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MASCAGNI’ SYMPHONY (ITALY)
SYNOPSIS: In the middle of a settling of scores, two dangerous thugs must face the demons of a life on the edge, whose law makes no distinction between victims and executioners.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence
DIRECTOR: Alessandro Vivarini
GENRE: The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Virtual Exclusive – Virtual Shorts Block #5
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Vivarini’s filmmaking highlights lives on the margins of society. Grow up in the suburbs of Milano, he always tried to tell the dark side of the city, finding his cinematic expression through poetic imagery. “Mascagni’ Symphony” is a set of spin-off of a feature film screenplay, of which “Inno all’Infamia” is the esthetic manifesto.
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MEAT FRIEND (USA)
SYNOPSIS: An ex-con, sentient pile of hamburger meat teaches after-school lessons to a child.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Language
GENRE: Horror, Comedy, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Friday, Nov. 4th @ 11:00 AM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Profiled in Chronicle and named as one of A.V. Club’s 10 female filmmakers to hire, Izzy Lee is a director on the rise. Her award-winning tales have screened at major international genre festivals such as Fantasia, Overlook, Morbido, FrightFest, Fantaspoa, Brooklyn Horror, Boston Sci-Fi, Boston Underground, Chattanooga, and more. In 2022, Lee earned Certificates of Completion from Sundance Collab’s Directing Television, Directing Actors, and Visual Storytelling courses, under Dan Attias, Tessa Blake, and Peter Markham. Additionally, Lee has directed nearly two dozen shorts and shadowed director Adam Egypt Mortimer on the SpectreVision feature Archenemy. She’s currently developing a long-awaited feature.
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MEAT JERKY (USA)
SYNOPSIS: It’s kill-or-be-killed in a future where there’s nothing to eat but human flesh, which is no problem for a man-hunter … until she meets someone she likes.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence
DIRECTOR: Phillip Clark Davis
GENRE: Sci-Fi, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Saturday, Nov. 5th @ 11:00 AM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: A filmmaker with a strong background in awkwardness, Phillip Clark Davis graduated AFI Conservatory’s directing program in 2014, where his thesis film A Teenage Drama garnered him student-Emmy and BAFTA attention. 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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MIDNIGHT TELEVISION (USA)
SYNOPSIS: In a retrofuturistic world (best of the 80s, 90s and today) a failing content creator gets inspired by the woman from the TV.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Language
DIRECTOR: Gabe Michael
GENRE: Sci-Fi, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Saturday, Oct. 29th @ 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Gabe Michael is an award-winning Director and Producer who has worked with top studios, networks, brands, and celebrities amassing a BILLION VIEWS on his videos, films, shows, interactive and branded videos.
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MILTOWN (USA)
SYNOPSIS: When an ancient shapeshifter infiltrates an imaginative young man’s family ranch, he must take it upon himself to discover who can be trusted and who is turning them against each other.
RATINGS GUIDE: Strong Violence, Language, Brief Nudity, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Connor Martin
GENRE: Horror, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Sunday, Oct. 30th @ 7:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Connor Martin is a Texan director based in NYC and LA. After time at Anonymous Content and on two Emmy-winning seasons at Saturday Night Live, he made his directorial debut with the DIY pandemic schlock-fest SHELTER IN PLACE (1091 Pictures). 2. Lebanese-American Chris Beyrooty is an award-winning and Emmy/Streamy nominated director-writer based in Los Angeles and Nashville. He penned Paramount’s new horror feature Margaux, which completed production last month.
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MONKEY-LOVE, PLEASE HOLD (CANADA)
SYNOPSIS: The arrival of an unsolicited package upends Ben’s isolated existence of online sex and solo karaoke.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Language, Nudity, Adult Content
DIRECTOR: Greg Fox
GENRE: Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Saturday, Oct. 29th @ 5:00PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Greg Fox is an award winning Toronto based writer/director.
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MOSHARI (BANGLADESH)
SYNOPSIS: The end of the world forces two sisters together, inside a mosquito net (moshari), just to survive—but first they must survive each other.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Nuhash Humayun
GENRE: Horror, Fantasy
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Monday, Oct. 31st @ 3:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Nuhash Humayun is a Bangladeshi writer/director with a love for combining genre with South Asian identity. A self-taught filmmaker, Nuhash wrote, directed, produced and edited the multi-Oscar® qualifying short film MOSHARI (2022) which won the SXSW Jury Award as well as awards at HollyShorts, Fantasia, Atlanta, Melbourne, Short Shorts & Asia and many more. Nuhash is also the first Bangladeshi alum of the Sundance Screenwriting Intensive. His upcoming feature MOVING BANGLADESH has received support from Sundance, Film Independent, the Hollywood Foreign Press, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Cannes Marche du Film & ScreenCraft. Besides film, Nuhash is a published cartoonist and a communications specialist with an interest in climate change in the Global South.
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MOTHERLORD (CANADA)
SYNOPSIS: An alien, borrowing the body of a human mother-to-be, is confronted by fear and uncertainty as its offspring grows inside her.
