Ex-Killer Collective, 4min., UK
Directed by Leon Lopez
An unwitting volunteer happens upon a unique group of people, trying to overcome their addiction to a seemingly unusual vice.

https://instagram.com/psplimited

Get to know the writer. Daniel Hypolite:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

Leon Lopez contacted me from Parliament Street Productions, a new company he was building with Cherise Weaver and Brodie Arthur; they were looking for a comedy script and so I set to work on some top lines. As the four of us are each connected to Liverpools Black Actors Collective, we knew that we were surrounded by a breadth of talent and we really wanted to create a piece that would showcase that. Along with my writing partner, Emma Hippolyte, we began thinking of scenarios in which lots of people would meet, some kind of group gathering came to mind, possibly in a circle to give each character space. We soon stumbled on the idea of a support group for struggling vegans. Whilst Emma is vegan, I predominantly follow a plant based diet and we regularly see the juxtaposition between the perceived reality and actuality of vegan existence; we thought it would be fun to explore!

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

From idea to finished product, it probably took around a year. We began writing in the winter of 2024 and everything was completed by December 2025.

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

Meaty. Fun.

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

The biggest obstacle in completing the film, was scheduling and time. Everyone involved is both talented and busy and ensuring we could get together at the same time was challenging. The time factor wasn’t helped by the need to keep straight faced on set. It was genuinely funny. Devon Anderson, Kieran Foster and Maxine Okpala’s expressions, the energy from Wendy Okoli and Sinead Renaye, and the subtle reactions from Patrick Graham, Winston Branch and Brodie Arthur; it was a very entertaining shoot day with lots of laughs!

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

I loved that people felt a sense of inclusion coming from Devon Anderson’s performance; he captured the journey of the character perfectly and to hear audience members feel they were with him was really important to us. It was also nice to see that it made people feel thoughtful around our food choices.

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

I realised I wanted to make films shortly after my dad’s passing in 2016. He was an actor and great story teller. I’d been writing stand up for a number of years prior to this but I strongly felt that I wanted to move from live comedy to recorded works of multiple genres.

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

The film I have probably seen the most is Absolute Beginners. It’s a musical film exploring the Notting Hill Race riots of 1958. My dad played Mr Cool and whilst it was exciting to see him on screen as a child, it’s become a sentimental staple in my film collection.

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 are all really happy with the festival experience. If we had to think of something? Perhaps more social media presence or online collaboration highlighting both the festival and the entrants.

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

We have to credit Leon Lopez for all of the hard work behind the scenes to submit via the platform. He didn’t complain too much so we can only assume it was a straightforward task.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Steak and chips. Just joking, it’s pizza.

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

We’re still very much enjoying the concept of the Killers Collective and are currently writing more group scenarios! Who knows. Maybe we will see the group return!

The music of Erich Zann, 15min., Hungary
Directed by Dóra Barbara Sánta
The story features the figure of a silent old man who feverishly plays the violin in his attic room every night to stave off some unimaginable horror, which is not explained at the end of the novel. The story is told from the perspective of a student who moves into the same building as the musician for a short time. The young man wants to find out the history of the scary-sounding music and asks the musician to play it for him and also to explain the curtained attic room window, which visibly upsets the musician. In the end, the student pulls the curtain and flees from the building in fear and never finds the street where he used to live. We will never really know or understand the explanation for everything.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
I’ve always liked dark psychological horror films where you can’t clearly describe the monster and what’s causing the tension. I think it’s much scarier when you can’t see the monster and don’t name what you see behind the curtain. I’m originally an architect, but I’ve always been interested in how films are made, especially the sets. Halfway through my one-year film training (after architecture), I decided I wanted to adapt an existing short story, so I chose this.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
I made the decision at the end of January that I wanted to adapt this short story. That’s when the script writing began. In mid-February I started preparing and organizing the team. In April I set four days of filming. The post-production had to be completed by the end of May and there was a private screening in the cinema in mid-June. It was a total of 4 months of work.

