THE PUNISHER: NIGHTMARE, 96min., USA
Directed by Brandon Forgione, Rahi Raval
After two years of trying to find solace, former vigilante Frank Castle, known as the Punisher, is forced back into action when his past is violently unearthed. Abandoning his quest for peace, he confronts a relentless war and battles the formidable demons that dwell within him.

https://www.instagram.com/punisher.nightmare.fanfilm/
https://www.facebook.com/brandon.forgione.1

Get to know filmmaker Brandon Forgione:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
I’ve always been deeply drawn to the character of Frank Castle since childhood, captivated by his complexities and moral struggles in the comics. Over the years, I’ve felt saddened by how this character hasn’t received the nuanced attention he deserves, often dismissed as overly violent. We aimed to create a fresh, emotional take on Frank Castle, humanizing him in a profound way. Our story places him in a world where he’s grappling with faith, feeling undeserving and lost. We wanted to craft a narrative that not only redefines him but also prompts viewers to reflect on themes of life and faith.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
The entire process, from conceptualization to the final cut, took about two years.

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

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
The most challenging aspect was working with a skeleton crew. Often, it was just the two of us handling everything, from moving gear to setting up shots. This made the stunt sequences particularly difficult, especially when filming on icy rooftops or in sketchy areas for fight scenes. Coordinating a car chase without permits while maintaining safety added to the complexity. Despite these hurdles, our passion and determination kept us going.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
I was overwhelmed with joy and excitement. As an artist, you often doubt whether your work will resonate after spending so much time on it. Hearing such positive feedback was incredibly validating and felt like music to my ears.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
My interest in filmmaking sparked during childhood, inspired by my dad’s home movies of family gatherings, events, and vacations. Those early experiences ignited my passion for storytelling through film.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
The 2002 Spider-Man movie. Watching it as a young kid profoundly impacted me and ignited my passion for filmmaking. It continues to inspire me every time I watch it.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
Festivals could provide more opportunities for networking and collaboration among filmmakers, as well as workshops and panels that focus on various aspects of filmmaking and distribution. Greater access to industry professionals and mentors would also be invaluable.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experience been working on the festival platform site?
My experience with FilmFreeway has been very positive. The platform is user-friendly and has made the submission process straightforward and efficient.

10. What is your favorite meal?
Chicken enchiladas.

11. What is next for you? A new film?
I’m taking a short break to gain some perspective on my next steps. Filmmaking is in my blood and always will be, but I’m currently trusting in the right timing to start a new project.

THE INTERVIEW, 4min., UK
Directed by Bethany Taylor-Goh
Theo, a young man thrust into a surreal job interview, grapples with unsettling questions that peel back layers of his conscience. As the interview progresses, Theo confronts the harrowing truth of his past deeds, leading to a chilling revelation that challenges his perception of reality.

http://www.corryraymond.com/
https://www.instagram.com/coraymon/
https://twitter.com/corayfilm

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
Some of my favourite pieces of work are those which create moral ambiguity, and those which leave you thinking. The aim of this short was to do just that, on the backdrop of the bigger questions about the afterlife, the ‘criteria’ for redemption, and how we measure remorse. I’ve always been interested in how human behaviour is influenced by these beliefs. I don’t think it’s ever a bad time to reflect on your actions, but the socio-political backdrop at the time in which we were making the film definitely influenced these themes.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
Four days! We had the incredible experience of creating a series of short films at Collective Acting Studio in London, where the cast, crew, and I all attend. This film is one of four shorts created during a ‘Short Film Project’ module, led by our producer, Corry Raymond. After being guided through the process of structuring a short film, we were given a couple of hours to develop and then pitch our ideas. I wrote the script that evening, and re-drafted and cast it the following day. We then spent half a day shooting and one day editing!

