Video: HIGHLIGHTS: April 2026 HORROR Film Festival #horrorfestival

A showcase of the best HORROR films in the world today!

AUDIENCE AWARDS (from FEEDBACK Film Festival):
Best Short Film: HUNGER
Best Direction: THE SANGUINE
Scariest Film: HAUNT RESTORER
Best Music Video: GLISTENING BENEVOLENCE
Best Visual Design: JULIAN
Best Story: KAREN’S RETURN
Best Performances: STAGEFRIGHT
Best Micro-Short Film: THE HARPIES
Best Student Film: EGGSECUTION

horrorfestival #horror #festivalwinners

Video: Today’s #FilmFreeway (50% off ) Discount Code: TORONTO #DOCUMENTARY Festival

https://filmfreeway.com/TorontoDocumentaryFilmFestival

50% off discount code: torontodoc50off

It was wonderful working with this film festival. They are responsive and enthusiastic. I was honoured to have Beat Keepers: The Next Chapter recognized for best short film as well. Thank you!

The Toronto & Los Angeles Documentary Festival will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s a platform that truly celebrates the power of storytelling and the beauty of authentic cinema. Having Made in Paradise voted as the BEST NATURE FILM at this incredible festival is an honor beyond words. Thank you for creating a space where filmmakers and their work can thrive.

Thank you Toronto/Los Angeles Documentary Feature & Short Film Festival for the award and selection this year of my short film “Terra Draconis: posterity and prosperity of fossils in the modern age”! It has been an honor to be a part of your festival. I only wish I could have been there in person this year.

The Toronto Documentary Feature and Short Film Festival is absolutely amazing! It gave my short film a lot of opportunities to be screened and to receive audience’s feedback which is the most important aspect for me. I truly recommend to submit to this Festival! Thank you for the caring you had towards my short film!

Great communication from this Festival – they were totally on it! Feedback from audience reviews extremely honest and helpful. I would highly reccommend it. Gabi Lowe Executive Producer of the Documentary “Get Me To 21 – The Jenna Lowe Story”

Watch the LGBTQ+ Best of Shorts Festival (in case you missed it)

Watch the festival by signing up for the FREE 3-DAY trial using the link, or go to http://www.wildsound.ca

Watch today’s Festival: https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/lgbtq-best-of-shorts-festival-april-2026

Benção, Pai (Bless Me, Father), 17min., Brazil
Directed by Ed Lopes
The film follows the story of Antônio (Ed Lopes), a gay evangelical man married to Sandra (Ayala Rossana), an equally devout housewife who lives under the silence and emotional control imposed by her husband. While Antônio brings male sex workers into their home during Sandra’s absence, as she attends religious services, she finds herself trapped in a reality where she has no voice or space to confront the psychological abuse she endures.

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-bencao-pai

TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT, 3min., USA
Directed by Alex Chacon
This music video speaks to the all-too-common matter of people dealing with rejection simply because they have decided to be true to themselves, to be authentic and be who they are. It is a project designed to bring hope, energy and resilience to those who are marginalized and minimized by others who choose to, nor cannot accept them or make any attempt to understand and love them. Our target audience it turns out to be the emerging generations.

https://instagram.com/sarahjames_music

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-take-it-or-leave-it


SILIM, 17min., USA
Directed by Alexander Cruz De Ocampo
HAYDEN HAN is a Californian travel influencer with ten million internet friends and no one to call. On the eve of his first Christmas after a deep personal loss, Hayden flees to the Philippines in hopes of escaping his rapidly devolving personal life. His desperate bid for human connection propels him through a roiling Manila night that brings him face to face with the last person he wants to see: himself.

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-silim



TWO FULL HANDS, 12min., USA
Directed by John Colon
A single mom who tries her best to keep her work and life balanced. Even though there are a lot of difficulties, she still receives the warm supports from strangers who treat her as part of the family.

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-two-full-hands

Video: Watch the LGBTQ+ Winning Feature: CARACAS AVENUE (in case you missed it)

Watch the festival by signing up for the FREE 3-DAY trial using the link, or go to http://www.wildsound.ca

Watch today’s Festival: https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/lgbtq-winning-feature-caracas-avenue

CARACAS AVENUE, 92min., Colombia
Directed by Juana Jimenez del toro
Caracas Avenue tells the story of four children in the 1980s who, rejected by their parents for their sexual orientation, are thrown out onto the streets, where they are sexually exploited by a pedophile and begin to commit crimes and engage in prostitution to survive. They dream of traveling to the United States, and amidst their harsh reality, that dream persists. When they arrive in Bogotá, the American dream ends when they are denied visas. The course of their lives takes a drastic turn, and they end up in Bogotá’s red-light district, in the Santafé neighborhood, where they become transvestites. As time passes, their lives take different paths.

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-caracas

Short Film Review: CROWDED RIVER. Directed by Andrew Sully

When Jane, a mid-career novelist racing a looming deadline, accepts a last-minute dog-sitting stay in a secluded riverside home — the perfect hideout to finish her book, or so she thinks — ordinary moments begin to feel charged with unease. The quiet quickly curdles. A stranger arrives, claiming to be ‘maintenance.’ No phone signal. A river sealed in ice. Footprints in the snow. What starts as a working retreat becomes a tightening psychological trap.

Project Links

Review by Andie Kay:

This 8:38 second short horror film from Andrew Sully had some amazing cinematography. The location was really beautiful and great for this story. Max Sharam really knew how to set the tone with the music, it was perfect. It gave you that foreboding sense of unease.


Max also wrote the screenplay and the story is quite interesting. It kind of had this “Cabin in the Woods” feel to it. I loved this idea of this film but I wish the filmmakers built up the suspense more, I oddly felt like I was missing pieces of information within the story. I liked the story itself. The breadcrumb trail left to help you figure out what happened was nice.

Plus how can anyone not fall in love with Gemma? She stole the show.

Feature Film Review: HIGH STAKES GAME. Directed by Stephen Blackmon

Ten very different people come together in a high stakes poker game, wherein secrets are revealed, boundaries are crossed, and lives are won and lost.

Project Links

Review by Julie C. Sheppard:

Good and evil battle it out in this ingenious feature entitled High Stakes Game. Structured around an extended poker game, characters are pitted against a scheming, devilish figure, after a sly narrator accuses the whole human race of gambling in one form or another. The film uses a succession of catchy screens with common poker terms such as Fish, Muck, and All-In that follow the steps of a gripping game which, in turn, plays out for people betting online from the dark web.

The screenplay cleverly twists and turns, as the villain (also a gambling term) lures his victims into his game and sets them up, one by one. The actor playing this villain is notably adept at delivering a sly, convincing performance. He knows all about his victims and is able to expose their vulnerabilities, which keeps them gambling at the table.

The gloomy, seedy pool hall bar is the perfect environment for this den of iniquity of sorts, as is the casino-like, jazzy soundtrack under much of the action. Another clever convention in the narrative is the introduction of a wide range of quirky characters that personify God and motivates the soft-hearted, timid preacher to action. The battle between good and evil plays out with existential discussions of belief and faith. It is quite satisfying to see the villain allow characters to use their free will to make sacrifices for those they love, while others receive justice and find their way out of the chaos to freedom.