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

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
I had to fill a lot of positions at once, which was very exhausting, especially since I financed it out of my own pocket. Besides that, twice during the shooting they almost called the police on us (even though we had permission).

5. There are 5 stages of the filmmaking process: Development. Pre-Production. Production. Post-Production. Distribution.
What is your favorite stage of the filmmaking process?
Development – world planning

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
They asked us a question at the beginning of the year in film school, who would like to direct at the end of the year. I applied, I didn’t know how to do it, but it sounded adventurous.

7. What film have you seen the most times in your life?
Harry Potter series

8. In a perfect world: Who would you like to work with/collaborate with on a film?
Tim Burton and Guillermo del Toro – production design

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
Unfortunately, I’m not a great marketing person, the interface was easy to use, but I must admit that organizing a festival at your own expense is an expensive hobby.

10. What is your favorite meal?
Vegan lentil stew

11. What is next for you? A new film?
I am currently working as a set designer on international films from Budapest (Hungary). I would like to gain more experience and save some money before starting on a new project. But I already have some ideas in mind.

Knife, 3min., USA
Directed by Michael Kuciak
A slasher told from the point-of-view of the murder weapon.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

The short film KNIFE is a proof-of-concept for a feature I’m working to get made.

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

I got back from Illinois/Wisconsin from having directed another short film. I decided to jump right into shooting a proof-of-concept for KNIFE. I reached out to Jason, and offered him the role; he was gracious enough to volunteer his apartment for the shoot. David Gordon (my DP) did a walk-through with Jason and Anthea while I was traveling. I got back to town, and we shot out the film in one 12-hour session. I cut it together, and worked with Adrian Innaimo on the sound and score, a process that took several days. David Gordon did the final composite shot of the Knife looking at itself in the mirror, and handled color correction. And that was that – KNIFE!

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

Cutting edge.

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

On the technical side, David had to handle the final composite shot. It wasn’t something I was able to pull off in the initial cut. Story-wise, I was looking for an ending that would put a nice button on the short. I reached back to an earlier version of Knife the feature script, in which part of the mythology is the killed then gets up and kills. That aspect has since been dialed back in the feature version for narrative reasons. But in a short, it works just fine.

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

It’s a lot of fun. You make these things, and you want people to watch them. In the course of our festival run on Knife, we’ve gotten a lot of great feedback.

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

Very young. Growing up in Chicago, my favorite part of the week was watching horror movies on Son of Svengoolie. I had an uncle who was a co-owner of a theater. My parents weren’t super-rich, so the free tickets we got from him meant that a frequent family outing involved seeing movies at his theater. When I was a little kid, I thought the people who owned the theaters also made the movies, so I would pitch him ideas for films; they were always monster movies. As a teen, I set aside film for music, and played in bands for a while. When I didn’t become a rock star, I started looking for something else to do, and I realized that if I didn’t at least give film a shot I would always regret it. So here we are.

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

I have certain comfort food movies that I’ll spin on a whim: Evil Dead II, Fellowship of the Ring, Big Lebowski, Spider-Man 2, Goodfellas, and so on. But the films I’ve seen most in life… I would give that a split decision between Conan the Barbarian, Robocop, and Road Warrior.

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’m not sure. You seem to be doing a great job already.

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

I’m a big fan of FilmFreeway, which makes it incredibly easy to submit films. The only downside is it’s so easy that you can let your eyes get bigger than your wallet. You go through the available festivals and think, “This one! And this one! Oh, and this one!” And then you go to checkout, and the tally is over a grand. So you have to dial it back, get more selective.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Whatever craft service has going on set.

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

My next hitter project is a sci-fi thriller called Innescape that I’m working on with my writing partner, Jeff Connell. It’s a high-concept mystery thriller in the tradition of Blade Runner. And of course I’m always looking for financing for the feature film version of Knife.

