ONLY WAY – dir. Furkan Cetin, Tony Özkan

(HONORABLE MENTION)

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Original Film Title: TEK YOL

Director’s Name: Furkan Cetin, Tony Özkan

Writer’s Name: Furkan Cetin, Tony Özkan

Producer: Furkan Cetin, Tony Özkan

Country of Origin: Germany

Country of Filming: Germany

Language: German, Turkish

Runtime: 14 minutes 54 seconds

Film Description:

Sahin, a Turkish immigrant in Berlin, struggles with a profound sense of belonging, questioning the meaning of home as he and his best friend Umut navigate a world of violence, identity, and resilience.

Flying Low – dir. Xiong Wei

(FINALIST)

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Original Film Title: Flying Low

Director’s Name: Xiong Wei

Writer’s Name: Xiong Wei

Producer: Qiu Jia Qiu

Country of Origin: China

Country of Filming: China

Language: Chinese

Runtime: 29 minutes 30 seconds

Film Description:

Tianyu, a 13-year-old middle school boy from a poor family, was raised by his father alone. Even though Tianyu still had a chance to be admitted despite his hard work, he gave up the high school entrance examination together with a girl he had a good relationship within the class. But on the day of the high school entrance examination, Tianyu found that the result was not what he expected…

Later, Tianyu followed his father to Dongguan, the most developed coastal area and the most factories in China, because his father thought that there might be more job opportunities there.

Tianyu’s father did not want Tianyu to enter society too early, so he spent a lot of savings on Tianyu to choose a good local vocational school that did not require high school examination results. He hoped that he could continue to study there and have a better future way out.

Soon, the second school year was coming to an end, and Tianyu didn’t know whether he would spend more money to enter the college entrance examination class, or he would participate in a corporate internship stipulated by the state and enter a factory arranged by the school.

However, Tianyu also learned that even if his father was willing to pay more to allow him to enter the college entrance examination class, he would not be able to take the spring college entrance examination in this city in the first place because of his father…

115 – dir. Dave Huynh Macon

(WINNER)

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Original Film Title: 115

Director’s Name: Dave Huynh Macon

Writer’s Name: Ken Nemetchek, Dave Huynh Macon, Brandon Rhiness

Producer: Dave Huynh Macon, Kimi Alexander

Country of Origin: Canada

Country of Filming: Canada

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 21 minutes 11 seconds

Film Description:

In the ’80s, alien Emily crash-lands near the quaint town of Stony Plain, desperate to find the enigmatic fuel “115.” Stuck in a reverse time loop, she relives her mission daily, struggling to blend in while searching for the elusive substance. Every morning, kindhearted JT offers Emily a ride, and she glimpses something special in him that others overlook. As her encounters with the townsfolk spark hilarious misadventures, she unexpectedly finds love with JT, navigating the complexities of human behavior and dodging jealous Catherine’s advances. Faced with the reality that her salvation lies not in “115,” but in the bonds she’s formed, Emily must choose between her mission and the romantic connection that could break the cycle. A heartwarming, retro sci-fi rom-com that explores love’s power to transcend time and space, and why it takes more than a day to truly fall in love

Hybrid – dir. Chris Romrell

(Envision Award)

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Original Film Title: Hybrid

Director’s Name: Chris Romrell

Writer’s Name: Chris Romrell

Producer: Jason Edwards

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 13 minutes 37 seconds

Film Description:

A story of a family’s internal struggle during a global crisis. While trying to navigate unknow fears and events they have to learn how to draw closer to each other and work together.

Jan – dir. Nils Dressel

(HONORABLE MENTION)

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Original Film Title: Jan

Director’s Name: Nils Dressel

Writer’s Name: Nils Dressel, Georg Kadau

Producer:

Country of Origin: Germany

Country of Filming: Germany

Language: German

Runtime: 8 minutes 20 seconds

Film Description:

The movie is about a young, insecure man who wants to become an actor. Over the course of one day, viewers get a brief glimpse into his personality as he is challenged to reveal something about himself.

