Independent Shorts Awards

Mashed Potatoes

A surreal story of about indifference, negligence and apathy. Critic about materialism. How items that people think are worth something, are worth nothing. The most important thing proves to be the sentimental connection with your own past and memories.
Directed by Juha LIlja (Sweden)

Foreclosure: Dead Deed

Mike Graham, an established and well off accounting executive, seems to have it all: the perfect job, the perfect house, the perfect car, the soon to be perfect wife… what would appear to be a perfect life. However, his picture-perfect reality quickly begins to abruptly unfold.
Directed by Teddo November (USA)

Happy New Year

A withdrawn mid-twenties man named Jarrett attends a New Year’s Eve party roiling with hidden tensions and some particularly dangerous resolutions.
Directed by Jason Sealy (USA)

Morgan

This film shows one of the most remote places of this world and yet we feel somehow connected by listening to the names of some of the most known companies appear.
Directed by Mia Basile and Alexander Basile (Germany)

Bou (bride)

The film is about young Rohingya girls who are sold into marriage by traffickers. It also explores the mindset of the men who buy them for thousands of dollars.
Directed by Mahi Ramakrishnan (Malaysia)

Fool’s Gold: a Dolaucothi Love Story

Made in 1927 and inspired by real events, as well as an outrageous mustache, “Fool’s Gold” tells the timeless tale of boy meets girl in a dimly lit mine passage amidst the backdrop of a bitter struggle for the control of the Dolaucothi Gold Mines and the keys to the Johne’s family fortune.
Directed by Simon Howlett (UK)

Dana’s Story

Based on a true story, the film is an adaptation of A.L. Smith’s critically acclaimed novel “Behind Closed Doors”. The film depicts the harsh realities of the sex trafficking industry.
Directed by Huey Rawls (USA)

Snug as a Bug

Mickey and Gav are six floors up with a corpse, a rug that’s too small and a van they haven’t got. Worse still, they’re almost out of air freshener: a pungent comic short with bodies, bowels and bin-bags.
Directed by Louise C Galizia (UK)

Hearts Want

Two former lovers reunite for a play by the drama teacher who first brought them together. They still carry a torch for each other, but will their love survive when the truth is revealed about their past?
Directed by Jason P. Schumacher (USA)

After The Storm

A documentary short film about triumph over adversity, a story of never losing faith or giving up hope.
Directed by Ava ST.Pierre and Sheree’ Cogburn (USA)

Mariam

In Iraq, military media team help and rescuer Mosul family from the rubble after their house was blown up by ISIS.
Directed by Mohammed Jaffar (Iraq)

Midnight Blue

The ultimate story of betrayal. Sidney has dug himself into a predicament that he might not be able to escape. An ode to the Film Noir genre, this is “Midnight Blue”.
Directed by Trey Squire (USA)