2018 UMFF Short Films

ARID DREAM Mexico | USA | 30 min Short | Family| Drama| Adventure Director Bo Bateman  Writers/Producers Andrés Aceves, Guillermo Orozco Cast Jenny Treviño, Guillermo Orozco, Andrés Aceves Two brothers and a sister take on a journey through the desert to get a better life for them after the death of their mother.   BAWOD Philippines | 20 min Short | Family | Drama| Mystery DirectorTerimar Malones WriterJoseph Israel Laban ProducersTerimar Malones, Essy Genebelle Antonano, Joseph Israel Laban CastAllain Hablo, Diocel Marie Raso On the eve of her school’s annual Talent Show in a small rural village in the mountains of Iloilo, twelve-year-old Thirdy has to deal with the realities of her difficult financial situation and ominous visions of a ghostly man.                 BE YOU USA | 4 min Short | Music Video DirectorAlexi Paraschaos ProducerJL Jupiter This is the official music video for Alexi Paraschos’ song “Be You”.   BRAZIL CARNIVAL CANDYWITCH Luxembourg | 3 min Short | Comedy | Musical | Fantasy | 17+ Director/ProducerGabor Gaspar Father forgives her, for she has been sensational.                 CAMINANTE Belgium| 4 min Short | Music Video DirectorsDieter-Michael Grohmann, Shania Vandezande WritersDieter-Michael Grohmann, Laure Cavalléra, Manuel Sanchez Ramos ProducersDieter-Michael Grohmann, Laure Cavalléra CastJavier Mateos Arevalo, Wim Carels, Isidro Santos Galindo This music video records a Spanish singer going to Brussels, Belgium.     DANCE INTO THE PARTY USA | 5 min Short | Music Video DirectorsWayne Isham, Chuck Maldonado WritersWayne Isham, Ari B CastAri B Passion for dance and power shine through, within a spirit of respect and profound acceptance.                 FARM LIFE PILLOWTALKSSS Luxembourg | 4 min Short | Romance | Musical | Fantasy Director/Producer/CastEva Executive ProducerGabor Gaspar A handsome stranger falls for a fair woodland guardian.      GOOD FORTUNE USA | 26 min Short | Drama | Crime Director/WriterRhyme Lu ProducerDanwen Lei Hoping to build a real life and makes his family proud, a young Chinese undocumented immigrant leaves China and moves to Los Angeles to seek legal identity through corrupted asylum fraud.                   I CHERISH WOMEN USA | 4 min Short | Music Video Director/Writer/ProducerJudith Lynn Stillman CastBecky Bass, Katherine Kazarian, Lori Phillips  This is a pro-womenmusic video by filmmaker and composer Judith Lynn Stillman, packing a powerful political punch in four minutes. Thirty artists and activists unite to deliver a bold statement to "defend human rights and right human wrongs in the Trump era."   INIQUITY USA | 26 min Short | Drama | Thriller| Mystery Director/Writer Joey Lanai ProducersJill Herrera, Joey Lanai CastKim Estes, Joey Lanai When a traveling salesman seeks therapy, the demons of his fractured childhood are examined by an overly ambitious intern who finds herself on a bloody trail of serial murder                 JACKRABBIT USA | 15 min Short | Drama Director/WriterJesse Littlebird ProducersDeborah Littlebird, Jesse Littlebird CastSelim Sandoval, Mayaan Sandoval, Cheyanne Bywater, Loren Anthony An indigenous boy running away from his abusive home encounters his distanced Uncle and shares a timely reconnection of culture and lineage.   JONAH Austria | Italy | 13 minShort | Drama | Action Director/Writer/ProducerMichael Maschina CastDaniela Mutafova, Heide Maria Hager Austria, 2015. It's pitch dark in the night and a lorry is trying to reach the Austrian border. A group of Syrian refugees is hidden in its interior. A girl trembles in the dark while a woman tries to sooth her narrating a story. They are both waiting to get into Austria.               JULY DISCOVERY USA | 3 min Short | Experimental Director/Producer/CastMary Anzalone Shot in Puerto Rico, prior to the devastating hurricane, the footage is mixed with filming the underwater at a neighborhood pool in Texas.   LAST BLACK YAK TENT China | 22 min Short | Documentary Director Suoduo ProducerDongzhucairang  Writers Suoduo, Dongzhucairang Rikga bought a new apartment in the town. He tries to celebrate the moving at the new apartment. However, his father Yangko tries to convince him to carry on the traditional cultural way and celebrate it in a new yak tent..               