAINS: Worms
Jakub Andrzej Wenda
Poland
Where the Birds Cry // 15:41
CONTAINS: Nudity, Drinking, Language
Creator of short films, documentaries, music videos and photojournalist works. He often cooperates with independent artists, whose works are presented in many foreign magazines. He helped in the implementation of various social campaigns, including for Amnesty International and the Rak'n'Roll organization. In the years 2021 - 2023 he studied film directing at the Warsaw Film School. From 2023, he's been a student of the directing department at the Łódź Film School.
Synopsis: 14-year-old Szymon lives in a seaside village. The boy is
experiencing one of the most turbulent stages in his life-
puberty. He spends his holidays traveling with his finger
across a globe, looking for a safari, walking on the beach
or meeting his friends. The boy's monotonous life is being
disrupted by an unexpected visit from his childhood friend.
From that moment on, the boy develops the need to explore
his sexuality. Seemingly ordinary meeting on a cliff turns
into his first summer romance.
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Varinia Perusin Failla
Argentina
No One Falls in Love in a Porn Cinema // 8:50
CONTAINS: Partial Nudity, Simulated Sex
Varinia Perusin nació en Mar del Plata en 1996. Recibida de la Tecnicatura en Comunicación Audiovisual por la Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, actualmente se encuentra dirigiendo distintos tipos de proyectos y empezando a combinar el cine con las visuales para shows en vivo. Codirigió el corto "Mi muy querida", seleccionado en el Festival 7siff 2023. "Nadie se enamora en un cine porno" es su debut como directora.
Synopsis: H is an adult man who frequented Mar del Plata's porn cinemas for most of his life. After a revealing experience, he reevaluates his way of engaging with society.
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Franck Hourliac
France
HOT // 14:42
Synopsis: Adams talks to HOT on Grindr. «Wanna blowjob?», «Room 201, 5th floor». But once there, the two boys are clumsy and shy. HOT is actually called Milo and he is an hairdresser. The two boys are opening up to each other in an unexpected way.
CONTAINS: Partial Nudity, Language, Drinking, Smoking
King Louie Palomo
Canada
Stay // 22:00
King Louie is a Queer, Filipino-Canadian, producer-director committed to uncompromising visions that challenge conventional paradigms. He works to encourage dialogue and foster community through producing films and other media forms. Over the past five years, King created short films that have been screened at local and international film festivals.
As a producer, King's credits include CROSSROADS, which was acquired by Viddsee, LOST BENEATH THE STARS (Warsaw 2018, Edmonton 2018), which was bought at Cannes Film Market by RTE Ireland for network and online distribution and secured European theatrical and online distribution with Sofy TV. He also produced THE GIFT (currently on the festival circuit) and THE LONELIEST BOY IN THE WORLD (featured on Directors Notes, Booooooom TV), which was written and starred by Dylan Schmid.
As a writer-director, King's credits include NENE (Standout Director at 21st Reelworld Film Fest) and recently finished STAY, starring Kendall Gender (Canada’s Drag Race Season 2, Canada vs The World)
King Louie also works in the Visual Effects industry as a Production Manager and currently working at Distillery VFX. Recent credits include: WENDELL AND WILD (Netflix) and THE LAST OF US S1 (HBOMax.)
Currently, King is in post-production for a new short film titled AUGANIC and developing STAY for his first feature-length film.
Synopsis: Starring Canada's Drag Race legend Kendall Gender, Stay is a tender exploration of relationships. On their last night in town, Kaleb– known more commonly by the stage name Ivy Diamonds (Kendall Gender)– meets Ryan (Riley Davis), an artist from Vancouver. The few hours they spend together before Kaleb heads back to his tumultuous relationship bring him an unexpected sense of clarity.