Man & Witch: The Dance of a Thousand Steps – dir. Michael Hines

(WINNER)

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Original Film Title: Man & Witch: The Dance of a Thousand Steps

Director’s Name: Michael Hines

Writer’s Name: Greg Steinbruner,

Producer: Angela Murray, Tami Stronach, Greg Steinbruner

Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Country of Filming: United Kingdom

Language: English

Runtime: 1 hour 34 minutes

Film Description:

A reclusive Witch in a magic kingdom strikes a bargain to help a lonely Goatherd break an Evil Wizard’s curse and finally take a wife. But when against all odds the man completes her three impossible tasks, and earns the hand of the Contented Kingdom’s perfect Princess, the Witch and the Goatherd are destined to discover that there is one thing even harder to conquer than the curses of an Evil Wizard. True Love.

The long awaited comeback film for the Childlike Empress from Wolfgang Petersen’s The NeverEnding Story – Tami Stronach, the star who got away, is coming home to fantasy. She is joined by some of the most iconic names in the genre (Christopher Lloyd, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Michael Emerson, Daniel Portman) and a legendary line up of comic talent (Sean Astin, Eddie Izzard, Jennifer Saunders, Bill Bailey) voicing puppets fabricated by the Jim Henson Creature Shop. A crowd pleasing lo-fi 80s comic love-fest for the whole family. As seen in Deadline, Newsweek, EW, HR, Variety, The Times.

Laura, 29 Old Compton Street – dir. Weiqi Cai

(HONORABLE MENTION)

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Original Film Title: Laura, 29 Old Compton Street

Director’s Name: Weiqi Cai

Writer’s Name: Weiqi Cai

Producer: Xin Yu, Fangning Shen

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 12 minutes 24 seconds

Film Description:

How does a woman navigate her actions and emotions after committing murder?

A Place I’m Meant To Know – dir. Chantal Spittles, Giada Origlia, Josh Booth

(FINALIST)

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Original Film Title: A Place I’m Meant To Know

Director’s Name: Chantal Spittles, Giada Origlia, Josh Booth

Writer’s Name: Josh Booth, Epilepsy Action

Producer: Chantal Spittles, Giada Origlia, Josh Booth

Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Country of Filming: United Kingdom

Language: English

Runtime: 2 minutes 52 seconds

Film Description:

UK charity Epilepsy Action has teamed up with upcoming composer, music producer and drummer Alex Marchisone (CBS, BBC, Channel 4 etc) to gather real-life experiences of people with epilepsy to create an immersive animated music video to show what a seizure feels like.
As the leading UK epilepsy charity, we’re here to create a world without limits for people with epilepsy and know education is on the key ways we’re going to get there. An overwhelming number of our supporters told us improving public attitudes towards epilepsy is their top wish. Epilepsy affects 1 in 100 people in the UK, with 79 facing a new diagnosis every day, and yet we know it’s still hard for members of the public to understand the true impact of living with a fluctuating and invisible condition.
We think this short film really brings to life the varied emotions and feelings people with epilepsy feel before, during and after a seizure, in a way we can all relate to. Not only will it help to educate members of the public, we know it will also give people affected by epilepsy a voice – helping them feel better understood.
We worked hard on making sure the film is true and the experience authentic by using real life seizures accounts as basis for the script and by working hand in hand with composer Alex Marchisone who suffers from generalised epilepsy.

Masked – dir. Esther Chung, Sarah Forrestal

(FINALIST)

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Original Film Title: Masked

Director’s Name: Esther Chung, Sarah Forrestal

Writer’s Name: Esther Chung, Sarah Forrestal, Gary Luo, Farah Mia, Jane Jian

Producer: Esther Chung, Sarah Forrestal

Country of Origin: Canada

Country of Filming: Canada

Language: English

Runtime: 8 minutes 41 seconds

Film Description:

Animated film about a boy who longs to please his mother and trades his face for a mask in order to be a great performer.