Independent Shorts Awards

When 6-year-old Jeffrey dies a mysterious death, his parents move out to never to be seen or heard from again. When the Goldsteins purchase the house looking for a new start, Shortly after strange things begin to happen when 12-year-old Rebecca finds an old radio in her bedroom that’s gonna leash a reign of terror so sinister. It sends them packing and running for the hills. In this thriller/horror, they will learn the true meaning of “listen at your own risk”.
Directed by Kathryn L. Scurry (USA)

The youngest son of a Mafia Don is finally about to become a made man, much to the dismay of several family members. When push comes to loyalty, he must prove to himself and his family he is worthy of their trust.
Directed by Nick Vallelonga (USA)

“Aje Ijo” short dance film series centers the humanity, resiliency, vulnerability of black & African diasporic people (of all genders), interrogating the western gender binary and interrupting accompanying notions of masculinity and femininity. Our individual and collective complexity, survival, thriving, and ultimately our healing as a people are at stake, and compel the elaboration of this narrative. To this end, the film elicits elements of spiritual cosmologies of the African diaspora, particularly those that emerge from the Yoruba divine consciousness, Ifa, and the Orisa (deities) that comprise it.
Directed by Kiana Harris (USA)

Directed by Brian Vaughan (Australia)

Emily and Zara are two girlfriends that went out one night to party. Little did they know, they would find themselves later trying to escape from a group of kidnappers.
Directed by Alfonso von Ziegler (USA)

This autobiography documents the filmmaker’s heart-rending personal journey to reconcile with her estranged mother, who is about to undergo hip surgery in Tokyo.
Directed by Haruka Motohashi (Japan)

When a group of dudes in the greater Los Angeles area, self-categorized as “pretty boys,” decide that their looks have ruined their romantic lives, they set out to reverse the curse.
Directed by Chance Calloway (USA)

A daughter confronts her mother about ghosts of her childhood. The mother confirms her worst suspicions, and somehow, it’s all very funny.
Directed by Alberto Ferreras (USA)

“I’m Here” is a post-apocalyptic story about a phone booth in the desert where survivors can talk to people they have lost in the “storm”.
Directed by Rebecca Shapiro (USA)

A bored suburban mom seeks adventure in an anonymous sexual encounter with a younger man, only to find herself to be an unwelcome guest at a teenagers’ party in the woods.
Directed by Millicent Cho (USA)