BETRAYED - REVIEW

Having special powers is not exactly a blessing….

A father willing to do anything to protect his daughter, and a daughter who just wants to be able to live her life normally.

But Isobel (Caitlin Cameron) is anything but normal.

Forced to hide and live like a recluse with her father Sam (Stefan Butler), the girl must deal with unusual abilities which, in addition to physically massacring her, make her the perfect prey for a secret organization that wants to use her like a weapon for its own suspicious business.

Deceived by his vindictive stepdaughter and kidnapped by the organization led by the ruthless Lauren (Suzy Bastone), Sam will find himself catapulted into a spiral of deception, hidden truths and conspiracies that will put his life and Isobel's safety in danger.

Written by Jay Shurey, Philip Halmarack and Caitlin Cameron and directed by the talented Ewan Gorman and Dagmar Scheibenreif, Betrayed is a gripping concentration of tension and mystery that immediately fascinates the viewer, and leave with a great desire to find out how the story will continue ...what will happen to Isobel?

Love and colors, life and destiny.

Everything mixes in this film where a fleeting meeting ends up revealing itself as a real contact with inspiration.

Asherah's colors is a capable short film that highlights how life choices are sometimes influenced by people who will follow the same path as us even for a short period or even just for an instant.

Raphael (Connor Tuohy) infatuated with the beautiful Asherah (Shira Behore), passionate about art, decides to give her an intimate immersion in a studio that exudes colors and passion.

 The young couple will become part of the magical world of the famous painter Hessam Abrishami whose paintings almost tell the sensations and feelings that the two young are feeling for each other.

Gary Mazeffa directs with wisdom and sensitivity a film made of many shades.... where the inspiring muse looks in your eyes and lets you fly towards your destiny.

Strange, disturbing, enigmatic.

Embrace Disruption, an experimental film conceived and created by the visionary and provocative talent of Johanne Chagnon, is a trip of just four minutes into a dimension where noise and vision alternate.

Mind, heart and body of all her works, Chagnon - chameleonic and multifaceted artist - becomes woman, beast, sexual organ, to definitely surprise the viewer but above all to create chaos and questions.

The eyes are captivated by hypnotic sequences and repeated movements, the ears dazed by indefinite noises, inhuman verses, screams, perhaps moans.

The film is a distorted experience, a journey divided into three distant but close parts to discover a mysterious and fascinating world, the world of Johanne Chagnon in all its seductive and very interesting transgression.

Life goes on, together with the seasons, the colors that change, the hours that pass sometimes too slowly, sometimes in an instant.

Feeling like a shadow while everything starts to green, to take on color, to fill our eyes. But the heart? How do you fill a broken heart? 

How do you heal after losing the love of a lifetime?

With Spring Came, Catherine Phillips takes us by the hand and shows us the most vulnerable and tenacious part of her personality; the short film, so full of sadness and loneliness but at the same time so inclined to find a new way to starting over, is a message of hope, of rebirth.

How? Just helping.

Helping others is the best way to help yourself, especially if "the others” are the planet we live on; cleaning it of waste is almost a form of internal catharsis, as if by freeing the earth from plastic and other rubbish we free ourselves from the pain and from that dark part that has darkened our soul.

A little film with a big, touching, important meaning.

Some fairy tales are more useful to adults than children.. especially when they talk about emancipation and growth.

The Girl Made of Earth and Water, written and directed by Pamela Perry Goulardt, is an evocative story that talks about free will, choices and how important it is to know yourself and take charge of your life, accepting  every single challenge that will happen during the journey.

Edited with simplicity like one of those book that takes us back to our childhood, this animated fantasy is a strong and powerful manifest transmitted with poetry and delicacy thanks to the beautiful drawings created by Goulardt's talented hand .

The colors, the fantastic landscapes, Mother Nature and all its creatures....everything reminds to something magical but, at the same time, very human. 

Produced by Kenneth Goulardt, this super short film is a gentle guide, a sweet and severe invitation to be strong and courageous.

The path for freedom, the pursuit of happiness, the wise search for balance and inner peace told with the sweetness that we still desperately need.

There's something incredibly relaxing and peaceful about this new music video by Anaya Kunst aka Anaya Music.

It's like a return to the harmony of sounds, colors and lines.

A reconciliation with space, with nature and those who live there.

A hymn to the beauty of the earth which, although mistreated by human kind, continues to shine, host and nourish all its creatures and creations.

Cosmic light, directed by the brazilian multi award winning musician, composer and filmmaker, is therefore a delicate but powerful dedication of love, a holy meeting of lights, planets, seasons, and sensations.

A video to watch at least twice: the first time with eyes wide open to  enjoy the beauty of the images and the fluid editing; the second one with your eyes closed to be able to completely abandon yourself to the splendid and powerful music - Cosmos - and let yourself be transported into a new, distant, reassuring, cathartic dimension.

