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IMMOLATION (USA)
SYNOPSIS: In a confessional booth, a troubled man confronts the priest whom he believes baptized him when he was an infant.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence
DIRECTOR: Neal Tyler
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 1st @ 11:00 AM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Born the son of a photographer, Neal Tyler has always had a camera in his hand and a vision in his mind. As a producer and cinematographer, his work has been broadcast on National Geographic, Disney+, A&E, Animal Planet, PBS, Amazon Prime, and more. In addition to directing or shooting multiple short films, he has also served as director of photography on four feature films and is currently finishing post on his directorial feature debut.
His original screenplays have placed at the Austin Film Festival, PAGE International Awards, and other competitions. As a photographer, his clients range from MOCA and Museo Jumex to various actors, families, and non-profit organizations. His work was featured in the Same Cities Exhibit at the Think Tank Gallery in DTLA. Whether working as director, DP, producer, writer, or still photographer, Neal considers himself a storyteller above all else.
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IN THE DARK (CANADA)
SYNOPSIS: In the Dark is the story of a charming date that takes a nightmarish turn when the lights go out
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Sensuality, Intense Imagery
GENRE: Horror, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Sunday, Oct. 30th @ 4:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Toronto born filmmaker Bronson Allen is interested in exploring the stranger aspects of human nature, and the esoteric myths and folklore that are typically laughed off by polite society. As a naturally anxious mess, he channels his fears into entertainment so he doesn’t end up in a straightjacket. He lives and breathes horror cinema, which he believes is the genre that is best suited to make a deeply immediate connection to an audience. His hope is to make a career out of creeping the hell out of people (through film, not his actions).
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INCUBUS (UK)
SYNOPSIS: Trapped on a boat, a woman is haunted by fear itself.
RATINGS GUIDE: Sensuality, Adult Content, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Tito Fernandes
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Wednesday, Nov. 2nd @ 5:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: TITO is a film director with extensive VFX experience. After completing film school, 2 masters degrees and 3 award-winning short films, Tito started his career in VFX. A natural progression led him to merge the two worlds together in this new art form that is previs by co- directing a lot of sequences with renowned directors. Tito has worked on high profile films with filmmakers such as, Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar and Dark Knight Rises, JJ’s The Force Awakens, Ron Howard’s Rush, Paul Greengrass’ Captain Phillips as well as Broadcast shows and numerous high-end Commercials. He founded his production company Kinosys Films in 2012, with the aim to house and develop a slate of projects for Film, TV and video games. KIDDO was his first sci-fi project to be recognised and optioned in Hollywood. Incubus is Tito’s second project and first in the horror genre.
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JIM OF EARTH (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A lonely man searches the stars for signs of extraterrestrial life.
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences
DIRECTOR: Justin Arwood
GENRE: Sci-Fi
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Friday, Nov. 4th @ 2:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Justin Arwood is a filmmaker based in Wichita, KS. Having graduated college with degrees in finance and accounting (plus an M.B.A.), Justin discovered his love for film at a later age than most. He currently works as the Director of Photography for a megachurch in Kansas and is working towards the goal of directing feature films.
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JUNE (NEW ZEALAND)
SYNOPSIS: Willow and David receive serious news causing their world to disintegrate over 24 hours. This one day in June for the couple holds raw despair, unleashing carnal natures but a transcendent occurrence offers them the hope of new life.
RATINGS GUIDE: Brief Nudity
DIRECTOR: Dwayne Cameron
GENRE: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Sunday, Oct. 30th @ 1:30 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Hi there, I am a self-taught actor, screenwriter, filmmaker, and visual artist. My latest short film JUNE has won over 300 awards at 120 international film festivals. For the last 25 years I have worked primarily as a professional actor and practicing visual artist. As an actor I have worked with over 60 directors starring in 300 episodes of TV Series and a dozen feature films. Most recently I starred in ‘Disturbing the Peace’ (2020) with Guy Pearce, and played the son of Nicolas Cage in the film ‘211’ (2018) and starred as Bruce McLaren in Roger Donaldson’s ‘McLaren’ (2017) and have worked with numerous stars; Karl Urban, Anthony Starr, Amber Heard, Selma Blair and William Shatner.
As a visual artist with 25 years of experience, I have painted and sold over 200 artworks. In recent years I have shifted my focus to screenwriting and have now written a dozen short film and four feature film screenplays. I started directing and producing my short films to build up to my feature film directorial debut. My last short film that I wrote, directed, produced and starred in called Holding The Sun was nominated for Best Short Film and Best Production Design at the New Zealand film awards. JUNE is my second official short film that I have directed, produced and starred in.
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KEEP THE LIGHT ON (USA)
SYNOPSIS: During a wellness check, Fabien finds his estranged brother’s house consumed by darkness, and lurking within the shadows the demons from his family’s troubled past might no longer be alone.
