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MAKE A WISH (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A “light-hearted” comedy about the sweetest fiancé giving her boyfriend the best present ever.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Strong Language
DIRECTOR: Dinh Thai
GENRE: Horror, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Thursday, Nov. 4th @ 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Dinh Thai is an award-winning writer/director by way of commercial directing. Born in Vietnam, fled to France, and finally settling in Los Angeles, the 80s and 90s nurtured a fascinating cultural mix that strongly informs Dinh’s filmic approach and aesthetic. He brings a youthful, multicultural viewpoint to his storytelling. His work blends visual style with realism, focusing on comedy and drama with strong musical influences. His commercial clients include Adidas, Beachbody, T-Mobile, Toyota, and the US Navy.
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MARK II (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A lowly office worker stumbles upon a floppy disk that will transform his life forever.
RATINGS GUIDE: Language
GENRE: The Beyond, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Saturday, Nov. 6th @ 11:00 AM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Originally from Ohio, Brent now lives in Los Angeles where he write and directs short films with fellow creatives.
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MARKED (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A tattoo artist is forced to confront his past when a client (Academy Award nominee Eric Roberts) knows what his tattoos really mean.
RATINGS GUIDE: Strong Violence, Language, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Matthew Avery Berg
GENRE: Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Friday, Nov. 5th @ 4:30 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Born in 2001, Matthew has made DIY shorts since pre-school. He began directing on the Universal Backlot when he was in fifth grade. At 18, Matthew directed Accomplice, following two years of trying to get it funded, with 30 + cast & crew. However, it wasn’t till MARKED that Matthew felt like he had finally really begun exercising his craft. He is currently in development on his feature directorial debut.
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MASK OF THE EVIL APPARITION (AUSTRALIA)
SYNOPSIS: Olivia, a young woman with no memory, searches a deserted nocturnal city looking for something or someone. She encounters twin brothers Angelo #1 and Angelo #2 who may be her salvation, but Angelo #1 warns her that the “Mysterious Ones,” a nefarious group of clones, are after her for some unknown reason.
RATINGS GUIDE: Strong Violence, Strong Language, Sensuality, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Alex Proyas
GENRE: Horror, Sci-Fi
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 2nd @ 5:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Australian film director/writer/producer Alex Proyas made his first feature, SPIRITS OF THE AIR; GREMLINS OF THE CLOUDS in 1989. He went on to complete cult classics THE CROW, staring Branden Lee, in 1994 and DARK CITY in 1998. Proyas’ greatest commercial success to date, I, ROBOT, was released in 2004 followed by KNOWING (2008) and GODS OF EGYPT (2016) more recently. He currently lives in Sydney planning future projects and building a virtual production studio: HERETIC FOUNDATION.
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MATCHED (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A young woman explores an apartment during a blackout with nothing more than a box of matches. But she’s not alone.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Language
DIRECTOR: Zack Kron
GENRE: Horror, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Friday, Oct. 29th @ 6:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Zack Kron is a Director/Cinematographer and the founder of By the Glass Pictures. He was born and raised in New Orleans before moving to New York City to train as an actor at NYU and the Stella Adler Conservatory. Zack (pre-pandemic) works full time on both independent and studio productions in New York.
He has produced and/or directed/shot several award-winning films, most notably the only film adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ “The Palooka,” starring Mad Men’s Bryan Batt. Other films include “The Boss’s Pants,” “The Last Flicker,” and “Paper Dreams.”
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MINIMALLY INVASIVE (NEW ZEALAND)
SYNOPSIS: An anxious patient fears that his concerns are being ignored when his routine operation yields unexpected findings.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Language, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Adam Harvey
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Virtual Exclusive – Screens all dates Virtually via Horror Shorts #1 Block
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Adam is a writer and director based in New Zealand. His short films share a dark sense of humour derived from his previous life as a trauma surgeon. He is also the writer and director of the short films Bloody Late Shift, and Only Humane.
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MOURN (CANADA)
SYNOPSIS: A grief counsellor is visited by a very disturbed man.
RATINGS GUIDE: Strong Language
DIRECTOR: Joanna Tsanis
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Saturday, Nov. 6th @ 2:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Joanna Tsanis is an award-winning genre filmmaker whose films have screened at FANTASIA, FANTASTIC FEST, and SCREAMFEST.
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MUSE (MEXICO)
SYNOPSIS: Muse is a gothic romance fantasy that explores the complicated relationship between the obsessed artist and his muse. When an aging and decadent artist rekindles with his Muse right before his last exhibition, all goes well… until the inner monster comes out.
RATINGS GUIDE: Brief Nudity, Sensuality, Adult Content
DIRECTOR: Camilla Tamara Demichelis Richaud
GENRE: Fantasy, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Thursday, Nov. 4th @ 12:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Camilla is a Mexican, French, and Italian film director and producer. In her work, she likes to explore the female figure in society and the topic of empowerment and obsession. She enjoys complicated, quixotic, and underdog characters, and often ponders with the metaphor of invisibility both in fiction and documentary. For her work as a producer, she was the recipient of the Youth Award Medal in Arts and Culture, the most prestigious decoration given by the Mexican head of state. She was also selected by leading Mexican magazine Expansion as one of the 30 Leaders in their 30s in Mexico.
She received the Emerging Content Creator scholarship from the National Association of Latino Independent Producers and she was selected as one of the mentees in their Diverse Woman in Media program. She has worked in feature films, documentaries, short films as well as commercials and music videos with names such as Javier Bardem, Eugenio Caballero, Cristina Gallego, Humberto Zurita, etc. She has directed commercials for brands like Walmart, Sam’s Club, Emperador (Pepsico), and Heineken, Nivea, Samsung, and Telcel. She directed the second unit for Latin grammy nominated documentary video Amar y Vivir. Muse is Camilla’s first fiction short film. She is currently writing a female led crime and adventure series and is in pre-production of her first feature documentary, which was based on a short film selected by PROCINE Mexico, Women in Film Mexico, Filminlatino, and the international Mobile Film Fest.
