Making Emmie Smile, 5min., USA Directed by Abby Vo, John Vo, Ken Yoffe, Ellen Weisberg In “Making Emmie Smile,” family members attempt to make the child happy by offering her different material things, only to succeed in getting the child to smile by offering personal attention. The basic them of “Making Emmie Smile” is the importance of fulfilling your child’s emotional needs.
The Influencer Loop, 3min., India Directed by Deep Malhotra It takes two to build a loop and sometimes makes it difficult to predict which part you are holding. When a motivational speaker creating content for his online audience gets a scam call, it makes him go behind where he never expected to be. In today’s time, it becomes tough to differentiate between real and artificial. Any ring can change your situation, so before you ignore or respond to that ring, ensure you are prepared for the consequences. You can get stuck with the decisions you make or ignore in this matrix of life.
Asa, his cat and the Library of Dreams, 16min., UK Directed by Craig McNulty Asa, a bored librarian who trained to curate rare books complains about his dead-end job. Later he returns home and in the morning finds his cat has died. He places his dead cat into his bag intending to bury him and steps in to the elevator which descends to an underworld library of dreams where he is invited to curate the collection. It is a mobile library. He might never return. He briefly returns to the ‘real world’ to bury his cat, and meet his girlfriend. He has to decide if he will accept the job.
MATTER!, 26min, France Directed by Samuel Feron It tells of the disappearance of Nothingness, the appearance of Matter and its confrontation with Man and with time. it is punctuated by a textual narrative and accompanied by Archive music.
Spider-Man: A Day in the Neighborhood, 3min,. USA Directed by Michael Fernandez Peter Parker deals with yet another work-life squall courtesy of his famous Parker luck. While it seems he can’t ever catch a break, he’ll never stop trying, even if that means swinging from a toilet.
serpentine, 19min., USA Directed by Annie Young, Madeline Mack After leaving an abusive relationship, a woman seeks refuge with a trauma treatment facility that promises healing. But as she learns more about their treatment methods, she starts to realize that the organization’s motivations may be far more sinister than they seem.
Get to know the filmmaker Annie Young:
What motivated you to make this film?
In my 20s, I was in a deeply toxic relationship with someone who spent most of his childhood in a cult. After I managed to leave the relationship, I started to see the parallels between the way I was treated and the ways in which cult leaders attract and keep their followers. I started to take a deep dive into learning about various different cults, consuming as much information I could find. The film was made as an attempt to understand my own experiences, and how easy it is for a vulnerable person to find themself in a situation not dissimilar to this one. There’s much judgment placed on those who experience emotional abuse and psychological manipulation, as if it’s easy to identify in real time, so I was curious how I could portray that feeling to an audience and perhaps elicit some of those emotions in themselves.
What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
Feedback can always be intimidating to receive, but is so essential for creative growth. I was pleased to hear the feedback received, and I look forward to applying it to the feature-length version.
Accept only stories that fit into the MAGICAL REALISM genre. Magical realism stories feature fantastical elements that seem ordinary and blend into the story.The focus is on what the magical elements mean for the characters, rather than the elements themselves.
3 options to submit: full novel. 1st chapter. Novel performance reading.
This festival has a guaranteed 4-tier set up for each accepted script. (No matter what, all screenplays submitted receive FULL FEEDBACK on their work.) 1) Full Feedback on your script 2) Actors performance video reading of your script 3) Blog interview promotion. 4) Podcast interview on the Film Festival ITunes show
Submit your POLITICAL short story to the festival, and we will automatically have it performed by a professional actor and turned into a promotional video for yourself.
This is a great festival – my script ‘Mysterious Island’ won the ‘Best Scene’ and the fest posted a reading of the scene performed by some wonderful actors. The scene was intended to be funny and the actors pulled it off marvelously. Thank you Fantasy/Sci-Fi Film and Screenplay Fest!
Parents in the Wild – Mating Games and Birth Days, 52min., Germany Directed by Moritz Mayerle, Annette Scheurich In this film, directors Annette Scheurich and Moritz Mayerle offer a captivating glimpse into the love lives of Parents in the Wild worldwide. Highlighting the universal goal of providing offspring a strong start, the film explores the diverse mating and nesting rituals of mammals, insects, and birds, celebrating the intricate dance of love in the heart of the wilderness. Spectacular images showcase also the birth of squirrels, a grey seal pup and a flying fox fighting gravity in its upside-down world. “Parents in the Wild” is an entertaining visual feast that invites audiences to connect with the profound moments of wild parents in their quest for species conservation.
Get to know filmmaker Annette Scheurich:
What motivated you to make this film?
In my career as a filmmaker of documentaries about wildlife and nature I often marveled at the many strategies animals developed to make sure the species survive. Some invest in an enormous amount of progeny in the hope that some survive. Like toads, snails, spiders, etc. Others, like elephants, seals, deer, squirrels, flying foxes, weaver birds or penguins only have very few young and put all their effort in preparing for a safe place before birth and/or in protecting them for a longer time after birth, until they are ready to fend for themselves. My intention was to show all this from the perspective of the parents, pointing out to which lengths parents go to make sure their offspring get a good start. Any similarities to human behaviour are unintentional or purely coincidental 😉
What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
The biggest obstacle was to create a storyline out of the many different stories round about parents’ care for their young. There is so much fascinating behaviour we wanted to have in the film, but only had time for so much episodes. Choosing which parents get a window and balancing the variety of the different strategies was a real struggle. And then is also was a matter of capturing this behaviour. The camera teams out die themselves in delivering the footage that made our storytelling possible.
This festival has a guaranteed 4-tier set up for each accepted script. (No matter what, all screenplays submitted receive FULL FEEDBACK on their work.) 1) Full Feedback on your script 2) Actors performance video reading of your script 3) Blog interview promotion. 4) Podcast interview on the Film Festival ITunes show
An art and photography novel is a nonfiction book that showcases or discusses art, including photography. Art books can include: The technical aspects of an art form, The life and work of a specific artist, The history of an art form or style, Personal expositions, and Craft and coloring books.
Submit your ACTION/ADVENTURE Short Story to the Festival here and we will automatically have it performed by a professional actor and turned into a promotional video for yourself.
Accept only stories that fit into the ACTION or ADVENTURE genres.
Duties of My Heart, 10min., USA, Poetry Directed by Judy Lieff Originally shot on 16mm and remastered in 2024 with additional elements, Duties of My Heart breathes life into Barbara Barg’s poem through the expressive and evocative movement of American Sign Language and dance. It creates a visual and auditory poetic experience and weaves a tapestry of sorrow, resiliance and revival.
CHIMERA, 7min., South Korea, Dance Directed by Minsu Kim A presence curls up behind a thin veil on stage. From below, the serpent’s head—’Chimera,’ a camera—slithers its way up. The red recording light in Chimera’s lens flickers on, awakening the presence.
FRAGILE, 3min., Germany, Experimental Directed by Lucas Buchholz, Bernd Brink Every day, millions of packages are shipped, billions of messages are sent—our world seems more connected than ever. Even in the most remote corners of the planet, we are within reach. But have we truly come closer to one another?
SPARKS, 2min,. France, Dance Directed by David Ravel Alone on a vast stage, a dancer moves through a space sculpted by light. He observes, senses, letting the sensations guide his body. An instinctive dance emerges, visceral, almost organic. Each movement becomes an exploration, a silent quest in resonance with the luminous pulses enveloping him.