Deaf to Happiness, 70min., India
Directed by Dhruv Vyas
A writer is trapped in a world where time is broken, memories do not exist, and nothing feels real. His hand moves against his will, endlessly writing something unseen while his mind fights for meaning. Desperate, he begins writing a story, one that must not end in tragedy.

https://www.instagram.com/deaftohappinessfilm/

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

Loneliness and a hunger to stretch the boundaries I was confined in. I have always been a timid and anxious person. I struggled to even voice what I wished, let alone do the things that would make me happy. In 2020, I decided that it’s enough I made a promise to myself that I would explore what I am capable of and reject whatever the inner critic inside of me shouted. I started teaching myself all things creativity while fighting my thoughts and slowly realised that maybe I can do something big, and that was making an entire movie alone. And I did it.

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

Over the course of 11 months. I began writing in February 2024 and finished the film on January 23, 2025

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

Dreadful Self-Discovery

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

Myself. I thought making a movie alone would be the easiest thing for me since I had intense anxiety, and working with people, especially creatively, frightened me, but it turned out to be much scarier to do it alone. I had no one I could share my ideas with or brainstorm with, I had no way to know what I was doing and every single day of the shoot, I had to fight myself and my thoughts to shoot that scene because I had to develop self-belief; if I didn’t, then the film wouldn’t have been completed.

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

It brought immense joy to my surreal heart! I loved how the audience caught on to a lot of things about the film and also acknowledged the film’s very un-mainstream approach to storytelling. I legit shouted with joy when the last person in the feedback video said that ‘deaf to happiness’ also sounds like ‘death to happiness’ and I LOVED THAT sooo much. It was a small detail that I thought wouldn’t be noticed.

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

I think when I first saw David Lynch’s work a few years back but I was not confident. But around 2021, I saw Bo Burnham’s ‘Inside’ a musical film he made entirely alone during the pandemic. After watching that I knew I could do something like that too.

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

I’d say ‘Amélie’, that movie made the introvert in me feel seen back in my teenage years. That is probably the only film that I have watched countless times.

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 am fairly new to this entire thing to be honest. I don’t believe I have the expertise or the knowledge to help with this but I do appreciate what you guys are doing, helping filmmakers like me showcase our work. I appreciate this a lot!

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

Filmfreeway has been amazing!! I can monitor everything from here and I feel secure that my film is safely uploaded here.

10. What is your favorite meal? I love experimental food hehe or any kind of food that is spicy and have strong flavours. One of the famous stre
12. What is next for you? A new film?

YES, a couple of features, shorts and one television series, if possible. I have soooo many ideas to the point that I feel like my entire lifetime won’t be enough to execute and bring them all to fruition.

1. What motivated you to make this film? Honestly? Boredom. I’m firmly convinced that boredom is humanity’s greatest mother of invention. History makes it abundantly clear just how much civilization has been advanced by people with too much time on their hands.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take? I don’t particularly believe in the concept of “completion.” Every work is only truly finished the moment its creator dies. Which means this one remains, technically, unfinished.

3. How would you describe your film in two words? “Misdelivered. Welcome.” I believe a film functions at its most beautiful when it arrives in the hands of someone it was never intended to reach.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film? Myself. Nothing more, nothing less. External obstacles can be overcome or circumvented. But the obstacle called “oneself” is always there, without exception.

5. What is your favorite stage of the filmmaking process? Pre-production. That blissful window before anything has gone wrong yet. When I say a film is most interesting before it’s shot — I’m half joking. But only half.

6. When did you realize you wanted to make films? When I first saw Tarkovsky’s The Mirror, I thought: “This isn’t a film. It’s something merely pretending to be one.” And I wanted to make that something for myself. The exact age escapes me now.

7. What film have you seen the most times in your life? I’m almost embarrassed to admit it — Billy Wilder’s The Apartment. A perfect comedy is harder to pull off than a perfect tragedy. This film keeps proving that, every single time.

8. Who would you like to collaborate with? Federico Fellini. The fact that he’s dead presents a certain logistical problem, but given that the question specifies “a perfect world,” I’ll allow it. Collaboration with the living, after all, is an unending series of compromises.

