Director/Writer: Ed Porter
Producers: 30thr33 Productions
Country: United States
Genre: Documentary
Overview: “The Food That Fuels” is a compelling short film that spotlights the San Joaquin Valley’s vital contribution to global food production. Through the voices of diverse local farmers, the film paints a vivid picture of the region's rich agricultural heritage and underscores UC Merced's deep-rooted connection to it. It calls for a forward-thinking commitment to preserving and nurturing the Valley’s legacy for future generations.
Director Statement: The Food That Fuels reflects my commitment to spotlighting a region that supplies an incredible portion of the food enjoyed by millions each day, while also emphasizing the essential connections between local farming, sustainability, and shared meals. This film was inspired by my experience visiting UC Merced and nearby farms, where I observed the dedication and ingenuity of chefs, farmers, and ultimately educators. Through this film, I seek to illuminate the importance of this region and how the ingredients we often overlook are cultivated with meticulous care and passion, enhancing not only our diets but our sense of community. It is a tribute to those who pour heart and skill into every planting and harvest. My hope is that viewers come away motivated to value and support local food systems, understanding that what nourishes our bodies also strengthens our bonds with each other.
Director: Laura Cayouette
Writer: Laura Cayouette
Producers: Laura Cayouette, Max Fisk
Country: United States
Genre: Documentary
Overview: The World Tourism Organization defines overtourism as: “The impact of tourism on a destination, or parts thereof, that excessively influences perceived quality of life of citizens and/or quality of visitor experiences in a negative way.” In New Orleans, this can be translated to an imbalance of residents and visitors that threatens historic architecture, strains infrastructure, exacerbates income inequality, and tears at the local culture and way of life – all of which ultimately affect the visitors’ enjoyment of the destination. Venice, Italy is perhaps the most recognizable example — yet the ratio of visitors to residents is five times higher in the French Quarter.
Director Statement: We hope to reach the people of our city and state, and we’d also like to connect with other sites suffering overtourism, – from Salem, MA to the Galapagos. Ultimately, I’d like to create a global coalition of information sharing so people can relay what’s helping to restore balance.
Director: Piero Cannata
Writer: Piero Cannata
Producer: Piero Cannata
Country: Italy
Type: Short
Overview: A villa on the hills, murky desires, the past that doesn't die. The visit begins.
Director/Writer/Producer: Ahmet Serhat Ak
Country: Turkey
Genre: Drama
Overview: In the trials held after the 1980 coup, the death penalty was given and the pencil was broken, a ritual that is unique to the Turkish judiciary system in the world. The bailiff father collected the broken pencils and made a pencil for his child.
Director/Writer/Producer: Benjamin Lev Bogorad
Country: United States
Type: Documentary, Student
Overview: Fading Fires explores the lost world of West Cumbrian heavy industries and the men whose lives were shaped by North England's mines and steel factories. Former coal miner and steel fitter, David Powell, shares the camaraderie, sense of community, pride and struggles inherent in dangerous work as he revisits deserted mines and flattened factories. This documentary preserves his memories of a uniquely Cumbrian history and way of life before its memory fades away.
Director Statement: The documentary Fading Fires is unique in its treatment of a not-so-often discussed topic, the quickly fading heavy industry of England’s West Cumbria region, and has the potential to preserve its memory through the lens of a man whose lived experience was shaped by the community and industry for decades, and still is today. Although Mr. Powell’s story is at its heart entwined with the region’s history, I hope that people far and wide will be able identify with the themes of perseverance, camaraderie, soul searching, and place as a sense of self, which are evident in the memories he recounts.
Director: Ilya Noyabrev
Writer/Producer: Semen Khanin
Country: Ukraine
Type: Drama, Short
Overview: Eternal love or eternal life? This difficult choice is facing a brilliant actor. His life in the gray real world and the life of the world of fantasies are so closely intertwined that bright pictures of visions in his imagination layered on each other, mixing and breaking into small fragments fold again into the incredible patterns of a magic kaleidoscope ...
Director: Lauren Sims
Writer: Lauren Sims
Producers: Louise Dennett, Richard Sims
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Drama
Overview: A girl who recently lost her Grandfather discovers a hidden post office where you can send and receive letters to a loved one who has passed on, but, she receives the wrong letter.
