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ASCENT (USA)
SYNOPSIS: After Alet risks his life to save a girl with mythical powers from a lightning strike, she leaves a trail, luring him to a better life. To find her and help her get back to her people, he must learn to trust in powers he doesn’t understand and overcome an oppressive government chasing them across a deadly landscape.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence, All Audiences
DIRECTOR: Ben Burrell
GENRE: Sci-Fi, Animation
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 1st @ 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Ben graduated from film school from the University of Utah in 2002. He wrote and directed a handful of short films, winning awards at SlamDance and New York Film Festival before writing his first novel ‘Red Leaves and the Living Token’ which won an IndieBRAG award. Along side his writing, Ben was a principle character animator on the animated feature film “The Magistical,” and the lead animator on “Adventures of the living Corpse.” Currently, he leads the VFX team at Reactor VFX, creating creatures and explosions for NBC, Paramount, HBO, Netflix, and Disney.
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BEDTIME (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A father and son go through their bedtime routine. It’s anything but routine.
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences, Intense Imagery
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: None
SCREENING DATE: Thursday, Nov. 3rd @ 4:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Alan Seawright has been making movies, TV, and commercials for 15 years. He won a couple Emmys. He’s been a YouTuber for 2 years. He’s been afraid of the dark for 41 years.
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COMPANION (USA)
SYNOPSIS: Desperate, a woman performs a strange ritual.
RATINGS GUIDE: Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Zach Berry & Austin Meredith
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: None
SCREENING DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 1st @ 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Zach Berry and Austin Meredith are a filmmaking team from Salt Lake City. Starting in 2017, they have been working non-stop to make genre short films and are working on their first feature film!
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DEATH PARTS US: A LOVECRAFTIAN HORROR (USA)
SYNOPSIS: Based loosely on a character from “Call of Cthuhlu”, “Death Parts Us” explores nostalgia’s relationship to grief. After losing his wife, Henry turns to an old power to bring her back, only to find that “when we mourn our losses, we also mourn ourselves” and that nostalgia comes with the sacrifice of sanity.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence
DIRECTOR: Anatasha Blakely & Jacob Sorling
GENRE: Horror, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Wednesday, Nov. 2nd @ 11:00 AM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Anatasha Blakely and Jacob Sorling have collaborated on numerous occasions including the short films “Inch Thick, Knee Deep”, “Love Me Whatever Way”, and hundreds of live performances as the comedy duo “Buddy Puzzle.” They are also in love. Follow them at darklingfilms.com and @buddypuzzle.
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DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: PLAY YOUR WAY (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A story about a man lost on his journey, when he discovers an unlikely ally to guide him.
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences
DIRECTOR: Taylor Garrett
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMIERE STATUS: USA Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 1st @ 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Taylor Garrett is a graduate from the BYU AdLab Program, with several of his spec ads earning Young One Student awards. Taylor has a love for the 80’s and Steven Spielberg. He is newly married and living in NYC.
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EL MOÑO (USA)
SYNOPSIS: After her favorite sock goes missing, Andrea learns of generational family magic that helps her find all kinds of lost objects in the most unexpected ways. Soon enough, however, she’ll find out that toys and coins aren’t the only things that can get lost.
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences
DIRECTOR: Luis Fernando Puente
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMIERE STATUS: None
SCREENING DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 1st @ 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Luis Fernando Puente’s recent work includes La luna y el colibrí, which participated in numerous film festivals including FilmQuest. Lizde Arias is an immigrant, writer and journalist. In her work she seeks to highlight and retell the mundane by giving a spotlight to the aspects of life that are often overlooked.
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HOUSE OF THE MUMMY (USA)
SYNOPSIS: An animatronic mummy terrorizes a man in his home on Halloween night.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Strong Language
DIRECTOR: Michael Ballif
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 1st @ 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Michael Ballif is an award winning filmmaker best known for his Halloween-themed horror feature They Live Inside Us. Michael is also the founder of the Utah-based horror production company Witching Season Films, which specializes in creating atmospheric, spooky, and nostalgic Halloween content 365 days a year.
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INCOMPLETE (USA / UK)
SYNOPSIS: Conceptually using Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) and composed of a single take, «Incomplete» invites us to traverse an endless choreography of bodies in perpetual free-fall and updating images that reflect a world in constant change.
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences
DIRECTOR: Dalena Tran
GENRE: Fantastic
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Virtual Exclusive – Virtual Shorts Block #1
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Dalena Tran is a visual artist and director based in Los Angeles, CA. Her body of work reinterprets applications of traditional art forms and practices with emerging digital technologies through hybrid mediations. Engaging with the phenomenon of media as semiotic storytelling, she investigates the everyday confluences of language and expression; presence and immateriality; voyeurism and surveillance; urbanism and hegemony; play and pause.