SCALES – THE TIPPING POINT, 40min., South Africa
Directed by Bruce Young
Bruce Young is a deeply curious filmmaker from South Africa who is fascinated by pangolins, an animal on the edge of extinction. Scales is his third film about the animal. This time he is on a personal quest to find out why these quiet, shy, harmless, and yet charismatic little creatures are the most trafficked mammals on the planet. And if there is any hope that they will survive.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
• I fell in love with pangolins during the making of my first film about them. We made Eye Of The Pangolin in 2019 to raise awareness about their plight. While making this film I knew I wanted to dig deeper into the question of “why?”. Why are they on the brink of extinction after over 80 million years on the planet? Why now?

• I also realised that so few people even knew that pangolins exist, so making another film would contribute to awareness about the animal and hopefully people who watched the film would begin to re-examine their own relationship with our natural world.

• Making films for me has become more and more about helping people to look at themselves and their lives and so learn and grow.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
• We began developing the film immediately after finishing Eye Of The Pangolin in 2019. We were able to raise some money fairly quickly and so travelled to Cameroon for our first shoot with the team at the Tikki Hywood Foundation rehabilitation centre in that country.
• The Covid period slowed us down significantly, although when pangolins were briefly linked to the transmission of the virus from bats to humans, it did bring the animals into the limelight and people began to ask about them. Eye Of The Pangolin was on You Tube and views climbed steeply during this period. We have 439K views to date.
• Fund-raising slowed down after Covid and so it took a few years to raise what we needed to travel to Nigeria and Zimbabwe for our shoots in those countries and the shoot in South Africa, where we live.
• We finally completed the film in 2025. So it was a six year journey in total.

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

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
• Raising funds to make a film that was not aimed at making a profit, but rather raising awareness, was probably the biggest obstacle to completing this film. This made us increasingly grateful to those funders who did help us make the film.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
• Gratitude. Gratitude for so much – to the people who care for these precious animals; the opportunity that they gave us to film them; the team who helped us make this film; the people who funded us; and now these people who are taking the time to watch our film and respond with their thoughts and feelings about the film and pangolins. All of this is such positive energy which can only help the pangolins in their struggle to survive.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
• I have always loved stories. As I became aware of their importance and power in people’s lives, I started to want to tell stories. I began as an actor, telling stories. First in theatre and then film and television. Then I began to write screenplays. Eventually making films where I was responsible for the story on the screen became the most satisfying way to help people understand themselves, their lives and how they could contribute to improving our world.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
• The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I have been a big Clint Eastwood fan ever since I first saw this film as a small boy in our local movie house. It never ceases to keep me engaged.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
• This is a tough question because I have been so pleasantly surprised by this festival that you have created to give filmmakers all kinds of unique support and tools to help forward their careers. Right now, I have nothing to suggest that you add to what you are already doing.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experience been working on the festival platform site?
• The FilmFreeway platform has been absolutely invaluable in helping us get our film into festivals all over the world. It is incredibly user-friendly and intuitive and has made our process extremely smooth and efficient.

10. What is your favourite meal?
• Sushi.

11. What is next for you? A new film?
• Yes. I am developing a new film which is still confidential at this stage. But it is about people this time. And family. And their stories. Of course.

Asheville is Calling: A Climate Change Emergency, 6min., USA
Directed by Hai-Lam Phan, Olivia Mowry
Extreme weather disasters are becoming more common, more powerful, and more deadly. Today, more than ever, federal agencies that help Americans prepare, respond, and recover from natural disasters need to be fully funded and ready to act. Changes enacted by the Trump administration are leaving communities to fend for themselves against extreme weather disasters, and the oil and gas CEOs behind these fossil-fueled climate disasters are fueling, funding, and concealing it all. Americans deserve better than a government that abandons them when disaster strikes.

