Through a time of personal struggle and tragedy, a young Polynesian stage performer named Marc discovers a new meaning of hope. This hope is found through a support system he never knew he had. As he pieces together the support of family, friends, and culture, Marc realizes something of great worth and value, the Aloha within.
This is a really beautiful film from Elvis Maleko about grief, healing, community and the deeper meaning of the word “aloha”. Elvis was the creator, co-director, he starred and edited this film which is definitely a labor of love. I really loved learning that the deeper meaning of Aloha is: “the presence of life”. Plus the on screen rapport between Elvis and Rex was lovely.
The music for this film was done exceptionally well, the vocalist at the very beginning had this amazing high tenor voice that was just breathtaking. Plus the filmmakers were very smart letting the music tell a portion of the story so there was no dialogue needed. The story was really well thought out and beautifully told.
It was stunning to watch the different performances, the fire work and the various traditional dances were incredible. I think it was very clever that the filmmakers used a voice over and sound effects to help the audience understand that they were watching a “live performance before an audience”- it’s such a simple effect but one that worked brilliantly.
Charlotte’s 18th birthday takes a dark turn when Agent Nixon arrives with shocking revelations about her past and his true reasons for hunting aliens. When a desperate attempt to change history unleashes catastrophic consequences, Locky and Jett are thrown into a terrifying alternate future where humanity faces extinction, and must find a way to undo the damage, before it’s too late!
Directed by Locky Boaretto
Review by Victoria Angelique:
The first part of the series told in storyboard, JUMPING AT SHADOWS, follows Locky and Jett as they literally race through time to stop a man named Nixon from destroying all of civilization in his pursuit for vengeance. This story thrusts the audience into action within the first five minutes of the narrative, when Nixon arrives on Charlotte’s birthday and begins poking holes in everything she believed was true. He is an alien hunter, her best friend is an alien, and Nixon is also not her father like she has always believed because her parents were killed by aliens.
The story continues on these same types of twists and turns throughout the entire episode to keep the viewer interested. Just when the story starts to become predictable, another twist is thrown in to keep the audience guessing about what could come next for Locky and Jett as they race through time and space to save their friends and humanity.
Time travel has rules, but what happens when someone like Nixon ignores the fabric of reality? The world is thrown into chaos and he erases the very person that he wanted to protect, Charlotte.
JUMPING AT SHADOWS proves that actions have consequences and why it is imperative to think before jumping into action. It could have devastating effects on more than just one person, but an entire civilization as this pilot episode proved. If the entire series continues down this trajectory, it will be an exciting journey to take with Locky and Jett as they are forced to save humanity multiple times. It’s been a few years since there has been a series with a good brother duo taking on the world together.
In the twilight of his years, a once celebrated chef, now a humbled widowed dishwasher, conceals his storied past while caring for his adult special needs son. As the echoes of his culinary fame fade, a serendipitous encounter reignites his passion, compelling him to embrace his mentorship role and rediscover the art of inspiration. This is a fictionalized view of a unromanticized reality. Not star chefs, not kitchen combat. The characters of the culinary world who’s stories are never told. A story about a father’s love for his son, and relighting his inner beacon, allowing his light to shine outwards once more and illuminate the path for others.
Review by Victoria Angelique:
The short film, WHAT’S LEFT, is a poignant film about the sacrifice’s a parent will make for their child after the death of a spouse. The themes covered in this film relate to many moments in life, that one event can change an entire person’s life. For this man, it is the death of his wife after a battle of cancer and he becomes the sole caretaker of his special needs son.
The cinematographer captured the life this father once had, a Michelin star chef that once headlined newspapers, and now to support his adult child, he washes dishes at a restaurant where the chef abuses his staff rather than teaches them when they make mistakes. This chef is arrogant and makes it clear that he doesn’t know what his own craft is when this kind father has to step in to correct a frustrated sous chef by patiently teaching her the steps rather than belittling her.
This demonstrates the kind of man that he is because how many people could remain quiet when being berated by a much younger boss when you know that your own skills are far superior than his own? This is the kind of man that knows his son comes first and what his wife would’ve wanted, though the cashier at the gas station kindly reminds him she wanted him to work as a dishwasher for a horrible boss as he prays about winning the lottery.
This film is a character study about one man and what he has sacrificed for his child. This is a wonderful story about a father’s love for his child and how it doesn’t matter what his boss says to him, because at the end of the day it is worth it to go home to his son, even if he is no longer a five star chef.
Isolation and a foreboding fear of death surrounds this uncanny sci-fi short film, Strange Orbits. The unknown planet on which the ailing astronaut finds herself is well conceived, with hazy lighting, unrecognizable plants and chirps of unidentified animal life.