9. How has your experience been with FilmFreeway? It’s convenient. And complaining about something convenient is, itself, a kind of luxury. That said, when things become too seamless, I can’t help feeling that something of the tension — the ritual gravity of submitting a film — quietly slips away. That is, I admit, entirely my own sentimentality.

10. What is your favorite meal? Eel. Expensive, endangered, and guilt-inducing with every bite. And yet I keep eating it. I can think of no food that more eloquently represents the fundamental folly of being human.

11. What is next for you? A new film? I’m not particularly fond of the concept of “next.” Whatever I’m making now is always the next thing — and simultaneously, the present one. I have no intention of setting down the camera anytime soon. That much, at least, is certain.

What Kind of World is this?, 50min., USA
Directed by Jacob Rudin

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

I was working on the album which would become the movie/album and I realized the material needed a direction which would lend it some relevance in the current cultural climate. I am deeply interested in religion and mythologies and I felt a great way to engage with contemporary malaise/disillusionment would be to pit it against a fantastical mythico-spiritual backdrop.

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

The music for the album began about 4 years before the it came into being in various seeds and ideas. I began formally working on the album about a year before it came out and I started the film portion about 10 months before its completion.

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

Disaster Art.

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

There were 5 different artists each completing their own chapters which each had to flow into each other and make sense stylistically. The biggest obstacle was getting everyone to submit their work on time and to edit in a way that made sense. We went through many iterations of the subtitles and the storytelling through text proved to be very challenging to achieve.

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?

Hmm. I love writing. I don’t love editing. Distribution remains to be seen. I’m not really sure this film followed.

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

When I realized making an album would be insufficient and that I could infuse more meaning and convey a deeper experience through expanding into the world of film.

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

The God of Cookery – Stephen Chow

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

If I could combine Jared Hess and Steven Chow into one person, that would be awesome.

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

I’m not sure, this is my first acceptance. We’ll see, hopefully I’ll have a great experience but who knows.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Anything lentil based and full of lots of hearty and nutritious ingredients all mushed together. Blueberries for dessert.

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

I hope so. I’m definitely working hard on new music, so if I can find a way to incorporate a new film into it I would absolutely love that.

Mer – Of Oceans and Bodies, 2min., Canada
Directed by Katrina Piacek
Mer – Of Oceans and Bodies is a hydrofeminist experimental dance film that explores the interwoven experiences of femme bodies and oceans under extractivism. This work takes on an hydrofeminist perspective, exploring the interwoven experiences of femme bodies and oceans. It investigates the patriarchal logic of exploitation and its effects on the fertility of oceans and bodies, blurring the binary between them as symbols of fertility. Investigating the correlation between the moon’s effect on ocean tides and femme reproductive cycles, this piece explores how patriarchal development and exploitation confuse and corrupt the cycles between nature and bodies and how we can explore reimagine our relationships with bodies of water through movement.

Get to know producer/dancer Sarah Rose Mercer & director Katrina Piacek

1. What motivated you to make this film?

S: This work began as an extension of the collaborative relationship between Katrina and me. The concept and aesthetic feel like a natural continuation of the world we built as a creative duo. However, in many ways, this piece diverged from our previous collaborative practice. Katrina explored video and underwater film, while I worked with dance underwater — both new elements for us. The motivation behind this work is deeply connected to our energy as emerging artists who want to challenge and expand both our individual and collective practices.

K: Adding to Sarah’s point, a big motivation for this project was just simple exploration. The idea of “let’s just see where we can go!” Lots of play!

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

K: Just close to a year! It took longer than we both expected but we had factors like distance and other full time commitments that made the process a bit longer than anticipated. So we weren’t working on it full time for a year, just part time.

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

S: Immersive. Experimental.

K: Experimental. Uncanny

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

S: The biggest challenge we faced as a duo was the scale of the work and finding creative balance while incorporating new artistic elements. As a small three-person team with an ambitious vision, we had to navigate the realities of daily life, other jobs, and geographic separation — with me based in Vancouver and Katrina in Victoria.