RATINGS GUIDE: Brief Nudity, Adult Content
DIRECTOR: Sébastien Landry
GENRE: Horror, Sci-Fi, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: USA Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Thursday, Nov. 3rd @ 11:30 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Sébastien Landry has been developing, writing, and directing digital and fiction projects since 2009. His education in both Video Game Design and cinema has allowed him to create a synergy across various media, mixing 2D and 3D animation and virtual reality techniques with conventional fiction, in order to further develop his artistic approach. His work spans a broad spectrum, including video game documentaries, horror short film and series, music videos, internationally renowned commercials, and several innovative video game projects. His latest feature film, Game of Death (Shudder), was screened at over 40 international film festivals. Through his multi-faceted, internationally prize-winning work, Sébastien has forged a bold artistic identity.
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MOTION AT YOUR DOOR (USA)
SYNOPSIS: One year ago, a mother and child died in the apartment downstairs. If the neighbors hadn’t ignored their cries, they might still be alive. Tonight, something stirs in the apartment downstairs…and this time, its cries won’t be ignored.
RATINGS GUIDE: Adult Content, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Jared Rivet
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 1st @ 11:00 AM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Jared Rivet is a Los Angeles horror screenwriter, producer, director, author, and voice actor. He wrote the original screenplay for the feature film JACKALS (2017) and was a staff writer for the revival season of Nickelodeon’s ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? (2019) as well as Syfy’s DAY OF THE DEAD (2021). He has written and directed multiple episodes of the EARBUD THEATER audio drama podcast and is the co-host of Dead Right Horror Trivia. MOTION AT YOUR DOOR is his directorial debut.
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MUMMERING LEGENDS (CANADA)
SYNOPSIS: A family matriarch recounts the disturbing history of a tradition called “Mummering” in 1920’s Newfoundland.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Intense Imagery
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Monday, Oct. 31st @ 3:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Shane is a creative creature that spent years working in visual arts and wandering the rural Newfoundland wilderness before he found his soul in filmmaking. But in the horror genre creatures catch up quickly. Since 2017, he’s directed and produced 30+ short films with his D.I.Y. production company GRIND MIND, including ‘Mummering Legends’ which is currently on the festival circuit. He now serves as the Executive Director of the FOGFEST horror film festival in St. John’s but still calls home a patch of spooky trees just outside the city limits.
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MY FRIENDS THE PLANTS (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A mockumentary horror-comedy depicting an awkward woman’s difficulties being a familiar to vampire plants.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Language
DIRECTOR: Christine Celozzi
GENRE: Horror, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Saturday, Oct. 29th @ 5:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Christine Celozzi is a director, actor, and writer living in Los Angeles, CA. She received the 2020 Shawna E. Shea Memorial Foundation, Inc.’s Women in Film Fellowship award, for which she wrote, directed, and starred in her debut short film, My Friends The Plants. It has since been an award winner and finalist in numerous festivals, earning Christine a best directing award at WhoHaHalloween Film Festival, run by Elizabeth Banks’ WhoHaHa platform, best director at Women’s Comedy Film Festival ATL, and best first-time director at the Thrills and Chills Film Awards.
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MY LEFT ARM (USA)
SYNOPSIS: After a debilitating stroke, Malorie, on the brink of a career breakthrough, finds herself at war with her own body and is forced to watch as her life slowly unravels. As her condition continues to worsen, she begins to detach from herself and those she loves, eventually placing her young daughter, Cam, in mortal danger.
RATINGS GUIDE: Strong Violence, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Melissa Vitello
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Wednesday, Nov. 2nd @ 5:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Melissa Vitello – Melissa Vitello is a seasoned screenwriter and director of 15 years. Melissa has recently completed directing her 7th feature film, Abigail, starring Ava Cantrell of Warner Bros. Lights Out, Gene Farber of Captain America: Civil War and Karimah Westbrook of CW’s All American. Melissa has been recognized by festivals such as Houston Worldfest, Pasadena International Film Festival, La Femme International, Austin Revolution and FilmQuest, among many others. Melissa was recently awarded Best Screenplay at the Pasadena International FilmFestival and made the International Screenwriters Association’s top 50 finalists for the ISA Fellowship as well as the top 20 finalists for FilmQuests Best Screenplay competition.
Melissa has proven to be highly skilled in her field by creating high quality content by prioritizing and allocating limited resources and consistently improving her story, character, and overall production value. Christopher Sheffield – Los Angeles based Director and Director of Photography, Christopher Sheffield learned to love filmmaking as a child looking to use cameras and his imagination to escape his small town. As a growing professional he has always strived to push the limits of independent cinema, Writing, Directing, and DP’ing his own feature films, from ambitious action thrillers to the smaller drama projects with deeply personal stories, he’s always made it his goal to collaborate and bring fresh faces and fresh perspectives to the exciting world of filmmaking and storytelling.
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MY LONELY DEVIL (USA)
SYNOPSIS: Horror Short film inspired by the Czech New Wave. Serial Killer’s guilty conscience personified by Lucifer.
RATINGS GUIDE: Brief Nudity, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: David Hakobyan
GENRE: Horror, Fantasy, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Tuesday, Nov. 1st @ 11:00 AM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: David Hakobyan was born in Germany to Armenian parents in 1993. He grew up in LA and attended film school at Los Angeles City College in 2011. David began making short films when he was 14 years old.
