TURN IT OFF, 7min., USA
Directed by Senda Maud Bonnet
A woman races through the woods, hiding from an unseen threat. After injuring her leg, she finds refuge in a house, but we see a girl curled up on her couch, safe at home watching the same film we are. As the woman hides, the girl realizes the events on-screen are linked to her world. Terrified, she turns off the TV but hears a cry from upstairs. Drawn by fear, she approaches her closet…

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

We were joking with my producing partner what the film you are watching comes in real life.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

10 months

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

Fucking awesome

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

after editing, the end did not work; I reshot the end several times

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

The audience talking about the film was such a joy. You make a film to make people feel emotions, and the fear and anticipation they felt is the best gift for me.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

When I was 15

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

Blade Runner and Groundhog day

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?

Meeting other passionate filmmakers and sharing ideas

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?

It’s super easy to use; in two clicks, I can submit my film to any festival and also do the follow-up for you.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Nutella brioche toast

11. What is next for you? A new film?

We are developing a new story with my producing partner and writing two other projects, one of them is the adaptation of Turn it Off in long form.

AFTER COMA, 2min., South Korea
Directed by Soo Hyun Kim
This film is composed of 7 poems that take the viewers into the journey of spending the last moment with the loved one as a views of both people who leave and who is left. Each poems are represented with symbolic image and sound.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
= The death of my father made this knot in my heart and throat, to be able to tell other stories, I had to get rid of that knot.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
= About 2 Years

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
= common yearning (?!)

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
= being in a limbo of trying to remember his death for filmmaking sake and trying to move on of his death for my mental health sake.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
= Overwhelmed

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
= High school.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
= Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon and Yukio Ninagawa’s Snakes and Earrings

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
= Wish I would have attended the festival!

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
= Easy and fast.

10. What is your favorite meal?
= Right now, my new food obsession is Malatang (Sichuan style)

11. What is next for you? A new film?
= Working to pitch a new short film.

THE BOSTON BULLDOGS, 96min., USA
Directed by Bryan Cote
“The Boston Bulldogs” is a 90-minute documentary film interviewing 5 people from a running club for addiction recovery, interconnected by one woman’s story from finishing the Boston Marathon after her first full year of sobriety to her relapse 24 hours later, and now her recovery 10 years later. The filmmakers follow Meaghan on a run at the site of her first day with the club in 2014, talk with her sister who saw her addiction at its worst and helped her to recovery, interview Meaghan and her husband Conan about their relationship, their hope for their kids, and Conan’s path, interview Ashley who talks about her low self-confidence on the way to addiction and recovery and how Meaghan saved her life, return to Meaghan and Ashley’s sober living house, and hear why the club formed from its founder. The film is intended to show people in recovery in a positive, hopeful light, providing guidance for those dealing with addiction now, their family and for youth and families dealing with the pressures that come from coming of age in the 2020s.

https://www.thebehavioralhealthhour.com/

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film? I

‘m a lifelong journalist and love to tell stories and wanted to work with my son on a project to marry our two interests – mine writing, his more broadcasting and film. This was an easy story to want to tell because addiction affects so many people worldwide and is misunderstood, and the running club is a great way to address addiction and recovery, particularly at a public health level but very much so at a local level. I wanted to try to tell this story in a different way than on paper…

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

A full year – I did an initial visit to the club anonymously for a run, w/out really telling anyone. I ran, talked with some of the members and then after getting support from the club to do a documentary, we started doing interviews and some filming. Most of the work was weekend sessions my son and I did just editing down footage. It was like a puzzle. 3-4 hours of content and film footage, tried to boil it down. Took about 1 year where we felt good enough. Candidly we could have spent another year tweaking and tightening…

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

Redemption Heals

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

Realizing that I had done the interviews for the film like I would any normal interview for a newspaper or magazine written story – which is good for written pieces, but not exactly for documentaries – so that made it harder to structure the film and edit and cut and put the pieces together in a way where I wasn’t so front and center as the interviewer, and in a way that made it easy to follow. Had we taken more time we might have set up the filming and questionning somewhat differently I suppose but then again, I am new to this…telling a story through film is not easy but maybe there’s not one uniform way to do it.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

