Honored to win Best Performances for Stigma. I’m truly grateful to the Chicago Feedback Film Festival for this recognition. The team was supportive and responsive throughout the process. The audience feedback video is a wonderful initiative that adds real value for filmmakers. The experience felt sincere and professionally handled. Thank you for celebrating independent cinema and for giving Stigma a thoughtful platform.
The way you brought our film to the audience, your interactive approach, and warm communication truly made the experience special for us. As the Silent Plan team, we genuinely enjoyed being part of it. Thank you for having us!
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What’s nice about acting is that you’re not just left with yourself all the time, but you get to see the world through so many different people’s eyes.
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[on coming out as bisexual] I wanted to wait … to have enough years under my belt where people knew that it wasn’t a phase or anything and I wasn’t doing it for attention; this is a part of who I am, and I’m old enough to really know who I am by now.
Stunts are my favourite – I love it: the feeling, the adrenaline when all the cameras are rolling and everyone is watching and crowd round.
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The idea of science fiction, mythology, and creating a world is my favourite thing. I do love the reality of dramas and playing that, but being able to start from scratch, to completely build the character and this world, I love that.
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I knew exactly what I wanted to do since I could remember. As a kid, if my friends came round after school for dinner, I’d put on shows; I’d write plays and charge the parents £1.50 for a ticket for sweetie money.
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I haven’t been directed by a woman. I’d love to be; it would make a big difference. Often as an actress you can feel very alienated, especially if you are playing the female lead in a male-dominated cast and environment. It’s very hard to feel relaxed, to feel able to express yourself and to feel that you will be heard in that kind of environment.
Film is such a male-dominated industry. There’s a lot of “who you know” in terms of how you get promoted. The whole way the business is constructed means there are just men at every level, which makes it really hard for women to get their feet in the door. Also, the way of working makes it very difficult for women to succeed in the business. It must be incredibly hard if you have children to navigate the hours.
It’s business first and foremost in the US, and you’re a commodity. But I love their can-do mentality. They enjoy success and all the doors are open, no matter what you look like or where you’re from. It’s a big, hungry machine that constantly needs new talent to feed it, so everyone gets a chance. I’m sure my career would have petered out if I’d stayed in Britain; there’s just not enough work here. On the other hand, I love coming back and being normal.
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Freya Allan attended Headington School, the same school as Harry Potter star Emma Watson.
In 2013 she was in Rapunzel Ballet Lorent’s young company and performed in the Oxford Playhouse.
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He likes skiing, snowboarding, sailing and pole-vault.
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[on the differences between him and his character Stringer Bell from The Wire (2002)] Stringer is very calculating and he has to be for so many reasons. He will calculate the next steps, shipments, inventory, pays workers… all that. But the wicked part is that he can plan murders because that’s a part of his business. I’ll tell you, if I, Idris, had to contract for murders as part of my job, I couldn’t do it because I have a heart. I have no stomach for ordering other people’s deaths. Stringer just gets in there, orders the deed and bam… that’s it… it’s done and he doesn’t think twice about it. There’s no way I could be that cold. I’m also a more lively kid out there, doing stuff and I can’t just do one thing forever. Stringer is committed to his job and business so much so he doesn’t have much of a personal life so he’s more one dimensional. As for me I have a child, a life, thirst for travel, you know I’m curious… whereas Stringer is more interested in being the best business person and his interests don’t go further than that.
A showcase of the best Female Films from around the world today!
AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS: Best Feature Film: METHOD TO MY MADNESS Best Short Film: LISTEN TO THE UNIVERSE Best Micro-Short: MISMATCH
METHOD TO MY MADNESS, 78min. Directed by Behrang Mortazavian, Hoda Hamzehali Kamand, a young videographer, is invited to a remote villa for a mysterious 24-hour film project. There, she meets two enigmatic women, Tina and Nazy, whose behavior grows increasingly manipulative and disturbing. As reality blurs with performance, Kamand is pulled into a psychological game with no clear way out.
MISMATCH, 2min., USA Directed by Luna Lee A seemingly ordinary matchstick, repeatedly dismissed and denied recognition as a military veteran, slowly ignites with emotion—until it finally flames up, revealing the true weight of the micro aggressions it endured.
LISTEN TO THE UNIVERSE, 27min., USA Directed by Elizabeth Rosa Landau, Kimberly Arcand NASA is famous for beautiful space images, but did you know you can listen to them? Go behind the scenes with the team that creates “sonifications,” translations of data into sound, and learn how meaningful they are to people who are blind or low-vision.
A showcase of the best COMEDY shorts in the world today.
AUDIENCE AWARDS: Best Short Film: SUPPORT Best Story: DETECTIVES & DRAGONS
Detectives & Dragons, 8min., Canada Directed by Lucas Candelino, Benjamin Kostecki, Evan McDowell A know-it-all detective is tasked with incriminating a murder suspect through a fantasy role-playing game by recreating the scenario of the killing. Tensions escalate when he goes off-script.
A showcase of the best LGBTQ+ films from around the world today.
AUDIENCE AWARDS: Best Feature Film: SUGAR BEACH Best Short Film: STEALING ASH Best Direction: AT ARM’S LENGTH Best Student Film: SILENT PULL Best Documentary: CLOSE TO HOME Best Story: HOUSEHOLD Best Performances: REVENGE Best Micro-Short: JIMBO: BIG TOP
SUGAR BEACH, 90min., USA Directed by Noely Mendoza Rosalyn, a wealthy and talented high school senior, grapples with immense grief after the loss of her brother in a surfing accident. The void left behind by his absence consumes her, and she begins a descent into addiction—alcohol becoming her solace as she numbs the pain and confusion. Amidst her downward spiral, she finds herself in a complex relationship with two other people, Isaac, and Emma. Drawn to the comfort and sweetness of their affection, the throuple provides a fleeting sense of escape, but Rosalyn’s internal struggle with grief and substance abuse complicates her search for self-love, growth, healing and identity.
SILENT PULL, 11min., USA Directed by Lamont Nathaniel Gibson A Black queer man navigates unreciprocated intimacy and the emotional cost of longing, as systemic pressures push his vulnerabilities into transactional spaces.
Close to Home, 32min., USA Directed by Whitney Skauge Through the exploration of their personal and shared experiences, four young advocates imagine a world where access to safe, affordable, and reliable housing is not a privilege but an undeniable human right.
Revenge, 19min., Brazil Directed by Mari Penteado, Eduardo Campos Virginia is a 43-year-old transgender woman who works as a community health agent in Guarulhos, Brazil. The film follows a day in her life, marked by the exhaustion of work, but also by meaningful encounters, dreams, and, above all, the need to live – and resist.
AT ARM’S LENGTH, 5min. USA Directed by August Broussard When a neurotic teen asks his best friend to break his arm for prescription meds, what starts as a twisted favor spirals into an absurd test of loyalty — with consequences neither of them is quite prepared for.
STEALING ASH, 13min., USA Directed by Frances Capel After their best friend dies, four best friends plan a heist to steal their ashes and take them on a final joyride for the send off they deserve.
Festival Reviews 