RATINGS GUIDE: Language, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Freddie Paull
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 1st @ 2:00PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Filmmaker Freddie Paull is an Iris Prize nominee whose work has been featured in Vice, the Guardian, and Time Magazine. Over the past decade, he has directed work for over 50 different artists, as well as Google, REI, Ocean Conservancy, and Capitol Records, among others. He is currently in post on his upcoming film, Wolfe in Waiting, starring Tony-winner Paul Oakley Stovall and Latin star Danilo Carrera, and pre-production on two unannounced feature films.
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KICKSTART MY HEART (USA)
SYNOPSIS: After a violent accident, Lilly wakes to find herself having barely escaped the steel grip of death, only to discover the fight has just begun. Starring Netflix’s ALONG FOR THE RIDE’s Emma Pasarow, KICKSTART MY HEART is the story of one woman’s battle through her mind’s multiple levels of hell and the bloody torment she endures to regain control over her consciousness.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence
DIRECTOR: Kelsey Bollig
GENRE: Horror, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Wednesday, Nov. 2nd @ 5:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Kelsey Bollig is a filmmaking currently based out of LA. Bollig is a fresh yet commanding face in the world of Horror, and entered this industry with a BANG as she landed her first Best Screenplay Award at the tender age of 12, for her Feature, ‘Big Kids Play Manslaughter’ at the Hollywood Shriekfest Horror Film Festival. Years later, she would only accumulate more acclaim for her first short ‘Asking for a Friend’ and ‘The Fourth Wall.’ She’s currently in development on several features.
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LARVAE (ITALY)
SYNOPSIS: Turin, 1909. Cesare Lombroso, the world-famous founder of the School of Criminal Anthropology, arrives at the isolated mansion of Lazar, an elderly illusionist. Lombroso, attracted to Spiritualism, challenges Lazar: to prove that the supernatural exists and that it may be the cause of a heinous crime.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Language , Nudity, Sensuality , Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Alessandro Rota
GENRE: Horror, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: North America Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Monday, Oct. 31st @ 12:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Born in Turin in 1984, as a teenager he made his first short movies experimenting the use of 16 mm and Super8 films which allowed him to discover a working method full of passion and dedication. Very young Alessandro started working in independent film productions, focusing on his main interest: the direction. He directed many shorts and medium-length movies like “Calibro70”, Thunderbird”, “The Great Factory of the War”. Since 2009 he had been working also on commercials productions.
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LAST CHRISTMAS WISH (SWEDEN)
SYNOPSIS: A romantic Christmas dinner for two turns into a bloody mess when an especially naughty Santa comes to town.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Albin Glasell & Emil Carlsson
GENRE: Horror, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Virtual Exclusive – Virtual Shorts Block #5
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Independent filmmakers from Sweden with a background in music videos and short films.
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LEGS (UK)
SYNOPSIS: Joy and Harry are trying to have a baby. One night, Joy swallows a spider in her sleep. When Joy subsequently develops an insatiable appetite for flies, it dawns on her that there may be more than one way of becoming a mother.
RATINGS GUIDE: Adult Content
GENRE: Fantasy, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Virtual Exclusive – Virtual Shorts Block #1
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Celine is an award-winning British-Lebanese writer and director. A London Film School graduate, she was selected as h Club’s Film Emerging Creative 2019 and is is mentored by Will Clarke (Altitude Films) as she develops her first feature, ‘LAYLA IN DREAMLAND’, with the support of the BFI Network and Edinburgh Talents Connects. Her previous shorts have been supported by the Doha Film Institute and Trademark Films, nominated and receiving awards at a number of Academy Qualifying festivals. She is a member of Directors UK Access and Inclusion committee, Inspire 2020 and is represented by Knight Hall Agency.
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LILIAS ADIE (UK)
SYNOPSIS: Lilias and young Maud walk the Highlands when talk turns to a jealous neighbour they know. Accusations of witchcraft lead Lilias to be arrested and interrogated, and when her friend’s life is threatened she chooses to confess with thundering wrath.
RATINGS GUIDE: Strong Violence, Language
DIRECTOR: Elize du Toit
GENRE: The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Sunday, Oct. 30th @ 4:00 PM (w/ “The Ones You Didn’t Burn”)
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Elize was an actress before producing her first short, Year 7, which was nominated for Best Short at London Short Film Festival (2014). She’s since been developing a slate of projects, working with BBC Films, the BFI and Channel 4.
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LILY’S MIRROR (USA)
SYNOPSIS: Struggling with phantom-limb syndrome after a dinner date severs her hand, Lily is given a therapeutic mirror box that enables an unexpected paranormal ability, intertwining lives and deaths in a journey of female empowerment and the quest for justice.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence, Language, Adult Content, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Linnea Frye
GENRE: Horror, Comedy, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Wednesday, Nov. 2nd @ 5:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Linnea Frye – Co-Writer/Co-Director/Actor: Linnea is a Chicago-based writer, actor, and improviser. Currently, she’s a professional actor with Big Mouth Talent, a teacher at The Second City, and a freelance writer. Her goal in life is to create meaningful comedy with friends that help people to grow, heal, and change. Originally from Atlanta, GA, she cut her teeth at Dad’s Garage Theatre Co. where she was part of the company for over ten years. While there, she was a performer as well as a writer for their stage shows and their online arm, DGTV.