Losing Love means losing a piece of yourself.

With Missing me someplace - a moving short documentary written and directed by Catherine Phillips - we come into contact with the darkest side of the mourning that affects a woman after the sudden death of the love of her life; we touch the sense of loss, of powerlessness, of  paralysis of heart and feelings.

Life stops. Brutally. inevitably.

Everything that for 35 years was sharing, understanding, complicity, respect, union and protection suddenly disappears. 

The world looks different, unfamiliar, scary.

Catherine and Ann, Ann and Catherine: a true, courageous, proud love destined to last despite life, beyond life.

With tenderness and humility, Phillipps tells us about her pain; she opens the door of her sorrow and of her home, showing us every innermost thought, every fear, every moment of discouragement and desperation.

The fragmented editing is like a mirror of her inner restlessness, of her broken heart, of her shattered soul.

Nature and the places that she used to visit with her beloved partner will be the catharsis that will help her face a new chapter of her existence. 

In its simplicity, the documentary is a lesson  of love, an essay on finding a new path, on learning to put one foot in front of the other and start living again. 

A claustrophobic isolation in a postmodern setting where the air is a green, surreal - ,perhaps dangerous, poisoned - symbol of a present and a future that scares us.

Everyone needs to prepare their own armor, their own protection.

We will be alone against who? Against what?

Watching Stationed directed and produced by the visual artist Anne Gart, we experience up close this dressing and undressing of the protagonist in front of a closed elevator.
An elevator that we don't know whether it is working or not, whether it should go up or down.

We are precisely stationed on one floor, unable to understand what our destiny will be.

Uncertainty, exaltation, agitated repetition of gestures, looks, words.

Carnelle Mortie and Tiffon Saul, in addition to having co-written the film with Gart, are also the two protagonists of the short film. A man and a woman with the same view, the same perspective, stuck at the same point...

A very interesting film that opens the door to imagination and ideas.

A meticulous preparation. A red cloth ready to  welcome an immaculate banquet. 

The music that marks the time, the safety of the objects, the delicate gestures repeated as if they were a ritual, a shelter for the soul..

There is something incredibly relaxing and fascinating in the mise en scene of this laden table where the statuette of the Virgin Mary watches over the dishes arranged perfectly with an almost dramatic obsessive compulsive disorder.

E65, directed by Alex Reutter and starring Jan Becker, shows us glorification and destruction, calm and the chaos.

The photography and the editing are perfect.

The sacred and the profane mix like bread and butter in this transgressive short film where the border between food porn and soft porn walk hand in hand.  

It’s all about laughter and...Air!

There are few people who have never used a whoopee cushion to play a prank or hasn't been a victim of it during the school days.... after all, the Roman Emperors themselves used this "funny sound device"  for entertainment during their banquets!

Dean Morgan -  award winner Director and Actor in all of his Sheldon Mashugana films - with the sagacity and humor that distinguishes him, writes this script which we hope to see on the screen as soon as possible!

Sheldon Mashugana goes Back to the Future is a compelling and funny story where the explosion of a star near Saturn creates a space vortex capable of recreating a time machine and thus giving Sheldon the possibility of regaining the rights to the Whoopee Cushion that his grandfather Sam had given away in 1932, failing to perceive a cent.

Sheldon with the help of a smart doctor that works with fertilizer will bring us in this journey full of past anecdotes, future inventions, second chances... and other farts! 

Intoxication brilliantly directed by Kristina Schippling and Matthias A. K. Zimmermann is an animated film with a dark and vaguely gothic atmosphere that takes place between the fascinating underground Berlin and a snow-covered Kioto that is as fairy-tale as it is disturbing.

The two protagonists couldn't be more different.

Kara is an artist who aesthetically pleasantly recalls Lisbeth Salander from the famous Män som hatar kvinnor by Stieg Larson: like her she has a tough appearance, punk hair, leather jacket, androgynous figure; Malina instead appears as a beautiful literature student, calm, sophisticated.

Kara is Berlin: dark, rock, mysterious. Malina is Kioto: delicate, soft, fresh. 

A mysterious crime binds them, and a burning fire will transport them on a parallel dream, a labyrinth made of snowy landscapes, swirling staircases, menacing faces and distressing portraits.

The splendid photography, the impeccable editing and the beautiful music that form the background of this almost 4 minute short film help the viewer to ienter in this intriguing mystery with a thousand hidden meanings, where art and life meet and collide.

Worth seeing and seeing again even just to admire the meticulousness of the details. Great job!

A deeply touching and intimate journey through the IVF and surrogacy systems, in the United States as well as around the world.

Anything You Lose is a feature documentary directed by Irina Vodar — which she cowrote with Fernanda Rossi — about her and her husband's struggles in becoming parents.