1. What motivated you to make this film?
We really wanted to show the human harms of climate change. Fossil-fueled extreme weather disasters like Hurricane Helene, lead to loss of life, homes, and businesses, but there are additional health harms and economic impacts in the aftermath that most people don’t think about unless they’ve been through it. And the effects are long lasting. Not just weeks or even months, but in many cases it’s years long recoveries.
We also wanted to show how important an entity like FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) is. They are on the frontlines of rescue and response efforts. They save lives. They help communities recover. And the current Trump administration’s gutting funding, response, and staff capacity of FEMA will make people more vulnerable to these climate disasters
2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
Around 4 months (3 months too long)

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
Hai-Lam Phan: Climate Emergency
Olivia Mowry: Concisely stylized
Margaret Cooney: Human consequences

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
In the edit, this film took a while to come together. There was so much great footage but not everything could fit into a short film. But we’re also in the unique situation of being part of a think tank, so beyond the story there are also policy considerations. Just as with any plot there are certain story beats that need to be hit, for our work there are also “policy beats” to hit as well.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
It was amazing and we really appreciated them! What resonated with folks was exactly what we were aiming for. That it was a compelling story to tell, and that viewers took away the message that climate change is a here and now problem, not a future one, and that it’s harming people and communities that look just like them. Climate change doesn’t respect state or country or political boundaries, and should be a unifying issue for humanity.
As filmmakers, it can sometimes feel like you’re creating in a void. Recognition from festivals as well as audience members can help validate all the creative blood, sweat, and tears.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
We all came to this work from different backgrounds – Hai as a cinematographer; Olivia as an editor and communications person; and Margaret as a scientist and policy person – but each of us believes that film and storytelling can be an instrument for positive change. Films are one of the most powerful ways we can tell stories in this day and age, and are one of the most accessible storytelling mediums.
We work for the Center for American Progress (CAP) which is a progressive policy think tank. We call the storytelling work we do, “emotional policymaking”. It’s the “why should we care about helping one another”, and “how will this help me, my family, my community” piece; the heart of it all. That can sometimes be a key missing part of policy work – who will this effect and how will it affect them.
This kind of on-the-ground mini documentary storytelling we do can be an impactful medium to bring progressive policies to a wider audience. Because when we showcase someone telling their story the audience can always find a piece of it they can relate to, no matter how small, which connects us all. And because everyone’s story is unique, we always learn something new about one another. One of our goals is to broaden the tent of people who care about progressive policies and build towards a more equitable, just, and resilient future for all.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
HP: Citizen Kane A walk to remember
OM: Casablanca
MC: E.T.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
Being able to get audience feedback. It is really validating that our film resonated with so many people, and our messaging came through.

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

So easy. It’s a fantastic, intuitive platform with everything in one place.

10. What is your favorite meal?
HP: Pho
OM: Charcuterie board
MC: My dad’s homemade lasagna

11. What is next for you? A new film?
We’re currently finishing production on another mini documentary telling the story of a cancer survivor; the toxins and pollutants from the fossil fuel and petrochemical industries that are bad for our health; and the environmental protection rollbacks the current Trump administration is doing that will make us all sicker, especially children.

Echoes of Antietam, 6min., USA
Directed by Christopher Vallone
Echoes of Antietam is a haunting post–Civil War horror short film set on the blood-soaked farmlands of Maryland.

https://www.instagram.com/valloneworks/

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
I love history and a good father son story, so I thought that we really haven’t seen a “zombie civil war” film. So I thought one night before bed about a father and his two sons defending their home against an army of confederate zombie soldiers, the next day, I started writing!

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

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

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
When working with AI, many times there is a lot of censorship, it does not like to show blood, especially if there are kids in the film, so I had to word the prompts creatively to make the blood FX in this film.

5. There are 5 stages of the filmmaking process: Development. Pre-Production. Production. Post-Production. Distribution.

What is your favorite stage of the filmmaking process?
I love post-production.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
Since I was kid watching terminator 2.

