In 1986 two agents of very different characters meet in a filthy hotel room somewhere in the boonies.

DIRECTOR: Sönke Hünding, Christian Skibinski

RUNTIME: 14:57

GENRE: Phycological, Drama, Noir

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Germany

JUDGING STATUS:  Finalist

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Over three decades of life — is that a lot or a little? Where is that love and truth of life? It doesn't always happen to everyone. But in every person's life there is someone who inspires them to be the best version of themselves, to create and give good to this world. "Confession" is gratitude for the fact that there are such people in my life.

DIRECTOR: An Vedi

RUNTIME: 3:32

GENRE: Experimental, Music Video, Short, Other

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Russia

JUDGING STATUS:  Official Selection

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"Thriller" Visiting the Palace of The Vizart

DIRECTOR: Viacheslav Nikolayevich Karbanov

RUNTIME: 5:00

GENRE: Experimental, Music Video, Short

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Armenia

JUDGING STATUS:  Official Selection

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A very handsome and clean man who loves his car goes shopping, but while driving he eats a lot of fruit and throws it out - fruit, tissues, etc. - but at the end of the universe he puts it all back into his car, which he loves.

DIRECTOR: Amir Mehdi Tavakolian

RUNTIME: 2:20

GENRE: Micro, Comedy

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Iran

JUDGING STATUS:  Finalist

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Dominique attempts to process her grief through a memory, a nightmare and a fantasy.

DIRECTOR: Hunter Leech

RUNTIME: 30:00

GENRE: Experimental, Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Australia

JUDGING STATUS:  Golden Standard Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Patrick Canon is an elderly man looking after his wife Evelyn Canon of whom suffers from advanced Alzeihmers Disease. He often immerses himself in his butterfly sanctuary as a means of escape from the toil of caring for her and his inability to distinguish reality from the fiction his mind often conjures when contemplating a mercy killing of Evelyn. Upon a fateful day whilst out foraging and collecting cocoons of butterflies in the woods, Patrick has moment in which he questions his inner self and whether or not the reality of his being is that but a fragmented figment of his own deteriorating memory or that of a will that must be done to better comfort his wife in her final hour of need.

DIRECTOR: Guy Mayfield

RUNTIME: 29:00

GENRE: Romance, Drama, Experimental

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Rowlett, TX

JUDGING STATUS:  Best Short Film (Rowlett, TX)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"He had been crying out for justice for many hours. He continued to die wonderfully, transmitting his message with his exhausted little paws, while around him the world, restless, awaited the end of his pain."
Elaboration on the theme "Euthanasia", freely inspired by the story "The Cockroach" by Dino Buzzati.

DIRECTOR: Vittorio Caratozzolo

RUNTIME: 3:58

GENRE: Experimental, Micro

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Italy

JUDGING STATUS:  Official Selection

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

In the women's restroom of a small urban mall, the couple Ana and Carlos seek a moment of forbidden intimacy in a desperate attempt to save their marriage. What they planned as a quick, passionate encounter, however, turns into a claustrophobic trap.

As they try to reconnect, they are interrupted by a succession of women, each one carrying a world of private crises into that anonymous space. Sobbing, unexpected confessions, and a growing tension from outside the stall force the couple to listen to the dramas of strangers—dramas that gradually become a cruel mirror of their own relationship.

OCCUPIED is a short film about the secrets we keep, the truths we blurt out, and the loneliness that persists even in the most crowded places. Blending acidic realism with psychological suspense, the film transforms a banal setting into a powerful microcosm of contemporary anxieties and hypocrisies.

DIRECTOR: Sérgio Spina, André Tashiro

RUNTIME: 25:33

GENRE: Comedy, Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Brazil

JUDGING STATUS:  Golden Standard Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"Downpour" During a rainy night, while immersed on her next project, Catherine (Marina Bianco), a writer who is obsessed with her work, is visited by forces beyond her comprehension.

DIRECTOR: Vic Kings

RUNTIME: 3:33

GENRE: Experimental, Micro

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Brazil

JUDGING STATUS:  Finalist

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"The Infinity Beyond The Void" Juan (Ivann Willig) and Beatriz (Marina Bianco), a couple of writers, live in isolation in a beach house, dealing with the loss of their son. A year after the tragedy, a shocking revelation about the boy's death deeply shakes their relationship, bringing to light secrets and questions that will change their lives forever.

DIRECTOR: Lucas Marques

RUNTIME: 24:10

GENRE: Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Brazil

JUDGING STATUS:  Golden Standard Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Silvana has just decided to divorce her husband and run the restaurant by herself.  Her ex hires a professional killer who will be hired as a waitress by Silvana. In the kitchen, the cook Olivia's lust for perfection will bring her relationship with the owner to the brink of death and make her reflect on her life. Strange characters and absurd events alternate within EGO.

DIRECTOR: SIMONA MANCINI

RUNTIME: 15:00

GENRE: Drama, Comedy

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Italy

JUDGING STATUS:  Finalist

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"Nursing Home" Many years ago, I frequently visited a local nursing home to see my father-in-law, and the sights, sounds, and emotions I experienced there continue to inspire this work. This work was selected to exhibit in the 199th Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition (2025)

DIRECTOR: Chi Kiu So

RUNTIME: 2:24

GENRE: Micro, Comedy, Experimental, AI

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Hong Kong

JUDGING STATUS:  Official Selection

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"Cookies" A Young Woman Unknowingly Compromises Her Privacy When She Accepts a Mysterious Cookie Jar Left at Her Door. Every Bite Synchronizes Her Digital Devices, Granting Unseen Observers Complete Access to Her Life.

DIRECTOR: Mrunal Vaichal

RUNTIME: 3:48

GENRE: Micro, Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: India

JUDGING STATUS:  Official Selection

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Eugene V. Debs’s speeches argue against war, injustice, and the silencing of dissent. In the Canton Speech, he defends free speech and criticizes a system where working people fight wars that benefit the powerful. In his Courtroom Speech, he accepts his sentence while affirming solidarity with the oppressed, declaring his loyalty to justice over law.

Together, the speeches portray Debs as a principled advocate for peace, equality, and human dignity, willing to go to prison for his beliefs.

DIRECTOR: E. Philip Brown

RUNTIME: 5:04

GENRE: Historical, Experimental, AI

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Haverhill, Massachusetts

JUDGING STATUS:  Official Selection

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"Melting in Centro"

DIRECTOR: Maya Ochoa Montes, Sandra De Silva De La Torre, Chase Bradburn

RUNTIME: 3:00

GENRE: Documentary, Experimental, Micro

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Mexico

JUDGING STATUS:  Official Selection

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"Pixie" A troubled dog struggles to find her place in the world.

DIRECTOR: Joe Leone

RUNTIME: 4:45

GENRE: Comedy, Experimental, Horror

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: New York

JUDGING STATUS:  Official Selection

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A cat wants to nap in a patch of sunlight, but as the sun sets, the light keeps slipping away. The cat begins to chase the sunbeam, and his pursuit turns into an unexpected adventure.

DIRECTOR: Shinyeong Eom

RUNTIME: 2:22

GENRE: Comedy, Animation, Micro

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Toronto, Canada

JUDGING STATUS:  Best Micro Short (Toronto, Canada)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"Sivappu" Rathi, a young schoolgirl, experiences her period during a regular school day. Struggling with pain, fear, and embarrassment, she finds no support from her surroundings. When her sanitary napkin becomes an object of mockery among classmates, her situation worsens.

As ignorance and silence dominate both peers and teachers, Rathi is left to suffer alone highlighting the harsh reality of menstrual stigma and the urgent need for awareness.

DIRECTOR: ARJUN AS

RUNTIME: 12:07

GENRE: Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: India

JUDGING STATUS:  Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

An enigmatic man journeys back in time to find his younger self, seemingly to revisit the nostalgia of trading cards. An exploration of identity, mental health and the erosion of childhood innocence, Trading Cards is a dark fantasy animated film about the weight of living with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

(FIRST PRIZE WINNER: Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival for Best Short Animation, WINNER: Flickerfest 2026 Yoram Gross Award for Best Australian Animation, JURY SPECIAL MENTION: SXSW London, AUDIENCE AWARD: Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, AUDIENCE AWARD (BRONZE): Fantasia International Film Festival)

SHOTS MAGAZINE REVIEW
"A personal archaeology played out in an animated universe that combines fairytale logic with the nostalgia of trading cards...over its 15 minutes the film sinks in and spreads out through the groundwater, the soundtrack’s rich, seeping ambience an underlay for the unsettling dream logic of its imagery, which is more organic and intrepid than surrealism – and more captivating." - Shots.net

DIRECTOR: Radheya Jang

RUNTIME: 14:59

GENRE: Animation, Dark Fantasy, Horror 

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom

JUDGING STATUS:  The Mad Genre Genius Award (Top Award)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

No longer will the female Mozart be kept in the shadows of her brother and father. She was human, too. A document of a student abroad in Vienna, almost two centuries later after Nannerl's death, encapsulates how being 18 years old and being female does mean giving up on your precious art. And, indeed, there should be a famous chocolate that the tourists swarm to, that commemorates a unique and highly talented musician from the eighteenth century...Her name was Anna Maria Mozart. (Age of filmmaker: 18)

DIRECTOR: Lola Milanovic

RUNTIME: 14:59

GENRE: Documentary, Student

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Milwaukee, WI

JUDGING STATUS:  Best Student Short Doc (Milwaukee, WI)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"Happy Mother’s Day" is an encounter between a daughter and a mother — and the affections that inhabit the underworld of this fierce relationship. Is it possible to give birth to the sacred name of the Mother?