Vodar feels a void in her life. She is adamant that that void can only be filled by having a child. To try and make their dream come true, she and her husband Eddie started a series of IVF rounds in the United States and went as far as India to have three surrogacy attempts.

The entire documentary spans over 7 years, where Irina and Eddie grow both as humans and as a couple.

It’s hard to imagine the emotional and financial toll of someone going through what Irina and Eddie are going through, especially in a society — the Western one — where topics surrounding fertility issues, miscarriages, and abortion are still somewhat taboo. Social media is filled every day with extravagant baby shower photos and gender reveal posts, and talking about the inability to conceive feels almost wrong.

So it’s not a surprise that a journey such as the one depicted in the documentary is a scary, isolating, and lonely one.

The documentary is well-shot. Vodar directs with no frills but with great sensitivity. The writing offers a good structure and a narration that keeps the film cohesive.

The images are clean, the sound is clear, and the pace is excellent.

If we can get one positive thing out from this beautiful film, it's that this emotionally difficult experience has brought the couple even more together as they fight to have the family they have always dreamed of.

A man-versus-nature type of documentary, where with the help of technology, even the most hopeless cases can hope for some positive outcome.

Very well done!

Sometimes we spend our lives chasing love, forgetting to appreciate who really is the main source of our serenity: ourselves.

RINGS OF THE UNPROMISED is the film that Michelle Arthur not only wrote and directed but also brilliantly performed, playing the role of the vulnerable Heather Martin; a woman constantly searching for the perfect man and the perfect relationship.

But will this perfection really exist?

The film is a woman's journey through time and new places, always in search of the true meaning of feelings but at the same time the introspective voyage that the protagonist takes to reach a deeper and more complete knowledge of herself.

The thing that most strikes and unites the spectator with the Heather is the tenderness and stubbornness that distinguish her; although fragile and disappointed, she finds the strength to get up and rise again, every time, over and over.

She never gives up, and every time she falls she throws away the sorrow, the disappointment (and the ring) to make room for a new beginning, for a new possibility, for a new Heather.

It is interesting and pleasant that Arthur did not succumb to tricks to play the younger Heather, leaving it up to the music and to the script to mark time...as if Heather was still the same girl despite the years that pass: appearance doesn't count, it's the heart and the internal path that make the difference.

A film that teach to go deep, to know yourself, to analyze yourself. Because You are the most precious thing, and the real love of your life.

A film that tells of broken promises, broken hearts, and as many rebirths and restarts until reaching the much desired self-acceptance.

Folded Whispers is a short documentary showing a live performance by poet Mark Anthony Thomas.

Thomas co-directed this film with Jordon Rooney and Shane MacFarland, a collection of 17 original poems about relationships, humanity, and incomprehension, which was filmed at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, in Pittsburgh.

Thomas’ performance starts with an inspirational opening monologue about the beginning of his career and how he got to where he is, as a poet. The scenes of the live performance are alternated with a private interview with the poet where he explains the origin and the reasoning behind each of his poems.

The second poem, Blind On Us, is brutally moving and honest. He reads: “The last time I felt this frustrated I walked out the door. The last time you walked out the door, I walked out to guide you back for the last time”. This powerful quote shows the ambivalence in our behaviors as human beings — a circle of life in human relationships.

Thomas’ poetry is easy to understand, it captivates you but is neither superficial nor predictable. His writing is deep enough to leave your soul wondering about the true meaning of our lives.

This 25-minute short will be a delight for anyone who is looking for a poetic, insightful, and at-times-political point of view on the world we live in.

THE CANDY NOTES is a 120-page fantasy script by Juliano Angeliano. The script is written as 10 different stories, set in different periods of time and locations, spanning from 800 BCE in Scotland to 2020 in Milan.

The ten stories are sandwiched between a bigger storyline, revolving around the Devil and his half-son-half-daughter Rooster-fer. In the first scene, the Devil celebrates the kid’s sixth birthday and decides that the time has come for the child to see what his father's job truly is.

The two start traveling in space and in time and meet 10 different victims, all guilty of being too greedy — for money, love, fame, motherhood, power — and making, sooner or later, a pact with the devil.

The structure reminds a bit of Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, where oblivious little Rooster-fer is transported to earth to experience, as a mere spectator, what can happen to people when they surrender to their devilish desires.

This is no common script, one that wouldn’t be easy to produce due to the presence of many fantasy characters — the talking black panther, the mermaid, and the talking mannequins to mention a few.

The idea of the script is original. The grotesque characters remind us of the fantasy films of the 80s, with their countless talking animals, slimy little servants, etc. The dialogues are well written and the whole story makes surprising sense. The ending is open, the Devil gets into an argument with his wife regarding his terrestrial shenanigans, leaving the audience to interpret what will become of the Devil and of Rooster-fer.