K: I agree the distance was the hardest part. When we previously worked together we lived in the same city. This project was the first time we were a whole ferry ride away from each other making scheduling and distance our biggest feat.

5. What is your favorite stage of the filmmaking process?

S: I feel most excited about the production stage. It feels like true alchemy — enacting an imagined idea and watching it come to life. I’m also drawn to the unknown of this phase. Even as we capture content, we don’t yet know exactly how post-production will shape the final piece, which leaves room for discovery.

K: I love the development phase! Having the smallest little idea and seeing how it grows. Especially in collaboration, getting to build an idea together. Brainstorming all the elements that will bring it to life. It’s a really fun process and it helps get me excited for my next favourite part of the film making process..the production stage.

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

K: I can’t really remember exactly when. I’ve always loved film, especially films that were odd and obscure. I guess I’ve always wanted to make films without ever realizing it until I found myself on sets. Making films became an organic progression from my photography and art practice. It is so collaborative and that’s the part I love the most! Photography can get a little lonely, whereas filmmaking is never solo. Making films with my friends is the best feeling in the world so when I started to work on their projects with them, that’s really when I 100% knew I wanted to make films.

S: We conceptualized this film in response to our previous work as a duo for the Ocean Wise Ocean Action Grant. Receiving funding for materials was incredibly affirming and motivated us to volunteer our time toward fully realizing the project.

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

K: I don’t know about seen the most times but a film that I definitely go back to over and over again is “The Worst Person in The World” by Joachim Trier. It’s a film that feels like so many different things. A photograph, a book, a poem. It’s entertaining and engaging and it’s art!

8. In a perfect world, who would you like to collaborate with on a film?

S: I’m very inspired by the work of Josephine Meng. And dancer/choreographer Emma Portner, particularly her video-based work. Both artists create powerful intersections between movement and film that deeply resonate with me.

K: I feel like I won the lottery with my group of friends and housemates. We are all creatives and filmmakers, so just having funds to employ us all to make the films we want together would be the ultimate dream! There’s so many incredible artists that come to mind but where my heart really lies is with them.

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

K: So simple and easy to submit! It’s amazing that this platform exists. Without it I wouldn’t know where to start the process of getting our film out there.

S: It has been a wonderful experience working with FilmFreeway. The platform has provided incredible support in distributing our work and has made the submission process feel accessible and encouraging.

10. What is your favorite meal?

S: Tacos!

K: haha not a meal but I love sautéed tuscan kale with garlic, salt and olive oil. I will often eat a whole head as a meal.

11. What is next for you?

S: Continuing to create and explore movement and interdisciplinary practice!

K: Same! Continuing to create and explore within my photography and filmmaking. To continue working on the balance between the two. Bring more of my creative ideas to life!

Directed by Eliza Goodwin
The Pomegranate Theory is a 10-minute short film in the genre of fantasy realism. The film takes place in a society where people wear animal masks to represent their inner selves. Muyal, a young woman who bears the mask of a rabbit, is beginning to lose herself by allowing her love for Holter, a young man with the mask of a fox, to engulf her.

https://www.instagram.com/thepomegranatetheory/

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?

The Pomegranate Theory originated from conversations I had with other young adults surrounding relationships. This endeavour aimed to address challenging human experiences, specifically intimacy and societal roles. By omitting dialogue, the intention was to emphasize the impact of unspoken sentiments and the long-term consequences of individuals’ actions within relationships. Furthermore, I wanted to explore the concept of how many women are conditioned to prioritize others’ needs over their own and how these patterns often carry over into our romantic relations.

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

The film began development in January of 2024, and it screened for the first time in April of 2025.

How would you describe your film in two words!?

Human Experience.

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

For me, the biggest obstacle I faced while making this film was shooting the outdoor scenes. It was my first time filming outdoor scenes to this degree; it was difficult due to the unpredictability of the weather and making sure we had enough daylight.

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

Out of the 5 stages of the filmmaking process, production is my favourite stage. I love being on set and seeing the world come to life before my eyes.

When did you realise that you wanted to make films?