DIRECTOR: Isabella Sperotto, Mariana Mello

RUNTIME: 4:27

GENRE: Documentary, Other

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Brazil

JUDGING STATUS: Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Discover the incredible world of glaciers in "Glaciers: Nature's Resilient Water Towers." Dive into how these majestic ice giants store and regulate our planet's freshwater resources, supporting ecosystems and communities alike. Learn about the vital role glaciers play in climate resilience, their impact on sea levels, and the urgent need for conservation as they face unprecedented threats from climate change. Join us on this breathtaking journey showcasing stunning visuals and insightful commentary, as we explore the irreplaceable value of glaciers in sustaining life on Earth.

DIRECTOR: Mark Starks

RUNTIME: 11:53

GENRE: Documentary, AI

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Hollywood, California

JUDGING STATUS: Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Based On A True Story

When the walls closed in and no one was coming to save her, Raittia Rogers made the only choice she had left.

"I Broke Out Of Prison" is the powerful, award-winning, best-selling memoir film of a young woman who refused to be defined by her worst moment. Behind barbed wire and prison towers, she found a strength she never knew she had — and risked everything for freedom.

But this is more than an escape story. It's about breaking free from mental prisons, generational cycles, fear, and doubt. It's about a woman who turned her pain into power and now teaches others to do the same.

DIRECTOR: Raittia Rogers

RUNTIME: 17:35

GENRE: Documentary, Bio

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Tulsa, Oklahoma

JUDGING STATUS: Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

The film It is an anti-war film that deals with the lives of Romanian, Polish, and Iranian victims in the Gulak concentration camps during World War II. When they were taken to the camp, they were stripped of all their identities and given only one number! Life in Number Ha is the name of the movie that refers to this issue.

DIRECTOR: Amin Javaheri, Mina Moeinfard

RUNTIME: 20:00

GENRE: Documentary, Student

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Romania 

JUDGING STATUS:  Best Student Short Film (Romania)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"I Just Want to Dance with You" During the Festa Junina of a community project in the countryside of São Paulo — a traditional Brazilian rural festival with music, food stalls, and folk dances — Ana Lú (15) decides she will finally confess her feelings to her crush, Laura (15). When Laura’s partner for the quadrilha — a paired folk dance performed at Festa Junina, staged like a playful rural wedding — drops out at the last minute, a perfect and terrifying opportunity appears. To dance beside the girl she loves, Ana Lú must face her own shyness, the fear of rejection, and the watchful eyes of her peers. Amid rehearsals, fluttering flags, and the mock wedding at the heart of the quadrilha, she finds in the dance a chance to be seen by Laura — and perhaps have her feelings returned.

DIRECTOR: Viviane de Freitas, Vanessa Freitas

RUNTIME: 11:34

GENRE: Romance, Same Sex, Coming of Age

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Brazil

JUDGING STATUS: Finalist

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A cinematic love letter from a daughter to the mother she lost, To Her is an intimate French-Lebanese short about grief, memory, absence, and enduring love. Through cinema, the film becomes an attempt to keep her mother’s voice, image, and presence alive.

DIRECTOR: Kevin NGO

RUNTIME: 9:44

GENRE: Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Lebanon

JUDGING STATUS:  Best Short Film (Lebanon)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Kim Weston: Buried in Motown is a poetic documentary short that restores the story of a Motown voice too often remembered in fragments and silence. From her early life in Detroit to her rise within Motown, the film traces Kim Weston’s journey alongside the cultural foundation of Black Bottom, where sound, community, and identity were born before they were ever recorded.

DIRECTOR: Valerie Denise Jones

RUNTIME: 7:19

GENRE: Documentary

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Jacksonville, FL

JUDGING STATUS: Best Short Documentary (Jacksonville, FL)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"Ek Beti Desh Ki" This is the story of the Dombari community — traditional rope-walking performers. Born into this nomadic tribe, “Disha” is a 9-year-old girl with an intense love for learning. She despises walking the tightrope, begging for money, or being part of that lifestyle. Her obsession with education often invites her mother Usha’s wrath and beatings. In the absence of her father, her grandfather — her biggest supporter — stands by her, and she affectionately calls him “Baba.”

"Blanchette And the Eight Cents" In the middle of spring 1915 in Longeverne, Camus, at the age of 13, was preparing to become a man. He must finally fulfill the first mission of trust entrusted to him by his mother: take their goat Blanchette to old Gosey and reimburse him for his eight cents. But what appeared to be a simple task turns into a nightmare when Camus loses four of the eight pennies entrusted to him by his mother and, on top of that, has to deal with Blanchette's execrable mood.

DIRECTOR: Valentin Homont

RUNTIME: 13:15

GENRE: Drama, Comedy

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: France

JUDGING STATUS: Golden Standard Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Tami is planning everything for the marriage proposal to her partner, but when she turns on the TV, she discovers there has been a terrorist attack right in the area where he works.

DIRECTOR: Doron Neeman

RUNTIME: 8:00

GENRE: Drama, Student

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Israel

JUDGING STATUS: Finalist

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Large room in a dream apartment. Unbeatable location. Ready to move in. Plenty of light.

DIRECTOR: Ignacio Rodó

RUNTIME: 8:00

GENRE: Comedy

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Spain

JUDGING STATUS: Best Short Film (Spain)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

They planned a birthday party for Younes. But when a tragic accident befalls his friend during the celebration, it marks the beginning of a new chapter in Younes’ life.

DIRECTOR: Sajjad Taheri

RUNTIME: 11:14

GENRE: Experimental, Student

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Iran

JUDGING STATUS: Golden Standard Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

After moving into a rental home, a maladjusted tenant finds himself at odds with the landlord.

DIRECTOR: DC Casto

RUNTIME: 1:15:27

GENRE: Greyscale with Red, Drama, Dark, Experimental

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Tulsa, Oklahoma

JUDGING STATUS: The Encore Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Dr T. R. Mavani, a maverick psychologist known for his unorthodox therapeutic methods, begins an intense psychoanalytic session with Addy, a withdrawn yet narcissistic teenage boy trapped in the grip of extreme screen addiction. A leading specialist in Digital Addiction Therapy, Dr. Mavani approaches the case with clinical calm, subtle provocations, and penetrating psychological insight. As Addy resists confrontation, the doctor gradually dismantles his defenses through discerning questions, behavioral triggers, and psychometric tools inspired by the foundational observations of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Soon, fragments of Addy’s fractured psyche begin to surface, and flashes of loneliness, buried humiliation, parental neglect, and a desperate craving for validation through comments, likes, followers, and the fleeting applause of social media. But an unseen presence lurks within the session, a digital enemy that eavesdrops, manipulates, and intrudes, symbolizing the omnipresent internet and algorithmic control. Notifications echo like whispers, screens flicker like watchful eyes, and the boundary between reality and virtual dependency begins to dissolve. As therapy turns into psychological combat, the film explores the haunting question, who truly controls the mind, an individual, or the machine designed to consume attention? Dr. Mavani must confront both Addy, his psychologically entangled patient, and the invisible digital adversary that has infiltrated the boy’s mind, using psychoanalysis to unravel layers of narcissism, loneliness, and algorithm-driven dependency before reality is completely eclipsed by the virtual world. As therapy turns into a battle between human consciousness and technological control, the ultimate question remains, who will triumph?

DIRECTOR: KHALID HASAN KHAN

RUNTIME: 28:00

GENRE: Phycological, Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Pakistan

JUDGING STATUS:  Best Short Film (Pakistan)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A Guy waiting for a mail, he has only 7 days to live... waiting, lonely, just for a mail... Death is a blessing but waiting for her till death feels like a path of pain and suffering. Dear Death, Not Today just please wait for her to come and heal me just for one last time.

DIRECTOR: Yashvardhan Jha

RUNTIME: 6:00

GENRE: Experimental, Student, Short

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: India

JUDGING STATUS:  Official Selection

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A horror short about life on the farm. Warning: Implied violence to animals, implied gun violence.

DIRECTOR: Daryl Hrdlicka

RUNTIME: 1:00

GENRE: Experimental, Micro

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Minnesota

JUDGING STATUS:  Official Selection

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Make. Me. Smile. is a Self-awareness, AI awareness and nature awareness short film by award-winning filmmaker and music artist An Vedi.
The film was shot on one of alleys in Moscow's central district. The Moskva River and embankment, the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building, and St. Nicholas Church appear in the film. It was shot in April 2026 in a style of mobile reportage ("camera in hand"). The protagonist shares her thoughts on the dangers that lurk in urban environments and in interpersonal relationships. A key theme is awareness related to artificial intelligence and environmental conservation.
A limited space was chosen for filming, serving as a quiet refuge amidst the urban environment.
Having had mixed experiences interacting with people and witnessing the processes unfolding in the world, the protagonist nevertheless tries to encourage the viewer to perceive reality in a positive way.
The film features the song "Underneath" by An Vedi.

