Maslenitsa

Spoiled seven-year-old Vanka lives a carefree childhood. Going with his father to the Maslenitsa holiday, Vanka meets a runaway deserter in the forest, about whom he tells the adults. This act instantly deprives Vanka of his childhood, and the father of his child. The event opens his eyes to the adult world in which the child will have to live on.

The Listener

Memory Replica

After hearing about a pagoda's mysterious disappearance, a group of filmmakers embarks on their journey to find an explanation.

Soft

A portrait of new found sobriety and love unravels as a young woman moves through the motions of melancholic life in seclusion.

Smash Cuts! Super Sci-Fi Shorts Fest

Host Scott Forrest presents a curated compilation of eight independent short films in this rapid-fire science-fiction feature. Genres collide, narratives twist, aesthetics clash, and even humor, both campy and dystopian, showcase the vast creative possibilities of each story's individual world, offering the viewer a brief glimpse into the lives of every character's attempt to survive the otherworldly chaos around them. Released in 2001, the selected shorts span original creation dates of 1997 to 2001; most of the featured filmmakers also appear as themselves in short video interviews to talk about their inspirations, creative process and motivations while working on their individual shorts.

it's raining wet puzzle pieces

Childhood memories continue to live inside me. Some of the most painful ones are the ones that echo the longest.

The Dog of Sarandi Alley

In this 57-second short film, a dog-like doll faces another doll. It begins with an innocent, playful tone, but quickly turns dark and unsettling. Bach’s classical music adds a heavy, melancholic mood to the scene. The Dog of Sarandi Alley is a strange and brief story about violence, loneliness, and the secrets hidden behind the simple faces of toys.

Billy Boy

A former football star turned real estate broker meets with rich, spoiled young Billy to close a deal on a mansion, and nothing goes according to plan.

Admissions of Desire

A man and a woman talk on the phone and express their feelings and desires for each other for the first time. We watch as they listen to the other's admissions.

HIM

An, at times, experimental film about the tainted nature of love set against the Alberta landscape.

Preface to a History

A couple, Vlad and Sophy, navigate their relationship as well as their own struggles with mental health in the context of a highly connected, politically uncertain modern world while on a trip to a remote Canadian island in this avant-garde feature film. PREFACE TO A HISTORY, created with a tiny crew of four people, represents an experiment in using minimalist tools to create an overwhelming aesthetic experience in service of a simple, but specifically contemporary, story about two people attempting to navigate a fraying relationship amid all the anxieties and external pressures of modern adulthood in a technologically-interconnected and politically unstable era.

Lost In Harmony

Jessica, a young carer, and her mum, who is deeply paranoid and who sees and hears unexplained things have a strong and loving relationship. But the misfit relationship they have brings many challenges they struggle to overcome. The mum's deterioration in her mental health causes her to be sectioned, leaving Jessica lost in her life.

Seven

A dreamy lo-fi pseudo-intellectual experimental short contemplating the role of the number 7 historically as a symbol across cultures filtered through the lens of 8th graders

Joe Dimaggio 1, 2, 3

The artist stalks and serenades Joe Dimaggio in her car as he strolls the docks unaware that she is videotaping his every step.

Es quizás

Fine

After a period of time where her hearing begins to overtake her sight, Casandra searches for the cause of her problem, isolating herself from society. She starts having visions that remind her of the past and promise an apocalyptic future.

Cheers,

A bartender takes on the physical form of her imagined alter egos.

FITTING ROOM

ONE DAY, TEN PEOPLE - HOW DO THEY ALL CONNECT? OUR CHARACTERS INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER IN THE BUILD UP TO A GIG THEY ALL ATTEND, THROUGH VHS FLASHBACKS WE UNVEIL WHAT HAS HAPPENED BETWEEN THEM. FITTING ROOM IS AN EXPERIMENTAL SHORT THAT PLAYS WITH THE COMING-OF-AGE GENRE. UNLIKE MOST COMING-OF-AGE TALES, NO STORY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANOTHER AND NO ONE IS THE NARRATIVE FAVOURITE. IT AIMS TO UNIFY THOSE WATCHING THROUGH THE MEMORY OF FEELING, NOT THE SPECIFICITY OF EXPERIENCE. EACH CHARACTER IS GOING THROUGH THEIR OWN DIFFICULTY WITH GROWING-UP BUT FITTING ROOM HIGHLIGHTS HOW NO ONE DOES THIS ALONE AND HOW WE LEARN FROM EACH OTHER CAN AT TIMES BE THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS OF ALL.

