SUBMERGED, 14min., Brazil
Directed by Heloísa Cardoso
A young woman waits for her lover for a secret trip. However, he does not show up and does not respond to her messages. That’s when strange and inexplicable events begin to happen in her house. She asks for help from her lover, who ignores her. Realizing that she is hopelessly alone, she gives up waiting for salvation and surrenders to her own shadow.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

The relationship depicted in the film mirrors one I personally experienced, involving ghosting and psychological abuse. This type of relationship is also portrayed in my novel Glass Casket (Caixão de Vidro).

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

I came up with the idea for this film in 2021, began shooting in 2024, and completed the editing in 2025 — a process that took four years from start to finish.

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

Creepy / Unsettling

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

The biggest challenge was definitely the low budget. Some ideas had to be discarded, and many others were modified.

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

I was really moved by the feedback overall, but especially when viewers picked up on my references — like David Lynch and The Ring.

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

I’ve been a theater artist since childhood and have dedicated my entire life to the stage. It was only during the pandemic, with theaters closed, that I realized my writing and directing skills could also be applied to film — and when I started studying it, I fell in love with the audiovisual language.

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

I’ve watched many horror films over and over throughout my life, but the last one I rewatched five times was Pearl.

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 the overall festival experience was very satisfying — with the film screening, awards, interviews, and feedback. If I could add one thing, it might be a free review.

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

The experience on the platform was great — very practical and intuitive.

10. What is your favorite meal?

I’m a vegetarian, so any meal without meat makes me very happy. But I have a special liking for pizza.

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

I am adapting my novel Glass Casket into a feature film — it also explores a psychologically abusive relationship. I’m also writing a new novel about psychiatric hospitalization.

DOBRINA, 5min., Germany
Directed by Hannes Rall
Lotte Reiniger meets Sergio Leone in this animated short, where desire burns as bright as the desert sun.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

I always wanted to make a film that combines my love of the films of Sergio Leone, Lotte Reiniger (famous German silhouette animation pioneer) and the artworks of Pablo Picasso particular his bullfight drawings and prints. The film obviously also pays homage to the opera Carmen, so I hope it all comes together in a rather unique mix.

But of course there was also the fabulous song by Michael Roedinger and his band that inspired the story and the visuals in the first place.

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

Round about two years because I always had to find time to animate on the film, together with my German colleague Ralf Bohde.

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

Flaming shadows.

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

Clearly finding the time to do it.

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

I was so happy to find that the comments exactly mirrored what I had intended to communicate with the film.

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

Actually a very long time ago, now it’s coming to 40 years when my initial love for comics turned into an infatuation with a fascinating medium of animation.

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

Probably a lot of animation films among them all the Disney classics, but naturally also a lot of avantgarde and independent animation. As you can tell from my film very easily also do love westerns be it the very classic ones like “The Searchers” or Sergio Leone’s fabulous “Spaghwtti”-Westerns like “Once upon a Time in the West.”

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 the audience feedback you’re doing and sharing with the film makers is a wonderful idea and should be more common with festivals – as it will allow the many of us who cannot personally attend all the festivals to still get an idea of the impression the film left with the spectators.

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

Film freeway is great because it is really easy to handle and very intuitive and user friendly.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Oh no there are so many to choose from – but possibly the Italian dish Osso Bucco.

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

Yes indeed there are actually several in the works. Ironically a very long “short film” (29 minutes) that “mashes up” free famous Shakespeare please in slightly humorous fashion and a very short one that will be a kind of sequel to my very successful short

“Shakespeare for all Ages.”

Gravity Bound, 3min., USA
Directed by Frankie Lasley
The Man on the Moon is bound to the moon by his job; controlling the tides on Earth with a magical box of gravity. His quiet days are spent longing after a Shooting Star, who is bound to forever orbit him from a distance.

https://www.instagram.com/gravityboundfilm

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

– I wanted to make a love story because I think love is kinda at the root of every story, and going for something surreal and otherworldly let me and the other artists express our ideas and our feelings in ways we could only achieve with animation.

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

– It took about a year to make Gravity Bound, we spent a long time just on pitching the idea to people and refinding it, and then in pre-production we practically started over entirely. But even with all the work and ideas that never get seen, it was still all important to creating the best possible film we could make.

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

– Otherworldly Love

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

– Our time frame! We wanted to keep to a 3 minute run time to avoid overextending ourselves, but we had so many ideas!

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

– I was tearing up, one of the scariest parts about making a film is that you look at it for so long you don’t know if your ideas are actually coming across, or make any sense. Watching people understand it and interpret it, and then even better, say they liked it? It was so rewarding and it felt like being understood.

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

– I realized a long long time ago that I wanted to make art, but I didn’t know if I could direct a whole film. Even when I started this film I wasn’t sure. But very quickly, at the start of this project, was when I realized I would go the distance to make sure my ideas and my team’s ideas would get seen so their dedication would be worth it, and with that came making and finishing a film.

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

– I’ve seen Ernest and Celestine maybe 8 or so times. I used to watch it when I was sick or had a cold because their friendship and their love was so calming and cute.

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 what you’re doing is great! I think we need more festivals with this kind of two way involvement

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

-good! very easy and smooth.

