The Streetlight
Sophia Parella (United States, 6:48)
A man gains a deeper understanding of purpose after helping a talking streetlight through its existential crisis.
Sophia Parella is a writer/director inspired by quiet, dark spaces, where the eyes strain to see. Where an intent stare in the dark finds indistinct outlines grow fuzzy and begin to shift. Her stories focus on inanimate objects, houses, and places alive with emotional energy from the past.
Sophia Parella (United States, 6:48)
A man gains a deeper understanding of purpose after helping a talking streetlight through its existential crisis.
Sophia Parella is a writer/director inspired by quiet, dark spaces, where the eyes strain to see. Where an intent stare in the dark finds indistinct outlines grow fuzzy and begin to shift. Her stories focus on inanimate objects, houses, and places alive with emotional energy from the past.
I'm sorry I'm late
Sharon Mooney (US, 7:22)
Psychological deteriorations caused by invisible labor and stress intensify. What's left as our internal and external struggle to find solid ground? Moments taken from the The Avengers that hint at disruption, mental dissolution, and violence slowly disintegrate to be replaced with another - another thought/another memory/another question. An ethereal soundscape with re-edited sound clips from Honey West gives voice to the tension of navigating the unnamed character's internal and external self.
Sharon A. Mooney is a filmmaker who works in experimental, narrative and documentary portraiture, all focused on investigating desire and the human condition. Her short videos and installations have screened internationally in festivals, micro-cinemas, and other spaces. She is a professor at a film school where she teaches filmmaking, post production, and punk rock cinema.
Sharon Mooney (US, 7:22)
Psychological deteriorations caused by invisible labor and stress intensify. What's left as our internal and external struggle to find solid ground? Moments taken from the The Avengers that hint at disruption, mental dissolution, and violence slowly disintegrate to be replaced with another - another thought/another memory/another question. An ethereal soundscape with re-edited sound clips from Honey West gives voice to the tension of navigating the unnamed character's internal and external self.
Sharon A. Mooney is a filmmaker who works in experimental, narrative and documentary portraiture, all focused on investigating desire and the human condition. Her short videos and installations have screened internationally in festivals, micro-cinemas, and other spaces. She is a professor at a film school where she teaches filmmaking, post production, and punk rock cinema.
Tehran Is Ours...
Hamideh Azimi (US, 6:06)
A girl joins protests on the city streets. Like everyone else, she wears a mask to keep her face unrecognizable. She and many others meet police resistance; she is trapped in an empty alleyway. It is there that she is shot. But she cannot be silenced in this political drama.
Hamideh Azimi is a multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker born in Isfahan, Iran. With a background in computer science, Hamideh has always harbored a deep passion for the arts. After graduating in undergrad, she pursued her interest in figure drawing and character design, which eventually led her to the world of animation.
Hamideh Azimi (US, 6:06)
A girl joins protests on the city streets. Like everyone else, she wears a mask to keep her face unrecognizable. She and many others meet police resistance; she is trapped in an empty alleyway. It is there that she is shot. But she cannot be silenced in this political drama.
Hamideh Azimi is a multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker born in Isfahan, Iran. With a background in computer science, Hamideh has always harbored a deep passion for the arts. After graduating in undergrad, she pursued her interest in figure drawing and character design, which eventually led her to the world of animation.
The Looking Game
Ann Upton (Ireland, 7:02)
The Looking Game is an experimental animated short made in paper cutouts. It depicts a faux-instructional game-play environment inspired by eye-tracking. Divided by the screen, the fictitious audience follows the orders of the narrator. We can't be sure if the bond they form is reciprocal, or if the audience was ever there to begin with.
'A Two Way Mirror with the Lights Switched Off;' an attempt at connection doomed to fail.
Ann Upton is a moving-image artist from Waterford, Ireland. Her work exists at the intersection of the minimal and surreal, exploring and interrogating the formal structures and conventions of filmmaking. Ann graduated from IADT (Dublin) in 2019 with a 1st Class BA in Animation. There she received the Windmill Lane Animation Award. She graduated from the Royal College of Art (London) in 2023 with a MA in Animation, where she completed her graduate project ‘The Looking Game.’ Her work has screened at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, the Galway Film Fleadh, Animasyros, IndieCork, Bury Art Museum, HYPHA Studios, among others. Ann works as an associate lecturer on the Animation BA Program at IADT (Dublin).