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

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
We worked with no budget, extremely limited time, and location options restricted to our (beautiful) school building. But, the obstacles are always the path. These informed my design of the narrative to unfold predominately in one space – which itself is a single wall, cheated to look like an entire room. Creative constraints always breed resourcefulness too – for our car crash scene, all we needed was some fake blood and glass, lighting, and the audience’s imagination (and of course our actors’ willingness to lie on the cold, wet streets of London). Knowing how tight our limits were on this film made the final product that much more satisfying.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
I was shocked to see how many different interpretations there were of the film! It was incredibly satisfying to see that the open and ambiguous elements had the desired effect, and sparked such a range of reactions.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
I think I always knew I did – but it wasn’t until this year that I gave myself the licence to. Though I’ve always had stories, music scores, and scenes playing out in my head, it wasn’t until this film that I was able to watch something I’d visualised so clearly in my mind materialise in front of me. It’s an indescribable experience, and one I’m going to keep chasing.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
Probably Interstellar. Every time I even flick through channels and see it playing, that’s me glued to the screen for the next 3 hours.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
It would be amazing to have had a written blog version of the audience reviews!

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
Overall it was a positive experience, especially with how overwhelming it can be with the sheer amount of festivals there are to apply to.

10. What is your favorite meal?
If Dim Sum’s involved, I’m there!

11. What is next for you? A new film?
I’m currently producing, co-directing, and acting in a TV Pilot, written and executive produced by Corry Raymond. I’m also in an upcoming performance of the play The Suicide (Suhayla El-Bushra) directed by Daniel Bailey, which will be showing at our Studio in July, and am working on a couple of new short film ideas.

ARACHNE, 4min,. France
Directed by Clara ZÄNGERLIN
Arachné is a famous weaver. One evening, as she thinks of a negative review of her work, her questions and anxieties appear in the form of a double spider that she fights throughout the night.

https://instagram.com/alfhilde

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
I always liked fantasy, and I wanted to explore the psychology and fragility of a character. At school, I’d heard about the myth of Arachne. In ancient Greece, she was a famous weaver who was transformed by a goddess because of the pride she took in the success of her art. This story interested me because of the relationship between the artist, their art and the gaze of others. I also decided to adapt it to the 17th century, because it was the golden age of tapestry in Europe, and it’s an era with an aesthetic that I love.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
The film was a graduation film first, so it took me about a school year, a little more, to make the film. I started the film in September 2022 and finished it in January 2024.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
I would say insecurities and art.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
The biggest obstacle was having to make the film alone. This was a choice made by my school. But I realized that it was many roles to manage at the same time: I had to be my art director, my background designer, my character designer, my 2D animator and the person managing exchanges with the voice actors and the composer, all at the same time. Fortunately, towards the end of production, some friends helped me with the clean of the animations.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
I think, at first I was a bit afraid of critics like Arachne. But right away, I was very pleased to find out what viewers thought of the film: what had caught their attention in the film and how they understood it. I would like to thank people who complimented the music choice. The composer, besides Bach, is Gorkem Agar, a talented Turkish composer who lives in France. About the color palette, it took time to figure out colors according to the story.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
I’ve always loved telling stories. It wasn’t long before my love of storytelling turned to drawing. So naturally, I decided I wanted to tell stories through moving pictures.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
The film I’ve seen the most is Across the SpiderVerse, which came out last year. I had a bit of an obsession with it and went to see it 4 times in the cinema.What I appreciated most was the film’s graphic richness, with varying artistic styles that correspond to different characters and yet find a way to work together.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
It was great to hear all the positive reviews. I’m grateful for that. However, I think it would be good to help the filmmakers if people also brought up how they could have done things differently, without going into gratuitous nastiness of course.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
I think the site is very well designed for updating the status of an application via the platform or the site.

10. What is next for you? A new film?
I would love to make new films, but this time as part of a team. We are already talking with some friends about animated shorts we would like to make as soon as possible.

AUDITORY, 2min., USA
Directed by Justin Walker
A young girl begins to experience auditory hallucinations ‘hearing voices’ impacting her life

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

I work for NHS (United Kingdom) within Mental Health services, I work for the Early Intervention Team which is a service that supports individuals experiencing symptoms of psychosis; Auditory or visual hallcinations. My two passions are film and my career within mental health services; I wanted to create a short that attempted display how these symptoms effect a person and their lives, hopefully creating more understanding and awareness of mental illness.