LITTLE MISER China | 12 min Short | Drama DirectorFeixiong Huang  Writer Yaping Wei  Producer Yanhua Fu  Cast Leng Sun, Xiao Chen, Jiaojiao Gao A little girl tries to interact with her parents and reminds them the best gift she wants is they keeping her company   LOVES WINS ALL USA | 4 minShort | Music Video Director/Writer/ProducerRichard Ivory CastPatrice Hawthorne This is an inspirational anthem of love winning over hate.                  OVER THE RAINBOW USA | 4 min Short | Music Video Director/ProducerRic Poulin CastMichelle Hylan, Lydia Dyett This music video is a new arrangement of the classic song “Over The Rainbow” performed by Boston artist Michelle Hylan.      PERSPECTIVE India | 8 min Short | Drama | Documentary Director/Writer Adinath Kothare ProducersAdinath Kothare, Manohar Shetty, Rishi Darda CastDinesh Koyande, Prashant Choudappa, Sohan Nandurdikar, Swanandi Tikekar The consequence of what happens when a Hindu Idol Deity Procession and a Muslim Death Procession cross paths on a busy junction of a city in India…is a matter of “Perspective”.                  STAY USA | 5 min Short | Music Video Director/Writer/ProducerAJ Tedesco CastJordyn Curet, Emily Day This is the music video of AJ Tedesco’s song “Stay”.      THE BUTTER KNIFE USA | 6 min Short | Drama Director/WriterEshaana sheth ProducersShalini Bathina CastShalini Bathina, Daniel Halden A young British man and American woman navigate misunderstandings on a first data that takes a bizarre turn.                 THE HAMMER USA | 19 min Short | Drama | Fantasy Director/WriterMohammad Alkazemi ProducersMohammad Alkazemi, Valentina Bove Cast Joshua Enbom, Robin Walton A desperate husband from a past relationship struggles with his inner-self to heal his pain by getting connected with his daughter whom he’s never met before.      THE LAST DRUMBEAT China | 26 min Short | Drama Director Xia Wu Producers Zuyun Wu, Yongmei Tang Writer Yali Lou Cast Guoqing Feng, Shuai Du, Gaochang Peng This film tells a story between the representatives of two cultural music, the new generation of drum king in west Hunan and a leader of a pop music band from a big city.                  THE SOUL OF A DANCE China | 8 min Short | Music Director Gengxian He  Writer/Producer Yue Liang Xichou in Yunnan is the birth place of the world most ancient legend about the sun. People in the bird tribe sing in a voice from their deep soul, which is the spirit of their dance.     TIRAOGO Burkina Faso | 7 min Short DirectorAndré Daniel Tapsoba WriterArsène Bazongo ProducerSerge Dimitri Pitroipa Tiraogo, a young rural man, fought the deadly conflict between farmers and herders in his village. He finds himself in the big city. He is quickly disenchanted by the incivism, barbarism and atrocities he sees.                  TROUBLED TIMES - GREEN DAY  USA | 3 min Short |Music Video Director Manuel Viqueira Carballal Producer Devin Sarno  Music Green Day When Trump won the US election, Green Day decided to fill in the lyric video of Troubled Times with images of civil rights, suffragettes, and the nightmare of watching Trump destroy years of struggles for those rights.      TWENTY YEARS AFTER USA | 10 min Short | Drama| Family  Director/Writer Yiqing Catharine Lin  Producers Yiqing Catharine Lin, Zoe Pelloux Cast Randall Taylor A man needs to refit the world he's been kept out for twenty years.                  UNCLE OSCAR USA | 21 min Short | Comedy Director/Producer/Writer Zack Abramowitz Recently homeless former child star, Lyle Capricorn must regain his former acting glory by doing the one thing he doesn't know how to do: act.      UNDISTURBED USA | 16 min Short | Drama | Thriller| Action| Adventure  Director/Writer Farris Williams ProducersFarris Williams, Andishé Zohoori, Ben Williams, Shai Givens Cast Caleb Marquis, Trevar Bowen, Gabrielle Burks, Bruna Davis Young activists launch a mission to remove racist markings from a Native-American landmark.                  WU WEI USA | 3 min Short | Music Video DirectorBill Sandidge WritersLao Tsu, Jane English MusicLarry Natwick, George Prado, Roger Hogan  The film combines an original jazz score with the poetry of Lao Tsu and bird imagery from the Texas coast to illustrate the ancient Taoist concept of Wu Wei or Non Action.      YOU'RE NOT ALONE, BABY  China | 20 min Short | Drama | Educational Director/Writer Ying Liu  Producer Siyi Sun Cast Yuanzhe Sun, Guangjie Yin, Desen Yin, Dezhen Yin, Zhongshuang Deng Angles with broken wings keep flying so not to fail life. This educational film reminds us to pay attention to the children in difficulty.