Director: Pete Miceli
Writers: Pete Miceli, Billy Zurisk, Debra Richards
Producer: Billy Zurisk
Country: United States
Type: Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Short
Overview: A paranoid outsider discovers evidence of an unexplained phenomenon in his neighborhood. As he digs deeper, his grip on reality fractures leading to a revelation that changes everything about the world around him… and the world inside him.
Directors/Writers: Brooks Livermore, Roisin Rae
Producer: Cheeseplant Productions
Country: United Kingdom
Type: Short
Overview: Lisa and Patrick are struggling to keep both their history tour business and their marriage afloat. Encouraged by their online therapist to truly listen to one another, they try — but can’t seem to get in sync. Their miscommunication culminates in a chaotic tour of Roman/Edwardian London. Yet in the midst of the confusion, their attempt to compromise reveals a spark of what still connects them.
Director Statement: We’re History explores the frustrations and compromises that shape both creative and family life. Drawing on our own experiences working as actors and facilitators at historic sites — from the Dickens House Museum and the Golden Hinde to the Tower of London and Hampton Court Palace — we wanted to capture the love of history that fuels this work, as well as the personal tensions and backstage clashes that often accompany it. We also wanted to explore how the cost-of-living crisis strains relationships. Our lead characters have been together for over a decade and now want different things, yet divorce is not a realistic option: they have a young daughter, they run a business together, and, simply put, they cannot afford to separate. As filmmakers, we believe in making work regardless of means. We embrace micro-budget, guerrilla-style filmmaking, collaborating closely with our DOP and crew. This film grew out of several days of experiment using improvised dialogue and scenes in a process that leans into each actor’s strengths. Our aim was to create authentic characters and relationships within a story that is playful and comic, yet grounded in something emotionally real.
Directors/Writers/Producers: Chang Chen-Shi
Key Cast "Frank": David O'Brien
Country: Taiwan
Genre: Documentary, Short
Overview: hrough shared musical interactions, Mike—an autistic adult with limited verbal communication—finds his own way to connect with the world. Rather than changing him, the film observes how communication emerges when someone is truly listened to.
Director Statement: This film is based on my experience working with a private tutoring student. Mike (a pseudonym) is an adult on the autism spectrum who faces significant challenges in social interaction. Through our time together, I did not see behavioral problems, but a person striving to connect with the world in his own way, and a deep need for structured processes that provide safety and clarity. In my experience, many autistic individuals with communication difficulties are often perceived as emotionally unstable or non-compliant. These labels frequently overlook the unseen effort and pressure behind their behaviors. To respect and protect the individual’s privacy, all names used in this film are pseudonyms. With this film, I hope to offer an alternative perspective on how we can accompany autistic individuals—by slowing down, building supportive structures, and learning to recognize subtle yet meaningful forms of connection.
Director/Writer/Producer: Jaspreet Singh
Country: India
Project Type: Experimental, Short
Overview: A mysterious object known as 3I Atlas, expected to pass harmlessly through space, suddenly changes course and impacts the Moon—destroying a U.S. satellite in the process. The unexplained event triggers global alarm. A rapid-response mission is launched to investigate the anomaly before it threatens Earth. When the team reaches the Moon, they uncover a shocking truth: the object is not a comet, but an alien spacecraft hidden beneath the lunar surface. As the astronauts explore its silent interior, they believe the beings inside are dormant—until one of them awakens. The film ends with a chilling realization: the aliens have reached Earth. Aethrimus is a suspenseful sci-fi short about first contact, human curiosity, and the moment we realize we are no longer alone.
Director Statement: Aethrimus was conceived as an exploration of humanity’s fascination with the unknown and our growing dependence on artificial intelligence to understand realities beyond human limits. The idea emerged from a simple question: what happens when technology begins to observe something we were never meant to see? By using AI-assisted tools in the filmmaking process, I wanted the form of the film to reflect its subject matter. The unpredictability, abstraction, and subtle imperfections of AI-generated imagery became part of the storytelling language, enhancing the mystery and tension rather than explaining it. Aethrimus is not about answers, but about atmosphere, unease, and discovery. It invites the audience to sit with uncertainty and consider the consequences of pushing intelligence—both human and artificial—into territories that may not want to be understood.
Director: Lorraine Wales
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Drama, Short
Overview: Enter the enchanting world of the Wildlife Garden, where real-life animal take centre stage. Join curious squirrels, a wandering muntjac, Midnight the cat, and Freddie—the famously friendly fox. Join their adventure, the Sacred Walnut, guardian of the garden’s harmony , protector of nature and the environment disappears. The animals must band together to uncover its whereabouts and restore balance to their beloved home. Filmed in an English Garden with real wildlife. Fun for all.
Director Statement: Squirrels and the Sacred Walnut is my second short film featuring wildlife in my garden. We meet many different animals from Cheeky squirrels, Freddie the fox ,Muntjac and Midnight my cat. Who was also in the garden when i was filming. I use just one camera at a time and spend many hours putting my short films together for everyone to enjoy. My first film Secret world of Squirrels has been shown in various festivals around the world. Thank you for supporting my solo adventure in film making and the environment.