DIRECTOR: An Vedi

RUNTIME: 6:20

GENRE: Documentary, Experimental, Student, Short

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Moscow, Russia

JUDGING STATUS:  Official Selection

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A German longs for the Wild West in his everyday life
and gets mentored by a genuine Cowboy.

DIRECTOR: Christian Skibinski, Timo Josefowicz

RUNTIME: 15:41

GENRE: Western, Comedy

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Germany

JUDGING STATUS:  Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

The Sixth Stage (Grief) is a psychological drama exploring the emotional fallout of loss and the seductive illusion of control.

In this part of the anthology, Audi Coleman, a rising nurse with a complicated family history, is jolted back into her childhood home after the overdose death of her younger sister, Ailey. Struggling to connect with her grieving mother and emotionally burnt-out brother, Audi attempts to process her pain the only way she knows how: through action. She throws herself into addiction research, community care, and personal reinvention, emerging years later as a decorated practitioner and public figure.

But not everything is as it seems.

Beneath the accolades and clinical calm, Audi’s grief begins to express itself in increasingly unorthodox ways. Flashbacks collide with the present. Emotional ruptures play out like memories, until the audience, like Audi, begins to question what’s real.

Told through nonlinear storytelling, fractured timelines, and layered family dynamics, The Sixth Stage interrogates the myth of the “strong one” in a grieving family, and how unaddressed trauma can fester into something quietly monstrous.

It is a tense, emotionally rich meditation on grief, legacy, and the desperate ways we try to hold broken things together, and is designed to spark conversations about how we love, how we lose, and how we heal.

DIRECTOR: Devin Nikki Thomas

RUNTIME: 20:00

GENRE: Social Issue Narrative, psychological drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: District Hights, Maryland

JUDGING STATUS: Honorable Mention  

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Solitude is a paradox; it plays a significant role in life within a metropolis filled with millions of people. One famous saying suggests that silence is 'the way of eloquence.' In the film, the author and protagonist is an AI guru residing in the bustling city of Moscow, where he spends nearly all his working hours engaged in virtual media.

Despite his profession, he is an extrovert who enjoys real-life activities and prefers to avoid computers. However, all his activities are limited to the summer months, as Moscow is one of the northernmost capitals and endures nearly nine months of harsh winter weather each year. How does one cope with the challenges of enforced desocialization? This is the core theme of the film.

DIRECTOR: Viacheslav Nikolayevich Karbanov

RUNTIME: 10:30

GENRE: Documentary, Experimental

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Russia

JUDGING STATUS:  Official Selection

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Homa and Simin are working as silversmiths in a bathhouse, but the evidence suggests that Simin no longer exists...

DIRECTOR: Mohammad Fazel Rabiee

RUNTIME: 9:57

GENRE: Student, Psychological, Horror

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Iran

JUDGING STATUS:  Golden Standard Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

When an elderly lady tries speed dating it leads to a night with a charming stranger and a heartbreaking revelation.

DIRECTOR: Adam Szudrich

RUNTIME: 7:51

GENRE: Romantic Comedy

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Australia

JUDGING STATUS:  Golden Standard Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Ninejay is an episodic set in the 1800’s about a
dangerous female Japanese Ninja, who is accidently delivered as a Chinese mail order bride to
a widowed Southern Gentleman-turned-Marshal in New Mexico territory.

DIRECTOR: Robert Ray Jimenz

RUNTIME: 30:00

GENRE: Western, Comedy, Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Studio City, CA

JUDGING STATUS: Finalist 

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Reach Out throws a spotlight on the quiet battles people fight every day. The story centers on a young person, sitting alone in a busy place, lost in thought and clutching a note that reveals just how heavy isolation can feel. There's no dramatic outburst, no loud cries for help, just subtle moments that remind you how easy it is to overlook someone's pain.

As the film moves forward, the mood shifts. It's not just about being alone anymore; it's about noticing, about caring. Struggling isn't weakness, and there's nothing small about asking for help. Sometimes, everything changes with a single conversation. The PSA pushes you to reach out-to check in, to talk, to listen, before silence builds into something much harder to break.

DIRECTOR: Deb Kumar De

RUNTIME: 4:39

GENRE: Experimental, Student

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  India

JUDGING STATUS:  Finalist

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

“We Must Find a Way” is a short film about urban accessibility, told through the daily walk of a visually impaired person.

A man who has been visually impaired since birth moves along the sidewalk by following the yellow tactile paving with his cane. Yet the path that should keep him safe is interrupted by scooters, café tables and chairs, parked vehicles, signboards, crowds, and carelessly placed obstacles. Each time, he stops, tries to understand the space again, and continues.

The film reverses the meaning of “not seeing.” It suggests that real blindness is not the inability to see, but the inability to notice someone else’s space, needs, and right to move freely.

In the final sequence, the order of the city is symbolically reversed: the wide road is given to the visually impaired man, while everyone else is forced onto the crowded sidewalks. The film leaves the audience with a simple but sharp question: if we are going to live together, whose path are we really blocking?

DIRECTOR: Erkan Ceylan

RUNTIME: 4:02

GENRE: Animation, Short, Web / New Media

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Turkey

JUDGING STATUS:  Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Niko's life is suddenly thrown into complete disarray,
when his organs develop a life of their own,
and begin to talk to him.

DIRECTOR: Christian Skibinski

RUNTIME: 14:2O

GENRE: Surreal, Drama, Horror 

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Germany

JUDGING STATUS:  Best Short Film (Germany)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

It's believed that brain activity continues for 7 minutes after the hearts stops beating and what he sees will alter his perception of science and religion to turn his whole world upside down.

DIRECTOR: Jason Durgana

RUNTIME: 9:4O

GENRE: Experimental

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Canada

JUDGING STATUS:  Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Agni and Sowmya, once college sweethearts, lead a quiet married life until the return of Purvaja stirs buried emotions and unresolved tensions. As suspicion and jealousy consume Agni, his growing obsession begins to blur the line between reality and perception. Grahan is a psychological drama about love, trust, and the destructive power of obsession.

DIRECTOR: Shariq Ali Khan

RUNTIME: 9:59

GENRE: Drama, Suspense, Experimental

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  India

JUDGING STATUS:  Finalist

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

In a dark room, a man begins an unapologetic confession. An hourglass drains beside him, each grain of sand marking the passing seconds. His words are calm, deliberate, and unsettling — not driven by fear or remorse, but certainty. As time passes, the pressure intensifies. Silence grows louder than dialogue. Small behavioral shifts suggest something beneath the surface, though the meaning remains unclear. When time runs out, the truth is revealed. RESET is a psychological short film about time, identity, and the versions of ourselves we rehearse when no one is watching.

DIRECTOR: Arthur Costa

RUNTIME: 4:44

GENRE: Psychological Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Australia 

JUDGING STATUS:  Finalist 

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A girl

DIRECTOR: Amir Mehdi Tavakolian

RUNTIME: 2:00

GENRE: Psychological Crime, Mirco

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Iran

JUDGING STATUS:  Best Mico Short (Iran)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A rural waitress must find a way to keep her childhood home before she loses both her land and her mind.

DIRECTOR: Gabrielle Davenport

RUNTIME: 23:30

GENRE: Drama, Mystery

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: NYC, NY

JUDGING STATUS:  Finalist

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

An exceptional boy lives inside a cardboard box, where everyone is the same, except him. He dreams of everything he can find outside this box. Until, one day, the box tears a little and he manages to get out.

DIRECTOR: Guilherme S. B.

RUNTIME: 16:16

GENRE Family, Kids, Fantasy

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Brazil

JUDGING STATUS:  Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A sneaky thief has stolen a precious diamond! Two brave knights decide they aren't going to let him get away with it.

Instead of just using their swords, the knights bring out their heavy tanks to corner the villain. It’s a big showdown between the knights' armor and the mysterious, smiling thief. Will the knights use their swords and tanks to win the battle and bring the diamond home?

DIRECTOR: Aditya Ganesh Kumbhar

RUNTIME: 1:55

GENRE: Animation, Short, Student, Micro

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: India

JUDGING STATUS:  Official Selection

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"One Passes from a Dream" In a quiet bourgeois suburb, a young filmmaker drifts with his camera in hand, as if weightless. He films silent streets, hidden paths and empty parks, searching for a secret vibration within the real. Little by little, his wandering becomes tinged with a subtle sense of unease.
At the turn of a narrow path, reality fractures: on the screen of his camcorder appears a woman whom his eyes cannot see. Norah, a luminous and elusive figure, materializes only through the filmed image, moving forward as if carried by an invisible force.
Further ahead, she meets Lina, a calm and grounded presence. Their embrace, intimate and outside of time, seals an impossible encounter. The filmmaker, merely a witness, finds himself facing two figures emerging from a dream — or perhaps from a memory that only the camera could reveal.

DIRECTOR: Antoine Sextier

RUNTIME: 5:21

GENRE: Experimental

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: France

JUDGING STATUS:  Finalist

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Babysitting the O'Connell children during a torrential storm proves to be more than Claire bargained for.