Ann Upton (Ireland, 7:02)
The Looking Game is an experimental animated short made in paper cutouts. It depicts a faux-instructional game-play environment inspired by eye-tracking. Divided by the screen, the fictitious audience follows the orders of the narrator. We can't be sure if the bond they form is reciprocal, or if the audience was ever there to begin with.
'A Two Way Mirror with the Lights Switched Off;' an attempt at connection doomed to fail.
Ann Upton is a moving-image artist from Waterford, Ireland. Her work exists at the intersection of the minimal and surreal, exploring and interrogating the formal structures and conventions of filmmaking. Ann graduated from IADT (Dublin) in 2019 with a 1st Class BA in Animation. There she received the Windmill Lane Animation Award. She graduated from the Royal College of Art (London) in 2023 with a MA in Animation, where she completed her graduate project ‘The Looking Game.’ Her work has screened at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, the Galway Film Fleadh, Animasyros, IndieCork, Bury Art Museum, HYPHA Studios, among others. Ann works as an associate lecturer on the Animation BA Program at IADT (Dublin).
The Real American Dream
Rita Damiron, Isabella Breton (US, 1:29)
While many leave their homeland to pursue the American dream, this artistic short film takes us through a brief conversation between two sisters separated by the Atlantic where one shares her personal American Dream.
Rita Damirón is a creative director, producer, and talent with extensive experience in TV/Film, content creation, and as a multicultural strategist. Her passion for travel, arts, and storytelling brought her from the indie world to business news as a founding team member of Cheddar, where she worked as a field producer.
Isabella Bretón is a director, screenwriter, and editor. She holds a degree in Social Communications, with a concentration in Audiovisual Production. She has attended intensive workshops in film directing at London Met Film School, New York Film Academy, as well as studying directing actor techniques with Adrienne Weiss.
Rita Damiron, Isabella Breton (US, 1:29)
While many leave their homeland to pursue the American dream, this artistic short film takes us through a brief conversation between two sisters separated by the Atlantic where one shares her personal American Dream.
Rita Damirón is a creative director, producer, and talent with extensive experience in TV/Film, content creation, and as a multicultural strategist. Her passion for travel, arts, and storytelling brought her from the indie world to business news as a founding team member of Cheddar, where she worked as a field producer.
Isabella Bretón is a director, screenwriter, and editor. She holds a degree in Social Communications, with a concentration in Audiovisual Production. She has attended intensive workshops in film directing at London Met Film School, New York Film Academy, as well as studying directing actor techniques with Adrienne Weiss.
Happy Birthday to us!
Tamara Tasic (Serbia, 19:06)
The story of two inseparable friends born on the same day of the same year. As they grow up, their unique, idyllic world—understood only by them—begins to crumble when one of them finds a boyfriend.
Tamara Tasić (Belgrade, Serbia, 1996). She studied Digital Arts at Faculty for Media and Communication at Singidunum University in Belgrade. Her field of work doesn’t only include filmmaking, but also animation, collage, and art direction. Throughout her multidisciplinary practice, she developed her recognizable visual style with vibrant colors and playful rhythm which she uses in her personal stories with whimsical characters. In June 2023, Tamara was selected to participate in Director Summit at Sarajevo Talents (Sarajevo Film Festival). She made 3 student films, two short fiction “The girl who loves yellow” and "Happy birthday to us!" and one short documentary/animation “It’s all your fault!” which won the Audience Award for The Best Film at Dok'n'Ritam international film festival for music documentaries, 2021. She currently lives in Belgrade, Serbia and is working on starting her own "Brusnica creative studio".
Tamara Tasic (Serbia, 19:06)
The story of two inseparable friends born on the same day of the same year. As they grow up, their unique, idyllic world—understood only by them—begins to crumble when one of them finds a boyfriend.
