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
WINNERS: April 2026 Romance/Relationships Festival
WINNERS: April 2026 Romance/Relationships Festival
Showcase of the best #ROMANCE/#RELATIONSHIP FILMS in the world today.
AUDIENCE AWARDS (from FEEDBACK Film Festival):
Best Short Film: THE YARD
Best Direction: YOU ARE SPECIAL
Best Visual Design: LULLABY #romancefestival
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”
https://filmfreeway.com/Environmental
Festival this was a film a few years in the making, that helped make real change, so it was very heartwarming to receive the lovely comments about the film. #filmfreeway #environmentalfestival #filmfestival #environment #documentary
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
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
Divided over the fate of their rundown pool, the Osgood family is visited by a nocturnal stranger who convinces them to take one last plunge.
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Review by Victoria Angelique:
Summer used to be the time of family bonding, something that seems to be a distant memory in THE CURRENT STATE OF THE BACKYARD POOL INDUSTRY. The premise is simple at first, a dad is discussing with a pool repairman about the cost to repair the pool liner and it is expensive. His children only care about their phones and his wife mentions that he only ever puts his suit on, but never actually enters the pool, so it would be a waste of money. That’s when the fun begins, and the con from the repair company.
Enter Willy, a man that claims to the manifestation of why pools are cool and should remain a staple of the backyard. He quickly shows this family who they used to be and the fun they used to have together, taking everyone back in time to when summer was simple. The film takes the audience back to their own childhoods through watching the pool games being played where the only one missing was Marco Polo. The family bonded again, to the point that the two teenage children ended up falling asleep in their parents bed as their dad continued to play in the pool with Willy.
The unexpected twist is the con from the repair company. Willy seems like a figment of someone’s imagination with his fun costume and antics. He disappears just as quickly when the dad wakes up, making the audience think it was all a dream, until the repairman talks to Willy in the backseat of the company van as they plan their next con to get the next customers to commit. It’s a very unexpected business strategy that no one would ever expect.
Families are strengthened again, as shown when this particular family is no longer on their phones but jumping back in the pool as the film ends.
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
Project Links
Directed by Alex Chacon. Written & Performed by Sarah James
Review by Victoria Angelique:
If the song ‘TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT’ came on the radio, most people would like it and sing along, because it has nods to the traditional rock anthems of old. The question remains if people would listen to the message of the song when watching the music video, which really brings the lyrics to life about embracing people or walking away.
The message is simple, one that doesn’t demand force, but just a request that most people could agree to simply walk away if you don’t agree without hurting another person. The first example is with a nervous couple, a girl bringing her girlfriend home to meet the family for the first time. This video could have used stereotypes to show the type of people that would reject them, but twisted the idea on its head by simply showing the generational differences. The girl’s grandparents were the ones that were uncomfortable, but it was her Christian father that was accepting with a smile on his face. His opinion matters more to this particular girl, shown by the point-of-view shot that the camera slowly pivots to him as if his opinion was the one she was most nervous about, indicating she’s always been a major daddy’s girl. Walking away from the others wouldn’t have hurt as much as walking away from her father.
The song is an anthem about embracing people by looking past stereotypes, such as the Christian father, and preconceived notions to find the humanity underneath. The way this is depicted is by an individual with several face piercings, someone society typically keeps at a distance as this person sits alone. A simple gesture, a little girl giving this individual a flower, makes someone’s day and shows humanity. It brings light into the world of someone that appeared alone and showed that someone still cared.
The message of this music video and the song behind it is powerful, we’re all the same in the end and just trying to make it through life by wanting to be accepted.
Festival Reviews 