Director Statement: This is my debut short film which I was lucky enough to make with the help of my family. This is for my Grandpa who we lost last year. This movie spawned from thinking about what I would write to him and what he would write back if we could, and I hope everyone will find some peace and hope through watching.
Director: Angelina Gilderman
Writers: Fabian Jude Martin, Myles McLeod
Producers: Fabian Jude Martin, Gulnara Nizamieva, Elena Solina
Country: United Arab Emirates
Project Type: Animation, Short
Overview: This story is about the main characters Santé, Tropica and their friends Ravi, Max and Khalil who are using their synergy they make their world a better place. The main message is the importance of friendship, the value of communication, acknowledging each other’s strengths, as well as realizing the impact of your actions on the world around you.
Director Statement: I like to change genres and with that I change the visuals of my stories. From the non-narrative "ARTchaos", a bright and colorful graphic trick with abstract visuals, to the psychological story of a small grudge in "Depth". The characters in this film are conventional and the color palette is very restrained, which helps us to better understand the emotional conflict between the characters. From this work I came to the naive and touching story of lovers in the movie "On the Hills of Georgia", in which I combined 2 techniques: pastel and ink. In my debut movie "Choir" I went further and tried to convey through painting how people are able to address the height of human creativity and the most sincere feelings through music. This endless search for plots, characters, and colors led me to a new challenge: to try to create an cartoon series.
Director: Jasmeet Singh
Writers: Jasmeet Singh
Producers: Martyna Dydyk
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Drama
Director Statement: What is the meaning of life? This question plagues us all at one point in time or another. When put on a collision course towards death, the protagonist is compelled to ask this question as he tries to save his life. All this is packaged in a crime/thriller setting, heightening the stakes and also making the various opposing philosophies at loggerheads with each other.
Director John Jewers
Writer: John Jewers
Producer: Solomon Aitkinson-Padmore
Country: United Kingdom
Project Type: Student, Short
Overview: Hair-brained Ivor suspects that an actor in his theatre company has slept with his wife. He embarks on a ridiculous scheme to identify and punish the culprit, oblivious to the danger around him.
Director Statement: I am a young film-maker with a passion for process, and original creative ideas.
Writer/Director: Adrian Tsang
Producer: Ruiwen He
Country: United Kingdom
Project Type:Short, Student
Overview: Jade, a reserved young woman, embarks on a hiking trip with her boyfriend John and their friends, Lewis and Kirsten, to a remote hilltop campsite. During their ascent, Jade is the first to notice a haunting presence — a mysterious entity cloaked in a yellow raincoat, its face a void of impenetrable darkness. Her sense of unease is dismissed by her companions, who see her as timid and fragile compared to the rest of the group. After a seemingly uneventful night, Jade awakens to find her friends have vanished, leaving her alone in the wilderness. Trapped and disoriented, she begins to experience nightmarish visions and eerie illusions conjured by the sinister entity, preventing her from escaping. Unbeknownst to her, John and Kirsten are also lost in the forest, inexplicably unable to leave, as if an unseen force holds them captive. As Jade navigates her terror, she is forced to confront her inner fears and unravel the mystery behind the entity's power. In a final confrontation, Jade discovers the entity's weakness and uses her newfound strength to shatter the enchantment, freeing herself, and her friends from the entity's dark grip and returning them to reality.
Director Biography: Enchantment was the first short horror fiction I have written and directed for my grad film project, and It was my first time to be a writer, director and colourist in a fiction film production. Enchantment's original idea and concept were based on two famous mountain horror stories in Hong Kong and Taiwan and one of my creepiest mountain adventures in the UK.
Director/Writer: Astra Silver Burke
Producers: Astra Silver Burke, Paul Burke Jr
Country: United States
Genre: Experimental, Short, Student
Overview: An introspective meeting with puppet Pierrot motivates a sleeping girl...
Director Statement: Art should raise more questions than it answers, shouldn't it?