In my final year of high school, I took a course where we were given the opportunity to create a short film, and I fell in love with the craft.

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

The Twilight series

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

One person in a perfect world I would love to work for in any capacity would be Shannon Murphy, as she is the director of one of my favourite films, Babyteeth. This film is one of the reasons I fell in love with movies.

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

The experience with FilmFreeway has been great. We have had so many amazing opportunities, including being a part of this festival.

10. What is your favourite meal?

All you can eat sushi.

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

I am currently working on a new short film, and I hope to keep making art with other passionate creators within the industry.

MRI, 4min., UK
Directed by Dougal Vecqueray
A patient named Tom goes for an MRI scan only to be transported into a galactic void. After the contrast dye he was injected with begins to spread across his body, Tom is turned blue. Things become even more trippy as Tom’s journey through the void takes a sinister turn.

https://www.instagram.com/mrishortfilm/

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

I actually came up with MRI whilst, believe it or not, in an MRI scan. From growing up with a heart condition and having to go for various scans and tests all my life, I was always intrigued by the feeling of exposure and vulnerability these procedures would give me. With this personal, darker perspective to flesh out the narrative as well as a love for sci-fi and stop-motion animation, I was eager to create this film.

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

At the Aardman Academy, we were given 9 months in total to create our films. If you know how long stop-motion takes, it seemed like a dauntingly short amount of time to make a 4min long short. But with the Academy’s amazing help and assistance, I completed the film just in time without sacrificing my vision for the film.

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

ACID. TRIP.

or

EGO. DEATH.

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

Stop-motion animation was an almost brand new form of animation to me, having only done small amounts of test animations before the course. With a story I was determined to tell and the incredible amount of help from my course-mates and the professionals at Aardman, I learnt so much and developed my animation skills during MRI’s production.

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

It was so heartwarming to hear positive feedback about such a personal project of mine. I’m glad to see them understand and enjoy the parts of the film I was worried might be lost on the audience. It gives me so much more confidence in my storytelling abilities and inspires me to create more stories to be enjoyed by the public.

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

Ever since watching films growing up, especially animated films, I’ve wanted to tell funny, visually exciting stories. It was incredible to have made my first film at Aardman, a studio that had produced some of the very films that inspired me growing up.

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

It sounds silly but ‘Rango’ (2011) is my favourite ever. From the absurd character designs, beautiful animation and surprisingly deep and profound story.

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 it’s great that your festival provides recorded audience feedback , something I haven’t experienced as directly at other festivals. I unfortunately couldn’t attend the festival in person but I’m sure it was a smashing success! I’m really honoured to have my film be a part of it!

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

It’s been a great way to submit MRI to a variety of easy to find, genre specific festivals such as this one. The platform is clear and accessible.

10. What is your favorite meal?

I’m a sucker for a sausage sarnie, doused in tomato sauce!

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

I currently have a lot of projects ready to go, I’m just looking for funding and scouting for a studio location, all the tricky bits! But I’m motivated and want to make something as good, if not better, as MRI!

The Architect’s Dream, 8min., Israel
Directed by Einat Graitser
In a future where happiness is mandatory and grief is flagged as a system error, the architect of the city’s ‘Serenity Algorithm’ faces an impossible choice: purge the memory of her late sister to survive, or destroy the perfect utopia she built to remind humanity that pain is proof of life.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

For the past two years, I have been teaching cinema with a specific focus on science fiction and AI. After teaching the theory and exploring these generative tools with my students, my fingers were simply burning to create something of my own and put everything into practice.

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

It took about a month. This is actually the first film where I functioned as a complete one-woman studio—from the initial story and script to the final visual execution.

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

Digital Dreamscape.

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

The biggest challenge in producing a film 100% with AI is maintaining visual consistency. The real obstacle was forcing different generative models to create a cohesive narrative and stylistic continuity, ensuring it looks like one unified cinematic piece rather than a collection of separate images.

5. There are 5 stages of filmmaking: Development, Pre-Production, Production, Post-Production, Distribution. What is your favorite stage?