This script will definitely be appreciated by fans of old-school fantasy films.

For I am dead is a film about unrequited gay love between a wealthy man and his gardener Jude. The 18-minute short film explores the complexity of living in the nineteenth century as a repressed gay man.

Patricia Delso Lucas’s direction is on point. the film is emotional and intense. Here, scenes of a supposed reality mix with scenes of all of Oscar’s worst fears: the film appears halfway between a dream and a nightmare, with Oscar’s worst fears coming to life right in front of him: his mother — who never accepted him, not even as a child — and the courtesans — frustrated by Oscar’s lack of sexual desire for them — chasing him with fire. A sort of reversed which hunt.

The photography, by Dominika Podczaska’s, helps greatly in the narration of the film. Wide shots of Jude suggest a distance, he’s right in front of us but he’s hard to reach. On the other hand, the courtesans are almost too close. Details of their faces and mouths make us feel uncomfortable, almost too close.

The sound is also quite well designed, provoking a sense of discomfort with the sound of laughter, drinking, and coughing, all over joyful music.

Al Nazemian shows us Oscar’s despair in a wonderful way. We feel so sorry for him, for his past life, shamed from a young age for being different, traumatized to the point that even as a middle-aged and wealthy man he can’t find peace sharing with his own sexuality and live according to his personal desires.

This film is set in the 1800s but it’s incredibly current. Good job to Patricia Delso Lucas for writing and directing such a delicate yet powerful film.

Yes, Darling! is a 25-minute psychological thriller by Stanislav Shelestov that revolves around Gosha, an average Joe who becomes the unlucky protagonist of an accident involving his wife, Galya, which will make him turn from an average man to a murderer in a snap.

The film takes a darker turn when we find out that the first half of the film only happened in Gosha’s mind, and that the truth is way more horrifying than what we initially thought.

Despite being a psychological horror/thriller, this film is full of comedy and dark humor. The scene where Gosha breaks up with his wife is very well-written; it’s funny how Gosha is bashfully trying to avoid making eye contact and doesn’t see his wife choking to death right in front of him. Or when the corpse of poor dead Galya is giving Gosha tips and tricks on how to dispose of her body and clean up afterward.

The two main actors are very believable and the script is fluid and witty.

The fact that all the scenes were shot in one apartment, with most of the scenes taking place in the living room, gives the audience a sense of claustrophobia that serves very well the purpose of creating psychological tension. By watching this film we almost feel like we’re trapped in that house with that couple.

Yes, Darling! is suspenseful and intriguing, and achieves the incredible task of being hilarious, without giving up on the macabre and the horror. A film to watch, that would especially be enjoyable for those who like psychological games and jigsaws.

Òran na h-Eala is a 13 minute film written, directed and co-produced by Steve Exeter, that imagines the agony of real-life ballet dancer Moira Shearer, after being tormented for a year by two movie producers to become the star of their 1948 film, The Red Shoes.

The opening credits of the film show a sequence of paintings of different landscapes with red ballerina shoes in the middle. This sequence mirrors the opening sequence of The Red Shoes — an elaborate 15 minute ballet performance using a series of beautiful hand-painted backdrops, showing Moira dancing as her character, Victoria Page, wearing red ballet shoes.

In Exeter’s film, despite throwing herself body and soul into dancing, Moira struggles to stand out as a prima ballerina, so the last thing she wants in her life is to pause her ballet career to become a movie star.

The directing is original and it brilliantly shows us the images that might have gone through Moira’s head at the moment of her life. The beautiful shot of Moira, now dressed in a swan lake costume, rotating on a platform opposite to the two film producers glaring at her, is a sort of metaphor of her trying to succeed in her work, but constantly having to face the dominant male gaze. Both are connected, existing on the same platform, and both are waiting for the other to get off first to become the winner in this power struggle.

And as it often happens, both in films and in life, the woman will be the one to capitulate first and to accept her fate in spite of herself.

The music is deeply evocative and well written, as it instantly carries us to another time. The color correction, fuzzy and blurred with pastel colors, sets the perfect 40s Hollywood atmosphere, while the gorgeous costumes add a lot of production value to this film.

The moment when Moira actually decides to accept the offer is, in my opinion, the best scene of the film. Now wearing the red ballet shoes, a disharmonious Moira is singing and performing a modern and unmusical dance in front of the two producers. Pointe feet are here replaced with flexed feet. 

By rebelling to the precise and strict ballet shapes, Moira shows that she is rebelling to the system forcing her to be someone she is not. Or maybe the change in her dance pace is showing her permanently abandoning ballet to become a movie star.

The photography is captivating, and the editing complements perfectly the image created by the director and the cinematographer. The acting is very convincing.

A brilliant and artistic film, that’s enjoyable to watch, perfectly coherent with its theme and well executed. Bravo!