DIRECTOR: David Andrew Tybor

RUNTIME: 15:13

GENRE: Psychological Horror

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Lone Tree, CO

JUDGING STATUS:  Best Short Film (Colorodo)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

MESA Youth Film Club explores water out in the field, in their studies, interviewing a water scientist, Veda Austin, and using NASA stock footage to understand the power, origin, and meaning of water.

DIRECTOR: Lisa Spencer

RUNTIME: 5:00

GENRE: Documentary, Student, Educational

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Milwaukee, WI

JUDGING STATUS:  Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A sinister force lurks within the artwork of a 10-year-old girl, binding her to a terror that refuses to fade. Years later, as she becomes a mother, the nightmares of her childhood bleed into her present, blurring the line between delusion and reality. When the truth about her daughter emerges, art and horror collide in a revelation too shocking to escape.

DIRECTOR: Steven J Mihaljevich

RUNTIME: 10:00

GENRE: Horror, Thriller, Mental Health

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Australia

JUDGING STATUS:  Best Short Film (Australia)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Hannah, a young actress, is forced to compete for the role of Lady Macbeth against her friend, whom she secretly loves.

DIRECTOR: Doron Neeman

RUNTIME: 14:29

GENRE: Student, Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Israel

JUDGING STATUS:  Golden Standard Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A heartfelt story of unrequited love explored through a lonely seagull struggling to accept that his newfound object of affection is a human-operated drone with a limited battery life.

DIRECTOR: Radheya Jang Jegatheva

RUNTIME: 8:55

GENRE: Short, Drama, Animation, Romance

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom

JUDGING STATUS:  Golden Standard Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"Torment" A dangerous desire threatens to take hold as a husband grapples with his inner demons.

DIRECTOR: Tamás Tarcsi, Márk G Lakatos

RUNTIME: 34:42

GENRE: Drama, Crime

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Hungary

JUDGING STATUS:  Best Short Film (Hungary)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A powerful dictator contemplates launching a nuclear strike, haunted by memories of his daughter’s innocence and joy. Torn between duty and conscience, he experiences a nightmarish vision of war, cruelty, and mass suffering. In a surreal journey through explosions, closed elevators, and endless corridors, the boundaries of reality collapse, revealing the devastating human cost of power and violence. Ultimately, he confronts the horrifying consequences of his choices in a vast, desolate cemetery where the echoes of innocent lives linger.

DIRECTOR: Amirmehdi Tavakolian

RUNTIME: 5:53

GENRE: Experimental, psychological

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Iran

JUDGING STATUS:  Golden Standard Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Duel Vision is a psychological martial arts drama about Jack and Molly. With corrupted memories of Molly vexing Jack, the real Molly must defeat the broken recollections so that Jack can move beyond the past.

DIRECTOR: Landon Brands

RUNTIME: 10:00

GENRE: Drama, Martial Arts, Science Fiction, Romance

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  LA, CA

JUDGING STATUS:  Finalist

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

An intimate portrait of creation without audience, this short artist film follows a solitary maker whose work is never intended to be seen. Gathering foliage from the Calder Valley’s hillsides, he returns to the quiet ritual of his darkroom, crafting delicate cyanotypes in isolation.

The camera never fully reveals him; only gestures, process, and presence. His art remains hidden until the final frame, where the private act of making briefly meets the public gaze.

Blending tactile, close-up observation with sweeping, reverent landscapes, the film becomes a love letter to the Calder Valley itself, a meditation on solitude, authorship, and the quiet power of art made only for oneself.

DIRECTOR: Megan Booth

RUNTIME: 2:55

GENRE: Artist, Poetic Documentary, Micro

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  United Kingdom

JUDGING STATUS:  Best Micro Short (United Kingdom)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Faced with an uncontrollable and tense situation in a nightclub, a man will have to face his demons by unleashing a power that could change everything...

DIRECTOR: Chris Moreira

RUNTIME: 3:49

GENRE: Sci-Fi, Action, Drama, Fantasy

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  United Kingdom

JUDGING STATUS:  Golden Standard Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"Bianca" Every week in Doc's room, Sandra, Luca, Fabio, Rosa, and Bianca, the newcomer, gather. All are there to confront each other give mutual help on the addiction that plagues his life. Doc guides them on their rehabilitative journey and is considered an exemplary man, but everything changes when they discover that he also lives the same addiction as them: that of being gluttonous consumers of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana.

DIRECTOR: Simona Mancini

RUNTIME: 10:00

GENRE: Comedy

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Italy

JUDGING STATUS:  Finalist

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Once upon a time, free time was spent playing outdoors... Then there was an EVOLUTION.
Your body profile is in danger!
Jonathan Haidt, «The Anxious Generation» (Penguin Press): "The greatest and most irresponsible experiment humanity has ever done on children.”

DIRECTOR: Vittorio Caratozzolo & Class 3 A

RUNTIME: 3:49

GENRE: Student, Documentary

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Italy

JUDGING STATUS:  Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Two twelve-year-old friends, Ali and Noor, share an unbreakable bond. Noor, an Afghan refugee, faces sudden deportation. Torn between loyalty and fear, Ali promises to see him off. But what remains is a farewell that echoes in silence, and a friendship lost to the shadows left behind.

DIRECTOR: Aun Ul Haider

RUNTIME: 13:00

GENRE: Student, Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Pakistan

JUDGING STATUS:  Golden Standard Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Lata is a 32-year-old unmarried girl who lives at home with her ailing father. While taking care of her father, her marriage, her desires, all these matters are left behind, she is alone in the house and there is no one to understand her and therefore her life is lonely, her father's old age, the work she has to do for a living, the society's attitude towards her. Living life by beating the mind.
The film deals with her insatiable desires and her struggle to achieve them.

DIRECTOR: Nehal S Ghodke

RUNTIME: 1:12:00

GENRE:  Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  India

JUDGING STATUS:  Encore Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Diljala Raanjha follows the journey of a young man whose life is scorched by a love that never learned to stay. Haunted by memories that cling like ash, he wanders through the ruins of a relationship that once felt eternal. Every corner of his city reminds him of her. The promises, the betrayals, the warmth, the wounds. As he tries to rebuild himself, he discovers that heartbreak isn't a moment... it's a transformation. Some loves burn so fiercely that even after they die, they keep lighting the path of the one left behind. In confronting his pain, he must decide whether to remain a prisoner of the past or rise from the embers as someone new.

DIRECTOR: Yashvardhan Jha

RUNTIME: 40:00

GENRE: Romance, Drama, Student

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: India

JUDGING STATUS:  Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A couple sells a skateboard. Based on an apocryphal story about Ernest Hemingway.

DIRECTOR: Juan Carlos Hernandez

RUNTIME: 3:41

GENRE: Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: New York City, NY

JUDGING STATUS: Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

The Short film is all about eternal love of a mother lioness where it protects her cub even her absence. The story is all about to tell the sleeping pill of the cub is her mother's memories where it thinks for her rest of life and sleeps peacefully.

DIRECTOR: Srinivasa Bhattar Sri Vedavyasa

RUNTIME: 5:00

GENRE: AI, Animation, Musical

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: India

JUDGING STATUS: Official Selection

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

It is a cold and dark night when two people meet at a lonely train station.

DIRECTOR: Sönke Erik Nissen Hünding, Christian Skibinski

RUNTIME: 9:07

GENRE: Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Germany

JUDGING STATUS: Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

After an unexpected end, An An—an avid gamer—finds herself reborn inside a video game. To unlock a new storyline and truly restart her life, she must complete one catch: a co-op campaign.
But is this game even playing fair? Feeding the cat unlocks a side quest. Her tone-deaf mom is now a rhythm game boss. And after being pixelated, she still has to face a dance machine… While grinding and battling monsters, An An realizes her mom has a main quest of her own—even the family cat has begun a new journey here.
Everyone (yes, even the cat) has their own storyline. So how can An An possibly beat the game? Luckily, co-op mode requires mother and daughter to work together, and this digital realm has a kind-hearted Cat Deity watching over them. When their two questlines finally merge, their reconciliation unlocks a brand-new chapter: Love & Freedom.

DIRECTOR: Jingru Zhao

RUNTIME: 12:42

GENRE: Student, Fantasy, Experimental

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: China

JUDGING STATUS: Finalist

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

After witnessing the murder of his friend, an android sets out to reveal the truth about the murder.

DIRECTOR: Nicole Lease, Francisco Montes

RUNTIME: 5:49

GENRE: Student, Sci-Fi, Crime

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Sierra Vista, AZ 

JUDGING STATUS: Best Student Short Film (AZ)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

An introspective experimental documentary essay exploring the relationship between self, place, and technology through the landscapes of the Bay Area.

DIRECTOR: Alice Faria

RUNTIME: 6:59

GENRE: Student, Experiment, Documentary

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: San Francisco, CA

JUDGING STATUS: Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"My Little Sentry" On a remote farm, Dalva (Marina Azze) lives among dry branches and silent afternoons, waiting for the return of Antônio, her only son, sent off to war. When the radio announces Hitler's death and the end of the conflict, the world seems to exhale — but instead of relief, Dalva plunges into a whirlwind of memories. The last words exchanged with her son, and the many left unsaid, echo in her mindlike voices in an empty field. In a time where past and present blur together, Dalva keeps watch over the road with eyes full of hope and longing.

