Hover City, 22min., Canada
Directed by Stephen Angelo Puiia
Hover City is a prequel to the 2017 novella, Lucky Duck Cola. Everyone in Hover City is getting high-fived by their favourite celebrity, Blaine The Block Bronson–that is everyone except for his most devoted and loyal fan. This man will stop at nothing to experience, the hero, Block Bronson’s patented high five. Hover City addresses the corrosive nature of narcissism within the individual and throughout society. It is a one man show, starring the producer Stephen Puiia, and is a comedic-horror.

https://www.hovercitymedia.com/
https://www.instagram.com/hovercitymedia

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?

I’ve always wanted to make a film. In the past I published a novel. It gave me the feeling you get when you go to the store to buy a shirt but leave with a pair of shoes. I liked my new shoes but still needed a shirt.

After writing the novel I moved to China for 8 years. When I came back I wanted to get my old friends together to make a movie like we did when we were younger. I didn’t get any takers for this. So I felt compelled to make my own movie.

The need to accept myself motivated me to make this film. At the time I made it I was trying to deal with a romantic rejection that deeply confused and affected me. The film was a means of processing emotions related to that relationship and the alienation I experienced while living in China.

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

It took about two years. I played around with the ideas for about four months, built the props and wrote the script over a couple of months, filmed and edited over 3-4 months. Post production for music, sound mixing, and all the rest took about a year.

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

Profile narcisism

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

Finding collaborators was the most difficult part. Also, learning to edit was challenging. I was 37 when I made this and it was my first film. When I was younger my friends and I would create videos that we would script and act in. It was easier to find collaborators back then.

When I came back from China, most of my friends had moved on with that part of their career or had other priorities. Also, the social environment now is potentially less forgiving to an individual who would show themselves film like this than it was 15 years ago. It was a difficult conclusion to come to—that I would play all of the roles and edit the film.

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

It was really gratifying. I’ve never had an experience like it really. My previous work was a book and the thing about books is that you can’t see your audience react while they are reading it. I loved that process but it was disappointing in that way. This was the first time I got to see audience feedback from something I produced creatively.

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

I think I wanted to when I was young, like 14 or 15. I pursued it a little bit when I was in my early and mid twenties but not in a sustained or organized way. I always knew I would do this though. Just when the time was right.

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

The Princess Bride

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 only the third festival I have participated in so I don’t have much to compare against or base feedback on. So far my experience has been great.

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

The experience has been really great.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Lasagna

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

In a month I am releasing a text book on mindfulness. I am currently building the props for Hover City 2 which I should start filming later this year.

Red Wins, 77min., Italy
Directed by A.M. Nonnis
Six people play a dark and ruthless gambling game in which every card can either grant significant rewards or decree a death sentence. With each turn, a mysterious red light selects the player, inexorably determining the fate of every participant.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

I was driven by passion and stubbornness. I almost had no money to make this project, but I had amazing and talented people around me who made it happen. I was allowed to use our town’s beautiful theater for filming, found the actors, arranged a crew, and then I said to myself, “You know what? We can do this.” Red Wins was in my mind, and I needed to bring it to life as soon as possible.

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

It took around 3 years. I started writing Red Wins in early 2021 and finished post-production at the end of 2024. By January 2025, I finished the last small corrections, and then Red Wins was ready for the festivals. I’m not gonna lie, it was so hard to let it go. I kept making little corrections for a while!

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

Irregular and oppressive.

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

Let’s be real, shooting Red Wins was no piece of cake! It was my first movie, the budget was low, and even if everyone who joined me in this adventure strongly believed in the project, I couldn’t hold them up for too long. We had breaks, some even lasting months, between different phases of filming. The post-production part wasn’t any easier. I had to focus on other work as well and find time for Red Wins. I had to keep going through the night sometimes, and it was exhausting. Covering different roles was hard, but no doubt, I put every piece of my soul into Red Wins.

