THE DISCOVERY, 16min., USA, Sci-Fi

Directed by Jill Von D

Captain Esson Halser of the U.S.S Centauri is alone on Planet Aurelia, Earth’s nearest inhabited planet. He is on a mission to extract all organic life forms to send back to New Earth, where humanity has since settled – or so he thinks. His only companion in this lonely existence, an Artificial Intelligence system embodied in a drone called SAN X9000, isn’t of much companionship. Every day he sets out and completes his tasks. One day, on a mission, a peculiar piece of his past catapult him into a chase for truth, leading him to find the true nature of his mission – one that puts him not on any other planet at all, but rather close to home.

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!

A dying man travels to the edge of the universe to visit a brothel staffed with alien sex workers who provide extraordinary services, both real and imaginary, so he can end his life with the help of his wife.

CAST LIST:

Nuralla: Christina Leonard
Commander: Aaron Maxwell
Narration: Sean Ballantyne
Hogur: Carina Cojeen
Jaze: Aaron Williams
Dex: Geoff Mays

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Producer/Director: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Festival Moderators: Matthew Toffolo, Rachel Elder

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editors: Kimberly Villarruel, Ryan Haines, John Johnson

Festival Directors: Rachel Elder, Natasha Levy

Camera Operators: Ryan Haines, Temitope Akinterinwa, Efren Zapata, Zack Arch

A woman struggles to sustain a community with a handful of other survivors when a ship intended to bring slaves from the present to the future accidentally crashes in the dinosaur-ruled cretaceous.

CAST LIST:

Thom: Allan Brunet
Nina: Jillian Robinson
Narration: Kat Smiley
Becka: Pascale Behrman

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Producer/Director: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Festival Moderators: Matthew Toffolo, Rachel Elder

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editors: Kimberly Villarruel, Ryan Haines, John Johnson

Festival Directors: Rachel Elder, Natasha Levy

Camera Operators: Ryan Haines, Temitope Akinterinwa, Efren Zapata, Zack Arch

A timid, over-weight gay man gets the body of his dreams thanks to a powerful weight-loss supplement, but it comes with ravenous side effects.

CAST LIST:

Narrator: Val Cole
Gabe: Biden Hall
Kayla: Pascale Behrman

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Producer/Director: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Festival Moderators: Matthew Toffolo, Rachel Elder

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editors: Kimberly Villarruel, Ryan Haines, John Johnson

Festival Directors: Rachel Elder, Natasha Levy

Camera Operators: Ryan Haines, Temitope Akinterinwa, Efren Zapata, Zack Arch

This is a story about one’s boys journey out of the closest, and the consequences of the lies he’s to everyone in his life, especially his girlfriend.

CAST LIST:

Narrator: Val Cole
Jack: Biden Hall
Daisy: Aliya Hamid
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Producer/Director: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Festival Moderators: Matthew Toffolo, Rachel Elder

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editors: Kimberly Villarruel, Ryan Haines, John Johnson

Festival Directors: Rachel Elder, Natasha Levy

Camera Operators: Ryan Haines, Temitope Akinterinwa, Efren Zapata, Zack Arch

Just a Girl is a romantic-comedy in which a transgender teen girl returns to her high school and comes out as transgender after transitioning in another town, only to have her former best friend fall head over heels for her. The romance plays out against the backdrop of an international high school robotics competition.

CAST LIST :

Crystal: Kristen McCulloch
Addy: Kyana Teresa
Espo: Julie Sheppard
Narrator: Carina Cojeen
Benji: Nikolai Afanasev
Jaden: Peter Mark Raphael
Ollie: Kaleb Alexander
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Producer/Director: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Festival Moderators: Matthew Toffolo, Rachel Elder

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editors: Kimberly Villarruel, Ryan Haines, John Johnson

Festival Directors: Rachel Elder, Natasha Levy

Camera Operators: Ryan Haines, Temitope Akinterinwa, Efren Zapata, Zack Arch

On the hard edge of the urban west, Jess, an ex-con and single mother, strives to provide for herself and her own in the face of desperate poverty.

CAST LIST:

Various: Nikolai Afanasev
Carlos: Peter Mark Raphael
Narrator: Carina Cojeen
Jess: Kristen MacCulloch
JJ: Kyana Teresa
Various: Kaleb Alexander

Writer Statement

Danielle and I live in Denver, CO. It’s a confluence. Rivers meet here (anywhere else they’d be considered large creeks). Highways, too. People. In many ways, it’s the best of the West and the best of the Midwest. The weather is temperate. Some of the best skiing can be found a short drive away. Mountain biking, yoga, and live music. It’s all here, including a rapidly rising real estate market. The migration of the tech industry to its new Midwest hub, as well as the legalization of cannabis, has brought cutting-edge ideas and a population increase. At its peak…

AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS:
BEST FILM: TEDDY MATE
BEST PERFORMANCES: PICTURES OF LEO
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: PICTURES OF LEO
BEST MUSIC: VIOLET

Theme of night: Lost Connections

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Videos:

The 2nd festival in Toronto in 2020.
30 more festival events in 2020.

See you at the festivals.

– Matthew Toffolo

MAD ABOUT THE BOY, 8min., UK, Musical/LGBT

Directed by Samir Bhamra

British born Pakistani singer and songwriter duo, Sidique and Kamaal are in love. They secretly elope and have a gay marriage in Leicester.

When Kamaal marries Rukhsana in Pakistan to maintain his heterosexual facade, Sidique is angry and lost. His marriage to Kamaal is completely disregarded in a country where homosexuality is illegal.

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!

VIOLET, 11min., Ireland, Romance/LGBT

Directed by Madeline Graham & Christopher Whiteside

Northern Irish teenager Violet struggles to come to terms with her faith and being gay, whilst burdened by overbearing and conservative parents.

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!