7. What film have you seen the most times in your life?
Terminator 2.

8. In a perfect world: Who would you like to work with/collaborate with on a film?
Morgan Freeman

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

10. What is your favorite meal?
Nice big fattie ribeye

11. What is next for you? A new film?
Resurrecting more stories I wrote 18-25 years ago using AI. My latest is based off of a true story from WWI called “One Man’s Land”

The Protection Agency, 6min., USA
Directed by Patrick Bates
Aliens invade! It’s up to an elite team to win back the Earth.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
I was a big fan of shows like MANNIX and THE INVADERS, both of which are back on TV on nostalgia networks. I liked the mid-century modern groove and so I went after that.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
A couple of weeks. It was actually longer as the space invaders met with a TV network to promote a new series called FUNNIEST INVASION FAILS but it was getting a little weird with the current state of the world.

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

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
I struggle with Parkinson’s so routine movements like clicking a mouse can suddenly be over taken with rapid-fire clicking. I would open to many apps on my screen. Trying to close the app by. clicking quit or the red dot would become monnumental quests. Itt was like playing basketball with hundreds of balls all missing the basket.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
I was a little nervoius about the reaction to it being AI based. One of the things that has held me back in my 54 years of creative endeavors is seeing the final product come to fruition. I’ve won many screenplay awards over the years but to date only one was produced and that was a fifteen-minute web series pilot. I viewed AI as the vehicle to present the story that I otherwise couldn’t tell. I told my son what I was doing with AI apps and his comment was ‘you’re draining a lot of water.’ I try to keep in mind it’s just a tool. Desktop publishing didn’t stop books from being printed. People still paint and draw, Music is still written. Movies didn’t destroy live theatre and television hasn’t destroyed movies. It’s just another venue for creativity. Technology changes and we adapt. Having argued all that, I did not turn the script over to generative AI. This was a story I had sketched out and used the tool to make that idea live.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
When I was thirteen and got my first Super-Eight camera and projector. The neighborhood became my back lot and my friends my actors. We’d shoot dozens of films then have an awards ceremony for best performances and most popular film. My cousin worked at a movie theatre at the time and he’d bring home posters we’d based films on. We made Tales from the Crypt, Dillinger, and The Godfather all from the posters, without ever seeing the films, and all in 3 minutes and 30 seconds at 18 frames per second. We made one based on THE CAR, but called it THE BIKE after we all went to the movies.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
Shawshank. At one time it would have been Rio Bravo.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
Just keep doing what you’re doing. Stories want to be told. You provide the audience for them to be seen.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
I was part of it when it was without a box. Then life came along and my career shifted. I got into writing short crime fiction. Now I’m retired and there are apps for everything. The site has made it easy to be a part of the community again.

10. What is your favorite meal?
Chicken strips, onion rings and a slaw or a salad.

11. What is next for you? A new film?
I have a one-act musical I’ve written and a while back I did a documentary about my quest to bring my musical about Typhoid Mary to the stage. It’s a little LES MIS/MOMMA MIA/MUSIC MA-ish. I’ve noticed some festival are vehemently oppossed to AI. Others are more welcoming to the story and not the process. I’ve also found fests that are strictly AI. Know your audience.

THE FINAL MISSION, 17min., USA
Directed by Winston James
Three unruly friends on the run from the law try to find out who among them may have provided secret information to law enforcement.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
At the time I wanted to make a film that was of current events and suspenseful. And we were constantly hearing and seeing in the news about violence, gangs and law enforcement. So from that came the motivation to write a suspense film in the crime genre.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
Five years. This was mostly due to a long pickup shoot which was two years after the original shoot when editing was almost complete. The pickup shoot was the standoff which we believed and realized would be best to end the film. Then after the pickup shoot that’s when full post production began besides just editing. It included music, sound effects, color correction, voice overs, original song, special fx, credit listing, a teaser, and so much more. The budget for post-production kept fluctuating as it was the funds that I earned from my real job to get professionals to complete the film. So there were post gaps of weeks or months at times. Also, there was a major project that I produced with another company which I was obligated to work on which took about a year to complete and which culminated with a concert presentation overseas. But actually, the time away from the film was good because when I got back to finishing up the film it’s as though I could better see the big picture in the story and production, and fresh ideas and a boost of new creative energy came to me that wasn’t there previously which greatly helped to properly finalize the film.