Tamara Tasić (Belgrade, Serbia, 1996). She studied Digital Arts at Faculty for Media and Communication at Singidunum University in Belgrade. Her field of work doesn’t only include filmmaking, but also animation, collage, and art direction. Throughout her multidisciplinary practice, she developed her recognizable visual style with vibrant colors and playful rhythm which she uses in her personal stories with whimsical characters. In June 2023, Tamara was selected to participate in Director Summit at Sarajevo Talents (Sarajevo Film Festival). She made 3 student films, two short fiction “The girl who loves yellow” and "Happy birthday to us!" and one short documentary/animation “It’s all your fault!” which won the Audience Award for The Best Film at Dok'n'Ritam international film festival for music documentaries, 2021. She currently lives in Belgrade, Serbia and is working on starting her own "Brusnica creative studio".
Gab
Hogan Seidel (US, 3:14)
This piece continues my exploration of nature alongside significant queer individuals in my life. Filmed across various forests, arboretums, and gardens in Seattle and Vancouver with artist and friend Gabby Follett, this film employs intricate visual layering, hand-processed film, and biofeedback sound to delve into themes of queer ecology. The work celebrates the beauty of non-hierarchical, non-binary, and non-human-centric ways of experiencing queerness in and as part of nature.
Hogan Seidel (they/them) is a Boston-based artist working in the traditions of experimental film, photochemical abstraction, and collage. Their current artistic research, framed through poetic, political, and personal lenses, delves into contemporary queer discourse, queer history, and queer ecology. Hogan teaches experimental analog filmmaking courses at Emerson College.
Hogan Seidel (US, 3:14)
This piece continues my exploration of nature alongside significant queer individuals in my life. Filmed across various forests, arboretums, and gardens in Seattle and Vancouver with artist and friend Gabby Follett, this film employs intricate visual layering, hand-processed film, and biofeedback sound to delve into themes of queer ecology. The work celebrates the beauty of non-hierarchical, non-binary, and non-human-centric ways of experiencing queerness in and as part of nature.
Hogan Seidel (they/them) is a Boston-based artist working in the traditions of experimental film, photochemical abstraction, and collage. Their current artistic research, framed through poetic, political, and personal lenses, delves into contemporary queer discourse, queer history, and queer ecology. Hogan teaches experimental analog filmmaking courses at Emerson College.
Eternal Depth
Onyou Oh (Republic of Korea, 7:40)
A time of looking at the sea, accompanied by poetry imbued with death and eternity.
Born in South Korea and raised in the Philippines, Onyou Oh is a filmmaker whose works vary from abstract, experimental pieces to poetic, narrative films. She received her MFA in Film/Video from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), and her films have been invited to and screened at various film festivals and exhibit venues, including Ann Arbor Film Festival, Jeonju International Film Festival, EXiS: Experimental Film and Video Festival in Seoul and Los Angeles Filmforum. She currently creates eclectic visual imagery from her studio, Luminous Flux.
Onyou Oh (Republic of Korea, 7:40)
A time of looking at the sea, accompanied by poetry imbued with death and eternity.
Born in South Korea and raised in the Philippines, Onyou Oh is a filmmaker whose works vary from abstract, experimental pieces to poetic, narrative films. She received her MFA in Film/Video from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), and her films have been invited to and screened at various film festivals and exhibit venues, including Ann Arbor Film Festival, Jeonju International Film Festival, EXiS: Experimental Film and Video Festival in Seoul and Los Angeles Filmforum. She currently creates eclectic visual imagery from her studio, Luminous Flux.
Object(s) of Desire
Liberty Antonia Sadler (UK, 4:05)
“The worship of fat pleasures…
You are the embodiment of lust & gluttony combined”
An intimate colour-drenched celebration of queer fat sensuality, ‘Object(s) of Desire’ is a three performer portrait & poem film featuring Smashlyn Monroe, Jade Williams & the film’s director Liberty Antonia Sadler.
Playfully decadent & emotionally candid, ‘Object(s) of Desire’ invites you to join a Bacchian revelry of XXL homoerotica; with each performer embracing their body & sexuality on their own terms, with pride, liberation & mutual devotion. The film’s text explores the complex journey to self-affirmation & acceptance in relation to size & sexuality, reclaiming the fetishization often placed on fat bodies from an external societal gaze.
‘Object(s) of Desire’ aims to be a moment of softness & kinship for fat queers, an invitation to enjoy our sexy selves, and see each other as works of art to be embraced. This short film is a slow & sweet invocation that combines queer joy, fat pleasures & friendship; all while provocatively questioning a fatphobic culture: “do you object?...or indulge?”