The sci-fi essence is clear with the Star Wars-like roving robot and its quirky sarcasm, that accompanies the astronaut. The lush, humid location of the dangerous swamp is especially well-selected, given the arrival of the ominous, ghostly inhabitant that offers a lifeline to the main character.
The echoey whispers surrounding this scene serve the eerie narrative perfectly, and its blurry imagery is a striking foil to the crystal clear camera work of the hospital rescue setting that follows. It seems to be assumed that while death is no longer a worry, existing forever on a planet in a strange orbit is now the astronaut’s frightening fate.
Mon Amour leans into the atmosphere, allowing Paris to become as much a character as the musician who wanders its streets with a guitar slung over his shoulder. This artistic intent is immediately established by the opening wide shot, which frames the lone traveler against one of the city’s grand public spaces, presenting him less as a conventional performer and more as a wanderer searching for something just out of reach before a single lyric is ever sung.
The first close up on his fingers strumming suggests a familiar Parisian image: the street busker. Dressed in a vintage red flat cap and a playful motorcycle print shirt, he feels comfortably out of time, as though he belongs equally to modern Paris and an older postcard version of the city. Throughout the video, his wardrobe changes repeatedly, cycling through different colored caps and patterned shirts. These shifts reinforce the dreamlike quality, where the editing lets memories blur together instead of following strict chronology.
Color carries much of the video’s emotional weight.
The recurring red is impossible to ignore. The musician introduces it through his cap before the mysterious woman appears wearing her own red beret and matching tailored suit. Even the lyrics compare her to “sweet red wine,” tying romance directly to the color palette. Red becomes more than attraction. It becomes memory itself, lingering long after a chance meeting should have faded.
The woman watches the musician perform among tourists and locals, her floral pink heels adding a gentle softness beneath the bold red silhouette. The camera holds them in the same frame but rarely lets them share the same plane of focus, so their connection feels immediate, yet strangely distant, as if each occupies a slightly different version of the same afternoon.
The setting does much of the storytelling.
The musician serenades strangers beside fountains framed by elegant architecture while life continues uninterrupted around him. Families stroll past. Children play. Couples linger by the water. The blocking never isolates him from this world; Paris remains indifferent to his longing, reminding us that even our most personal moments unfold inside a city that barely notices them.
Several visual transitions deepen that sense of nostalgia. Close shots of footsteps crossing cobblestones guide the audience toward the riverbanks, where the lyrics speak of boat rides beneath the moon and evenings spent with red wine, haunted by thoughts of a woman whose name he may never know. A beautifully framed statue briefly enters the narrative, standing as another silent witness to fleeting romance.
One of the strongest visual touches comes through the woman’s purple scarf. Against her dominant reds, the subtle splash of purple introduces emotional complexity through color grading alone. Traditionally associated with melancholy, reflection, and the space between passion and grief, it quietly suggests the death of possibilities before the relationship has truly begun.
By the closing moments, the boundaries between fantasy and reality dissolve completely. The musician imagines life without Paris, only to open his eyes and find the woman from his dreams beside him. They smile. They walk together. The edit never fully confirms whether this reunion exists or simply represents the ending he wished for.
That ambiguity becomes the video’s greatest strength.
Mon Amour understands romances are defined less by what happened than by what almost happened. Through gentle performances, thoughtful color symbolism, and an affectionate portrait of Paris as both stage and witness, it captures the bittersweet feeling of carrying someone in your mind long after they’ve disappeared into the crowd. It is wholesome without becoming sentimental, cinematic without demanding attention, and quietly asks a question that lingers after the music ends:
Was this love ever real, or was Paris simply the perfect place to dream it?
Winning Story Movie from WILDsound Festival. Poetry by Lily Lejeune
Review by Julie C. Sheppard:
The Memory Thief is a striking short that is both meditative and action-packed. The narrator’s voice is gentle and compassionate yet also makes use of emphatic pausing and word emphasis for heightened effect. The screenplay is particularly stimulating as the main character goes through many stages of awareness and location changes, which are perceptively described in fine detail.
While the imagination is stimulated as the text takes you along for the ride, it is further assisted by a slideshow of numerous startling screens of photos and CGI imagery. These images often correspond to the text directly and sometimes are more subtle, which is highly satisfying. The screenplay is often linear and direct and, at other points, ethereal and dreamlike as the central figure often questions reality.
At times, there is a real sense of claustrophobia and nightmarish imprisonment while at other moments there is an escapism into nature, but then the action culminates into a bleak determination for mass destruction. After experiencing this stark but brilliantly stimulating piece, the viewer can breathe a sigh of relief as there is an awareness that an expansive, unfettered life is still available to us all.