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INHERITANCE (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A mother and daughter murder their wealthy grandmother, but they get more than what they bargained for.
RATINGS GUIDE: Brief Nudity
DIRECTOR: Erik McFarland
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 1st @ 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Utah native director dedicated to making high quality films for others to enjoy.
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IT’S COMING, IT’S REAL (USA)
SYNOPSIS: Politically charged fever dream montage for “It’s Coming It’s Real” by Swans.
RATINGS GUIDE: Strong Violence, Adult Content, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Steven Gray & Alexia Oldini
GENRE: Horror, Experimental
PREMIERE STATUS: None
SCREENING DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 1st @ 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Steven Gray & Alexia Oldini are Utah based filmmakers.
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LOVERS RETREAT (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A couple goes to a remote cabin to save their relationship but, instead, ends up putting their lives at risk.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Brandon Carraway
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 1st @ 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Director at Waterslide Films – a weekly short film production company
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MOONSTRUCK (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A suburban mom navigates a difficult night trying to protect her daughter from her overbearing husband. Also, the moon is turning people to zombies. So, you know, it’s a lot.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Aln Seawright
GENRE: Horror, Sci-Fi
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Opening Night – Friday, Oct. 28th @ 8:00 PM (playing with Cryo)
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Alan Seawright has been making movies, TV, and commercials for 15 years. He won a couple of Emmys. He’s been YouTubing for 2 years. He’s been scared of the dark for about 41 years.
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THE CACHE (USA)
SYNOPSIS: On a mission to confront a rogue scientist, a woman must traverse the wilderness of a ruined civilization where the very air she breathes can’t be trusted.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Ryan Margetts
GENRE: Sci-Fi
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Thursday, Nov. 3rd @ 4:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Ryan Margetts is a cinematographer, director, photographer, and writer based in Salt Lake City. Owner of Tiger Trap Media, Ryan has garnered recognition for his short films and has also worked as director of photography, grip/gaffer and second unit director of photography on commercials and feature films. Ted Bushman is an actor, composer, and writer based in New York City. Two-time Eugene O’Neill Music Theater Festival semifinalist, Ted has produced several musicals while also acting on screen and stage and recording the occasional pop song.
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THE COLOURING BOOK OUT OF SPACE (USA)
SYNOPSIS: Just wanting to relax, a man takes up a hobby that has sinister side effects.
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences
DIRECTOR: Patrick Murphy
GENRE: Comedy, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: None
SCREENING DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 1st @ 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Mixing comedy with sci-fi and horror, Patrick Murphy has been making films with Blaine Taggart and Mile Terrell for two decades. As a side hustle to support his film-making career, Murphy is a part-time high-school teacher and part-time University professor.
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THE MAN IN THE TREE (USA)
SYNOPSIS: After the death of his mother, a little boy encounters a magical creature in the woods who promises to return his mother to him if the boy will simply chop down the tree the creature is trapped within.
RATINGS GUIDE: Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Weber Griffiths
GENRE: Fantasy, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: None
SCREENING DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 1st @ 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Weber was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Ut and has been making movies since the second grade. Weber loves the fantastic and the mythological, and seeks to tell these stories in a contemporary cultural and social setting
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TROUBLE (USA)
SYNOPSIS: When fearless 17 year-old Amelia Whitman encounters a bloodied and riderless horse, she quickly suspects that its mysterious rider may not be far behind.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence, Mild Language, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Ben Hurst
GENRE: Horror, Western
PREMIERE STATUS: None
SCREENING DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 1st @ 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Ben is an award-winning commercial director/filmmaker who has directed work for brands such as Chrysler, Cheetos, Budweiser, Progressive Insurance, Snickers, Pepsi and a whole bunch more.
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WHERE IS CODY FROM? (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A dramatic-horror short about Cody, a 12 year old boy, who goes through the process of finding out a large part of his true identity.
RATINGS GUIDE: Colby Barrios
DIRECTOR: Nick Peterson
GENRE: Horror, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: None
SCREENING DATE: Virtual Exclusive – Virtual Shorts Block #4
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Colby Barrios is a Venezuelan-American writer and director and is a Class of 2024 Directing Fellow at the American Film Institute. Barrios writes and directs short films and is currently developing a handful of feature films that explore nuanced and personal stories. He lives with his wife and his cuter-than-life dog, Lula.
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