Liberty Antonia Sadler is an artist & filmmaker, based in London, working with mediums of drawing, text and moving image to explore issues of body politics, with a focus on the experience of living in a large queer body. Working within a personal-political context, she uses characters, radical softness & raw playfulness to discuss themes of size, food, feminism, queerness & sexuality. Their research explores the power of subjectivity & vulnerability within art practice and representation of fat bodies in arts & media.
Liberty Antonia Sadler (UK, 4:05)
“The worship of fat pleasures…
You are the embodiment of lust & gluttony combined”
An intimate colour-drenched celebration of queer fat sensuality, ‘Object(s) of Desire’ is a three performer portrait & poem film featuring Smashlyn Monroe, Jade Williams & the film’s director Liberty Antonia Sadler.
Playfully decadent & emotionally candid, ‘Object(s) of Desire’ invites you to join a Bacchian revelry of XXL homoerotica; with each performer embracing their body & sexuality on their own terms, with pride, liberation & mutual devotion. The film’s text explores the complex journey to self-affirmation & acceptance in relation to size & sexuality, reclaiming the fetishization often placed on fat bodies from an external societal gaze.
‘Object(s) of Desire’ aims to be a moment of softness & kinship for fat queers, an invitation to enjoy our sexy selves, and see each other as works of art to be embraced. This short film is a slow & sweet invocation that combines queer joy, fat pleasures & friendship; all while provocatively questioning a fatphobic culture: “do you object?...or indulge?”
Liberty Antonia Sadler is an artist & filmmaker, based in London, working with mediums of drawing, text and moving image to explore issues of body politics, with a focus on the experience of living in a large queer body. Working within a personal-political context, she uses characters, radical softness & raw playfulness to discuss themes of size, food, feminism, queerness & sexuality. Their research explores the power of subjectivity & vulnerability within art practice and representation of fat bodies in arts & media.
Reversal
Diane Nerwen (US, 6:34)
REVERSAL combines images and sounds from movies released or broadcast in 1973, the year the Supreme Court decided Roe v Wade. In the strange new reality ushered in by the Dobbs decision, the slogan "We won't go back" is recalled with bitter irony. This collage piece evokes the spectre of regression and repression that has followed the Court's decision.
Diane Nerwen is a video artist and art educator. She has shown her work internationally, including screenings and exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, NY, the Guggenheim Museum, NY, the Tate Modern, London, carriage trade, NY and the Berlin Film Festival. She was awarded a DAAD Artist in Residence Fellowship in Berlin in 2001. Nerwen was born in Montreal and lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Diane Nerwen (US, 6:34)
REVERSAL combines images and sounds from movies released or broadcast in 1973, the year the Supreme Court decided Roe v Wade. In the strange new reality ushered in by the Dobbs decision, the slogan "We won't go back" is recalled with bitter irony. This collage piece evokes the spectre of regression and repression that has followed the Court's decision.
Diane Nerwen is a video artist and art educator. She has shown her work internationally, including screenings and exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, NY, the Guggenheim Museum, NY, the Tate Modern, London, carriage trade, NY and the Berlin Film Festival. She was awarded a DAAD Artist in Residence Fellowship in Berlin in 2001. Nerwen was born in Montreal and lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Don't Fall From Grace
Carley Byers (US, 10:52)
Set in 1954, Grace, a young woman possessed by a mysterious entity, is trapped in a sinister trance as her mother is desperate to release her.
Carley Byers is a Boston-based filmmaker specializing in producing and directing. She values collaborating with other artists and finds immense joy in leading different kinds of creative projects. Her background in dance and theater translates into her love of creating both physical and emotional movement with actors.
Carley Byers (US, 10:52)
Set in 1954, Grace, a young woman possessed by a mysterious entity, is trapped in a sinister trance as her mother is desperate to release her.
Carley Byers is a Boston-based filmmaker specializing in producing and directing. She values collaborating with other artists and finds immense joy in leading different kinds of creative projects. Her background in dance and theater translates into her love of creating both physical and emotional movement with actors.