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

It was so emotional and moving. People from the other side of the world had watched my movie and were giving me feedback. I can’t even explain what I felt. When you first send your movie to festivals, you just let it go. You get and respond to emails, but everything feels so far away and untouchable. When you see real people talking about your film, woo, that hits differently. I was so glad that I’d shared my work, and it traveled across the world. When I saw Red Wins was voted Best Feature, I was on cloud nine. You can’t imagine how grateful I am.

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

Since I was little, I’ve been completely in love with cinema. I wanted to become an actor first, but then as I grew up, I realized I’d rather stay behind the camera and create stories. During the last years of high school, I was 100% sure I wanted to make movies. This is just the beginning. I can’t wait to see how my real-life movie continues.

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

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. If you could enter my brain like Inside Out, you’d definitely find a Harry Potter island! I’ve always loved this story, and the magic of Harry Potter sparked that passion inside me that made me fall in love with cinema as well. The music, the atmosphere, everything about this movie is magical and mysterious. It takes me far away and makes me feel like the child I was when I watched it for the first time. I’ve seen it at least 100 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’ve had a great experience with your festival so far. Maybe it would be good to watch the movie remotely with the audience. It would be like being there.

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

The platform is very well done and gives filmmakers the opportunity to share their movie easily.

The interface is good and simple, and I’ve always had the chance to communicate easily with both the Freeway team and individual festivals.

10. What is your favorite meal?

You’d probably think I’m the stereotypical Italian, but there’s nothing better than good, simple granny’s pasta with tomato sauce!

11. What’s next for you? A new film?

There’s a lot going on this year. I’ll be working on a documentary, a TV show pilot, and a music video. I can’t wait to start a new project, but I don’t know what my next big move will be yet. For now, it’s Red Wins time!

THE MERMAID, 105min., USA
Directed by Soudabeh Moradian
A mysterious girl is saved from drowning by a fragmented family living in a desolate beach house. Her strange relationship with them becomes intimate and complex until everything reaches to a point of no return.

https://www.instagram.com/themermaidmovie/

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
The Mermaid was born out of a personal urgency to explore the psychological aftermath of trauma—particularly when it’s silenced or dismissed. I wanted to create a space for a character who’s constantly gaslit, both by her inner world and the people around her, and to blur the line between dream and reality. It’s a reflection on emotional abuse, xenophobia, and isolation, wrapped in the aesthetics of psychological horror.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
It took more than three years from the initial concept to the final cut. Development and writing were fairly quick, but production and especially post-production were long and complicated—partly due to budget constraints and doing so much of the work myself.

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

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
Financing and post-production. I wore multiple hats—writer, director, producer, editor —and managing everything independently while teaching full-time at Syracuse University was incredibly draining. There were moments I truly thought it wouldn’t get finished.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
It was surreal and deeply moving. Hearing people connect to the emotional undercurrents, even if they interpreted things differently, made me feel like the risks I took paid off.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
I was drawn to storytelling as a child, but I fully realized I wanted to make films after watching how cinema could articulate things I couldn’t find words for. It became both an escape and a confrontation—something I needed. So I started my work as a documentary filmmaker and a war journalist and then gradually brought what I witnessed and observed – the human stories – into my narrative films.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
Probably Persona by Ingmar Bergman. Every time I watch it, I find a new crack in the psyche, a new meaning in silence. It’s like looking into a mirror that’s always slightly fogged.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
Intimate roundtables or meet-the-filmmaker sessions would be incredibly helpful. Also, helping connect filmmakers with distributors or curators—even via informal mixers—would really elevate the impact festivals can have.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experience been working on the festival platform site?
FilmFreeway has made festival submissions more accessible, but it can feel impersonal at times. I appreciate when festivals reach out directly after selection—it humanizes the process.

10. What is your favorite meal?
Persian tahchin—crispy saffron rice layered with chicken or eggplant. It tastes like home, and it’s best when shared.

11. What is next for you? A new film?
Yes—I’m currently developing my next feature, Wild Berries, a film that explores generational trauma and immigration. While it’s rooted more in reality, it retains an emotionally haunting tone through its nonlinear, time-travel narrative. The project has started and stalled several times over the past couple of years, but I’m now focused on securing funding to move into pre-production.