To Be Determined

Everything changes in P's haunting life when he comes across a peculiar being dancing in the middle of a forest.

Subsurface

Trapped and alone, a young man must confront the pain he's ignored when he finds himself face-to-face with consequence.

The Crew

Hoping to raise enough capital to finance a legitimate business and leave behind his life of crime, Liverpool underworld boss Ged Brennan sends his brother Ratter and a crew to pull a daring final heist. But when Ratter kills a drug kingpin during the job, Brennan must turn to rival crook Franner to avert an all-out gangland war.

Staten Island

Sully is desperate to give his unborn son the chance he never had. Jasper wants to escape the mobsters that have infiltrated his life and business. Parmie, a local mob boss, dreams of crushing the competition. All three men live in Staten Island, and once their lives intersect, nothing will ever be the same.

We Die Young

Lucas, a 14-year-old boy inducted into the gang life in Washington D.C., is determined that his 10-year-old brother won't follow the same path. When an Afghanistan war veteran comes into the neighborhood, an opportunity arises.

In Secret

In 1860s Paris, a young woman, Therese, is trapped in a loveless marriage to the sickly Camille by her domineering aunt, Madame Raquin. She spends her days behind the counter of a small shop and her evenings watching Madame play dominos with an eclectic group. After she meets her husband’s alluring friend, Laurent, she embarks on an illicit affair that leads to tragic consequences. Based on Emile Zola’s novel, Thérèse Raquin.

Accident Man

Mike Fallon, the Accident Man, is a stone cold killer. When a loved one is murdered by his own crew, Fallon is forced to avenge the one person who actually meant something to him.

The Organization

After a group of young revolutionaries break into a company's corporate headquarters and steal $5,000,000 worth of heroin to keep it off the street, they call on San Francisco Police Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs for assistance.

In The Mix

A successful DJ named Darrel, managed to rescue a powerful mobster one night. In order to repay Darrell, the mobster, Frank Pacelli, gives him the task of protecting his daughter, Dolly.

Suburbicon

In the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and murder.

The Quiller Memorandum

After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.

The Public Eye

A crime photographer gets involved in a conspiracy.

Breathless

Lorna is a strong-willed Texas woman who’s had enough of her untrustworthy husband, Dale’s, criminal acts and lack of husbandry. Fed up, she enlists the help of her old friend, Tiny, to help her figure out what to do with Dale after his latest double-cross involving the theft of $100,000 from a bank.

The Enforcer

A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to save the young girl from the deadly organization he’s spent his life building.

Charlie Countryman

A young American falls hard for a Romanian cellist whose father has recently died -- and whose violent past could bring about his own demise.

Panic

Alex is going through a midlife crisis and it has become a very difficult time for him. His marriage is struggling, he's worried about his son, and his job of killing people for his family has become the most stressful part of his life. He seeks the help of a therapist and meets a woman in the waiting room that he connects with.

XX/XY

Three friends begin a dangerous three-way relationship that spirals out of control, leading to dire consequences that haunt them ten years later.

The Locksmith

A thief fresh out of prison, tries to work his way back into the life of his daughter and ex-fiancé. Determined, he is forced to use the skills he has as a gifted locksmith. Things take a tumultuous turn after an unexpected disappearance.

Shimmer Lake

Shot in reverse day-by-day through a week—a local sheriff embarks on a quest to unlock the mystery of three small-town criminals and a bank heist gone wrong.

The Good Neighbor

Two high school filmmakers decide to create the illusion of a haunting on an unsuspecting neighbor.

Kidnapping Mr. Heineken

The true story of the kidnapping of Freddy Heineken, the grandson of the founder of the Heineken brewery, and his driver. They were released after a ransom of 35 million Dutch guilders was paid.

A Crooked Somebody

An attention-seeking psychic is kidnapped and tries to use the situation to boost his popularity.