CAN'T
BAN
JOY
Luca Kerr
United Kingdom
Cowboy // 9:59
CONTAINS: Strobe effect throughout, Violence against a trans person, Smoking, Explicit language
Luca Kerr is a Trans Scottish filmmaker.
Directors Statement: This film is dedicated to my wife who made me feel truly loved and accepted whilst I was growing into my identity as a trans person.
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Synopsis: Young Transgender man 'Cowboy' is run out of his small home town and turns to Glasgow in search of a new beginning. But he is unable to shake the shadows of his past.
Alba Melis
France
Grigrette's Recipe // 2:37
CONTAINS: Death of an animal
Alba just graduated from the DNMADE program in Cournon d'Auvergne, France (Bachelor's degree in animation), I decided to take a sabbatical year before starting a master's degree. In my career, I want to prioritize the visibility of LGBTQIA+ community members by dedicating my films and my voice to this cause.
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Synopsis: A young witch falls in love and decides to create her own love potion. After a long process, she manages to offer the flowers sprinkled with the potion to her future beloved. However, a surprise awaits her…
Raine Gado
Philippines
Time Before Kevin // 9:18
CONTAINS: Parental verbal abuse
Raine Gado’s artistic inclination leaned toward the visual and playful aspects of the craft, which naturally led him to specialize as a production designer. He is known for his work in Jaime Morados' "Ang Pagliligtas sa Dalagang Bukid" in Qcinema International Film Festival, as well as his contributions to various OPM music videos and short films in both design and assisting roles. Now immersing into the world of directing, his storytelling approach delves into profound themes of self-discovery and LGBTQ+ perspectives, often interwoven with captivating supernatural elements.
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Synopsis: Haunted by the crippling scars of his past with his father, Kevin races against time as he builds a mind-bending time machine, desperately seeking to rescue his vulnerable younger self before it's too late.
Agustina Arrative Hauresz, Malena Miniscalco
Argentina
Lxs Fantasmas De Mi Placard, "The Ghosts in my Wardrobe" // 19:49
CONTAINS: Smoking
Agustina y Malena son Licenciadas en Artes Audiovisuales UNLP. Han colaborado juntas desde 2014, previo encuentro con el mundo académico. Desde su adolescencia, enmarcada por el viento patagónico, se han interesado por las artes plásticas, gráficas y textiles. A través de distintos proyectos (fotográficos, videoclips, eventos culturales,etc) donde han aportado principalmente desde la dirección de arte, perfilaron una búsqueda estética que prioriza el detalle para enfocarse en las relaciones humanas y las historias sensibles.
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English Translation: Agustina and Malena have degrees in Audiovisual Arts UNLP. After meeting in the academic world, they have collaborated together since 2014. Their adolescence is framed by the Patagonian wind. They find inspiration in the plastic, graphic and textile arts. They search to express their nuanced aesthetic by bringing into focus human connection and gentle stories through different mediums such as photo, video clips, and culture events.
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Synopsis: It's Friday 13th in Ezpeleta, Buenos Aires suburbs. Fer, Pepo, Juja and Robi, overwhelmed by their everyday worries and their adolescent caos, gather for their rehearsal with their incipient and dysfunctional punk band.
Pree Rehal
Canada
Hair to Stay // 1:00
CONTAINS: Queer Joy
Pree (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Tkaronto by way of Tiohtiake, with Panjabi ancestry. Their art style is inspired by community care, cultural heritage and storybook illustrations. Pree's creative alias is @stickymangos. Their art has been featured in Luminato Arts Festival, Design TO festival and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Their shop has been featured in CBC, Xtra magazine, and BlogTo. Pree is the creator of CRIP COLLAB and DigiZine, both of which create paid opportunities for artists who belong to, Disabled, racialized and 2SLGBTQ+ communities.
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Synopsis: A heartwarming, clay stop motion short about the experience of a young, trans, brown kid getting bullied by their crush.