Rewarding and validating. It was great to hear the reviewers mention things like the questions we asked and how the film impacted them. I also appreciated one of the reviewers acknowleding that the film is long – probably too long – which I get and I agree with candidly….I found it difficult to organize and package the content in a film compared to a written story. Much easier with words. Harder with images, video.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

I’ve thought about documentary because a lot of my feature stories are of real people overcoming or interesting human interest stories but not until I realized my kid — now 21 – had the chops to film, did I think I could do a film. And this story – maybe more than any I’d written about, had the wider appeal and potential to make an impact on educating many people, or at least showing people who’ve dealt with addiction or are in the throes of it with family or friends, that they are not alone, and that there’s a way to get throught it.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

Probably a tie between The Natural, which had maybe the single greatest line in a movie when Redford’s Hobbs asks the bat boy to “go pick me me out a winner Bobby” – it’s a line that stands in time because you know Bobby will pick out the bat they carved together, because Hobbs is bleeding, and because we know the ending…we hope for it. Moonstruck is the other – maybe my favorite because this one just makes me laugh, reminds me of my family.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?

It’s been amazing so far as a firstime filmmaker just trying to get exposure. Perhaps adding more information or guidance on how to get films that are winning awards shared on a broader scale and perhaps help directly get them eligible to be shown to movie companies or TV companies that want to offer films.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?

Rewarding and easy to do (and I’m not too smart with uploading or things like that). It was super easy and it’s been nice to see how things stand w/ each festival we entered. It would help to understand more about process from getting selected to nominated to the potential to being shown at the actual event. It’s sometimes not easy to discern which, if any of the festivals we’ve been selected for will actually show the film at a live event that we might attend.

10. What is your favorite meal?

A bowl of spinach, mozzarella cheese and a lot of Italian dressing.

11. What is next for you? A new film?

Yes – hopefully – thinking through a film to tell one of two stories, one related to a group of young women who came to the US as refugees and have made an incredible impact. But one thing at a time…

UNDOCUMENTED, 72min., USA
Directed by Patricia Shih
No matter where you stand on the hot button topic of immigration, this true story — of one man’s journey from the world’s most dangerous city to where he is today at the top of his profession — will not fail to touch your heart on the most human level.

http://www.undocumenteddoc.com/
https://www.facebook.com/undocumenteddoc/

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

I read an autobiography of a man whose daughter was taking guitar lessons from my husband. My hubby and I are both professional musicians, BTW. The man had given copies of his book to both of us one Christmas. I read it three times because it was so compelling, and thought it would make a great film because I feel a movie can reach a wider audience than a book. However, although I had made short music videos of my songs I had never made a feature film before. I just felt this man’s story HAD to be made into a film and I wanted to be the one to do it.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

5 months. Being a newbie filmmaker I was so naive! I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I had NO IDEA how long a feature film would take, nor how much money. I pulled a figure out of thin air, raised the money in a month, then set out to making it.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

Immigrant advocate.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

My own ignorance.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

I was very proud! Because despite my initial naivete and ignorance I and my assistant producer pulled off a multiple international award-winning documentary that audiences LOVE. At every screening I watch the audience’s reactions, which are always very spot-on, strong and gratifying. And when given the opportunity they often give it standing ovations (especially when the subject of the film Dr. Harold Fernandez speaks afterwards), many glowing reviews and ask insightful questions.

The reviewers in the feedback videos got every little thing I was hoping audiences would “get” and notice, and they praised how we handled and portrayed the story.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

During the actual making of “Undocumented.” Even though it was very, very hard being such a newbie with very little knowledge (thank you to my associate producer!) and with a very short and tight deadline (we wanted to premiere it before the 2016 election with Trump vs. Clinton, so I barely slept during those 5 months) I loved the process and realized how truly impactful films are if a great story is told well. However, being a songwriter, performer and visual artist I already knew how important and impactful it is when the arts are used to convey ideas. Perfect vehicles, and film engages so many of the senses so it’s particularly powerful.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

I don’t totally understand this question. But for films that I’ve seen more than once, I guess the answer would be the classics like “The Wizard of Oz,” “Gone with the Wind,” “It’s a Wonderful World”, like that.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?