CONTAINS: Drinking, Smoking, Language, Talk of Death, Simulated Sex, Partial Nudity
Félicie Alessia Diaz
Canada
Lovely// 4:32
CONTAINS: Blurry and brief clips of porn, flashing lights
Felicie Diaz is a non-binary, multidisciplinary artist who delves into a variety of mediums to express the extent of their ideas. After working on animated short films like Fric Frac and Hard Rocks and digital art projects for three years, they ventured into live action and achieved Lovely, a short film with a majority queer crew and cast. Felicie’s art often tackles gender dysphoria and mental health issues. They highlight these topics with the swift integration of fantasy, eerie world building with reality to craft unsettling and hyperbolic imagery.
Synopsis: The story follows a person on a journey to self acceptance through the queer BI-POC spaces
Niek de Leeuw
Netherlands
Melk // 3:30
Synopsis: Melk is a movie about my expectations of being gay. Why do so many people focus on the sex between two men. When you come out of the closet do you have to have a lot of sex with a lot of men or is there still a possibility for a cozy life?
CONTAINS: Animated nudity and sex
Robert Tiemstra
United States
Querent // 12:41
CONTAINS: supense, gushing blood, self harm, losing an eye.
Rob Tiemstra has been participating in the arts since childhood. As a youth, they performed with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival alongside their twin Matthew. This love of performance & classical literature would continue through film school and into their entrance into the indie film scene. Their primary work as a writer & director has been in what they like to call 'genre-fluid' short films. They have also directed video essays for YouTube and written audio fiction for Parcast Studios and The NoSleep Podcast.
Synopsis: Following an identity crisis, Sam Kinsey goes to a special kind of fortune teller to find themselves. This leads them to a nightmare made of their own dysphoria.
Lampros Kordolaimis
Greece
Escape From Eden // 9:04
CONTAINS: Sureal claymation gore, torture, dimemberment, genetalia, animal death, death, birth, gunfire
Synopsis: A scientist sets up another garden of Eden where he imprisons his creations and unleashes his dark fantasies on them.
Yeng Madayag
United States
Blue Lunches // 2:11
Yeng is an Asian American artist and recent graduate of the School of Visual Arts. Achieving her BFA in Animation, she looks forward to contributing her skills in 2D animation and design to various projects in her career.
Synopsis: A friendly, blue Beni fits their way into a world of red and yellow people through fancy lunchboxes. Kait, a timid red person with a blue mark on her face, makes Beni confront their feelings on making blue food.
Sam Marques
Portugal
In the Middle of Nowhere // 2:56
CONTAINS: Animated genetalia
Synopsis: The stories of 3 people who struggle to fit in a society’s expectations built around gender binarism. A conversation tries to deconstruct the idea of gender as we know it and confronts the ideals that are imposed in each of us.
Jeanne Lemay
Canada
Paroxysme // 1:00
CONTAINS: Animated Nudity
Synopsis: Anxiety is all around and fluttering constantly around us, making it hard to reconnect to reality. This animated short film gives a raw and abstract representation of the anxious mind.
Emily Pink Dwyer
Australia
Streetlight People // 2:25
CONTAINS: Animated blood
Emily Pink is an animator and illustrator based in Melbourne, Australia, with big ideas and a love of all things spooky or cartoon. Streetlight People is their first solo film, made as their thesis film for their Bachelor of Animation, in collaboration with Sinner’s Heist, the musicians behind the titular song.
Synopsis: A couple's peaceful drive across a seemingly endless bridge is shattered when the streetlights give chase. Cornered and with a crashed car, where is it safe to run?
Shacham Rubin
Israel
Make LOVE Not War // 1:00
CONTAINS: Animated genital-like alien creatures?
Shacham Rubin a B.A Bachelor of design at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design And a freelance illustrator and animator.
Worked as an in-between and clean-up animator in Amazon Prime's "Matt and Bird Break Loose" and lead animator and concept artist in the independent movie "How Embarrassing To Be A Human" Directed by Gregory J.M. Kasunich.
