Independent Shorts Awards

“Behind The Light: A Mashup Documentary” starring singer/songwriter Sarah Smith and film director Stacy Poulos. This mashup behind-the-scenes documentary is a story of two small-town women, one a Canadian pop-rock star, the other an award-winning Californian filmmaker. Armed with a crew of five, they reached international recognition and wound up sharing a first-run movie marquee with a major feature film. This is the first feature short film created with ‘selfie videos.’ Music, television and film enthusiasts will enjoy following the journey of this award-winning music video as it comes to fruition.
Directed by Stacy Poulos (USA)

Take an inspiring journey with Sarah Smith, best adult contemporary artist, as she belts out a heartfelt riveting performance from reflection to healing.
Directed by Stacy Poulos (USA)

A young girl gets taken into quarantine and gets more than what she bargained for.
Directed by Rosemberg Mercado (USA)

After being left for dead at the hands of her brother, a rogue assassin goes after his most trusted employee, ‘The Gatekeeper’, to stake information and leave his empire in ruins.
Directed by Sam Puefua (USA)

Rendered with a fifties avant-garde sensibility, The Ladies model, move, and transform, all to minimalist hand-made percussion.
Directed by Kathy Rose (USA)

Like wolves, souls travel in packs. From world to world, life to life, they reincarnate, assuming different roles within the pack.
Written by Shytei Corellian (USA)

“Pulse” is based on a true event where Amanda loses her girlfriend Karla in a shooting caused by a homophobic.
Directed by Alejandra Hou (USA)

We focus on the Tuscan Tiber Valley, where the Kentucky Tobacco has been grown over the centuries and used to produce the well-known Tuscan Cigar.
Directed by Lucia Braccalenti (Italy)

Marcus finds himself awakening in other people’s bodies everytime he goes to sleep, and the only way back is by committing suicide.
Directed by Vlad Micu (Romania)

There is a man who wants color in his life, and there is a man who won’t allow him.
Directed by Mohammadreza Keshavarz (Iran)

Big game hunter Jack Peterson travels to a small island off the coast of Lousiana to hunt “Big Bubba,” a 400-pound wild boar that carries $25, 000 in prize money. Even though no hunter has ever managed to kill the elusive boar in 10 years and news reports have been issuing warnings about a missing girl who recently disappeared there, Jack is determined to hunt Big Bubba at any cost. Things take an eerie twist when he arrives on the island and meets Penelope, an eccentric paranormal investigator who tells him to leave. It’s not long until both Jack and Penelope realize they are the ones who are being hunted — and the enemy is thirsty for blood!
Directed by Jax Price (USA)

A couple will do anything to survive the zombie Armageddon caused by an alien virus from a meteor shower.
Directed by Tom Young and Libby Mitchell (USA)

Thomas’s wife, Geneva is a successful creative partner in an advertising firm. Her frequent lapses have shattered his dream to finally get the motorcycle he’s always wanted. Again. Her reaction sends her back to her past, and Thomas reveals something of himself as he embraces Geneva’s different sides.
Directed by Melody Brooke and Mike Henricks (USA)

Following the death of a developmentally delayed young man’s co-dependent mother, Ryan gets to visit the lab under supervision to see how his mother’s donation of her body to science will benefit cancer research, but the special relationship with his mother may transcend death and science as we know it.
Directed by Josh Kaukl (USA)