DIRECTOR: Lucas Marques

RUNTIME: 14:46

GENRE: Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Brazil

JUDGING STATUS: Golden Standard Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"2 Wings x 2 Elephants" In the quiet setting of a Roman neighborhood, lives Lorenzo, a 45-year-old man, suffering from severe obesity, living secluded in a studio apartment bordering the apartment of the unattractive and "spinster", Agnese. The woman, she is secretly in love with Lorenzo and continually spies on her steps, eavesdropping through the wall that separates their homes. What she feels are the amorous forays that Lorenzo, despite his appearances, indulges in without respite; this libertine life leads Agnese to turn, worried, to the man's brother, Don Antonio, a wise and ironic priest.
Will Agnese and Lorenzo learn to love themselves and chase their dreams?
Under the veneer of comedy, the short film tackles important themes with delicacy and depth, giving the viewer a message of hope and overcoming one's limits.

(No subtitles) (In Italian)

DIRECTOR: Nino Giuffrida

RUNTIME: 14:00

GENRE: Comedy

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Italy

JUDGING STATUS: Golden Standard Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Tranquil, unspoiled landscapes. The sound of the sea mingling with the whistling sound of the wind influenced by the great waves of the Atlantic. Red mountains, a stork circling above a fallen tree. A feeling of dreaminess, a palpable infinity that manages without many people. Aesthetic compositions in motion.

(Subtitles) (In German)

DIRECTOR: Lukas Berger

RUNTIME: 14:40

GENRE: Documentary, Experimental

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Portugal

JUDGING STATUS: Best Short Doc (Portugal)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Rodolfo, a blind man, describes his unique sensory experience in Mexico City's largest park, allowing him to escape into visions of his future amidst the hustle and bustle of city life.

(No Subtitles) (In Spanish)

DIRECTOR: Aarón Monsiváis

RUNTIME: 5:00

GENRE: Documentary

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Mexico

JUDGING STATUS: Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Opportunity is a short animated film portraying how privileges create opportunities.

DIRECTOR: Shamim Shoomali

RUNTIME: 0:27

GENRE: Micro, Animation

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Atlanta, Georgia 

JUDGING STATUS: Best Micro Short (Atlanta)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Dating can be hard, and it doesn’t matter who you are.

DIRECTOR: Dave Mitz

RUNTIME: 2:41

GENRE: Micro, Comedy, Romance

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Washington D.C. 

JUDGING STATUS: Best Micro Short (D.C.)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"All Power" In the time it takes light to reach earth from the sun, All Power provokes viewers to wonder about a near-future civilization of digital natives taught to worship the sun. Co-written and crafted with image libraries informed by artificial intelligence running on solar energy, the film merges process and production in a frenzy of human and machine hallucinations, imploring us to question our own histories, rituals, technologies, logic, judgements, and responsibilities.

DIRECTOR: Clint Sleeper

RUNTIME: 8:00

GENRE: AI, Experimental, Sci-Fi

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Tallahassee, FL

JUDGING STATUS: Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

COLLEGE TROOPERS is a short documentary film about theatre college students talking about college life.

DIRECTOR: Jack Truman

RUNTIME: 13:24

GENRE: Documentary 

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Joplin, Missouri

JUDGING STATUS: Best Short Doc (Missouri)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Follows homeless veteran outreach events in Phoenix, Arizona, where former service members are connected with essential resources including housing, healthcare, employment assistance, and legal support. Through intimate interviews and firsthand observations, the documentary gives a voice to veterans experiencing homelessness while highlighting the compassion, community, and hope found within the Stand Down program.

DIRECTOR: Ron Sonedecker

RUNTIME: 15:55

GENRE: Documentary, Student 

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Kent, Ohio

JUDGING STATUS: Best Student Short Doc (Ohio)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A lawyer must win...whatever the cost!

DIRECTOR: James W. Hawk

RUNTIME: 17:27

GENRE: Court Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: New York City, NY

JUDGING STATUS: Golden Standard Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Onru is the story of a father and daughter trying to survive after an apocalyptic event. Can this father keep his daughter safe? After the world as we know it ends… love lasts forever.

DIRECTOR: Timothy Kiley

RUNTIME: 13:30

GENRE: Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Crestline, CA

JUDGING STATUS: Best Short Film (Crestline, CA)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

'Chateau Sauvignon: terroir' follows the isolated adolescent son of a storied vintner family who finds himself torn between obeying his father’s callous restrictions and preventing his ailing mother from deteriorating further. When a doting woman and her indifferent son arrive seeking a tasting and tour of the winery, Nicolas sees an opportunity to help care for his mother, as well as prove his worth to his choleric father. However, his wayward plan quickly takes a turn for the worse, and his missteps puts his family’s secretive murderous ways in peril of being unearthed.

DIRECTOR: D. M. Night Maire

RUNTIME: 13:00

GENRE: Slasher, Horror, Coming of Age, Student

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Brooklyn, New York

JUDGING STATUS: Best Student Short (Brooklyn, NY)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"Kidney Trial" Dana, a devout follower of the Breslov Hasidic movement who believes solely in God’s power, struggles with her daughter’s illness at the hospital. An encounter with Marva, the nurse caring for her, challenges her beliefs and opens new horizons of faith, understanding, and hope.

DIRECTOR: Doron Neeman

RUNTIME: 18:30

GENRE: Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Israel

JUDGING STATUS: Best Short Film (Israel)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"N3W S74R7 (New Start)" A man goes on a series of quick encounters with different women, all eerily similar but unique in their appearance and behavior. As he explores their diverse personalities, he discovers a surprising truth that changes his perspective on the nature of these encounters.

DIRECTOR: Charly Delporte, Prune Girand

RUNTIME: 5:46

GENRE: Romantic Comedy, Sci-Fi

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: France

JUDGING STATUS: Golden Standard Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

In the wake of losing her 17-year-old son, a grieving mother spirals into a haze of grief, alcohol, and sensory hallucinations. Alone in a decaying home that echoes with memories, she begins hearing voices whispering through the walls. Voices she believes belong to her lost child. As her reality unravels, the line between the living and the dead, memory and madness, blurs beyond recognition.

Guided by a storm of sound, rain, and the haunting melody of “I’m Still Here,” Cynthia’s descent becomes a raw confrontation with guilt, loss, and the desperate human need to hold on to love, even when it’s destroying her. BROKEN is a poetic psychological drama that immerses viewers in the fragile terrain between grief and redemption, where every sound, shadow, and silence carries the weight of a mother’s shattered heart.

DIRECTOR: Aaron Braxton

RUNTIME: 13:27

GENRE: Drama, Supernatural

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Los Angeles, CA

JUDGING STATUS: Finalist

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A father teaches his son that the things we long for often lose their importance once we have them, and that true value is only realized when something or someone is no longer with us.

DIRECTOR: Manyu Dubbyreddy

RUNTIME: 4:55

GENRE: Student, Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Cypress, TX

JUDGING STATUS: Best Student Short (Cypress, TX)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

In the gripping tale of a grieving mother, we witness a harrowing descent into psychological turmoil. Tormented by the haunting cries of her lost child, she embarks on a chilling journey from her bedroom to the ominous depths of the basement. What unfolds is a terrifying nightmare, this haunting ordeal becomes the catalyst that forces her to confront her shattered reality and seek the help she has long resisted.

DIRECTOR: Chris Pastenes

RUNTIME: 12:38

GENRE: Suspense, Thriller, Horror

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Chicago, IL

JUDGING STATUS: Finalist

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Assistant Manager Sam Swope (Chris Frank) finds himself in a devilish predicament. After his deal with The Devil (Joshua Cortina) takes a turn for the worse, he enlists the help of Mediator Petey Slater (Dan Styslinger) to broker a new agreement, before things get truly hellish.

DIRECTOR: Tom FRANK, Dan Styslinger

RUNTIME: 6:32

GENRE: Dark Comedy, Fantasy

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Pittsburgh, PA

JUDGING STATUS: Best Short Film (Pittsburgh, PA)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A man wakes up on a boat in a dried up river with only a dress hanging from a tree and a strange doorway to another world in site.

DIRECTOR: Chase Bradburn

RUNTIME: 5:00

GENRE: Experimental, Music Video

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Austin, TX

JUDGING STATUS: Best Music Video (Austin, TX)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

When Fox’s "LA Bar" is hit with a compulsory purchase order, a cornerstone of Caribbean life in 90's East London is threatened. As the city begins to forget, the community remembers. In defiance and longing, a last dance ignites—one that will be remembered for the ages.

DIRECTOR: Hayden Mclean

RUNTIME: 16:39

GENRE: Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom

JUDGING STATUS: Golden Standard Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

In a mentally retarded sanatorium, a disabled boy named Sohrab has a physical problem and is unable to move or speak. One of his roommates is by the window, eager to find out what he sees on the other side of the window.

(Subtitles) (In Persian)

DIRECTOR: Meysam Oghbaei, Mahdiye Toosi

RUNTIME: 14:44

GENRE: Drama, Psychological 

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Iran

JUDGING STATUS: Best Short Film (Iran)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A man confronts a childhood memory buried deep within him. As it resurfaces, he is forced into a silent reckoning with guilt, memory, and the weight of what was never spoken.