Adam Pinney – Co-Writer/Co-Director: Adam is a writer/director whose 2016 film, The Arbalest, won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2016 SXSW Film Festival, and was previously selected to participate in the 2015 IFP Narrative Labs. Adam was the cinematographer for Joe Swanberg’s 24 Exposures, and for Adult Swim’s viral short, Too Many Cooks. He is also an illustrator and Graphic Designer who has created posters for Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room and Macon Blair’s Sundance-winning film, I Don’t Feel at Home in this World Anymore.
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LITTLE ANNA (USA)
SYNOPSIS: Fourth-grade teacher Anna Wheeler receives a new student also named Anna Wheeler, triggering eerie similarities and traumatic memories when the girl’s father fails to pick her up from school.
RATINGS GUIDE: Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: J. Batzli
GENRE: Horror, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Saturday, Oct. 29th @ 11:00 AM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Minnesota native, Jess found a love for film while recovering from a serious spinal injury at age 18. She then attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and most recently completed an MFA in Screenwriting at the American Film Institute. Jess works as a freelance screenwriter and script analyst, and has been credited on several award-winning projects, including recent Student BAFTA Award winner APART, TOGETHER. In 2020, she was a Nicholl semifinalist with her feature script CRUSHED and was later named a winner in the Shore Scripts Film Fund for her short film LITTLE ANNA.
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LOOSE ENDS (USA)
SYNOPSIS: While giving a tour of a murder house, a young woman must face more than just the morbid history of the house, but her own shattered past.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Shrader Thomas
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Friday, Nov. 4th @ 11:00PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Shrader Thomas found his way to his current home in Dallas, TX after attending the USC School of Cinema and spending most of his adult life living and working in Los Angeles. He’s spent much of his career cutting movie trailers and directing commercials.
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LOST FOOTAGE (TURKEY / ROMANIA)
SYNOPSIS: How would a found footage film look if the footage was never found? This conceptual art experiment questions the very nature of film and cinema while serving as an ironic tribute to the found footage horror pop culture.
RATINGS GUIDE: Intense Imagery, All Audiences
DIRECTOR: Adrian Țofei
GENRE: The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Virtual Exclusive – Virtual Shorts Block #5
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Adrian Țofei (pronounced Tsofei) is an acclaimed filmmaker and actor best known for his debut horror feature Be My Cat: A Film for Anne and his upcoming apocalyptic feature We Put the World to Sleep. IndieWire called Be My Cat: A Film for Anne “a hidden gem, a nonstop nightmare, a chilling character study and a dazzling debut”, Blumhouse said it’s a “new intelligent found footage film you need to see”, and Dread Central named it “revolutionary and dangerous”.
Adrian won Best Actor at Nashville Film Festival for his performance in Be My Cat, as well as Best Film at A Night of Horror in Sydney. He directed, produced, wrote and starred in the movie, which premiered in 2015 at Fantasporto, traveled the festival circuit and received critical acclaim (currently 88% fresh on RT), being ultimately released by Terror Films in 2018, and has since attracted a cult following. Adrian Țofei has been married to actress Duru Yücel since 2017, and they have also become partners onscreen in their upcoming feature We Put the World to Sleep, an international coproduction 7 years in the making and Adrian’s most ambitious project to date.
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LOVE IS A FIRE (USA)
SYNOPSIS: Soon after moving in together, a couple is forced to confront their challenges with intimacy, exacerbated by a toxic yeast infection and deep rooted insecurities, as their relationship slowly devolves.
RATINGS GUIDE: Nudity, Strong Sensuality, Adult Content, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Sofie Somoroff
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Thursday, Nov. 3rd @ 11:30 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Sofie is going through filmmaker puberty. Her latest directing work is primarily coming to terms with her bodily functions, most recently LOVE IS A FIRE, about an acidic yeast infection. Prior to that, she made a series of musicals about living in Los Angeles: MY FIRST NIGHT IN LOS ANGELES, about a girl learning self-love while crashing in her friend’s living room, and MY WORST NIGHT IN LOS ANGELES, about needing to poop while on a Hinge date. She’s a born and bred New Yorker, based in Los Angeles, with extremely strong opinions about bagels.
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LOVESEAT (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A couch-loving, furniture store salesman is forced to start breaking into a couple’s house after they purchase his one true love.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence , Strong Sensuality, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Jerry Pyle
GENRE: The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Saturday, Nov. 5th @ 11:00 AM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Jerry Pyle is a filmmaker from Porter Ranch, California whose work on genre movies does not reflect his current world view because he has to raise two tiny little children into loving, caring, self respecting adults in this mixed up world we now live in. It’s not easy. He also just got his SAG card. Maybe you should cast him something. I don’t know.
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