THALIA, a 6-year-old autistic girl, lives her happy days somewhat isolated from her peers. Her world changes when she receives an invitation that finally pulls her out of her familiar, safe comfort zone. This is how she meets Attila Halász, a special education teacher and karate master, and his inclusive developmental program based on karate. She also encounters a small, close-knit, accepting, and diverse community currently sharing their summer camp at HEGYEM „HEART CAMP”.
Dojo Master / Sensei Attilla Halasz has a wonderful way of teaching students with intellectual disabilities martial arts, specifically Karate. He calls it “Inclusive Karate” and it’s just a whole lot of brilliance. Using colored wristbands and floor diagrams with shapes and numbers helps his students easily learn this ancient martial art.
I really loved that the filmmakers chose to shoot this in black and white. Kardly Palfai was the Cinematographer, Director, Producer and Editor and they really understood how to make black and white hold depth and texture. The camera work was equally as well done, giving the audience some marvelous close ups and nicely composed shots. The only drawback I noticed was the font choice for the film since it was a bit hard to read.
Musically this film was gorgeous. Aron IpsIcs was the Composer and he definitely understood the assignment. This is a feel good documentary that centers around Thalia, and watching her blossom as she tries I-Karate for the first time is just joyful. Beautiful film and definitely worth watching.
Milk And Cookies, a classic snack beloved by young and old, is the focus of this amusing and almost absurdist short. The central figure, with his shocking white unruly wig, enjoys his milk and cookies immensely and finds himself consuming them over and over again, shortly followed by a repeated hygiene routine. The directorial choice to reveal this series of events recurrently adds to the frenetic nature of the piece. It is the zany orchestral music under these almost mechanized actions that enhances the film’s humour.
The cinematography makes particularly good use of extreme close-ups, notably of the central figure’s teeth, which is of particular focus in the screenplay. The character’s ongoing desire for intense brushing after cookie eating takes on an almost OCD energy, which builds and builds. And yet, the viewer is privy to the fact that this cannot go on forever.
Enter the glitchy, super-imposed image of an alternate food source which, in turn, gives the sound designer plenty of motivation for some raucous effects. All in all, Milk And Cookies is primarily a comical romp, and it slyly suggests that variety, especially with food, truly is the spice of life.
A dance class for seniors in Catalonia decides to create an extraordinary show for the 93-year-old mother of their Paris-born dance teacher. Their journey to France to perform for her turns into a life-affirming, inspirational voyage of discovery.
DANCE: Generations is a heartfelt documentary which underscores the importance of living one’s dreams as a senior, when much of society focuses its energy and glory on the younger generation. Seeing seniors join in as dance performers, despite physical challenges that age often brings, is inspiring. The film does a superb job of letting the viewer hear about the excitement and stimulation that participation in dance provides for these people, with many intimate interviews.
The piece makes use of a variety of thoughtful filmic conventions, such as multi-split screens to show all dancers currently, as young adults and as children. This is highly effective given the other topic that the film addresses – – a historical investigation of refugee children during tumultuous times under Franco in the late 1930’s. Dance is not the only thing that these participants get to experience. Their group dance trip to France allows them to consider the dark history of the war and unearth some long-hidden family information.
Serious historical travesty aside, the overarching environment of the film is one of invigoration and joy, as the camera captures the various dance numbers beautifully. The attractive sparkly costumes, lively choreography, and catchy musical numbers, both locally and internationally famous, are thrilling to watch, the dancers giving their all in entertaining unison. The various narrators ground the film, almost as if a travelogue, and round it off as a well-considered look at this inspiring group of seniors.
A chaotic funeral service descends into scandal, confession, and absurdity as mourners battle to define the legacy of beloved teacher George Spelvin — proving it’s impossible to be completely urn-est about the dead.
Review by Julic C. Sheppard:
O’Bitch-uary is an engaging and somewhat sardonic look at the commentary about a deceased person by those attending a funeral. The setting of a classic wooden pew church and brightly coloured religious stained-glass windows is suitable for the theme of the piece, as are the occasional organ refrains, and the brief bursts of classical choral music as various characters are introduced.
The screenplay taps into many moments of humour, such as the hilarious introduction by the funeral director who runs “Grave Undertakings Funeral Home”, and whose slogan is “We burn ’em, You urn ’em”. The turn of events is surprising as the descriptions of those attending the funeral are far from universal — for some, the deceased was endearing, helpful, appreciative or sensual and, for others, he was a calculating troublemaker.
Although the piece is obviously satirical in many respects, it does reveal a universal truth that not one of us is perfect, and descriptions of us by others can vary widely. The cast members skillfully depict such distinct emotional impressions about the deceased, from fondness, attraction and admiration to outright visceral disdain. The cinematography is clear and naturalistic throughout, save for some slow-motion work with the topsy-turvy urn. The unifying presence of ashes from the urn eventually serves to pull the funeral attenders together, despite their wide range of views.
Festival Reviews 