(Subtitles) (In Turkish)

DIRECTOR: Burak Özen

RUNTIME: 5:00

GENRE: Drama, Psychological 

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Turkey 

JUDGING STATUS: Best short Film (Turkey)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

The water of a fountain reflects the face of a woman in a state of apparent hypnosis. From the moment she begins to move, the primordial and brutal need to bear witness to her own existence
emerges. As it unfolds, the movement is not conceived as an isolated element, but as an integral part of the space that hosts it, in a continuous interaction between body and landscape. An emotional vehicle capable of transforming the place and restoring to it a state of mind. A continuous relationship between dynamism and petrification.

DIRECTOR: Luigi Di Domenico

RUNTIME: 3:32

GENRE: Experimental, Music Video

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Italy

JUDGING STATUS: Best Music Video (Italy)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

In the dead of a Los Angeles night, a woman is forced to drive a 1960's Lincoln Continental to complete errands to save her and her loved ones.

DIRECTOR: Clarice Paris

RUNTIME: 01:01:40

GENRE: Drama, Crime, Mystery

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Langley, WA

JUDGING STATUS: Encore Award

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Saltwater Psalms is a six-minute visual poem built from fragments of the natural world. Instead of a linear story, the film moves through a living collage of water, shoreline, foliage, animals, food, and sunlight. Each image becomes its own reminder that the body knows how to come home when it is given space to breathe. The work reflects a season of emotional exhaustion and rebuilding. The film does not chase a narrative arc. It rests inside stillness, repetition, and the softness of everyday beauty. The viewer is invited to witness what healing looks like when it is not performed. Quiet waves. Moving shadows. A fruit sliced open. Wings in flight. The warmth of the sun on skin.

A mother speaks to Lili, her five-year-old daughter who suffers from epilepsy. She lovingly and poetically imagines the play-space her daughter creates in her mind during the seizures in which she loses consciousness.

DIRECTOR: Adrien Lhoste

RUNTIME: 3:44

GENRE: Experimental, Surreal, Fantasy

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: France

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - GOLDEN STANDARD AWARD

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A poem of love and struggle dedicated to the Palestinian people

DIRECTOR: Simone Massi

RUNTIME: 5:00

GENRE: Animation, Poetry

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Italy 

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - GOLDEN STANDARD AWARD

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A dewy-eyed university student is thrust into an eerie hazing ritual at an all-female secret society initiation event.

DIRECTOR: Anna Turner

RUNTIME: 7:22

GENRE: Drama, Thriller, Mystery, Psychological, Student

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom

JUDGING STATUS: Finalist - Short Film Runner Up (United Kingdom)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

‘Strings’ follows the story of an ordinary worker as they go through the life of an office worker. It shows how the worker endures pain and tiredness through the fear of almighty power of the superiors.

DIRECTOR: Neha Ganesh Kumbhar

RUNTIME: 1:53

GENRE: Animation, Experimental, Student

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: India

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Student Micro Short (India)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A young Asian American university student grapples with what it means to be the only woman of color in her class when a film professor extends unwanted attention toward her. Based on a true story.

DIRECTOR: Michelle Bossy

RUNTIME: 13:00

GENRE: Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Los Angeles, California - USA

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Rob can do the impossible, but only when no one is watching. After a lifetime of invisibility, one anonymous act forces him to decide whether being unseen is a curse or a choice.

DIRECTOR: Adam Szudrich

RUNTIME: 6:31

GENRE: Comedy, Romantic 

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Australia 

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - GOLDEN STANDARD AWARD

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Set in a dystopian near future where everyone is provided with a 24-hour warning before their death by the government, Mariam receives such a call from Bob, a real-life operator that is on his first day on the job, informing her of her final day.

DIRECTOR: Michelle Bossy

RUNTIME: 13:20

GENRE: Drama, Dark Comedy, Grounded Dystopian Sci-Fi

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Greece

JUDGING STATUS: Winner -GOLDEN STANDARD AWARD

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A single drop of water is carried inside a bottle by a drone. It travels across a scorching, futuristic desert world where each place becomes increasingly dangerous. Along the way, it narrowly escapes a man with a net, a boxing kangaroo, and giant jellyfish… until it finally finds itself in the middle of a billionaire’s party.

DIRECTOR: Adrien Lhoste

RUNTIME: 4:26

GENRE: Music Video, Animation

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: France

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

The lines between life and death become blurred for John as he takes the risk to live forever.

DIRECTOR: Carrie Ann Quinn

RUNTIME: 15:00

GENRE: Sci-Fi, Thriller, Mystery

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Boston, Massachusetts - USA

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Short Film (Boston, Massachusetts)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A pious sister and her inflexible brother mourn the passing of their beloved mother. Based on Guy de Maupassant's 1880 short story 'Dead Woman's Secret'.

DIRECTOR: David M. Night Maire

RUNTIME: 10:00

GENRE: Drama, LGBTQ+, Adaptation, Period Piece

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: France

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A renowned painter, stripped of his family and eyesight in a tragic accident, retreats to the darkness of his ancestral basement. Struggling with only 10% vision and profound grief, he falls into a void of visual hallucinations where the line between creation and destruction blurs. In a haunting spiral of psychosis, he believes he is reclaiming his late wife, while in reality, he is giving birth to terrifying, obsidian abstractions on canvas.

DIRECTOR: Behnam Khosravi

RUNTIME: 13:57

GENRE: Student, Drama, Horror

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Iran

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - GOLDEN STANDARD AWARD

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A young clown attempts to tell his first joke.

DIRECTOR: Juan Carlos Hernandez

RUNTIME: 8:46

GENRE: Comedy

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: New York City, NY - USA

JUDGING STATUS: Official Selection

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Man has been cast out of paradise and exiled to earth. He produces a generation that corrupts and steals on earth.

DIRECTOR: Zahra Shafiei Dehaghani

RUNTIME: 2:09

GENRE: Animation

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Iran

JUDGING STATUS: Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Vincenzo is on his first date with Sara, he asks for help from an application based on AI, which suggests what to say. A love story is born, and they organize a blind date for their best friends, advising them both to use A.I.

DIRECTOR: Gianluca Zonta

RUNTIME: 14:00

GENRE: Romance, Comedy, Sci-Fi

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Italy

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - GOLDEN STANDARD AWARD

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A short neo-noir thriller centered around a mysterious druggist visited by Sangstrom, a seemingly ordinary man in search of an undetectable poison. Yet, Sangstrom winds up getting more than he bargained for from the sagacious alchemist.

DIRECTOR: George Vatistas

RUNTIME: 8:37

GENRE: Neo-Noire, Thriller, Fantasy, Horror

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Brooklyn, New York - USA

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - GOLDEN STANDARD AWARD

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"Typed Out" Lydia cannot rest. Days are counting down to a deadline she cannot miss. With each moment that passes the wall that she built to protect herself from the world crumbles. But, sometimes, when walls collapse, it lets the light shine through.

DIRECTOR: Mistee O'Connor-Bromwell

RUNTIME: 7:21

GENRE: Student, Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Student Short (United Kingdom)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Mr. Monzavi, a reclusive man, lives in an ice shop alongside a mysterious block of ice that never melts. Their quiet, intimate bond is threatened when a group of strangers arrives, searching for something hidden deep within the ice.

DIRECTOR: Barbod Ataie

RUNTIME: 14:59

GENRE: Student, Drama, Surreal

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Iran

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Student Short Film (Iran)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

On a restless night in the cyberpunk city "Megaville" a disillusioned ranger encounters a washed-up chef called Jack. They reach an agreement and a culinary duel to the death follows. A lethal supper that only one of them will survive.

DIRECTOR: Tim Cürlis, Christian Skibinski

RUNTIME: 13:46

GENRE: Sci-fi, Crime, Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Germany

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A brilliant but manipulated student, Ahiṃsaka, becomes a ruthless killer. After amassing 999 victims and nearly killing his own mother, he encounters the Buddha. The Buddha teaches him the true meaning of "stopping," leading Ahiṃsaka to abandon his violent past, become a monk, and find ultimate freedom from suffering

DIRECTOR: Surapong Wetsuwanmanee

RUNTIME: 5:37

GENRE: Animation

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Thailand

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Short Film (Thailand)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A detective is about to discover whether the woman she's interrogating is truly unhinged... or telling a devastating truth.

DIRECTOR: Nancy Greene

RUNTIME: 9:30

GENRE: Horror, Sci-Fi

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Los Angeles, CA - USA

JUDGING STATUS: Finalist - Short Film Runner Up (Los Angeles, CA)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A family on a road trip lose a precious cargo and find themselves in a terrifying situation. 

DIRECTOR: Charly Delporte

RUNTIME: 6:15

GENRE: road-movie, fantastique

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: France

JUDGING STATUS: Winner -GOLDEN STANDARD AWARD

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Samantha, a free-spirited hopeless romantic, discovers her 30-something year old BFF Drew, a gay high-functioning drug-addled sex addict, is hosting an orgy in lieu of honoring his personal commitments.

DIRECTOR: Nathaniel P. Claridad

RUNTIME: 10:00

GENRE: Comedy, Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: New York City, New York - USA

JUDGING STATUS: Finalist - Runner Up Short (New York City, NY)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

In Mexico, 2008, there was a case which was so evil and with such a diabolical nature, that the government decided to keep it hidden from the public light - Until now. Based on a true story.

