Independent Shorts Awards

Jess Chatwyn struggles to find a way forward when her abuser is dead and faced no 
justice in life. With her uncle’s passing Jess inherits Chatwyn House, the location of her 
childhood abuse. Martha, a family friend, gives Jess the last letter written by her aunt. This fully awakening the spectres in Jess’ mind. As the night draws on, Jess’ reality deteriorates. Her ghost is ever present at the corners of the room and her mind. The only thing which will keep his memory at bay is a truth Jess can’t easily win. Will it be enough to end her haunting?
Directed by Krista Creighton (USA)

A very welcoming disadvantaged community, mostly children. They are eager to learn. An association battles to give access to education to Sana, Mareme, Binta and their classmates, as joyful and turbulent as any other kids.
Directed by Philippine de Saint-Exupéry (France)

The film is about mixed media visual artist and poet Joachim Waibel(1959) and the creation of his Stalingrad painting series. Originally from Germany, Waibel relocated to North America in 1973 and has since explored many avenues of self-expression, in keeping with his eclectic cultural upbringing and he is a postmodern renaissance man.
Directed by Handuo Zhang (Canada)

A young woman discovers a girl locked in her father’s panic room — his personal vault. But as three masked intruders break into the home to retrieve the girl, things take an unexpected turn for the worse.
Directed by Tim Earnheart (USA)

Directed by Michael Boston (USA)

With his impressive crafting skills, an old man in his 80s is making spinning tops, the most famous traditional folk game of Dashi, Taiwan.
In 1982, he broke a record in the Guinness World Records for pulling a spinning top of 73.2kg.
Looking back at the photos and videos, they show the pride and glories of the past; however, nowadays, the traditional folk game is becoming gradually replaced by video games.
Directed by S.C.H.L.W. (Taiwan)

A-Hai and his family participated in the government’s latest project but unfortunately encountered a disastrous catastrophe. Walking in the ruins of places from the past after the disaster reminded him of many memories. He regretted that he had not taken more endeavors to change the future.
Directed by Po-Jen Tsai and Lan-Syuan Huang (Taiwan)

The diverse communication options offered by a cell phone influence our social and consumer behavior. Excessive use changes the design of ‘head-down people’s’ life and lifestyle habits.
Directed by Bellopropello (Switzerland)

Two businessmen, Tomothy and Fronkus, working for an ambiguous corporation that runs on seemingly random sequences of numbers, pull off a dangerous heist, stealing a massive stash of the company’s most valuable numbers to use them to start a new, revolutionary business. The CEO of the company, Brett, finds out, however, and sends Special Agent Chick Nugs and his team to track them down and put an end to their scheme.
The businessmen face the Agents in a shootout. Realizing that they would both not make it out alive, Tomothy stays back to fight the Agents, giving Fronkus time to escape with the precious numbers.
Tomothy is finally taken down by a final shot from Nugs himself.
However, although Tomothy is dead, his plan is still alive, as Fronkus escapes with the numbers, finalizing only the first step in their plan to get rich…
Directed by Austinn Harris (Australia)

On 12th of February, 2016, Angelena Bonet hosted her show “Heart Of The Matter” and delivered a powerful public speech on violence against women at the V Day One Billion Rising event in Sydney, Australia. A global event, held in 210 countries on the same day worldwide, where women and girls are standing up against violence. This crime is a global issue and Angelena is shining her light on this global silent epidemic. A victim of a violent crime in 2012, Angelena is standing up and speaking out for every woman on this planet and for the injustice she has suffered.
Directed by Angelena Bonet (Australia)

A story about a war veteran returning home and his turning to the bottle for solace.
It’s also a come full circle story as the main character realizes the errors in his life and tries to make amends before it’s too late.
Directed by Austinn Harris and Scott D Clark (Australia)

A recreation and reimagining of past grandeur, “Trail of the Sphinx” evolves such splendor into a very special multimedia presentation. The music is a blend of cultural sensibilities, modern and ancient motifs; electronic and acoustic instrumentation. The dances are a synthesis of traditional Middle Eastern with a contemporary interpretation; symbolic and at times sensual. The production mixes these performances against the dramatic backdrop of Egypt’s archaeological treasures creating an expansive cinematic interpretation. The result is a meditation on the eternal mystery of the legendary Sphinx that leads us from the old world to a future one. The shifting sands of time may obscure its path, yet we are still drawn to its compelling destiny.
Directed by Mike Mannetta (USA)

Something terrifying has happened in a remote Midwestern town. Two mysterious scientists search for answers.
Directed by Michael Ricci (USA)

The quiet, picturesque neighborhood of Sweet Orchard isn’t what it seems. When John, the milkman walks to the house of a Betty Crocker look alike, Susan, he gets drawn inside. The bright inside of Susan’s house hides dark secrets that will take John by surprise. A struggle between Susan and John pits the two against each other for their lives. Dottie, Susan’s next door neighbor sees what is going on and can end the fight. In the end, only the neighborhood book club ran by Susan holds the real clue of what is going on.
Directed by Jody Bryce Phelps (USA)