Won a number of awards with "corona-Man" and participated in Annecy international animation festival WTF programming with the movie "Monster Fuckers"
Synopsis: Two monsters one cub
Linda Ye, Jolynne Sourn
Australia
Cathode Ray Twilight // 1:16
CONTAINS: Mild animated violence
Synopsis: Bound by a sacred bond, yet compelled by destiny,
two women—a knight wielding a holy sword and a mighty sorceress—engage in a deadly struggle for a priceless relic.
As their battle crescendos, the very fabric of their reality unravels into a pixelated canvas: this grand spectacle exists only within the digital realm of an old-school role-playing video game, as a parallel to a whimsical contest between two friends fighting for a last slice of cake.
Connie Ellen Glachan
Canada
Virtual Girl // 4:55
CONTAINS: Mild animated violence
Synopsis: Aqua Venus provides a personalized fever dream to help YOU discover what being a woman means!
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José Lauro Nunes Marques
Brazil
Synthesia // 2:52
CONTAINS: Strobe Effects
Artista em formação, de 23 anos, graduando em Artes Visuais - Bacharelado em Desenho e plástica pela Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM). Atualmente, direciona sua pesquisa poética para as áreas da videoarte/audiovisual, fotografia e pintura.
In English: Jose is an artist in the making. At 23 years old, Jose graduated with a Visual Arts Bachelor's degree in Drawing and plastics from the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM). Currently, he directs his poetic research towards the areas of video/audiovisual art, photography and painting.
Synopsis: During an episode of dreamlike clarity, the character enters a space in which the expression of his impulses becomes perceptible, driven by the expectation of a threat originated by the fear of adjusting to the environment he believes he is destined for. The visual and narrative elements of this journey reveal the representation of mental decline, belonging and acceptance.
S4RA
Portugal
RAVE // 9:20
CONTAINS: Language
S4RA is a < non-binary && genderqueer > interdisciplinary artist that feeds on con*sensual power dynamics & gender role play through a /non/ linear looping hybrid process between digital animation & ( immersive : ) environments. also spends endless hours strolling through post-capitalism mazes & it’s influence on libidinal pleasure.
Synopsis: a̶r̶t̶i̶f̶i̶c̶i̶a̶l̶ safe space, where collective practices are amplified through a̶n̶ ̶i̶n̶n̶e̶r̶ monologue invoking other bodies that explore diversity & non-normative s̶e̶x̶u̶a̶l̶ practices ironizing capitalism as a form of libidinal pleasure.
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Mia Felić
Estonia
On the Other Side Of// 6:45
Mia Felić (b. 1993, Čakovec, Croatia) is an anthropologist and visual artist based in Tallinn, Estonia where she studies Contemporary art at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Currently she is studying photography at the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture as part of exchange studies.
In her art practice she mostly works with analog image - both still and moving. Her topic of interest revolves around the idea of process, change and time, both as subject and as physical properties of photographic and film medium.
Synopsis: The work explores the transgender and non-binary body in transition through the 19th century photographic process mordançage. The mordançage, using its tremendous chemical pressure alters the silver gelatine prints, causing them to undergo slow, gradual transformation. The tissue of the body and of the print breaks and a new life, new forms are born.
Keyur Maharaj
South Africa
Exodus 4 // 9:09
CONTAINS: Blood & Simulated Death
Synopsis: An existential journey of Love and Loss.
In Exodus 4, we follow Hildegard as he comes to terms with a Love he lost and the internal battle of it ever having existed.
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Aura Fonseca
Portugal
Trans*Performativity // 5:30
AURA is a transdisciplinary artist and co-founder of Asterisco. Her work was presented at The Place, Nottingham Contemporary, Centre for Live Art Yorkshire, Stockholm Fringe Festival, Municipal Theatre of Porto, Municipal Galleries of Lisbon, Mala Voadora, Rua das Gaivotas 6, Maia Contemporary Art Biennial, among others. Holds a MA in Performance Making by Goldsmiths and a BA in Fine Arts and Intermedia by ESAP and Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk.