DIRECTOR: Moises Suarez, Javier Carreon

RUNTIME: 15:40

GENRE: True Crime, Horror

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Mexico

JUDGING STATUS: Finalist - Runner Up Short (Mexico)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

The past catches up with Felix, in the form of his old buddy Olaf. Mob-leader Ivan wants his cocaine back, and Felix has to fight for his new domestic life, and to escape his crime background.

DIRECTOR: Christian Skibinski

RUNTIME: 11:49

GENRE: Crime, Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Germany

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - GOLDEN STANDARD AWARD

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Len Zuks, the unlikely alchemist, forges mythic creatures and whimsical figures from the abandoned steel and rubber of everyday life. The Last Rooster reveals how, through his hands, refuse becomes revelation, and the discarded gains dignity.

DIRECTOR: James Hyams

RUNTIME: 9:56

GENRE: Documentary

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Australia

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Short Documentary (Australia)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Reut has been married to Shahar for 5 years, the rabbi's lesson took place precisely on the same night in which Reut is commanded by the Torah to dip in the mikvah (holy waters) in order for her and her husband to be intimate. Reut has a very clear goal: she wants a child, the biological clock is ticking, according to the rabbi it is forbidden to go to the doctors, so her only option is to try and conceive a baby tonight!

DIRECTOR: Doron Neeman

RUNTIME: 13:40

GENRE: Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Israel

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - GOLDEN STANDARD AWARD

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Giacomo Fanelli is a loan shark who suffered rejection of a kidney transplant he had. Because his doctor doesn’t approve a second transplant, he decides to send money to Giulia and Emma, two girls who want to get married, to solve the problem.

DIRECTOR: Nicola Scamarcia

RUNTIME: 16:31

GENRE: Thriller, Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Italy

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - GOLDEN STANDARD AWARD 

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

A young woman wanders through an eerily empty city, consumed by a profound sense of isolation. As she moves through fragments of her daily life, the boundary between reality and her inner world gradually dissolves, blurring perception and emotion. The film invites the audience to inhabit her solitude, experiencing the quiet weight of loneliness as it reshapes her sense of self and the world around her.

DIRECTOR: Rojan Ajamian

RUNTIME: 7:34

GENRE: Experimental, Student

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Iran

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - GOLDEN STANDARD AWARD

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

In a near future dominated by the metaverse, AI agents investigate cybercrime. Violet, an AI detective, is assigned to question Mia, a defiant youth. But upon hearing Violet’s name, Mia reveals a shocking truth. In this sealed interrogation room, what revelation awaits? A neo-noir suspense short with a bold visual style.

DIRECTOR: Tomofumi Inoue, Kazuma Shimizu, Chizuru Kakimoto

RUNTIME: 10:24

GENRE: Animation, Sci-fi, Mystery

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan

JUDGING STATUS:  Winner - Best Short Film (Japan)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Fresh out of county jail, a recovering addict fights to rebuild his life and reconnect with his family—but one night in a cheap motel tests the limits of his willpower and redemption

DIRECTOR: Marquise Myles

RUNTIME: 14:04

GENRE: Drama, Student

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Los Angeles, CA - USA

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"Free the Doves" The film follows Chico, a 13-year-old Moroccan boy coming of age in a poor neighborhood controlled by a crime family, and his friend Dudi.​The boys discover that Dudi's sister Shmicha has fallen into prostitution run by Dana, the family's brothel boss, prompting them to plan her murder despite Shmicha's refusal and protective intervention.​
The story explores how the youths learn to bend the law to solve problems in their harsh environment, while Chico confronts his personal issue with the troublesome Sudmi the Yemeni.

DIRECTOR: Malcior Vaknin

RUNTIME: 18:30

GENRE: Drama, Crime, Student

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Israel

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Student Short (Israel)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Yobu Maligwa and Yosefe Kalekeni — two Malawian street musicians who built their own instruments and found their way to stages across Zanzibar, Europe and the United States. Once mocked as madmen on the streets of Lilongwe, their chance encounter with British musician Neil Nayar set in motion a journey neither of them could have imagined. This is a story about resilience, joy, and what happens when music meets destiny. Directed and edited by Johan Nayar. Produced by Tim Delhaes. Narrated by Neil Nayar. Represented worldwide by Moviehouse Entertainment.

DIRECTOR: Johan Nayar

RUNTIME: 1 Hour & 20 minutes

GENRE: Documentary, Music

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom 

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - THE ENCORE AWARD 

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Watch Trailer: The Banjo Boys Trailer

A composer recounts a dream from his youth that inspired the slow movement of his first-string quartet, Prayer of the Sea. The dream, depicting a peaceful dissolution into the sea and wind, symbolized his future death. Decades later, rediscovering a drawing from the quartet's premiere - perfectly capturing the dream’s essence - revived its emotions. Now older, he reflects on the dream’s message: a serene acceptance of life’s inevitable end.

Prayer of the Sea is an audiovisual elegy offering a calm perspective on the universal experience of passing.

DIRECTOR: Martin Gergk

RUNTIME: 6:30

GENRE: Experimental, Animation

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Germany

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Short Film (Germany)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

Two wannabe criminals try to pull off the dumbest heist of all time: stealing ice from a convenience store. What starts as a “foolproof” plan turns into a chaotic chase involving pantyhose masks, idiot cops, and a whole lot of bad decisions. A comedy about friendship, failure, and frozen water.

DIRECTOR: Gavin McCullock

RUNTIME: 8:49

GENRE:  Comedy

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: U.S. - Arcadia, Oklahoma

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Short Film (Arcadia, OK)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

“The Home That Is Me” is an animated film that tells the story of searching for a home, not in a geographical sense, but in terms of internal stability and self-sufficiency. The film is born from the director’s personal experience, forced to leave his homeland due to war and witnessing both physical and spiritual destruction. The boy must save himself from the invasion of flies, but the house that he built did not save him, and the people he tried to trust turned out to be an even greater danger. now the hero has to understand where in this world there is a safe place.

DIRECTOR: Araik Zulalian

RUNTIME: 6:06

GENRE:  Animation, Experimental

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Armenia

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Short Film (Armenia)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

"Breaking Ice" features Captain Kristen Serumgard and her U.S. Coast Guard crew. The film takes place on USCGC icebreaker Healy, the largest polar icebreaker in the fleet, on a mission above the Arctic Circle. 18% serving on board are female.

Honest. Bold. Often surprising. Sometimes funny. Always humane. These dedicated women mirror all Americans. Their stories reveal grit, patriotism and sacrifice. They give us reason to be proud.

We will be producing the feature-length film of "Breaking Ice" in the near future.

DIRECTOR: Mary Ellen Scherl

RUNTIME: 13:25

GENRE:  Documentary Short

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  U.S. - Coral Gables, Florida

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Short Doc Film (Florida)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

Jess came to spend the weekend. Marcus thought it would be simple. But between the extra baggage, a locked phone, and a surprise knock at the door, neither of them is ready for what “trust issues” really looks like.

DIRECTOR: Savon Melton

RUNTIME: 4:40

GENRE:  Drama/Comedy

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  U.S. - Houston, Texas

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Short Film (Houston, Texas)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

"The Ballad of Two Sisters" A music video that tells the story of two sisters. And a duel.

DIRECTOR: Alan Thornburg

RUNTIME: 8:00

GENRE:  Music Video

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  U.S. - Corpus Christi, Texas

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Music Video (Corpus Christi, Texas)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

Based on the Road to Emmaus from the Gospel of Luke 24:13-35

DIRECTOR: John Putman

RUNTIME: 5:19

GENRE:  Drama, Mystical

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  U.S. - Tulsa, Oklahoma

JUDGING STATUS: Finalist - Short Film Runner Up (Tulsa, OK)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

When a woman goes to visit her gynecologist about a mysterious pain she has, things turn from bad to worse when she alas meets her freakish doctor.

DIRECTOR: Emilio Meaux

RUNTIME: 8:30

GENRE:  Surreal, Comedy, Student

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  U.S. - San Francisco, California

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Student Short Film (San Francisco, California)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

"SONS" is a poignant documentary short that captures the resilience of a Ukrainian family striving for normalcy amidst the chaos of war. Interwoven with their story is that of an American family from Missouri, journeying to Ukraine to recover the remains of their son, a former Marine who was killed in action while volunteering with the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This film explores themes of loss, courage, and the enduring bonds of family in the face of conflict.

DIRECTOR: Eli Brooks Davidson

RUNTIME: 27:33

GENRE:  Documentary

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Ukraine

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Overall Short Doc Film 

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

In a strict 19th-century Calvinist commune in Eastern France, a pastor's wife questions the roles she has been given by reclaiming her body, her voice, and her will.

DIRECTOR: Mathilde Bek Hansen

RUNTIME: 13:14

GENRE:  Drama Historical, Student

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  France

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Student Short Film (France)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

"From Their Hands" In the simple rhythm of kneading dough and brewing coffee, De Sus Manos reflects on memory, tradition, and the food that connects generations. Through food and storytelling, a Colombian family shares how the simplest rituals carry the deepest meaning.