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NEST (AUSTRALIA)
SYNOPSIS: An isolated father haunted by his child’s cries of hunger takes up work as a timber feller only to be stopped by a mysterious alarm coming from deep in the woods.
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences
DIRECTOR: James Hunter
GENRE: Horror, Fantasy
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Saturday, Oct. 29th @ 11:00AM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: A multi-award winning director of shorts, commercials, and music videos, James Hunter grew up in Canberra, Australia. After being gifted his first video camera as a child, he began to experiment and make his own films using family and friends as cast and crew, while utilizing his small town as a backdrop. As a teenager, he moved to Sydney to study the screen arts, picking up many of the notable local and national awards for his short films over the following decade. He has since relocated to Melbourne, Australia, where he has been developing feature film projects.
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NIGHT OF THE COOTERS (USA)
SYNOPSIS: When the loudest explosion ever heard rocks the small town of Pachuco, Texas, it’s up to Sheriff Lindley and his trusted Deputy Sweets to get to the bottom of what is happening.
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audience
DIRECTOR: Vincent D’Onofrio
GENRE: Sci-Fi, Western
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Friday, Oct. 28th @ 5:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Vincent D’Onofrio is an American actor, filmmaker, director and musician. He began his acting career in theater on Broadway, earning him recognition helped start his career in the film and television worlds. From about 1984 through today, he has been in 80+ films, 20+ tv series, 5+ films he has directed; and has been nominated for a Prime Time Emmy for his current role Detective Robert Goren on Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
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NIGHTMARE AT CAMP BLOODBATH (USA)
SYNOPSIS: After discovering their lodge totaled by a neighboring camp, two counselors are stalked and prayed upon by the local legend Terrance Fisher in his slapstick parody.
RATINGS GUIDE: Language
DIRECTOR: Dylan Arnow
GENRE: Horror, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Thursday, Nov. 3rd @ 11:30 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Dylan Arnow is a director and an award-winning screenwriter based in Los Angeles. During the pandemic, he honed in on his craft by cranking out multiple screenplays, some of which have gone on to earn many accolades. His feature screenplay “Nightmare at Camp Bloodbath” has won 6 awards including Best Horror-Comedy to Best Original Screenplay and has over 20 official selections.
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NOCHE DEL INFIERNO – HELL NIGHT (USA)
SYNOPSIS: Three freshman pledges must denounce cultural stereotypes and survive a magical test to gain entry into the most prestigious Latina sorority.
RATINGS GUIDE: Language, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Andrew Reid
GENRE: Horror, Fantasy, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Friday, Nov. 4th @ 11:00 AM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Andrew Reid is a disabled Caribbean filmmaker who uses his multicultural identity to explore “universal” themes and create stories grounded in drama but not bound by genre. He is a DGA Award winning director and MFA graduate from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. His award-winning projects have screened at Slamdance, CAA Moebius, Paramount Pictures, HollyShorts, Cleveland, Pan African and over 50 other film festivals worldwide.
Reid is a 2022 NAACP Image Awards nominee and was selected for the Commercial Directors Diversity Program. In 2021 he was selected as a ViewFinder Emerging Director with Paramount TV Studios. He is developing both feature and episodic projects that have received support from the Tribeca Film Institute, SFFilm, Film Independent, The Gotham and Sloan Foundation. He was a director in the 2020 class of Film Independent’s Project Involve and RespectAbility Summer Lab program.
At the age of 21, while studying at the University of Florida, he became paralyzed from the chest down. A malformation of his blood vessels (AVM), resulted in a rupture which compressed his spine while he was sleeping, leaving him completely paralyzed. He was told by doctors that he would never walk again. However, with perseverance, hard work, and good fortune, he regained movement. Today, he walks with a cane and continues to progress in strength and health. He became an advocate for the disabled community and is currently an Entertainment and News Media Apprentice with RespectAbility. You can learn more at www.ReidtheStory.com
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NYCTO (USA)
SYNOPSIS: In a chain of unfortunate events, a group of mysterious individuals struggle to come to terms with their true nature in what turns out to be one tragic night. Meanwhile, across town, a tenacious photojournalist in search of her missing sister has discovered the existence of these and other creatures that walk among us. It is in accepting her destiny that she will find the power to face the threat that grows in the shadows. Based on the series of the same name, this short story is a bite into the mysterious and sensual universe of Nycto.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Mild Language, Brief Nudity, Sensuality
GENRE: Horror, Fantasy
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Friday, Nov. 4th @ 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Angel was born in USA and raised in Venezuela. Started his career shooting skateboarding videos when he was 15 years old. He received his BA in Audiovisual Journalism in 1998. He is known as the cinematographer of films like BRAVETOWN, MONDAYS NIGHT AT SEVEN and OPERACION JAQUE, also by his extensive work in the music video world like Marc Anthony’s Latin Grammy Award winning for best video UN AMOR ETERNO. Now Angel is bringing us his own stories as Writer / Director with his award winning shorts DIVA & ASTRO and WOUND RIDERS.
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