10. What is your favorite meal?

– I love mushrooms, anything with mushrooms. Rice? Pasta? Potatoes? Saute some shiitake mushrooms and throw those guy on top and Im drooling

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

– The Gravity Bound team has all just graduated with BFAs in animation! I, Frankie, relocated to LA to keep making art, the rest of the team is following similar paths and spreading their wings all over the country. If you’re looking for talented animators who like to try new and challenging things, the Gravity Bound credits is full of top tier options 🙂

BELONG TO YOU, 6min., Iceland
Directed by Ísak Magnússon, Óliver Sólberg
Belong to you follows a swimming pool employee who thinks about his relationship with his coworker on a quiet night.

Get to know the filmmakers:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

We had just graduated from high school, where me and Ísak had worked quite closely together, and we wanted to continue our partnership and continue creating. I had this idea that was originally a poem and from that we started production. The poem was originally just meant for me to vent out my feelings.

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

The idea first came about when I wrote the poem in early 2024. From that there was the early drafts of the script, but that came to a halt until me and Ísak picked it up in august 2024. We started production but that also came to a short stop, because we couldn’t find the right actors. Then, by miracle, we found the two perfect ones. We shot the film in one day at a closed swimming pool on november 23rd and finished shooting after only eight hours of filming. Then came post production which took about two months and the film was finished in late february of 2025. So in total the film took about a year to complete, from idea to the big screen.

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

Haunting and Beautiful.

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

Definitely finding the right actors, because the script demands a lot of subtlety, but we also found it difficult to find the right swimming pool, that would be the right size for just two employees.

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

We were really grateful to hear all the wonderful feedback. It also felt really surreal as we have only heard feedback in Icelandic, so hearing it in English was quite special.

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

Óliver: For me, it was making Imovie shorts as a kid.

Ísak: For me, it was watching The Grand Budapest Hotel in 2021, for the first time. The film amazed me and made me realize that I wanted to make films, and be a part of the filmmaking world.

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

Óliver: I have probably seen Stalker, by Andrei Tarkovsky 10 times. I like to watch it when I can’t sleep, because it’s so relaxing and the atmosphere in the film is so alluring.

Ísak: For me, it’s definitely The Grand Budapest Hotel, by Wes Anderson, I watch it at least once a year and it’s my comfort movie. It’s just so entertaining and beautiful, it always makes me cry. The cinematography and the score come together so beautifully and I just love it.

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

We have nothing to comment on, we think your festival is excellent. We think other festivals should take wildsound as an example of a filmmaker driven festival.

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

Good and bad. There are better websites to use to submit your film, but Filmfreeway is the most popular one by a longshot so you kind of have to use it. There could be more information on the website but otherwise it’s fine.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Óliver: My dad’s risotto is my favourite meal. It makes me feel very nostalgic.

Ísak: My favourite meal is cod with curry sauce and rice. It reminds me of my youth and it used to be served sometimes in school, and it was so delicious that me and my best friend would sometimes have four servings.

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

Well, right now we are developing a new short film that will most likely be shot in late september. The working title is: I Am From The Future.

Sitka’s Hidden Wonders, 43min., USA
Directed by Ben Hamilton
Sitka’s Hidden Wonders is a 40-minute theatrical nature film that blends sweeping cinematography with a deeply personal story of return. Told by award–winning wildlife filmmaker Ben Hamilton, the film explores what it means to truly see a place—through the hidden layers of one of Alaska’s wildest coastal ecosystems.

https://instagram.com/sitkawonders

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

Every summer, over 600,000 people visit Sitka, but most just walk around town and never see the incredible natural wonders all around us. I wanted to create a film that connects them to this place—beyond the shops and the docks—into the wild heart of Sitka. After years of filming here for networks like BBC and National Geographic, this was my chance to make something for Sitka itself.

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

The film took two years of full-time work, plus a year of planning and permits before that. And some shots were collected over the last decade—moments I’d been saving for the right project.

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

Local. Connected.

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

The biggest obstacle was really time. The focus and intensity it took to deliver a film like this while still being there for my small kids and wife. It meant weeks away in the field, long nights editing, and constantly trying to balance the work with family life.

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

It was great to hear their reactions to the film. I’ve been showing the film in person in Sitka all summer so getting audience reaction has not been new, but always great to hear that people not in that place still really connected to the film.

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

I started making films in high school—shooting weddings, promos, stop motion, documentaries, and funny shorts with friends. I always through I wanted to make fantasy and sci fi films, but eventually found my way to nature and wildlife!

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

The Empire Strikes Back, Tropic Thunder, and The Fellowship of the Ring. I watch a lot of wildlife films and documentaries, but epic fantasy and comedy are my go-to for downtime.

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’d love more of those raw, immediate audience reactions right after a film—before the analysis that I could use for social. The multi minute format is a bit awkward and not as helpful for reaction cut ups.

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

It’s been easy to navigate and makes it simple to track submissions and discover new festivals.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Fresh-caught king salmon grilled with black cod tips—ideally eaten outdoors with friends.

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

We’re building Sitka’s Hidden Wonders into a full tourism experience in Alaska. We’ve rented the main theatre downtown for two years, we’re working with cruise ships to bring the film to their guests, and we’re creating tours that take people into the places they see on screen—so they can experience them firsthand and find their own wonders. We have a new film were working on for the area that dives deeper into some of the elements we touched on in the film but its too early to talk about that!