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

Well you may be surprised or shocked that it only took a day to film (hack filmmaker right!) I had the idea in mind for sometime, randomly one day myself and my daughter Islien went out and shot footage, unscripted I may add. The editing process took a little longer, perhaps a week of cutting, recutting and sound mixing, until we had the final cut, very Roger Corman I guess 🤣

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

Powerfully relatable

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

Time, attempting to find the time between work-life and family life; Islien (daughter) has been revising and sitting some mock exams in high school, so finding time was difficult…. perhaps this explains the one day shoot for the entire film.

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

I have to admit I was apprehensive prior and during the feedback video, this did dissipate afterwards and it was a wonderful feeling to receive such positive feedback about my film, I re-watched it again a few more times to totally enjoy the experience….. strangely I did expect some negative or should I say some constructive critical feedback too.

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

Well film, movies have been a huge part of my life since being a child, my uncle Colin had a vast VHS collection, I think my passion for all things film was definitely influenced by my Uncle. I can still recall watching my first film at the cinema/theater back in 86/87….Transformers the Movie. When I turned 16 I was expelled from high school here in the UK, I left with no qualifications. A career advisor quickly dismissed my ambition of becoming a filmmaker; feeling deflated my parents gave much encouragement and stated ‘make it happen’ a week or 2 later my parents presented me with a camcorder, my creative journey began. I do have to empathize by my early 20’s my life, my aspirations had changed and it wasn’t until 2020 and the Pandemic (covid19) that I again began being creative and producing short films.

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

That’s my favourite film of all time….Jaws, both my parents went to see Jaws in the theater back in 75, my dad introduced me to Jaws at around 8 years old, Spielberg’s visuals, the suspenseful and tense story he crafted combined with Williams score has had a profound impact on me, in my humble opinion Jaws is one of cinema’s greatest films.

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 feel the package you offer and my experience has been outstanding. While online festivals are massively important and do give filmmakers greater opportunities I am a fan of practical film festivals, so more opportunities for practical festivals or perhaps more streaming of live events, interactive festivals with the opportunity to meet and network with fellow filmmakers, producers, writers etc.

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

Overall my experience has been fairly positive, it’s a great feeling receiving the confirmation your film has been selected. I have learned and accepted the rejection, not having your film selected (which has happened more than getting selected) it’s important to understand it’s not personal and it’s part of ‘putting’ your film out there.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Well that’s an English Roast Dinner, which here in the UK is also called a Sunday Dinner.

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

High Plains Dreamer is my new short (completed) the film is a homage to the Western genre and follows a young girl who rejects the modern world, she longs for the old west and to be a cowgirl.

Tags

1. What motivated you to make this film?

Covid is the short answer. Charles (co-writer) and I were isolated across continents and in many FaceTime conversations we finally started to commit to a film project we had been talking about for a few years. It lived mainly as a script we would work on until Charles showed it to our director Cameron for notes. To which he signed on immediately and said he wanted to shoot. From there the only question was when.

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

It took about four years. But that was mainly orchestrating a shoot across two continents with a global pandemic happening around us. The best part about that was we had plenty of time to refine the script and get it as comedically tight as possible. Removing any unnecessary expenses, jokes and in some cases characters. The shooting to edit part of the film took the shortest amount of time as our director and editor shared pretty much what we had in mind before filming began. 

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

Chaotic fun

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

Heat stroke. We filmed in Vancouver in the summer and decided to film a month before the heat dome that hit the year before… nature didn’t abide by our planning so it hit us with a heat dome when we filmed and the entire set turned into a furnace. Our director and assistant director suffered heat stroke in the middle of the shoot. 

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

Surreal more than anything. We got used to having constant feedback from people we recognise and are in constant communication with so to hear kind words from complete strangers was really surreal. 

