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Meet the Filmmakers

Tony Radevski

An independent Australian writer, director and producer. He works across documentary, fiction and animation. His films have screened at Sydney Film Festival, Stuttgart, Flickerfest, Mardi Gras and Outfest as well as on television in Australia, picking up several awards and nominations, including Dendy, ATOM and IF Award wins. 

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Risen

A world overrun by the epidemic of a drug called RIZE, which makes your body float off the ground while your mind experiences lucid memories.  Sean and Lusi spot a floating, but untethered, RIZE user (a ‘fallen’) and wait for him to drop from the sky. A way to make quick money using the 'fallen' body for extortion

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Tony Radevski DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY Risen

Sanna Allsopp DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY The Moon Child

The Moon Child

A young bedridden girl is trapped in her room. The nights are easier for her as the moon gives her comfort and revives her. She reads as much as she can and wants to learn about her Caribbean history and religion. One night a lunar visitor helps her transcend her physical bonds and find the answers she so desperately needs. 

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 Sanna Allsopp

This film explores the themes of religion, slavery and freedom of choice.

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Kevin W. Koehler DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY Habit

Kevin W. Koehler

As a screenwriter, Kevin Koehler gained notoriety in 2008 with his unconventional mystery screenplay, The Phantom Limb. That script would ultimately be named to the Hollywood Blacklist and chosen by Total Film magazine as one of the top ten unproduced screenplays in Hollywood.

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Habit

After leaving her religious order, a young nun moves into a seedy residential hotel on the edge of LA’s skid row. While waiting for a mysterious visitor to arrive, her life unravels, and she begins to wonder if she’s made a huge and irreparable mistake.

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Alexander Casimir DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY Straw Man

Straw Man

At risk of losing the only family he’s ever known during the dustbowl of the 1930’s, a scarecrow must leave his post and journey into town in search of work. But facing the world proves challenging when your face is a burlap sack…

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Alexander Casimir

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Son of a single mother who was too paranoid to leave him alone with a babysitter. In middle school, saw Meg Ryan movies as a guide to talking to women.

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Amrita Singh DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY Winning in America

Amrita Singh

Born in Tamil Nadu, India, and raised in Hyde Park, Chicago, Amrita Singh is a Writer/Director with her M.F.A. in Filmmaking from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

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Winning in America

Aishwarya Narayanan clashes with her immigrant coach-father and questions the meaning of success while vying for a spot at the prestigious National Spelling Bee.

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Close Ties to Home Country

Millennial immigrant Akanksha waits for her sister’s visit from India (they haven’t seen each other in nine years!) Meanwhile, she’s dogsitting the fancy Frenchie of Instagram influencers India and Harry, who themselves are on a trip to India’s namesake.

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Akanksha Cruczynski

A writer and filmmaker based in Chicago. Originally from India and having grown up in Saudi Arabia, She moved to the States for college, following which she studied comedy at The Second City. She has made Close Ties to Home Country, her graduate thesis film 

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Akanksha Cruczynski DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY Close Ties to Home Country

Joseph Covello

A Toronto based Writer and Director. He co-founded Gravitate Productions in 2020 with producer Krystle Ferdinand to house the development of independent feature films and original scripted content that highlight underrepresented voices.

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He Comes At Night

On a stormy night, an anxious eight-year-old from a fractured home wakes up to the terrifying realization that the monster under her bed may be real.

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Joseph Covello DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY He Comes At Night

James Morgan DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY Sea Dragon

Sea Dragon

A young fossil hunter makes a groundbreaking discovery, challenging the worldview of 19th century England.

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James Morgan

A director of film and television.

Recent work includes BECOMING YOU, a six-part documentary series for Apple TV+, narrated by Olivia Colman, and JAGO: A LIFE UNDERWATER - a feature documentary about an 80-year-old sea nomad in Indonesia. Jago distributed by Netflix and the BBC.

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Spencer Susser THE MAKING OF Save Ralph

Save Ralph

The Humane Society International campaign spokesbunny Ralph, voiced by Taika Waititi, as he goes through his daily routine as a “tester” in a lab. In addition to Taika Waititi as Ralph, the film stars Ricky Gervais, Zac Efron, Olivia Munn, Pom Klementieff and Tricia Helfers. 

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Spencer Susser

An award-winning director, screenwriter, and editor whose career spans feature films, short films, commercials and music videos. He made his feature film directorial debut at Sundance in 2010 with “HESHER”, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rainn Wilson & Natalie Portman, which Spencer co-wrote, produced, edited & directed.

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Adriano Miguel DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY The Ring of Beasts

Adriano Miguel

Adriano started watching films and movies at five years old. His wife got tired of him complaining about every movie and said he should direct his own. So he did.

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The Ring of Beasts

Cast out at birth, raised by a wolf and forced to fight by men. Romulus and Remus will earn their legacy in the blood and dust of a vicious underground tournament: The Ring of Beasts.

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Jonathon Gauthier DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY Waylaid

Waylaid

Two pirates, Jiggy and Anchor, have stolen their captain’s treasure map. Their plan to cooperate and “get rich quick” quickly turns into a lesson of what it truly means to be a pirate.

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Jonathon Gauthier

Born and raised in San Diego, California, Jonathon always knew he wanted to make movies. After graduating from the University of San Diego, he moved to Hollywood to pursue his dreams of doing so.

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Rebecca McNamee 

 A first time filmmaker, transferring her experience from directing and writing for the stage to the screen. She has spent the past 5 years writing, directing and performing on the comedy stages of Chicago, and previous to that, in her hometown of Sydney, Australia. McNamee is also an acting coach for both stage and screen.

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Bella and Bernie

Two 16 year old carefree confidants, Bella and Bernie, tentatively explore independence and sexuality while trying to dodge the ever watchful eye of Mrs. Judge, Bella’s mother. The evangelical Mrs. Judge has concerns over Bella’s friendship with the vibrant Bernie, wary of Bernie’s secret family history repeating itself in Bella. As Bella learns more about Bernie, and herself, she will realize that choice is fickle, sometimes coming down to those who make the choice and those who must live with the consequences.

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Rebecca McNamee DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY Bella and Bernie

Polaris Banks DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY Reklaw

Polaris Banks

Driven to become a director from the age of 7, Polaris voraciously shot practice shorts and features to learn as much as he could throughout his childhood. He's since shifted to devoting multiple years to one single ambitious production at a time to push what he's able to accomplish independently.

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Reklaw

Disillusioned by the justice system, a rogue prosecutor and his team of uniquely talented criminals destroy evidence to keep as many people from prison as possible, but when one of their crime scene clean-ups is revisited by the killer, the strength of their convictions is tested.

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Tadeusz Łysiak DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY The Dress

The Dress

Lust, sexuality and physicality. These are the deepest desires virgin Julia suppresses while working at a wayside motel. That is until she crosses paths with a handsome truck driver, who soon becomes the object of her fantasies...

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Tadeusz Łysiak

Born in 1993 in Warsaw, Poland. A student of directing at Warsaw Film School, and a graduate of the Department of Cultural Studies at the University of Warsaw. Director of the award-winning short film "Techno"

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LA Shorts International Film Festival ranks among the most prestigious and largest short film festivals in the world. The festival is accredited by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Spain.

LA Shorts is the longest-running short film festival in Los Angeles.

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