Marrow of my Bones
Karly McCloskey (Canada, 2:11)
"Marrow of my Bones" is a short experimental film blending digital effects, frame-by-frame animation, and hand-processed 16mm film. It explores post-humanism through a tactile return to nature, with a score featuring electroacoustic sounds, analog synthesizers, and field recordings of insects, wind, and fire. These sounds are processed with hardware effects, mirroring the film's visual style. The film delves into themes of hybridity, embodiment, and otherness, portraying nature as a dynamic, queer entity. It's a love letter to queerness, exploring the filmmaker's connection with non-humans and challenging ingrained perceptions of identity.
Karly McCloskey is a Canadian artist who specializes in videography, editing and animation. Embodying both analogue and digital techniques, her works are hybrid monsters. Each artwork, film, and animation utilize touch and care. Karly focuses on collaboration with her materials, embracing the entanglements of each step of creation. She carries a BFA in Integrated Media and an MFA from OCAD University in the Interdisciplinary Master’s of Art, Media and Design program. Karly has taught classical art techniques as well as animation, videography and editing to adults and children of all ages. She collaborates with Canadian musicians as well as local filmmakers to create animations, music videos, short films and experimental works.
Karly McCloskey (Canada, 2:11)
"Marrow of my Bones" is a short experimental film blending digital effects, frame-by-frame animation, and hand-processed 16mm film. It explores post-humanism through a tactile return to nature, with a score featuring electroacoustic sounds, analog synthesizers, and field recordings of insects, wind, and fire. These sounds are processed with hardware effects, mirroring the film's visual style. The film delves into themes of hybridity, embodiment, and otherness, portraying nature as a dynamic, queer entity. It's a love letter to queerness, exploring the filmmaker's connection with non-humans and challenging ingrained perceptions of identity.
Karly McCloskey is a Canadian artist who specializes in videography, editing and animation. Embodying both analogue and digital techniques, her works are hybrid monsters. Each artwork, film, and animation utilize touch and care. Karly focuses on collaboration with her materials, embracing the entanglements of each step of creation. She carries a BFA in Integrated Media and an MFA from OCAD University in the Interdisciplinary Master’s of Art, Media and Design program. Karly has taught classical art techniques as well as animation, videography and editing to adults and children of all ages. She collaborates with Canadian musicians as well as local filmmakers to create animations, music videos, short films and experimental works.
Chora
Ao Wei (UK, 8:05)
I have created a world called "Chora", a world of pre-linguistic order, a maternal space where "Chora" is both a living being with changing emotions and an architectural body with its own order.
The world actually suggests the circulation and flow of energy within the female reproductive system，a raw female power.
Ao Wei (China,1999) ,Space designer, Animation director and Visual artist. Bachelor's Degree from China Academy of Art in 2020 and Distinction Master's Degree from London College of Art in 2023.
Ao Wei (UK, 8:05)
I have created a world called "Chora", a world of pre-linguistic order, a maternal space where "Chora" is both a living being with changing emotions and an architectural body with its own order.
The world actually suggests the circulation and flow of energy within the female reproductive system，a raw female power.
Ao Wei (China,1999) ,Space designer, Animation director and Visual artist. Bachelor's Degree from China Academy of Art in 2020 and Distinction Master's Degree from London College of Art in 2023.
Not A Body
Cassandra Paige (Canada, 3:49)
A Short Experimental film about living within the constraints of a body and it's impermanence.
Cassandra is a filmmaker and actor based in Edmonton, Alberta. Her work explores the cycles of life and its impermanence, the daily intimacies we have with each other, and the lifelong relationship we have with ourselves.
Cassandra Paige (Canada, 3:49)
A Short Experimental film about living within the constraints of a body and it's impermanence.
Cassandra is a filmmaker and actor based in Edmonton, Alberta. Her work explores the cycles of life and its impermanence, the daily intimacies we have with each other, and the lifelong relationship we have with ourselves.
Gina Kamentsky’s Pinocchio in 70mm
Gina Kamentsky (US, 3:12)
Pinocchio felt a longing deep within him. Someday, he would become a real girl and live a life beyond the confines of make-believe.