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

Ever since I was a child. I was a big fan of Lord if the Rings growing up. And when the extended editions came out I would watch the appendices and fell in love with the art of film making as well as film itself. 

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

Lord of the Rings. I don’t know which one specifically as I always have to watch the complete series. 

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

A discord server could be fun. That way different creatives could get together. And if they happen to be in the same city could partner up for creating films and even sharing notes on scripts. 

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

It’s been great. It’s very user friendly and doesn’t make it too hard to navigate round especially when trying to search for comedy specific festivals. 

10. What is your favorite meal?

I love a good carbonara. You can never go wrong with that. 

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

We’re currently taking this short and trying to pitch it as a sit com for Canadian television. But we also have a few plays and some horror shorts in the works that we are very excited to put on in front of an audience. 

M0D3RN T1M3Z, 30 seconds, USA
Directed by Richard Thompson
A machine comes to life in a 3D animation short inspired by Charlie Chaplin.

https://www.instagram.com/r_crosbythompson

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

I wanted to use it as a teaching tool. I teach digital design with a specific focus on bringing virtual characters to life and visual storytelling through animation. I created an assignment where students had to design a non-humanoid machine that first had to move as if it were only a machine but comes alive with cause. As a class, we could then discuss the differences in the type of movement needed to convey that change from machine to living creature. Two main characteristics defining living creatures are movement with intent and responding to environmental stimuli. The other thing I wanted my students to focus on was only creating the objects needed to tell their story — that is the reason for the lack of any environment. I wanted to emphasize the importance of story and creating an empathetic link — not spending weeks creating an environment that would likely make little difference to their story (only much time-consuming work). For the machine-like animation, I drew inspiration from Charlie Chaplin’s turn as an animatronic in The Circus. I always do the assignment myself before giving it to my students. I also record tutorial videos that support their learning and process when they get to do it. Once I had created the animation, I showed it to a few people and it always got a strong reaction even though there was no sound at the time. This made me think about submitting it to film festivals. I asked my oldest son — who is in the film industry — if he would add sound. I started to submit the film and have been a little blown away by the reception it has received.

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

This is a tough one to answer because I do not take note of the time while creating. Also, I had previously built some of the assets for previous tutorials. But a rough estimate might be one month.

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

Coming alive.

Aside: I love this question. I recommend it for any creative brief!

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

Animating the moments when the machine is “just” a machine. It started to drive me crazy because I so wanted to add character and attitude — it’s more fun! At one point, I could not bear it any longer and added anticipation (one of the 12 Principles of Animation) to the wrist movement when the machine first throws the can into the garbage can. However, it was a fascinating learning moment. As soon as I added it, the machine appeared to have an “attitude” and therefore “be alive” and “thinking”. It defeated the purpose of what I was trying to demonstrate — a clear-cut moment when the machine comes alive. So I got rid of that small bit — “kill your babies” as the expression goes.

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

Truly thrilled. Their comments were insightful and extremely validating because they hit on everything I try to teach my students.

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

I had a previous career as a professional actor and playwright and over 35 years of creative and collaborative arts industry experience. I have also always loved film. However, the last 20+ years have been focused on teaching and developing degree programs. This is the very first animated short film I have submitted to festivals. I plan to do more.

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

Maybe The Spy Who Loved Me (James Bond). I was a kid and I saw that in the movie theaters three times in the space of a month. Other than that, it’s tough to know. I have seen Deer Hunter, Airplane, About a Boy, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Oliver!, Toy Story, The Matador, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Midnight Run many times. I am sure I am forgetting many though… When you are a parent, it is such a joy to share movies you have enjoyed with your kids.

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

Not sure — particularly since I am fairly new to this process. I think what you all do is wonderful — the feedback, the communication, these interview questions, etc. I do not want to focus on a negative but I have learned that one has to do some due diligence when submitting, and ensure you are not being “scammed”. Obviously, this is not the case with the Under 5 Minute Festival. There are things I do and check up on. However, I wish there was a clear way of determining the legitimacy of all festivals.