Director: Ilya Noyabrev
Writer/Producer: Semen Khanin
Country: Ukraine
Genre: Drama
Overview: A little boy, fascinated by the legend that the white keys on the old Steinway piano, which "lives" in his parents' house, are made of elephant tusks, dreams every night of meeting the gray giants one day and never being separated from them…This desire grows from day to day along with the lullaby that his mother sings to him, because there are words in it: "You are special!" The fate of the hero of the film turned out to be such that his life turned out to be full of hopes and disappointments… He is not old yet, but the meaning of life gradually fades into the distance and loneliness becomes a sad reality… The only "friend" who never cheated on him, an ancient instrument – the keeper of the white keys, and the memory of the "gray giants", still lives in his house… Who will Steinway get to when he is gone?
Director/Writer: Nabat Shir
Producers: Nabat Shir, Kelly Fulford
Country: United States
Genres: Drama, Romance
Overview: An elderly woman begins to see her past through the window of her family home. She must confront life's choices and missed opportunities before the window closes forever.
Director Statement: The inspiration for The Window came from the films of Ingmar Bergman, Andrei Tarkovsky, Orson Welles, David Lynch, and Federico Fellini—directors known for exploring the depths of the human psyche. While these legends of cinema were all men, my goal was to create a film with depth, poetic essence, and intellectual rigor, but through a uniquely female perspective. As a woman behind the camera, I wanted to offer a nuanced and genuine depiction of womanhood, addressing themes of abuse and betrayal.
Director: Jack Kinsella
Country: United Kingdom
Genres:Sport, Documentary
Overview: A young British racing driver faces an international challenge after overcoming struggles early in his life. Will he regain control of his future?
Director Statement: I wanted to give Jonathan a chance to tell his story in a raw and real way, which shows off both the harsh reality of the sport of racing, but also the intengrity of the driver.
Director/Writer: Mokhless Al-Hariri
Producers: Mokhless Al-Hariri, Maria Mdani
Country: United States
Genres: Documentary, Feature
Overview: Chanting of the Dunes is an 86 minutes award-winning film about Wahbi Al-Hariri-Rifai who was an accomplished international artist, architect, archeologist, and author. Chanting of the Dunes takes viewers on a dazzling journey through multiple countries and during momentous world changes that extend from the Levant in the 1920s to the U.S. and China in the 1990s. The film is beautifully illustrated through hundreds of meticulously restored black/white and color archival photographs and original footage. Chanting of the Dunes recounts Wahbi’s life through the mixed perspective of his wife, Widad Marachi, who married him at the age of 15. The fascinating storyline is full of unexpected turns and is accompanied by a superb soundtrack. According to festival managers, the film exceeds all expectations and represents a new artistic genre. Many have called it “extraordinary, moving, mesmerizing, full of messages...”
Director: Guy Grundy
Writer: Guy Grundy
Producers: Guy Grundy, Drew Dermott
Country: United States
Project Type: Feature
Overview: From the land down under to the streets of Los Angeles, Grundy is a wild beer-drinking, weed-smoking Australian Hitman who doesn't want to grow up. The death of his Boss forces him to take charge and be the leader he was meant to be.
Director Statement: I had a rough childhood, but I always found peace when I watched Movies & TV shows. It was my chance to escape the reality of my shitty life. In many ways I was brought up on American Movies & TV. I knew what I wanted to be & do after watching "Rocky" at the drive-in. From that one movie I learnt so much about life, the ups the downs & how hard work discipline can overcome anything. I now look to motivate others through my films & make people laugh as life is to be enjoyed.
Director: Antonio Rodríguez Cabal
Writer: Antonio Rodríguez Cabal
Producers: Antonio Rodríguez Cabal, María Rodríguez Palao
Country: Spain
Project Type: Feature
Overview: Step back in time to the vibrant 1970s, where two young Spanish adventurers, Javier and Rafa, venture into the Sahara Desert, driven by a hunger for thrilling escapades and the yearning for an unforgettable journey. Amidst the vast expanse of sand, they discover the allure of friendship, the allure of risk... and the alluring Florence, a captivating French muse whose presence awakens a whirlwind of emotions. Together, they brave the perils of the notorious "Desert Pirates," immerse themselves in the ethereal wonders of the Tuareg culture, and endure the relentless grip of the shifting sands. But it is Javier alone who unearths the extraordinary secret guarded by "Tin-Hinan," the enigmatic Tuareg princess with a spirit as vast as the desert itself.