When working with AI, the traditional stages tend to blend together. I would say my favorite parts are Development and Post-Production—the magical process of taking the world I imagined in my head and rendering it into a precise visual reality.

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

Since I was a little girl. I used to watch a movie every Friday with my dad, so it’s basically his fault that cinema flows in my blood! I worked as a video editor for years and loved it, but the arrival of AI tools completely unlocked my creativity, allowing me to fly higher and faster than ever before.

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

The Fifth Element by Luc Besson. The number of times I’ve watched it is completely insane.

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

Directors like Luc Besson or Steven Spielberg—I absolutely love the clear, masterful way Spielberg tells a story. As for an actor, I would love to collaborate with Tommy Lee Jones.

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

The platform is highly convenient and efficient. It centralizes all the bureaucracy smoothly in one place, which leaves me with much more time for actual creation and development.

10. What is your favorite meal?

My dad’s stuffed peppers, or a really great breakfast that my husband makes when he wants to spoil me.

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

I am currently focused on developing my sci-fi series, “Memory_LEAK”. Alongside that, I am in a continuous state of creation I recently developed and built four independent tech applications and two computer games.

THE FORGOTTEN DOOR, 20min., USA
Directed by Anzor Mulkoev
On the edge of town, next to a landfill, lives a man, broken and forgotten. His life seems empty until he finds a discarded door among the trash. This door opens to any place on Earth, as long as there is a door there too. With each step through this door, the joy for life returns to him. But he discovers an even more astonishing turn in his life when he finds himself in the very place he once decided to leave – his hometown.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

I worked at a construction site and after work tired I had to go home for a long time. Then I thought to myself “if only to open the door immediately home or somewhere on the sea to relax” and from this the idea of the film was born.

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

We had two three pauses in post-production, our sound engineer fell ill, then they were looking for a new person who would deal with visual effects, and I also decided to move. It all took more than a year.

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

I think this is a film about a man who was tired and broke but got hope.

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

The biggest obstacle was communication with the team on post-production after my move. Communication with the team was through the producer, I could not communicate with them directly and it was strange and difficult, I do not know why it was done, but it seems to me that it worsened and stretched the work, many ideas were not fully understood, some details were lost somewhere in communication. In general, it was difficult to work like that.

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

It was very exciting and pleasant. It’s a pleasant feeling that someone is not near you and not from your acquaintances, but somewhere in another city watching your movie and sharing their impression of it. You feel like a director.

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

I have been fond of films since childhood. My uncle had a small grocery store and there he had video tapes with films for rent and I reviewed all the films, I also sometimes did editing when I was at school. I am from Chechnya and my childhood and adolescence fell on two wars with Russia. Our people at that time had no idea that they could make a movie and do it professionally, and I also thought so. At that time, the choice of professions for us then was not great: a lawyer, an accountant, a physician, a builder. My parents wanted me to study as a builder, and already at the university I realized that we can also be engaged in directing and cinema.

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

Consciously, I myself most often revised the film “Equilibrium” Kurt Wimmer.

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

There were a lot of elements at your festival to promote the film and it’s a big job to connect people who will give a video review or write a review of the film. This is both pleasant for the director and also helps him to move closer to the dream of making a big movie. I don’t even know what can be added to the work you do. Well, maybe if there is any opportunity you have to involve producers in the festival (I understand that they are very busy people, maybe they are looking for new talents) to watch the winners’ films at home or anywhere in order to somehow bring them closer to the implementation of a big movie.

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

I like this platform, I would be happy to shake hands with the person who gave this platform.

10. What is your favorite meal?

This is a difficult question for me, it is always difficult for me to answer the question related to what I love. There are always different sushi, pizza or national Chechen.

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

I would very much like to make a new film. There are many ideas.

WHEN FIGHTING MONSTERS, 18min., USA
Directed by Sherill Quinn
A bereaved detective struggles to make sense of his daughter’s untimely death.

https://www.instagram.com/when_fighting_monsters_movie

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

I’ve always believed that to make art is to make sense of the world you live in. The things you’ve experienced and the lessons you’ve learned. When Fighting Monsters was meant as a portrait of grief, and a reminder to be there for your loved ones amidst the growing mental health crisis in America.