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NAGUAL: THE SIN EATER (USA)
SYNOPSIS: Two outlaws, wounded and on the run, struggle across the unforgiving landscape of Northern Arizona after a botched robbery in 1887. Their foredoomed path is crossed by a mysterious gift bearing nun who is not what she seems
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Mild Language, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Dan “Laz” Lazarovits
GENRE: Horror, Fantastic
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Sunday, Oct. 31st @ 5:30 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: A native Angelino, Dan “Laz” Lazarovits, has been working in the film industry since graduating from film school at Cal State Northridge in 1999. As a First Assistant Director, Laz has worked on horror films such as Insidious 3 and Insidious 4, and the television series American Horror Story – Apocalypse. In recent years Laz has had the opportunity to pursue his dream of co-writing, producing and directing his own short film, Nagual: The Sin Eater. Laz still lives in Los Angeles, tirelessly searching for interesting and dynamic ways to continue storytelling.
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NO GOOD DEED (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A man. A femme fatale. And an Italian thong.
RATINGS GUIDE: Language
DIRECTOR: Phillip Clark Davis
GENRE: Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Saturday, Nov. 6th @ 11:00 AM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: A lifelong explorer of awkwardness, Phillip Clark Davis graduated from AFI Conservatory’s directing program in 2014, where his thesis film A Teenage Drama garnered him student-Emmy and BAFTA nominations. More recently he has directed feature films Saturday at the Starlight and Burying Yasmeen. Wherever there is a tendency toward the dark and ridiculous, Phillip will be there with a spoonful of cyanide to help the sugar go down.
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NO ONE IS COMING (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A young woman awaits the return of her boyfriend at a secluded cabin only to discover that she may in fact not be alone.
RATINGS GUIDE: Strong Violence, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Matthew Barber & Nathaniel Barber
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Saturday, Oct. 30th @ 5:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Twin brothers Matthew and Nathaniel Barber are writers and directors best known for their short horror films Go Back (2019), No One Is Coming (2020), and Specter of Weeping Hill (2021).
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NUMERUS DUO (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A young Catholic school girl encounters foul spirits.
RATINGS GUIDE: Adult Content, Language, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Nick Fiorella
GENRE: Horror, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: TBD
SCREENING DATE: Monday, Nov. 1st @ 12:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: N/A
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OFFERINGS (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A suburban woman goes to increasingly desperate lengths to appease the will of the gods.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Sensuality, Adult Content, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Shane Bannon
GENRE: Horror, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Friday, Nov. 5th @ 1:30 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Shane Bannon is a Director and Production Designer based in Los Angeles by way of San Francisco. His work focuses on characters who seek connection in a world that encourages isolation. His first short film, “Only Strangers Sleep in my Bed”, is currently streaming on Alter.
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OLD FOX (CANADA)
SYNOPSIS: A daughter questions her father’s mental health, and mysterious death.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence, Adult Content
DIRECTOR: Briana Rayner
GENRE: The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Monday, Nov. 1st @ 9:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Briana Rayner (she/her) is a writer, director, performer and classic typewriter enthusiast. She directed live comedy and improvised theatre in her former role as Co-Artistic Director at Instant Theatre; Old Fox is her first foray into directing filmed drama. In her spare time, she likes to bake and watch shark attack videos.
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ONE FIGHT FIVE TIMES (NEW ZEALAND)
SYNOPSIS: Two inter-dimensional warriors battle each other across five different timelines.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence
DIRECTOR: Tim McLachlan
GENRE: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Comedy, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: North America Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Virtual Exclusive – Screens all dates Virtually via Fantastic Shorts Block
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Tim is an actor, stunt performer and film director with three decades of experience in the New Zealand film and television industry. He has performed as a stuntman and stunt double on such films as “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” where he stunt doubled for Sir Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis and Orlando Bloom. He has also written and directed numerous short films over the last 25 years including “Frosty Man and the BMX Kid” (Executive Produced by Barrie Osborne – Producer of “The Matrix” and “The Lord of the Rings”), as well as the award-winning independent feature film, “Hidden” in 2001 (released 2005).
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OUROBOROS (CANADA)
SYNOPSIS: In a near future, a lonely man elaborates a twisted plan in order to fulfill his desire to have a child..
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences
DIRECTOR: Max Le Flaguais
GENRE: Sci-Fi
PREMIERE STATUS: USA Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Wednesday, Nov. 3rd @ 11:00 AM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: As a talented actor, Maxime Le Flaguais has earned himself an enviable and loyal following among the Quebec audience. He has taken on many diverse roles, may it be for theatre, television, cinema or dubbing. Maxime has also been seen on the silver screen: Jean-Marc Vallée’s C.R.A.Z.Y.; Nitro, directed by Alain Desrochers; Babine, by Luc Picard; Les grandes chaleurs, by Sophie Lorain; all prior to playing a young Robert Piché in Piché, entre ciel et terre.
As for the small screen, his character Doctor Eric Lanoue, present in all five seasons of Trauma quickly comes to mind. In 2015, he played controversial teacher Mathieu Brousseau in the widely watched daily program 30 Vies and the fearsome colleague Etienne to actress Sophie Desmarais’s character in Mon ex à moi. Before embodying Alexis Labranche for the past four years in the current and very popular series Les Pays d’en haut, Maxime was famous explorer Samuel de Champlain in TFO’s Le rêve de Champlain. Furthermore, Maxime played opposite Sofia Pernas in the upcoming action CBS series Blood and Treasures.
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