HIGH SCHOOL
SHORTLIST
A Night in Jail
USA / Drama / 21 mins
Director: Ethan Nahlinder
Writer: H.A. Swan
Producer: Ethan Nahlinder, H.A. Swan
Cast: Travers Tobis, Charlie Scola
After getting busted for drugs, college-bound Danny is forced to spend a night in jail with a mentally ill, homeless drug addict. Danny believes he has nothing in common with his cellmate, but as the night trudges on, he realizes he is horribly mistaken.
A Night in Jail is being used for drug prevention education in schools.
Batteryman
China / Drama / 13 mins
Director/Writer: Kehan Chen
Producer: Ning Feng
Cast: Yu Zhang, Zhida Zhou
Zihan’s boyfriend Kaichun had a mysterious identity: He needs to be “charged” and always carried power banks, like a cell phone. What worried Ziying is that he usually sneaked out their houses and never explains to her. But they got married eventually, and that’s when the truth emerged.

Chicken
USA / Drama / 4 mins
Director/Writer: Riley Scott
Producer: Brad Kester, Andrew Norbeck
A man faces an internal dilemma when deciding whether or not to go into a restaurant.

Darling
USA / Drama / 9 mins
Director/Writer: Hazel Sepenuk
Producer: Hazel Sepenuk, Vivian Wolfson
Cast: Adrian Sparks, Allison Andreas
Dementia affects many families in different ways. This short film tells the story of a man who suffers from dementia, as he tries navigate the disease.

Diamond Game
USA / Drama / 10 mins
Director/Writer: Nolan Hieu Trifunovic
Producer: Nolan Hieu Trifunovic, Maya Pacheco
Cast: Leila Perry, Joon Paul Kim
Three high school teens have gathered to write a script about a 70s cop show but the fictional characters they have created live in a digital world that requires them to act out the story. As the script takes an unexpected turn, one of the fictional characters begins to question his masters.

Esperanza
USA / Drama / 3 mins
Director/Writer: Chloe Campos
Producer: Chloe Campos, Alfonso Campos
Cast: Karina Rodriguez, Sofia Chicorelli-Serna
While attempting to migrate to the US, a mother, Esperanza, and her two children, are faced with a life altering decision.

I'm Fine
USA / Drama / 11 mins
Director: Lauren Fisher
Writer: Benjamin Erhardt
Producer: Corey Lindabury
Cast: Kyle Hastings, Lindsey Mazelin
Everyone says it, but deep down inside... are they really?

Instinct
USA / Animation / 8 mins
Director/Writer: Yinuo Wei
Producer: Yinuo Wei
This is a story about a robot who wants to have a companion of his kind, and he decides to build one himself. During a landfill scout of components, the main character met and start an unexpected relationship with a robot he met...

Living Ghosts
USA / Drama / 5 mins
Director/Writer: Charli Einhorn
Producer: Kyle Einhorn
Cast: Rachael Frost, Jennifer Sherer
When a close friend dies, a troubled young woman is forced to re-experience and re-exam parts of her past

Marble Man
USA / Drama/ 9 mins
Director/Writer: Pearl Amanda Dickson
Producer: Damian C. King
Cast: Pearl Amanda Dickson, Jayna Sweet
Marble Man is the story of a teenager who falls in love with a statue. Her love and delusion grow as she believes she can turn this statue back into a human being. After figuring out that she isn't the Pygmalion of her story (able to turn a statue into a person by simply wishing), she takes a darker turn into the readings of myths of young Greek and Roman women like herself.

Press Start
USA / Comedy / 12 mins
Director/Writer: Kelsey Yuhan Cui
Producer: Yuan Wang
Cast: Michael C. Anderson, Alejandro Cowie
Sisyphus is the hero in a video game, but the Player outside keeps giving him a hard time. Could Sisyphus take the control back and win?

Responsible Party
USA / Drama / 7 mins
Director/Writer: Maggie Budzyna
Producer: Maggie Budzyna
Cast: Charlotte Shovilin, Asher Shovilin
Seven-year-old Avery is left home alone to watch her younger siblings after childcare plans fall through.

Trash
USA / Drama / 8 mins
Director/Writer: Dusan Brown
Producer: Dusan Brown, Joyce Kelly-Brown
Cast: Maya Boyce, Jahred King
When a girl finds out the truth about her background, she goes on a search to discover the essence of her being.

Unlimited
USA / Documentary / 6 mins
Director: Nicholas Cornick, Riley Scott, James Wilkey, Gabriel Yung
A documentary covering a San Diego wheelchair basketball team and how the players are not held back by their disabilities.