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

Two years. The original idea I’d had was a solo scene. I wrote that scene while on an airplane, then basically forgot about it for a year. Then in 2024, I picked it up again and thought, why don’t I just finish this? Once I started writing, I couldn’t stop. I finished the first draft in a few days and reached out to a producer friend to see if he would be interested in working on it. Fortunately he said yes, and pre-production quickly followed. We finished principal photography three months later, and the film was finalized almost exactly a year after I’d finished writing it.

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

Dark, Gritty

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film? I think the biggest obstacle was learning to trust myself. I spent all of pre-production terrified that I was going to screw it up, or that something would go terribly wrong in the middle of filming. Then once we had finished filming, I had to trust myself to edit the film. This was equally daunting, knowing that everyone’s time and hard work was all wrapped up in a tiny hard drive on my desk. I think that’s a natural part of every creator’s journey. You don’t know what to expect until you jump in.

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. There is nothing more magical than seeing your vision come together on the monitor. I have my producer, Morgan Hamilton-Lee, and assistant director, Mandy Miller, to thank for their tireless pre-production planning and organizing, as well as my whole cast and crew for their expertise and attention to detail. Production would not have been what it was without every single person bringing their A-game to the table.

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

I’ve had the honor of getting to collaborate with so many great filmmakers through acting. It never gets old, taking on a new role and working to bring someone’s vision to life. In 2024, it occurred to me that I have my own stories I would like to tell. Once that spark was lit, I couldn’t ignore it.

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

Silence of the Lambs

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

Jodi Foster

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

FilmFreeway is so intuitive and easy to navigate. It’s been a great experience so far.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Ethiopian Kitfo and Veggie Platter

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

Next I’m slated to direct another short titled Atonement, a psychological thriller about a Silicon Valley tech mogul whose promising future comes under fire after he receives a mysterious text.

TEXAS STRANGE, 9min. USA
Directed by Justin Eugene Evans
After two months on a distant planet, John Thurston returns to his ragtag crew of criminals and thieves. He expects a heroes welcome…instead they’ve held themselves a vote.

https://youtu.be/oxdTxgBC72A

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

I’m an inventor. I’ve invented a light. I call it Nairobi. It is a 6 inch cube that fits in your hand but can light three 30 story buildings side by side. I needed a project to prove its abilities. So, I created the short film, Texas Strange, to prove Nairobi’s abilities. It allowed us to shoot the film with only a 7 person crew.

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

One year. 2.5 nights to shoot with a tiny team of 7 people. I did most of the post production myself on my laptop.

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

Unexpectedly funny.

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

I hired a professional visual effects artist from ILM, Brandon Miletta. I paid him in advance. He then disappeared for a year…completely held the film hostage. He claimed he was going through a divorce and was in a depression. Who knows what the truth was…in the end, he nearly wrecked the movie.

We had to complete all the visual effects ourselves. He never returned the money. And when he delivered our hard drive, he sent it in an unsealed, dirty sandwich bag.

He almost wrecked the film. He’s still credited in the movie because we’d already paid a motion graphics artist to do the closing credits. But, I hired two fantastic artists, Hussar Eissa and Annie Caps-Wightman. They worked incredibly hard to fix about 200 of Brandon Miletta’s mistakes and then finished all the visual effects. Their work is fantastic.

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

I’m grateful they enjoyed the film. I’m particularly happy when people understand it’s a comedy.

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

I saw Star Wars as a four year old kid in Honolulu. But, the film industry is in a state of collapse…I’m not sure what its going to look like in five years.

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

I cannot list them all. Wouldn’t even know where to start.

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

You can’t. The festival circuit is broken. Hollywood is broken. But, hey…it is nice that some people saw my movie and enjoyed it!

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

It’s fine.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Excellent sushi. I live in Taipei. I eat sushi about five times a week. I’m also a fan of Teppanyaki.

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

I begin sales of Nairobi in a few months. I might do another short film later this year. You can learn more about Nairobi at www.nairobilighting.com.