Synopsis: “Trans*Performativity” is a project that consists in the transposition of trans* experiences into contemporary practices that fuse audiovisuals, dance and performance.
The movement subjectively represents processes of transformation and metamorphosis, the scenography proposes an innovative and safe space, the costumes weave individual and collective identity and the light design gives visibility to underrepresented matters, allowing the audience to perceive, understand and participate freely.
YUE Hua
China
Trace On My Body // 3:10
CONTAINS: Nudity & Strobe Effect
Synopsis: A film about the female gaze and self-acceptance. In spring 2023, a physical illness forced me to re-examine my relationship with my body. Scars, spots, skin, hair, and my unflattering voice, everything belongs to my body.
Shot and direct animation on 16mm film.
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Wes Weisbaum, Parker Wanamaker
United States
My Pretty Woman is a Real Handsome Man // 2:10
CONTAINS: Smoking
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Daniel Oliver Lee
United States
Simply a Bone // 3:21
CONTAINS: Talk of Death, Talk of Transphobia
Daniel Oliver Lee (otherwise known as "Danny") is a Korean-American-award-winning actor, filmmaker, multidisciplinary artist, and "multi-hyphenate-teen-ager" currently studying Film/TV at the Kanbar Institute located within the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU in addition to being an alumnus of the top arts school in New Jersey, the UCVTS Academy for Performing Arts.
In 2019 Danny founded his production company, Torrance Productions, simply seeking a vessel for his many artistic ventures. Much to his surprise the project instantaneously took off, inspiring a trend of teen-run production companies in his area. His first published short, Estimated Time of Arrival (2020) won the Special Jury Prize at Montclair Film's Emerging Filmmaker Competition, screening at Montclair Cinema 505. Since then Daniel has won three New Jersey Film Awards in addition to screening at the Musem of the Moving Image's Redstone Theater and with the Young Artist Society at the Resin museum in California. Torrance Productions' films have additionally been named as finalists in the New York Teen Film Festival and LTV Fone Film Festival, having a screening on television with the latter.
Danny is currently based in New York City and is brushing up on his Nadsat.
Synopsis: Experimental personal doc reflecting on mortality within a transgender body.
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Lucy Rose Shaftain-Fenner
United Kingdom
A Tight, Warm Hug // 5:54
CONTAINS: Talk of Transphobia
Lucy Rose is a filmmaker and photographer from Essex, UK. She is known for her self-produced feature 'Pronouns in Bio' which documented Lucy navigating the first year of her transition.
Synopsis: Lucy Rose, a transgender woman, shares her journey of self-love and empowerment since starting hormone replacement therapy three years ago. The film is part animation, part documentary and part VHS archive footage.
Pilar Alexandra Rüger Alonso
China
Love Tastes Pink // 8:55
CONTAINS: Drinking, Talk of Marital Abuse, Talk of Parental Abuse
Pilar is a half-German, half-Argentinian 25 year old filmmaker from San Juan, Argentina. She graduated in 2019 with a specialization in directing from the ENERC. Her primary interests in film lie in directing, photography and editing. Presently, she is delving into analog still photography in her laboratory. Through her production firm, Desiertas, she challenges gender roles in the film industry, developing projects both with and for women and the LGBT+ community.
Synopsis: Love comes in many forms. Stone discovers them through her customers at her café in the heart of Beijing, China. The barista designs drinks based on the plays that are displayed in the theater located just next to her café. As she works, she observes the myriad ways love manifests itself while they chat before entering the theater.
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Zoe Ariella Lang
United States
Queer New Orleans: A Journey Beyond Bourbon Street // 12:16
CONTAINS: Language, Drinking, Partial Nudity
Synopsis: Queer New Orleans: A Journey Beyond Bourbon Street seeks to celebrate the amazing people and spaces that make the queer community in New Orleans so special. It explores three locations: Alma Cafe, The Allways Lounge and Cabaret, and Grrl Spot.