Gina Kamentsky is an experimental animator and sound artist based in Providence Rhode Island. Her anxious and joyful short films blast out at twenty-four frames per second searing eyeballs and sending waves of buzz and crackle into the ether. Over her three decade career she’s progressed through numerous forms including painting, drawing and collaging on film, Rotoscope, Musique concrète, sound collage, stop motion and Pixilation. Kamentsky’s films have screened at festivals nationally and worldwide including Ottawa International Animation Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Annecy International Animated Film Festival and Animator Festival in Poznań Poland.
Gina Kamentsky (US, 3:12)
Pinocchio felt a longing deep within him. Someday, he would become a real girl and live a life beyond the confines of make-believe.
Gina Kamentsky is an experimental animator and sound artist based in Providence Rhode Island. Her anxious and joyful short films blast out at twenty-four frames per second searing eyeballs and sending waves of buzz and crackle into the ether. Over her three decade career she’s progressed through numerous forms including painting, drawing and collaging on film, Rotoscope, Musique concrète, sound collage, stop motion and Pixilation. Kamentsky’s films have screened at festivals nationally and worldwide including Ottawa International Animation Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Annecy International Animated Film Festival and Animator Festival in Poznań Poland.
Cat Cow Meow
Lady Beaver (US, 2:39)
A cat and a cow find friendship and get sexy as they explore the city of Berlin and have a wonderful playtime adventure.
Lady Beaver is an artist, performer and educator in Los Angeles, CA. Her work explores humor and storytelling, as much of her work is narrative and consists of the dark comedy of her personal experiences. She often personifies animals as a vehicle to discuss various aspects of human behavior and expand viewers’ perspective. She writes music and stars in her own music videos, sometimes combining live action with animation. She is a cast member of the sketch video team Screwdale, where she also writes and edits many of the sketches.
Lady Beaver (US, 2:39)
A cat and a cow find friendship and get sexy as they explore the city of Berlin and have a wonderful playtime adventure.
Lady Beaver is an artist, performer and educator in Los Angeles, CA. Her work explores humor and storytelling, as much of her work is narrative and consists of the dark comedy of her personal experiences. She often personifies animals as a vehicle to discuss various aspects of human behavior and expand viewers’ perspective. She writes music and stars in her own music videos, sometimes combining live action with animation. She is a cast member of the sketch video team Screwdale, where she also writes and edits many of the sketches.
But Humble Sinners
Dir. Stephanie Halovanic
Runtime 11:22, United States
Two nuns scam a cowboy for a coffin.
Stephanie Halovanic (she/hers) is a queer director and writer based in New York City. Her debut film But Humble Sinners premiered at the Austin Film Festival, where it won the festival’s audience award. Stephanie’s latest short film, The Last Hurrah (starring Jess Gabor and Julia Rehwald), follows a friendship breakup over the course of one night in NYC (entering the festival circuit later this year.) This November, Stephanie will make her directorial theater debut at The New York Theatre Festival with an original work called “Eric and Denise,” a two person play about a relationship that explodes in a therapist’s waiting room. Stephanie has worked in advertising for the past 10 years, making award-winning work at agencies such as McCann New York, R/GA and Sagmeister & Walsh. She currently works as an in-house director at Pinterest, focussing on scripted and docu-style projects. In 2020, Stephanie started the organization Low Budget Women in Film, a space for female identifying artists to feel a sense of community and power as filmmakers.
Dir. Stephanie Halovanic
Runtime 11:22, United States
Two nuns scam a cowboy for a coffin.
Stephanie Halovanic (she/hers) is a queer director and writer based in New York City. Her debut film But Humble Sinners premiered at the Austin Film Festival, where it won the festival’s audience award. Stephanie’s latest short film, The Last Hurrah (starring Jess Gabor and Julia Rehwald), follows a friendship breakup over the course of one night in NYC (entering the festival circuit later this year.) This November, Stephanie will make her directorial theater debut at The New York Theatre Festival with an original work called “Eric and Denise,” a two person play about a relationship that explodes in a therapist’s waiting room. Stephanie has worked in advertising for the past 10 years, making award-winning work at agencies such as McCann New York, R/GA and Sagmeister & Walsh. She currently works as an in-house director at Pinterest, focussing on scripted and docu-style projects. In 2020, Stephanie started the organization Low Budget Women in Film, a space for female identifying artists to feel a sense of community and power as filmmakers.