First off, I need help in distribution. Since filmmaking is a new “industry” for me I don’t know what the next best steps are to get my film out into the world. Perhaps an agent?

Secondly, I need to know the best ways of raising funds to make more movies. My first film was financed through a Kickstarter campaign but I don’t want to use that again; too nerve-wracking and I don’t like the all-or-nothing thing.

Thirdly, I love to actually attend screenings no matter where in the world they are. So far I’ve only been able to attend ones in the US in-person or via Facetime/Zoom. Help with finances to attend international festivals and screenings would be BIG.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?

Great! Having access to so many festivals all over the world makes it easy to pick and choose. I have to say it certainly gets pricey when submitting to as many as I’d like.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Another odd question! I love seafood, Chinese or Japanese food, French. But I’d rather make art (music, film, books, visual art, dance) than eat and sleep.

11. What is next for you? A new film?

I want to make a documentary about my own family’s immigrant experience from China, set in the context of the difficult history of the Chinese in America. How they overcame racism and sexism and all the discrimination to succeed so much. Maybe a series about success stories of immigrants despite all odds. It is a perennial issue but especially important and needed in the Trump eras. Maybe it’s a TV series? I don’t know.

SHADOWS IN THE PARK, 6min., USA
Directed by Valerie DuPree
Two sisters venture deep into the woods…only one senses something watching. Fear twists into betrayal. Will they survive?

http://www.cavacastudiopictures.com/

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
This started as a class challenge and a way to see if I could bring a story to life on screen. One of the things my class teaches us is to not wait for the work to come to us, but to go out and create our own work. That lesson stuck with me, and I drew from a deeply personal experience to create something authentic.

Several years ago, I had a paranormal experience while hiking. In all my decades of hiking, I’d never felt anything like it—amd it unnerved me. The woods have always been my happy place, my refuge. But that one time, on that one trail, something not from this realm was there. It left me with a familiar feeling that shaped me as a child, from growing up in a haunted house. That lingering feeling planted itself in my subconscious and it finally found its way out through this film.

Filmmaking has this uncanny way of making you confront those little whispers in your mind, turning them into something tangible. I guess I was motivated by the need to understand, or at least explore, that experience. And now, I can’t stop—I’ve realized this is the best way for me to make sense of the world.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

I was on a tight deadline so it took just one week from the spark of an idea to completion—which, looking back, feels both insane and oddly perfect for how I approach things. I brought the idea to my actresses, who gave the script the green light after the youngest made one non-negotiable request: she absolutely had to hit her sister in the head during filming. No animosity—she just thought it would be the ultimate fun. The older actress, being the consummate professional, agreed to the hit, and we were off!
We filmed late afternoon over two days, right before the woods got that mysterious dusky glow. One day was scouting and filming “B” roll and the other for the meat of the film. Editing was a marathon—two days of being glued to my editing room. And then came the movie poster and going over the film again and again which took another day because I can’t resist obsessing over every little detail.

It was a whirlwind, and I loved every chaotic second of it. It was one of those magical experiences where I now want to keep doing it, even if I can’t always put into words why.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

Intensely suspenseful.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

The biggest obstacle was me. I was terrified to make this film, yet I felt this quiet but constant voice inside, telling me that I absolutely had to do it, no matter how much it scared me.

I had to get out of my own way. Once I let go and just let the creative process flow, it was like opening a floodgate. It was raw and real and it was mine.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

I was so excited to hear the feedback —then, out of nowhere, I felt this teen-like nervous energy creep in…amazing how vulnerable you can feel putting your art out there.
Thankfully, the feedback was encouraging, thoughtful and the constructive critiques felt supportive. It was exactly what a first-time filmmaker like me needed—beginner-friendly and insightful to help me grow.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

I’m fascinated with storytelling. I write and I act in films…not once did I ever think I could produce a film. I’ve been immersed in the film world for decades…I was a therapist on major film productions and even when my daughters became actresses and I found myself shuttling them to sets all across the U.S., the thought of me making a film never crossed my mind.
Making films has now become this love I don’t have the words for!

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

I couldn’t narrow this down to one…

Casino (1995)

Rebecca (1940)

Alive (1993)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?