Ross Dayana López
Columbia
Yigayo Yuwuerane // 8:28
CONTAINS: Talk of Transphobia, Talk of Abuse, Talk of Violence Against Indigenous Peoples
TransVesia Productions composed of trans and non-binary youth from the city of Montería, since 2021 they have been working together with the Corporation of Professionals Building Citizenship CPCC, a youth-based organization, with whom they have generated spaces for conversation and dialogue about their experience of living in their territory. from their diverse bodies, and to recognize the importance of creating a trans and non-binary community as a revolutionary act, which motivates them to resist and change the imaginaries that have historically been built around them.
Synopsis: This story portrays trans life experiences. Their participation in the fabric of their culture and construction of the country. Also their experience of resistance, that despite the rejection of their community they continue to defend their own identity within their culture.
Alicia Arwgar
Spain
Analog Z Love // 3:22
Synopsis: Filmed in Super 8 Analog Film. A girl narrates through audio how she met another girl at a bus stop. How does a
person go from being a stranger to being your center of attention?
Benja Thompson
United States
Leafmold // 7:21
A practicing queer archivist, Benja Thompson interweaves historical narratives with formal experimentation to reveal obscured truths.
Synopsis: An essay film / experimental documentary about gender decay. Spun from chambered secrets and texts read under the full moon, 'leafmold' explores contradictions of masculinity and the feminine threshold.
P. Chann
United States
A Brush Story // 2:52
Synopsis: A journey in electric tooth brush repair.
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Raymond Rea
United States
Straightboy Lessons // 8:22
CONTAINS: Expicit laugage, Talk of smoking, misgendering, talk of transphobia
Raymond Rea is a filmmaker and writer. His film work has screened widely including Light Field, Engauge, Mimesis, The Ann Arbor Film Festival, San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival (Frameline), BFI, Translations, Lost & Found, Outfest, Los Angeles, Inside Out, Mix Mexico, Mix NYC, New Fest, Out on Screen, Reeling, Hamburg LGBT Film Festival, Melbourne GLBT Film Festival, Union Docs, ATA, Flex Fest, The Nightingale, and Aurora Picture Show, as well as other national and international spaces. His interactive work screened at the Plains Art Museum as part of the ND Human Rights Arts Festival. Ray's writing has been produced at EXIT Stage Left, EXIT Mainstage in San Francisco and at Theatre B in Minnesota. Ray's work often challenges assumptions, hints at theatricality, and uses a raw LoFi aesthetic to address complexities.
Synopsis: This 1999 16mm film is a re-enactment of a conversation had in a truck in 1997. It is also an homage to an articulate friend and a lasting friendship.
Agustina Akman, Cielo Iturralde Carrera, Mercedes Maudet
Argentina
Ay! Cordero // 3:48
CONTAINS: Raw meat, Smoking
Somos tres mujeres estudiantes de la licenciatura de artes audiovisuales de la Universidad Nacional de las Artes (Buenos Aires, Argentina) que realizamos proyectos audiovisuales independientes y experimentales que representan nuestras historias, identidades y formas de ver el mundo; de una manera fantástica, onírica, femenina, graciosa, jugando con el absurdo, los sonidos, los símbolos y los límites.
In English: We are three women students of the audiovisual arts degree at the National University of the Arts (Buenos Aires, Argentina) who carry out independent and experimental audiovisual projects that represent our stories, identities and ways of seeing the world; in a fantastic, dreamlike, feminine, funny way, playing with the absurd, sounds, symbols and limits.
Synopsis: La represión del deseo, es retratada en un ser habitado por una dualidad presente en el hacer cotidiano, un joven carnicero que explora su feminidad rodeado de sangre, muerte y violencia.
In English: The repression of desire is portrayed in a being inhabited by a duality present in everyday life, a young butcher who explores his femininity surrounded by blood, death and violence.