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

Good question and it connects a little to my answer above. It is amazingly convenient to have everything in one place. However, I have read that they do not do quite enough in terms of confirming the legitimacy of all festivals. That is a concern.

10. What is your favorite meal?

If I were on a deserted island and could only eat one type of food, it would be Italian. However, if I had to choose a last meal — probably steak tartare (and, yes, I know that’s raw!).

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

Yes. I am working on a slightly more complex animated short film called Smior, about a Viking who finds that his life is not fulfilled by constant pillaging, even though he is amassing great treasure. I have other projects connected to Charlie Chaplin and a much larger animation project called La Piazza about a gelato salesman who battles the forces of change. Many of the assets have been created for this, but it probably requires more than just one person to complete.

SURVIVING TO THRIVING, 106min., Australia
Directed by Karin Isabelle Ochsner
As a fearless explorer with a disability, surfer and surf coach Karin Ochsner immerses herself in the raw beauty of nature. Her remarkable healing journey unfolds in the face of adversity.

http://www.surfingtosurvive.com/film2
https://www.instagram.com/surfingtosurvive/

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

This film is the sequel to a documentary about my health challenge, which has been organised by my friends. The purpose was to help me in my incredibly difficult struggles to survive with my countless severe allergies. During the filming, I was very sick and wasn’t able to put the messages in the documentary which I really wanted to pass on, hence I decided to do a second one to do so. The first documentary gave me so much support from my community and clarity in how to manage my disability, it improved my situation so much that I then could focus on filming my own story.

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

Approximately 5 years

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

Deep truth

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

To find a camera person at the time where the surf and weather conditions lined up with my health to be able to perform enough to capture interesting surf footage

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

Extremely satisfied and bubbly. I felt this showed me so beautifully that I had achieved my life goal.

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

When I deeply enjoyed working on this film.

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

Red dog (I don’t have a TV or cannot go to the movies due to my allergies in dark spaces, but when traveling on long distance buses, they keep showing the same films again every year.)

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 feel you did an amazing job with all your offers and I don’t feel experienced enough to make a good suggestion at this stage.

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

FilmFreeway seems fantastic for what I use it for.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Cassava with tigernuts (due to severe allergies, I mainly eat rare superfoods)

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

Realising a business which sets me up

As a motivational speaker, traveling along the coast to different organisations with people facing challenges and schools, showing my films, followed by Q&A and workshops I will lead. I also would like making short films on smaller film topics but in line with SURVIVING TO THRIVING, including what we had to shorten out of the documentary. For example one about the ‘health part’ and one about the ‘outdoor/nature’ part.

THE RHYTHMS NEVER END, 5min., USA
Directed by Leonard L. Eckhaus
“The Earth is Created. It is day number one.” A spiritual, self-reflective, series of short poems about creation – about all the gifts mankind has been given: the rhythms of night and day, of life, the seasons, the oceans and more. All with the promise of peace and love, which man sometimes abuses, but for which he is always forgiven.

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?

My love for humanity and all we’ve been given, and my concern with what we’re doing with these precious gifts.

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

Two years

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

• Spiritual, Semireligious

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

This challenged my comfort level. I was never sure if I should share the poetry because I was afraid that it might seem somehow fake or preachy.

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

I was delighted that the audience loved it and pretty much sensed what I was trying to say – i.e., they got it!

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

I started out writing books. Then I began writing songs, and then songs taken from my books. Finally I decided that the way to bring these books and songs to life would be through film.

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

Believe it or not, the film I’ve watched the most is “Where the Boys Are” starring Connie Francis, Dolores Hart, Paula Prentiss, George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Hutton, and Frank Gorshin. It is just a lot of good-natured fun. My wife and I watch it about once every two years.

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

More film review opportunities and more audience feedback

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

I have been very fortunate with my films having won awards in over 170 International Film Festivals across the globe.

10. What is your favorite meal?

It’s a tossup between Katz’s Deli hot dogs (they ‘snap’ when you bite them), Peter Luger steaks and a juicy half pound hamburger

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

I am considering bringing another of my children’s stories to film