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

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
The budget in post production and some other unrelated responsibilities.

5. There are 5 stages of the filmmaking process: Development. Pre-Production. Production. Post-Production. Distribution.

What is your favorite stage of the filmmaking process?
Production

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
Shortly before I left the teaching field I realized that it would be fun to audition for a low budget feature in my neighborhood at the time in which the ad was posted at a local store. I got a small part but saw that the director was new and appeared not to know much about filmmaking or production. I was able to assist and help him in multiple ways including camera angles since I was a video and media major in school, and he was glad for the suggestions. Including me offering to shoot still photos and behind the scenes video shorts on set which he never thought was needed. Now before production was done, I read the full screenplay and advised him that I can no longer take the part because of some of the vulgar language and things that my character does in the story. And as a schoolteacher at the time I could have eventually wound up getting fired for being publicly seen like that. He understood, and fortunately my few scenes weren’t shot yet and I also decided to just fully leave the production at that point. About a year later I saw a big ad on a van for the film and that’s when I realized that I can also do the same thing since I was able to help him with production. At that point I started to study the craft through books, videos and directors’ commentaries, and then realized that filmmaking is what I’m really interested in doing.

7. What film have you seen the most times in your life?
‘Taxi Driver.’ But then also ‘Coming To America,’ since I also enjoy comedy.

8. In a perfect world: Who would you like to work with/collaborate with on a film?
James Cameron

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
The experience has been nice. The platform is simple, interactive, easy to use and keeps me well informed.

10. What is your favorite meal?
I don’t have a favorite meal, but chicken, fish and pasta are always nice.

11. What is next for you? A new film?
I have some screenplays written and ready, but when or if they’ll go into production hasn’t been decided yet.

THE HUNTED, 23min., USA
Directed by Josh Harum
A suspense thriller set in the world of doomsday preppers. John, a devoted follower, joins Gary, a conspiracy theorist Youtube personality, to establish an off-the-grid commune called the ‘True Way.’ When nothing changes in the world, John’s commitment to the cause wavers, leading to betrayal, paranoia, and finally a fatal confrontation.

https://instagram.com/joshherumdp

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

– I really wanted to make a thriller because I hadn’t done one yet. I started writing around the idea of a hunter who appears to be pursuing a deer but is actually hunting a man. The question is, why? That’s when I started thinking about placing the story in a doomsday prepper community. I have relatives that deeply believe in conspiracy theories, which has caused significant division in my family. As a director, I wanted to present both sides without bias, avoiding labeling one side as wrong or stupid, while also showing the struggles and conflicts it can cause between loved ones. With that said I had a decade of the information, lingo, systems, likes and dislikes regarding a niche community that is growing year by year.

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

– One month of writing, one month of seeking financing, one month of pre-production, a three-day shoot at the property with a fifteen-person crew, one pickup day with a splinter crew, and six months of post-production. So around nine months total.

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

– BLIND TRUST

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

– Finances not allowing for more production days. Not enough time.

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

– I think it was the first time I’ve been able to hear a review of my films longer than a sentence, so I really enjoyed it.
My initial reaction was just excitement about all the positive feedback they offered.

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

– I started in still photography at age 14 but it wasn’t until I was living in China in 2014, at age 23, when I upgraded to a new DSLR that had 1080p video capability. I made a twenty minute documentary that won three awards at the Suzhou International Film Fest, earning me $800 USD. After that, I never looked back.

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

– Probably The Matrix. I was 10 years old when it was released and watched it when it came out on VHS and DVD. I was probably too young for it but I think I watched it over 25 times in the following five years.