DIRECTOR: Matt Brewer

RUNTIME: 2:30

GENRE:  Documentary, Foody

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  U.S. - Tulsa, Oklahoma

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Student Micro Doc Film (Tulsa, OK)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

Haunted by her traumatic past and trapped in a toxic relationship, a young woman enlists her twin to temporarily switch places, only to unleash buried trauma that threatens to consume them both.

DIRECTOR: Joce Retana

RUNTIME: 24:22

GENRE:  Suspense, Thriller

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  U.S. - Fort Worth, Texas

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Student Short Film (Fort Worth, Texas)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

Western where a gunslinger comes to town, goes to the town's saloon and strikes up a poker game with a local wrangler.

During the poker game a saloon gal comes over to the table. The gunslinger makes a move on the saloon gal. The gunslinger and the wrangler get into an argument which they take outside to main street where they square off for a gunfight.

DIRECTOR: Lee White, Al Zavala

RUNTIME: 2:45

GENRE:  Western

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  U.S. - San Antonio, Texas

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Micro Short Film (San Antonio, Texas)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

After years of burying the truth, Eric’s past violently resurfaces when a man connected to a crime long forgotten shows up at his door. What begins as a quiet night at home quickly turns into a tense confrontation filled with secrets, betrayal, and the consequences of escaping your past.

DIRECTOR:  Chanelle Gibbs

RUNTIME:  8:02

GENRE:  Crime, Suspense

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  U.S. - Tulsa, Oklahoma

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Student Short Film (Tulsa, OK)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

"Catalogue of Noses" is a short musical comedy. It tells the story of Emily, a Jewish teen actor on the day of her scheduled nose surgery, who faces off with her mother, a plastic surgeon, and the weight of her cultural identity. Through original songs that parody 'Fiddler on the Roof,' we follow Emily’s emotional state as she navigates this decision and learns unsettling truths about the consequences of assimilation.

DIRECTOR: Josie Andrews

RUNTIME:  12:33

GENRE:  Dark Comedy, Musical

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  U.S. - Los Angeles, California

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - GOLDEN STANDARD AWARD

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"The Quest for the Golden Dragon" From the Director who has watched Lord of the Rings and many other movies comes an epic tale of epic epicness! Two sisters embark on a quest through a mythical land (that looks suspiciously like someone's back garden) to find a Golden Dragon. On the way they encounter a wizard, zombies and other assorted weird and zany characters

DIRECTOR: Tom Whiteley

RUNTIME:  29:59

GENRE:  Comedy

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  United Kingdom

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Short Film (United Kingdom)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

A documentary highlighting family, veteran, andyouth homelessness challenges, and the life- changing impact of the Illumination Foundation's aid. Witness the inspiring journey of individuals overcoming adversity and rebuilding their lives with hope, love, and the Foundation's support as they tackle misconceptions and transform despair into resilience.

DIRECTOR: Noah Berlow

RUNTIME:  7:15

GENRE:  Documentary

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  U.S. - Los Angeles, California

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - GOLDEN STANDARD AWARD

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Two children help their parents rummage through the belongings of their late grandfather only to discover that adventure awaits in the most unexpected of places.

DIRECTOR: Isaiah Stephens

RUNTIME:  11:08

GENRE:  Mystical, Comedy

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  U.S. - Edmond, Oklahoma

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Student Short Film (Edmond, OK)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

"Rio, a cunning drug dealer, gets entangled in a dangerous affair with the wife of a ruthless drug lord, ignited in a deadly game of deception, things take a turn.

DIRECTOR:  Ephraim Liggins

RUNTIME:  38:01

GENRE:  Crime, Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  U.S. - Tulsa, Oklahoma

JUDGING STATUS: Finalist - Short Film Runner Up (Tulsa, OK)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

"You're Not a Fool, Grandpa" A little girl, now a woman, writes to her grandfather, wounded by a mental disorder. She watches him as he seethes inwardly, pondering the place of childhood in suffering.

DIRECTOR: Adrien Lhoste

RUNTIME:  4:13

GENRE:  Animation

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  France

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - GOLDEN STANDARD AWARD

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"Vending Machine" In an era of rampant materialism, a vending machine becomes the embodiment of collective hypnosis. As the epitome of countless anonymous passersby, Xiao Wang witnesses the convergence and collision of desires among people of different classes and identities. A parable of self-indulgent greed unfolds...

DIRECTOR: Yixuan Dai

RUNTIME:  5:00

GENRE:  Experimental

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  China

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Student Short Film (China)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

"The Bunny" On the anniversary of his sister’s Easter night disappearance, sixteen-year-old Johnny discovers that the town’s darkest myth may not be a myth at all. When a trail of chocolate eggs leads back to the past, Johnny is drawn into a terrifying sequence with an unthinkable cost. The Bunny is a brutal coming-of-age horror about grief, legacy, and the monsters we keep alive.

DIRECTOR: Isaiah Supadi, Oscar Smith

RUNTIME:  10:00

GENRE:  Horror, Thriller, Mystery

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Australia 

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Student Short Film (Australia)

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

What is the most important life lesson a dad can teach his child? This is that story. "The Path" is Wes's debut in writing and is inspired by actual events in his life. It is a faith-based family drama about a 63-year-old single dad split raising his only child, a teenage daughter. Through a dream he realizes that tomorrows are never promised and that he must ensure his daughter knows "The Path" to Salvation. He takes her on a heartfelt Road Trip full of life lessons, traditions, stories from his Special Operations military past, faith and bonding moments. The trip is cut short just shy of their destination, by his vision of tragedy. He leaves behind a legacy of love, purpose and commitment to Faith and... that endings are also beginnings. The 19-song soundtrack purposely beautifully helps tell the story. 7 of the songs were written by Wes exclusively for this project.

DIRECTOR:  Wes Gillum

RUNTIME:  29:59

GENRE:  Documentary, Dramatization, Other

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  U.S. - Fort Worth, Texas

JUDGING STATUS: Finalist - Short Doc Runner Up (Fort Worth, TX)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

After a violent domestic incident leaves a woman critically injured, a calm and unnerving suspect is brought in for questioning by a relentless detective. As the interrogation unfolds, fractured memories, distorted reflections, and repeating moments suggest the truth is far more unstable than either man realizes. What begins as a search for motive slowly becomes a descent into a shattered reality, where guilt, identity, and survival collide—and nothing is quite what it seems

DIRECTOR:  James Frederick Spake

RUNTIME:  14:27

GENRE:  Thriller, Mystery, Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  U.S. - Norman, Oklahoma

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Overall Short Film

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

An illiterate scarecrow enters an economic city, the people have trusted him and elect him as manager, the scarecrow is elected as manager. But the people realize that he is illiterate and because he is illiterate, he has jeopardized the economy, the people take back their votes, but the scarecrow tortures the people with a whip, the people unite, the scarecrow falls.
After the fall of the scarecrow, people together rebuild the industrial city. People use their body parts to build their homeland and their industrial city.

DIRECTOR: Zahra Shafiei Dehaqani

RUNTIME:  3:38

GENRE:  Animation

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Iran

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Honorable Mention

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

Director Statement:

The film was made during a crisis and sanctions against a country whose people were unable to escape oppression; and no one dared to criticize the oppressive government. I hope that i we can build the country (my Iran)with unity and solidarity. As a woman in a country that claims to be a republic, it completely closes its doors to women and hates women. I made this animation to show what totalitarian feudal governments do to people in the form of religion.

While getting ready for a date with the girl of his dreams, Marco is visited by a man in the TV who starts talking to him. And he has a request to make... Hallucination or reality? That’s what Marco will have to figure out in this absurd and slapstick comedy.

DIRECTOR:  Leonardo Valenti

RUNTIME: 28:58

GENRE: Comedy, Fantasy, Retro, VHS

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Italy

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Short Film (Italy)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

Crushed by stress, temptation, and the weight of his own destructive habits, a man trapped in the endless cycle of work finds himself haunted by a mysterious figure embodying his inner darkness. Pushed to the edge, he is offered a knife with one devastating purpose — to end his life. But in a final act of defiance and self-discovery, he chooses instead to cut the ropes binding him, embracing freedom, hope, and redemption.

DIRECTOR:  Lisandro Boccacci, Jay Boccacci

RUNTIME: 4:49

GENRE: Music Video

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  U.S. - Tulsa, Oklahoma

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Music Video (Tulsa, OK)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)

A kind-hearted janitor witnesses dangerous criminal activity at his neighboring apartment building: 305 Fishkill Avenue. The problem is no one believes this address even exists.

DIRECTOR: Ramel Westry

RUNTIME:  15:00

GENRE:  Drama, Phycological 

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  U.S. - New York City, New York

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - GOLDEN STANDARD AWARD

SUBMISSION STATUS: After Deadline & Free (Second Tier)

2nd Chapter to Rio, a cunning drug dealer, gets entangled in a dangerous affair with the wife of a ruthless drug lord, ignited in a deadly game of deception, things take a turn.

DIRECTOR: Ephraim Liggins 

RUNTIME: 34:54

GENRE: Crime, Drama

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  U.S. - Tulsa, Oklahoma

JUDGING STATUS: Winner - Best Short Film (Tulsa, OK)

SUBMISSION STATUS: On Time & Paid (First Tier)