Director/Writer/Producer: Stephen Shelton
Country: United Kingdom
Project Type: Animation, Experimental, Long Short
Overview: An original short animated film, set in rural England, about a young woman who learns her evening train journey is being diverted to a place she hasn't heard of before. She drifts asleep once on the train, only to wake up and find herself in an altogether different world. Her train takes her to a station in a surreal hi-tech future world, inhabited by the 'artificials', but after her own train disappears, she is soon directed to her train replacement service, a strange steampunk style sky-train. This takes her outside of the glossy and sanitised city walls, to see a very different side of life, where the 'intelligents' have gone into hiding in a run-down bohemian world. These hooded sirens then expose her mind to two very different possible future scenarios.
Director Statement: I'm sure every artistic director will claim the same but I always try and do something very 'different' in artistic style and presentation. I'm never trying to follow the curve in trends but trying to have some level of uniqueness. I feel especially so with animation, the medium I stick with, as I feel it should be used to take an audience to places it would be impossible or very difficult to achieve with normal filming and actors (unless maybe with some giant major production special effects budget). Even then I hope my plots are still very unique.
Director/Writer/Producer: Mitchell Burrows
Key Cast "Aaron": Chris Mills
Country: United Kingdom
Project Type: Feature
Overview: A young man is brought to his knees as he navigates a dangerous lifestyle and confronts his traumas.
Director Statement: 'The Other Side' is my first film as a solo Writer/Director, which was shot in March 2023 and funded through an Indiegogo Fundraiser. I always knew I wanted to wait until I had an idea which really connected with me to make my Directorial Debut, and 'The Other Side' proved to be just that. The narrative evolved over approximately 2 years until eventually the version of the story which is present in the film presented itself to me in mid-2022, so I got to writing the screenplay immediately. Having waited for a story which I felt could really make for an intriguing viewing experience, the themes within the narrative of the male ego, how it impacts the person and those around them, how it alters their world-view in ambiguous circumstances, all felt like ideas which could elevate this project to something that could hopefully connect with its audience long-term. I chose to view each character as a different pathway to explore these concepts in the most entertaining, emotional and thematically interesting ways possible, and worked closely with each actor on the lead-up to the shoot to ensure we could bring these ideas to life in a way we both agreed would do them justice. The film was written with the low budget in mind, and was shot over an intense 3-day shoot ,which thanks to my incredibly talented & dedicated Cast & Crew ran extremely smoothly despite the tight schedule. Now I am proud to present a film I hope can connect with audiences the same way it has connected with me. Excuse the cliché, but it truly is a labour of love from all involved, and everybody who worked on the film is equally as excited as I am to be able to finally share it with the world!
Director/Writer/Producer: Ayman Mokhtar
Country: United Kingdom
Project Type: Animation, Experimental, Short
Overview: In the heart of a bustling city, a street musician struggles for recognition. A car accident leaves him wounded, his blood staining a tattered bag. Curious eyes deem it art, and he capitalises on this macabre allure, bleeding himself to create more bags for profit. Yet, when passion intertwines with emptiness during a loveless encounter, he seeks solace in his music… alone.
Director Statement: At its core, In Your Dreams explores themes of isolation, the search for identity, and the transformative power of art. It is a reflection on how personal pain can be channelled into creative expression, and how this process can lead to both recognition and deeper introspection. The film also touches on the complexities of love and relationships, drawing from my own experiences of a failed marriage and the subsequent journey towards self-discovery. Creating In Your Dreams has been a cathartic and transformative experience for me. It is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of art to heal and inspire. I am incredibly proud of the work my team and I have done, and I am excited to share this story with audiences around the world.
Director/Writer: Aidan Sherlock
Key Cast "Will": Phillip Bayntun
Country: United Kingdom
Project Type: Student, Drama, Short
Overview: In a meeting about their game's future Zach and Will's friendship comes to a head.
Director Statement: This film draws from a lot of my own personal experiences not just in computer science but also experiences at film school. This is very much a film about the creative process and it's reaction to commercialisation. The two main characters represent two sides of myself, sides that I feel each creative deal with to some extent so to be able to put those onto the screen was very fulfilling.