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

– The Hunted was submitted to over thirty-five festivals which cost nearly $3000 and it only screened at five. I really wish every single festival jury would provide a one-to-two-sentence reason for not accepting a film. That way filmmakers can learn what they need to work on and pursue for their next film to be more widely accepted.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
Filmfreeway is simple and I have used it for every one of my short-films going back a decade now.

10. What is your favorite meal?
A turkish dish called Manti, my mom made for my birthdays as a kid.

11. What is next for you? A new film?
I just launched a commercial and film studio, www.currentcine.com, where we produce both documentary and narrative films.
I have been working on a coming of age feature length script for 2024-2025. Now I have a solid draft so I hope to find financing for it and direct my first feature.

Peace Wilderness Man, 35min., Australia
Directed by Tim Millard
An Australian war veterans journey from trauma to inner peace in Norways remote Arctic Circle.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

About four or five years ago my wife and I went on a Wim Hof–style expedition in the Snowy Mountains in Australia — a few days in the wilderness doing breathwork and cold exposure. One of the guides was an ex-soldier. He was calm, engaging, but we could maybe tell he was carrying something beneath the surface. We connected with him and really valued his leadership, but we left feeling there was more to his story.
Six months to a year later I saw him posting on social media from the Arctic Circle. That landscape — vast, stripped back, almost empty — felt like the perfect place to explore who he really was. It felt like a blank canvas. I reached out to him about filming something together, and he was open to it. From there, we started planning.

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

I first reached out to Lex, the subject, in August 2023. Northern Norway was about to head into deep winter and filming in that environment on a small budget without a crew just wasn’t realistic. So we waited.
We locked in April 2024, when there was enough daylight to actually work. I spent eight days in Alta filming in temperatures between -4°C and -14°C. It was challenging, but that was part of it. The Arctic landscape I’d imagined — quiet, remote, almost overwhelming in its scale — became the backdrop to his story exactly as I’d hoped.

Post-production wrapped around September/October 2024, so from first contact to final cut, just over a year.

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

Intimate. Unfiltered.

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

Honestly, this stage now.
Making the film was the first goal — to create something that held together and genuinely worked. When it started receiving recognition from festivals, that was really validating, and satisfying.

But once it’s finished, you’re faced with a different challenge: what next? Distribution, strategy, getting it in front of the right audiences — that’s a completely different skillset. I’m working completely independently so navigating that side of things has probably been the most challenging part. It’s pushed me into unfamiliar territory.

5. There are 5 stages of the filmmaking process: Development. Pre-Production. Production. Post-Production. Distribution.

What is your favorite stage of the filmmaking process?

Production. Every time.

I like being out on location, being active, having to make decisions in the moment. You can plan all you want, but once you’re there, you’re responding to reality — the weather, the light, the mood, the unexpected. Collaborating under that kind of pressure to get the best possible outcome, that’s the part of the whole process I most look forward to.

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

Since I was a kid. Star Wars, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark — watching them over and over on VHS. I loved the miniatures, the practical effects, the fact that whole worlds were being built. That’s where it started.

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

It would be those 80’s movies again, Indiana Jones, Jaws, the Star Wars trilogy. I watched those over and over growing up. Beverly Hills Cop, Trading Places, America Werewolf in London..
As you get older it’s harder to watch anything that many times, but Goodfellas has had a good crack.

8. In a perfect world: Who would you like to work with/collaborate with on a film?

I like to collaborate with people who are down to earth, enthusiastic, and generous with their ideas and time.
To work with people who have real experience and reach — who’ve built something substantial in this industry — would be incredible too and I’d welcome that opportunity.

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

Really positive. Discovering FilmFreeway actually removed the final hurdle for me in committing to the production. Knowing that festivals around the world were accessible through one platform made the whole process of submitting far less daunting.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Big fan of Indian food. A good curry, plenty of spice, naan on the side — I’m happy.

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

This film needs to run its course first, but I’m already working on the next project. The goal is to develop the next one with a clear pathway to distribution or broadcast from the outset, and to collaborate with experienced partners who can help bring it to the widest possible audience.