Director/Writer/Producer Luke Walters
Country: United Kingdom
Project Type: Sci-Fi, Thriller, Drama
Overview: When a jaded ghostwriter is hired to tell the story of a man who claims to be H.G. Wells’ real Invisible Man, she assumes it’s just another doomed commission. But as Victoria Griffin digs deeper, she uncovers fragments of a mystery stretching across centuries and a terrifying truth hiding in plain sight.
Director Statement: I Made The Invisible Man is the final chapter in my H.G. Wells–inspired “I Made” trilogy, following I Made War of the Worlds and I Made the Time Machine. While the earlier films explored spectacle, satire, and public hysteria, The Invisible Man felt like the right place to turn inward, toward obsession, legacy, and the stories history chooses to remember or forget. Rather than retelling Wells’ novel, this film asks a different question: what if the Invisible Man was real and his story never ended? The film is framed through Victoria Griffin, a ghostwriter whose job is to give voice to other people’s stories while suppressing her own. As she uncovers the truth behind a man claiming to be Wells’ Invisible Man, the film becomes as much about authorship and belief as it is about science fiction. Visually and tonally, we wanted the film to feel intimate, restrained, and literary closer to a mystery or psychological drama than a traditional genre piece. The Invisible Man himself is treated less as a monster and more as a lingering presence: a figure defined by absence, secrecy, and the consequences of being unseen. Casting Jonathon Carley, known to many as the War Doctor for Big Finish, allowed us to bring a sense of gravitas and melancholy to the role, grounding the fantastical in something human. Across the trilogy, each film explores how stories spread - through radio broadcasts, rumours, academic theory, or fragmented journals. I Made The Invisible Man brings that idea full circle, asking whether some truths are buried not because they are false, but because they are inconvenient. At its heart, this film is about who gets to tell history, who gets erased, and what happens when a forgotten voice demands to be heard.
Director/Writer: Lawrence Bucher
Country: United States
Genre: Mobile, Short
Overview: With the assistance of an experimental subliminal file, a spy-hunter is tasked with tracking the source of a false flag event by pretending to be the Russian defector who was paid by a rogue American agency to carry out an attack.
Director Statement: In my directorial debut, TRAITOR, I sought to craft a visually arresting short story that delves into complex themes such as isolation, political upheaval, the intricacies of espionage, and the psychological effects resembling Manchurian-like conditioning—concepts that tie into my fascination with how perception can shape our understanding of reality. The first act is pivotal, capturing the protagonist’s inner turmoil through a rapidly paced phone call involving three characters. This tense exchange sets the stage for the unfolding narrative, contrasting sharply with the opener and the nearly silent second and third acts, which invite viewers to engage with the protagonist's isolation and psychological state on a deeper level. I utilize a combination of close-up shots and quieter sequences to invite introspection. The deliberate pacing serves to heighten the tension and reflects the protagonist’s growing apprehension regarding the daunting assignment he has been tasked with. This isn't just any assignment; it involves a harrowing willingness to submit to an experimental hypnosis file designed by the very agency that nearly caused his demise during a previous mission in Prague years earlier. This fraught decision reflects the protagonist's desperation, and the manipulative powers at play, embodying a struggle that resonates on multiple levels. Overall, the intersection of my cinematic influences, and the narrative structure of TRAITOR, reveals not only my creative influences but also a broader commentary on the nature of truth, perception, and the complex realities we navigate. The blend of suspense and psychological depth seeks to engage viewers, encouraging them to reflect on their interpretations of truth in an increasingly convoluted world.
Director/Writer: Filipa Martins
Country: Portugal
Genre: Drama, Short
Overview: In the restless streets of New York City, a woman suffering from severe memory loss navigates her life guided only by the mysterious alarms and reminders that appear on her phone. Each alert instructs her where to go, what to do, and even how to feel, turning the city into a map she must follow blindly. Week after week, trapped in an emotional loop, she obeys the notifications, retracing the same steps through cafés, flower shops, and crowded sidewalks, until she inevitably arrives at the same tragic destination.
Director Statement: "The Reminder" grew out of a question that has followed me throughout my work as a writer and screenwriter: how does memory shape and sometimes distort who we are? For years, my novels, screenplays and academic research have explored themes of identity, loss and the narratives we create in order to fill the gaps and survive. When I arrived at the New York Film Academy to study filmmaking, I felt a strong need to translate these concerns into a visual language where silence, repetition and space could speak as loud as words. The film follows a woman caught in a loop of reminders that guide her through New York City, confronting her each week with a tragedy she no longer consciously remembers. This emotional cycle reflects my enduring interest in how grief becomes ritual, how trauma returns in waves and how the stories we forget often influence us more deeply than the ones we hold onto.