Director/Writer: Fábio Powers
Producers: Fábio Powers, Cristiano Guerreiro
Country: Portugal
Project Type: Feature
Overview: In a haunted forest of a forgotten Portuguese village, an evil force emerges. Unafraid of God or Man, it roams the valleys, claiming the souls of those lost in temporary pleasures. The only thing standing between this evil and humanity’s doom is a retired construction worker, a bottle of wine, a 50cc Zündapp motorcycle, and a sword possessed by a mysterious demon.
Director Statement: António da Luz discovers that when he’s drunk, he gains the unsettling ability to see people’s souls. As he grapples with this strange power, he becomes aware of a dark curse that haunts his village. Joined by a mystical, talking sword, António embarks on a series of surreal adventures to uncover the truth behind the curse. At its heart, this is the story of António—a man struggling with alcoholism, alienated by his community, and wrestling with his inner demons. Though the film may present itself as a fantasy-comedy, it explores profound themes of loss, isolation, and the personal fight for redemption.
Director/Writer: Lucien Christian Adderley, Richard "Byrd" Wilson
Producers: Moon Lee Ferguson, Kiara Diana, Tanisha Cidel, LaToya Tonodeo, Arlen Escarpeta, Analisa Velez
Key Cast "Shay": Analisa Velez
Country: United States
Project Type: Horror, Thriller, Zombie, Romance
Overview: Tia and Akil are good people loved by their friends and family. However, no one believes they should wed because they love hard. They've had a dysfunctional, up-and-down relationship since college. They're crazy about each other, and their friends have seen the chaos that can bring when things aren’t going well. Their love is either SPARKS flying or things BURNING, no in-between. On their big day, we quickly learn that their wedding guests have doubts about their marital future. Despite the looming uncertainty among family and friends, the couple proudly pledges their LIVES to each other. As the devoted couple exchanges vows, things get wild when a catering staff member barges into the kitchen with sick but strange symptoms. After the ceremony, the NEWLYWEDS prepare to make their grand entrance in the ballroom as husband and wife, but instead of applauding guests, they are faced with grueling ZOMBIES.
Director Statement: Growing up in South Florida, we’ve realized that many people who aren’t from here see it as a very unreal place. There are countless news articles about the wildest things happening throughout the state, and now Florida has become synonymous with otherworldly events. Even as natives, we’ve learned we aren’t immune to the thought process that anything feels like it can happen here. Lucien once attended a wedding in Miami for a friend and found himself conjuring up the strangest 'What If' scenario. What if everyone turned into Zombies at the wedding reception?... and after the initial images of Zombies doing the cha-cha and electric slides, the thought grew into something more profound, dark, and symbolic. We began to think about what would happen to the Bride and Groom, especially after hearing the pastor say that everyone and everything outside their union was no longer a priority. Could they kill their family and friends in order to secure their future together? And even if they did, could they survive what the world had coming for them next? Can love really conquer all… even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse… in FLORIDA!? That’s when we knew we had to write ‘The Newlyweds'. The film explores the themes of love and sacrifice while serving as the action-packed origin story of a husband and wife fighting for each other in ways they never expected. It also presents a rare opportunity to see a Black couple as heroes in the genre film space, as fans of films that blend genres seamlessly we wanted to challenge ourselves as writer-directors to bring the next one to the screen.
Director/Writer: Eileen Byrne
Producer: Hélène Walland, Govinda Van Maele
Country: Luxembourg
Project Type: Comedy, Short
Overview: When a right-wing party wins the elections in Luxembourg, the lives of three single mothers are fundamentally changed. After all social benefits are cancelled and one of them even loses her flat, the three see no other way out than to rob a bank. And where better to rehearse a heist than at the adventure playground around the corner?
Writer: Luke Hunter
Country: United Kingdom
Project Type: Screenplay
Overview: A mute photographer infiltrates a London gang to take revenge after his girlfriend is disfigured in an acid attack.
Writer Statement: Acid is created after the culture shock I felt moving to London and the fear I hate and the prejudice I saw.
Writer: Steve Brown
Country: United States
Project Type: Television Script
Overview: In a futuristic, war-torn world on the brink of collapse, a woman’s mind-bending scientific research holds the key to humanity’s salvation. But an ancient and powerful order violently opposes her at every turn.
Writer: Helen Rana
Country: United Kingdom
Project Type: Short Script
Overview: A Frenchman staying overnight with a local friend in a Zambian village comes face to face with the truth about witchcraft.