INTERMISSION // 15:00
Kinga Anna Garncarz
Poland
Keep your hair on! // 1:14
CONTAINS: Queer Joy
Synopsis: Locked in the tower, the princess ditches her previous life.
Sarah Lim
CA, USA
Moonflower // 4:51
CONTAINS: Queer Joy
Synopsis: Despite their opposing worlds, the Sun and Moon attempt to bridge the gap between them.
Cléo Miquel-Delhon
France
Paillettes // 13:48
CONTAINS: Homophobia, Transphobia, Bullying
Synopsis: Sacha, Cam and Alo live in a small village in the south of France. On a sunny day like any others, they decide to go downtown to see a drag show. But glitters in the countryside is not that easy : it gets messy in the bus and it makes the boys snicker.
Max Benner
NY, USA
I built a paper house // 4:38
CONTAINS: Queer Joy
Max Benner is an aspiring filmmaker born and raised in the Philadelphia suburb. Currently, his debut experimental mixed-media short 'I Built a Paper House' has won Best Actor (SEPA Filmmakers Showcase), Best Experimental Short (YellowHammer Film Fest) and Fan Favorite (YellowHammer Film Fest) in addition to being a Best Picture and Best Cinematography (SEPA Filmmakers Showcase) nominee. In fall of 2024, Max strives to give his joyous perspective of being an artistically driven trans man through the medium of film at Emerson in Boston.
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Synopsis: Eli, a junior struggling with balancing school and his dream to be an artist, consistently abandons his schooling. This all comes to an end when Eli finds his school work has constructed a magical paper house.
Lake Terre McLeod
CA, USA
Bright As a Feather // 8:09
CONTAINS: Parental Verbal Abuse, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Needles, Religious Hatred
Lake Terre is an Actor, Director, and Content Creator from Chino Hills, California. Since his first time performing onstage in preschool, Lake has continued to pursue the Arts. He has studied at Upland’s Seventh Street Community Theatre and Ovation School for the Performing Arts, and has worked on and in multiple theatre productions, social media content, and film projects. Lake holds a bachelor's degree in Film from Cal Poly Humboldt and is currently producing original content on his YouTube channel "Filmmxker" while working on other productions..
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Synopsis: Coast, a 17-year-old teen, and his mother, Nia, have always been close. That was until Coast came out at age 14 as his mother's son, not her daughter. Since then, Coast and Nia's relationship has been strained. Feeling trapped in suffocating suburbia, Coast finds acceptance from unexpected sources when he can't find it at home.
Samara Huckvale
NY, USA
Ocean's 24/7 // 3:33
CONTAINS: Drug references, R rated language
Ocean’s 24/7 spoofs at the intersection of stoner comedies, heist films and the French new wave. My roommate and I (both of us starring in the short) were yelled at by a grocery store employee for smelling like weed. Embarrassed and upset, we walked home and concocted a (fictional) plan to avenge ourselves through a heist. With my writing rooted in reality, the French new wave seemed like the perfect movement to situate my spoof in and the perfect avenue to rebel against the employee, considering its existence as a protest. The use of handheld cameras and influence of cinema vérité not only pays homage to the tradition, but also invites the audience to join the conversation. I went against the conventions of comedy filmmaking by ridding the film of any wide shots to ensure that the audience is pulled into their antics— forcing them to become an accomplice and forming a sort of friendship between my characters and the viewer, or camera.
This short is part of a longer feature, where the two do the heist, but commit more crimes than they mean to, accidentally starting a communist revolution. I hope we can convince you to revolt with us.
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Synopsis: A stoner's revenge. Two twenty-something amateurs decide to run a heist with 24 people in 7 days on a local grocery store chain, Ocean's, after a store employee publicly embarrasses them for smelling like weed. Ocean’s 24/7 spoofs at the intersection of stoner comedies, heist films and the French New Wave.