Director/Writer: Satoshi Hakuzen
Producer: Wakako Kondo
Country: Japan
Genre: Action, Feature
Overview: Once a legendary karate master who single-handedly dismantled Japan’s branch of the ruthless syndicate known as Scorpion, Jun Takanashi has vanished from the world. Living under a false name with his daughter Rina in a remote town, he seeks nothing but a quiet life. Years later, their past finds them. Hunted relentlessly, father and daughter are driven into a final confrontation with the past—one that exposes buried pain, unresolved guilt, and the cost of survival. As violence closes in, Jun’s mastery of karate becomes more than a weapon; it becomes a language through which he confronts fear, loss, and the meaning of strength itself. Rooted in authentic martial arts philosophy, the film delivers raw, physical action alongside a deeply human exploration of strength, survival, and identity.
Director Statement: This film was born from a question that had stayed with me for many years. In my earlier involvement with TRAVERSE, I focused on how authentic martial arts—performed by a real practitioner—could be expressed through cinema without losing its truth. That experience left a strong impression on me. Yet even then, I felt there was something deeper that had not yet been fully explored. Not technique, but meaning. Years later, I chose to return to that question through this film. In the process, I found myself deeply influenced by the life and practice of Jun Tamegai, the protagonist of this story and a martial artist who has devoted his life to karate. Observing his path, I came to understand that karate is not simply a form of combat. It is a way of facing one’s own body, emotions, and limitations. What resonated with me most was the belief that true strength does not lie in overpowering others, but in restraint—in what one chooses to protect, and what one chooses not to destroy. This philosophy, shaped through Jun’s life as a martial artist, became the core of this film. My aim was to create action that carries physical weight and consequence—movement that breathes, hesitates, and endures. Violence exists in this film, but it is never empty. Every strike is bound to fear, loss, and responsibility. At its heart, this is not a story about defeating an enemy. It is a story about a father and a daughter, and about the quiet question that remains when all fighting ends: What does it truly mean to be strong? I believe this question transcends culture and language. And it is this belief that guided every decision I made while creating this film.
Writer: Adam S Kuhl
Project Type: Screenplay, Short Script
Overview: As humanity evacuates a dying Earth through a supposedly fair lottery, Ruth Delgado waits with her two children outside the launch complex, clinging to the hope that chance will save them. When their number is not called and order collapses into chaos, Ruth makes a final desperate attempt to reach the departing ships. Faced with an unyielding system that refuses exceptions, she is forced to confront the brutal truth behind survival-by-selection. As the last rocket ascends, Ruth and her children are left behind—witnesses to a future that chose efficiency over mercy.
Writer Statement : I wrote The Last Launch because I was interested in the human side of endings. Much of science fiction focuses on survival, heroism, and the possibility of escape. But I found myself drawn to a quieter question: what do people do when there is no solution left? In this story, the final launch represents humanity’s last attempt to carry something of itself forward. Yet the film is not really about the spacecraft or the mission. It is about the people who remain behind — the technicians, families, and ordinary individuals who must confront the reality that the future they imagined will not belong to them. I wanted the tone of the piece to be restrained and intimate. Rather than spectacle, the drama comes from small human moments: hesitation, acceptance, and the quiet dignity of people facing the inevitable. Science fiction often deals with vast scales of time and space, but at its core it is always about human choices and emotions. As a writer, I am often drawn to stories set against moments of historical or societal fracture — times when individuals are forced to confront forces much larger than themselves. The Last Launch reflects that continuing interest. It is a story about how people respond when the world changes beyond their control, and how meaning can still be found in connection, sacrifice, and simple acts of humanity. Ultimately, I hope the film leaves audiences reflecting not on the end of the world, but on the value of the moments we share within it.
Writer: Astrid Elisabeth Guaaker
Project Type: Feature Screenplay, Crime, Drama
Overview: Fiona Haegerbergh, a journalist for The Metro Standard, arrives in a rural Norwegian town to investigate rising drug use. Officially, she’s there to produce a web series— but Fiona has her own agenda: uncovering the truth behind the recent suspicious death of a local drug dealer. Fiona’s editor urges her to stay on task, as much is riding on the Metro Standard’s survival—now largely dependent on the recent success of its popular web series. The townspeople are wary, hostile even, and make little effort to hide their mistrust of outsiders. The local sheriff, initially resistant to cooperating, reluctantly warms to Fiona. Though they clash, he begins to see her as a tenacious and unexpectedly helpful ally. Together, they await the toxicology report that may finally illuminate the cause of death. As Fiona interviews locals for her web series, she also digs deeper into the town’s hidden drug network. She discovers that Jenny—a former schoolmate of Fiona’s brother and now an employee at the local copper mine—may have inherited the deceased dealer’s operation. At the town skatepark, Fiona meets a sharp-witted teenager who tries to protect vulnerable youths from slipping into drug use. Despite his efforts, some are already using. Then, tragedy strikes: Jenny is found drowned in the thawing lake after a string of unseasonably warm days—cutting short Fiona’s chance to dig deeper into her suspected role in the town’s drug network. When the toxicology report finally arrives, Fiona pieces together the truth about the drug dealer’s murder. But without hard evidence—and with an unexpected figure threatening to expose her own secret—she finds herself torn, unable and unwilling to go to the police.