Sammy Bush, Rocco Mannott, Sophie Ackerman
United States
Yikes! // 6:12
CONTAINS: Campy suspense
Synopsis: A group of movie-loving teens fall victim to the menacing Discombobulater!
Federica Avagliano
United States
La Petite Mort // 15:00
CONTAINS: Suspense, Attempted rape, Eating Disorder - talk of restriction, Wounds, Consuming blood, skin picking / pealing, worms, Catholic iconography and prayers, Talk of religious trauma, Murder
Federica Avagliano is a filmmaker from Naples, Italy with a MFA Dual Degree in Film & Media Production. Her films have been featured at festivals like the Nightmares Film Festival, Lake Placid Film Festival, and New York City Horror Film Festival.
A finalist for the 2023 Roy W. Dean Grant, Federica was also selected as a fellow for Netflix’s prestigious 2024 DART (Documentary Archival Research Training) Program, chosen from over 700 applicants.
With a portfolio that spans narrative and fashion filmmaking, Federica's visually striking fashion films have graced publications like L'Officiel and Moevir Paris. Renowned for her ability to blend storytelling with captivating aesthetics, she emerges as a versatile voice in both cinema and fashion.
Synopsis: After surviving a vicious attack, the body of a rigorous ballerina threatens to decay unless she placates a "certain hunger" to supplement her rotting flesh.
Rainn Mowris
United States
Luperca // 15:35
CONTAINS: Bandaged knife wound, pracice sparing, parental physical abuse, blood, Explicit lauguage, drinking
Rainn Mowris is an Atlanta-based picture and sound editor. They have a passion for post-production and enjoy the satisfaction of bringing together various "puzzle pieces" to create a cohesive and emotionally impactful final product. Their work includes a number of live-action and animated short films, documentaries, and web series including Surviving Clotilda (2021), In His Image (2023), and Butterfly (2022), and they hope to continue exploring even more genres and mediums as they help bring stories (both real and otherworldly) to life.
Synopsis: A resilient young trans woman risks her life to escape an abusive past and finds new family in her former enemies, a tight-knit pack of queer werewolves. Ariadne finds her world turned upside down when she infiltrates the home of a reclusive pack of forest dwellers. The monsters of her imagination turn out to be more familial than her own father and their kindness forces her to reconsider her original mission.
Jordin Amoah
United States
The Unwanted // 3:15
CONTAINS: Suspense, Plans of Arson
With routes in the theatrical scene, Jordin has a deep passion for all forms of story telling. She has written and directed multiple plays such as "Case 1515" which has premiered at GVHS Theater and has been recognized by a Summer Residential program at Radford university. Although only a Junior in high school Jordin has embraced her love of cinema through her creation of films like "The Unwanted" and will continue to do so in the near future.
Synopsis: A teenage girl discovers an alien has been residing under her bed. Flooded with feelings of terror and fear, she must try to find a way to confront this scary creature before it is too late.
Vitoria Ribeiro Dos Santos, Juliana Gomes Carneiro de Jesus
Brazil
Carmen // 5:46
CONTAINS: Raw meat, severed body parts
She is currently studying Cinema at a Brazilian university, where she has the opportunity to work on her creativity in writing scripts and directing films. This is another short film made and written by her. There are many more to come. - Juliana "Jules" Gomes.
Synopsis: In her apartment, a young woman spends an afternoon preparing a romantic dinner. The independent short film Carmem promises an out-of-this-world gastronomic experience.
Mila Lignel
Belgium
Anemone // 11:11
CONTAINS: Misogyny, Strobe lights, Off screen murder
Mila Lignel (she/her) is a French director. She grew up in Paris, where she got a bachelor in philosophy, before changing path and moving to Brussels to study directing at l’INSAS.
Synopsis: Anemone is a modern mermaid.
Every night, she sings at a bar, seduces a man and invites him over to her place, where she kills him. Her seven roommates have the same routine, as they all share the same mission: ridding the world of as many cishet men as possible, by killing them, one by one.