Yours was the perfect landing spot for my first-ever film and film festival showcase. I cannot be more grateful for this experience. The fact that my actresses were awarded Best Performances on top of it all is beyond my wildest imaginings of being a filmmaker. It’s been such a validating moment in this crazy journey I’m on.

As for other festivals—compared to some I’ve encountered, I’d like to see even more categories for awards.

Also, creating opportunities for first-time filmmakers to have their work paired with more seasoned writers, directors or mentors in whatever capacity could really help. This could be in the form of a pay service you offer – workshops, classes, one-on-one coaching for all their future projects and films. It’s all about getting that feedback, the kind that pushes you forward and challenges you to be better.

Ultimately, it’s experiences like your film festival that keep the fire burning. So, thank you again for everything you offered—I’m excited to keep creating and to see where this next chapter takes me.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?

I’m still pinching myself that I’m even on FilmFreeway. I never thought that was possible either. It’s a platform I first learned about while traveling coast to coast, taking my daughters to their bookings. It feels like a total wild ride to be here, and I’m just thoroughly enjoying every twist and turn along the way.

So far, it’s been great—no complaints at all. The process has been fairly seamless and everything has run pretty smoothly without a hitch.

10. What is your favorite meal?

It’s a meal I refer to as pure love. My mom would make it all the time growing up but this ONE time, it was just total pure love. I had been through a lot at this particular point in my life and she arrived to help. On top of everything, I was sick with the worst illness. I hadn’t taken care of my own needs in a really long time. The meal was so simple – rotini pasta, sauteed onions and sausage. I’ll never forget the feeling it left me with that I finally had real nourishment again. I truly felt loved and cared for at that moment in time. That meal meant so much to me and really makes me miss my mom.

11. What is next for you? A new film?

Absolutely. My next film is already shot and in post. It’s a deeply emotional story about two sisters who escape a harrowing SA situation. The older sister, desperate to protect her younger sibling from the abuse she’s endured, decides they have to run away. They find refuge in an abandoned house, but survival isn’t easy—especially when the older sister has to sneak out at night to find food and supplies. Meanwhile, the younger sister is cold, hungry, and sick. She doesn’t understand why they can’t just go back home and that tension between them builds as they struggle to stay safe and keep going.

It’s a story of resilience, love, and the lengths we go to for those we care about. Editing this one feels like a new challenge, but I can’t wait to see how it unfolds on screen. Making this kind of film is messy, raw, and real—and I’m excited to see how it resonates with viewers.

THE MOMENT, 7min., Canada
Directed by Craig Wrobleski
A poem about resilience and strength as a path to peace. The film follows one woman’s extraordinary journey.

https://instagram.com/cwrobleski

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?
I received the poem that the film is based on as a text message from my friend Irina Lytchak. It arrived at the end of a rough day and the message of the poem really resonated with me. It felt like a universal message that could help others so I thought I’d make a film inspired by it.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
Well, that’s a difficult question to answer. From the idea to finishing the one-day shoot was about 3 weeks and then the edit took another couple days. It then went to the composer who spent a couple weeks working on the score and then the mix took another couple weeks. So that process took about 3 months. That is when things get complicated as I then became very busy on a number of projects, lost two close family members and basically had a lot of life happen. For that reason it took about a year and a half to complete the final colour and send the film out to the world. It was a long and difficult time but one in which the message of Irina’s poem became all the more resonant.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
Finding peace

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
The actual process of making the film was fairly straightforward but my “day job” as a cinematographer, the busy lives of my collaborators and all of the life events that occurred meant the process took longer than it required. It took two years to finish a film that I thought would be finished in about two months tops.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
It was gratifying and humbling to watch the audience reactions and hear how the message resonated. It was very fulfilling to heart that, despite its short duration and minimal locations, the film seemed to take the audience on the emotional journey I hoped it would.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
I have always been creative and originally wanted to do something with music as a career but then, at college, I discovered the camera and became obsessed with visual storytelling.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
Baraka is a film I could watch over and over.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
I think most festivals do all they can to get the films in front of an audience. Once there, it’s the film’s job to keep them there.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
The site is very simple to use and seems reliable.

10. What is your favourite meal?
Any meal shared with great people in a beautiful room.

11. What is next for you? A new film?
Off to Prague to work on a new series for Amazon.