Category: BEST SHORT FILM – 2025 WSXA AMSTERDAM

(Honorable Mention)

Original Film Title: Echo Hunter: A Memory Too Far

Director’s Name: Kavan Cardoza

Writer’s Name: Kavan Cardoza

Producer: Kavan Cardoza, Mike J Mitch

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: United States

Language: English

Runtime: 23 minutes 19 seconds

Film Description:

Kling AI Presents – A Phantom X Production – In association with Escape AI
Echo Hunter: A Memory Too Far
A Kavan the Kid Film

Set a year before the events of the original Echo Hunter, A Memory Too Far follows Deagan, an Echo Hunter who lives by the system — until one night, when a single memory changes everything.

Starring – King Bach, Carlye Tamaren, Destiny Millns, Chloe Breen, Sky Saxour and Kavan the Kid

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: BUNICA’s love

Director’s Name: Tomohiko TSUJI

Writer’s Name: Tomohiko TSUJI

Producer: Tomohiko TSUJI

Country of Origin: Japan

Country of Filming: Japan

Language: Japanese

Runtime: 7 minutes 25 seconds

Film Description:

(Honorable Mention)

Original Film Title: Lady Jasmine

Director’s Name: Hanzi Zhao

Writer’s Name: Hanzi Zhao

Producer: Hanzi Zhao

Country of Origin: China

Country of Filming: China

Language: Chinese

Runtime: 20 minutes 55 seconds

Film Description:

At thirty-five, divorced and residing in her mother’s home, the daughter endured daily contempt—until a sex scandal engulfed the mother, forcing the daughter to learn the unknown side of her mother.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: The Weight Of Home

Director’s Name: Surbhi Sondhi

Writer’s Name: Surbhi Sondhi

Producer: Surbhi Sondhi

Country of Origin: India

Country of Filming: India

Language: English

Runtime: 5 minutes 15 seconds

Film Description:

The Weight of Home is a poetic short film that uses the fragmented memories of a war-torn soldier as a mirror to today’s youth — caught between the chaos of outside pressures and the longing for inner peace. As the soldier walks through the ruins, visions of family, laughter, and love rise and fade like fragile dreams. These memories, though personal, echo the struggles of young people today who silently carry their own unseen battles: anxiety, isolation, and the weight of expectations.

The film reimagines his journey not just as one of loss, but as a call to collective healing. Through storytelling, it becomes clear that memory and community are what anchor us, and through philanthropy — the act of reaching out, supporting, and creating safe spaces — society can transform suffering into resilience.

In the end, the soldier’s sacrifice is symbolic: a reminder that true victory lies not in wars fought outside, but in nurturing the mental well-being of the generations to come.

(Honorable Mention)

Original Film Title: Galactic Wasteland

Director’s Name: Dinda Prasetyo

Writer’s Name: Dinda Prasetyo

Producer: Dinda Prasetyo

Country of Origin:

Country of Filming:

Language: English

Runtime: 3 minutes 27 seconds

Film Description:

Set in the distant future on a long-abandoned planet once inhabited by humans, Galactic Wasteland follows Echo-7, a lone maintenance droid wandering through the remnants of a civilization erased by industrial greed. The planet, now desolate and controlled by the remnants of Nova Corp’s automation, is a graveyard of forgotten machines and lifeless cities. Amid the ruins, Echo-7 stumbles upon a mysterious sprout, an anomaly in a world where nothing organic should survive. Guided by fragments of forgotten data and a quiet spark of purpose, Echo-7 embarks on a silent journey that hints at renewal in a world thought beyond saving.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: The Last Seedkeeper

Director’s Name: Surbhi Sondhi

Writer’s Name: Surbhi Sondhi

Producer: Surbhi Sondhi

Country of Origin: India

Country of Filming: India

Language: English

Runtime: 2 minutes

Film Description:

In a forgotten future where Earth’s soil is sterile and cities run on memory alone, a lone girl stumbles upon a mysterious book and awakens an ancient AI built to guard the last living seeds. As the machine relearns emotion and the girl rediscovers meaning, together they plant a fragile hope into the fabric of a dying world.

“The Last Seedkeeper” is a hauntingly beautiful short film that blends storytelling with speculative sci-fi. Exploring the themes of climate resilience, memory, and the power of choice, the film reminds us that even in the most artificial futures, what we choose to grow defines who we become.

(Winner)

Original Film Title: Red Clay

Director’s Name: Tian Zeng Runzhu Runhao Ruoxi

Writer’s Name: Tian Zeng Runzhu Runhao Ruoxi

Producer: Tian Zeng Runzhu Runhao Ruoxi

Country of Origin: China

Country of Filming: China

Language: Chinese

Runtime: 5 minutes

Film Description:

Mr. and Mrs. Wenying’s son is seriously ill and is in urgent need of a blood source, but neither parent has a matching blood type. When they learned from the hospital that their daughter, whom they once sold, has a matching blood type, they began to try every means to take her back. However, during this process, subtle changes have taken place in Wenying’s heart.

(Finalist)

Original Film Title: Hunger Winter ’45

Director’s Name: Alison Margaret MacLean

Writer’s Name: Alison Margaret MacLean

Producer: Alison Margaret MacLean

Country of Origin: Canada

Country of Filming: Canada, Netherlands

Language: English

Runtime: 39 minutes 16 seconds

Film Description:

Hunger Winter ’45 Documentary Short, platforms first person stories and Child Witness statements, Archival Newsreels, WW2 Veteran comments, to showcase the special relationship that Canada and the Netherlands share due to the Humanitarian Aid support provided 80 years ago. A comment from a past interview with Audrey Hepburn reinforces the impact of the Hunger Winter and that 20,000 Dutch died of starvation during German Occupation. This is a story of humanity, survival, resilience, and kindness at the end of WW2. Original theme and concept.