Program 6
DRAMA
Reasons
United States / Drama / 23 mins
Director: Yvette Pabon
Writer: Yvette Pabon
Producer: Yvette Pabon, Lenny Thomas
Cast: Narci Regina, Lenny Thomas
Reasons follows the life of a young and single mother, Mercy during the late 1950s in rural Georgia. Mercy lives with the difficulty of not having her daughter's father in their lives and struggles with abandoning the illusion of having “the perfect family.” In a time and place where women had very little authority over their own lives, she is willing to sacrifice her own happiness to give her child the family life she has always longed for.
Roy
United Kingdom / Drama / 16 mins
Director: Tom Berkeley, Ross White
Writer: Tom Berkeley, Ross White
Producer: Bryony Pulizzi
Cast: David Bradley, Rachel Shenton
Trapped in a lonely existence, reclusive widower Roy (BAFTA Winner David Bradley) passes the days by cold calling strangers from the phone book, looking for brief moments of companionship. But when he accidentally calls adult hotline worker Cara (Oscar® winner Rachel Shenton), an unlikely friendship is born that will help them both rediscover the joy of life.
See Through
United States / Drama / 9 mins
Director: Eyal Resh
Writers: Jacob Marx Rice
Producer: Kiera Bratton-Lewis
Cast: Lauren Ridloff, Douglas Ridloff
Jessie and Brian, a young Deaf couple, recently discovered they are about to become parents. Their neighborhood coffee shop thrums with everything left unsaid, while they unearth new ways to communicate.
Silenceless
Estonia / Drama / 20 mins
Director: Mart Sander
Writer: Mart Sander
Producer: Mart Sander
Cast: Ingrid Margus, Ingmar Jõela
A young heiress is tormented by the uncomposed music of the violent lover she has killed, until she meets a violinist who has lost his hearing in the Spanish Civil War.
Silent Night
Hong Kong / Drama / 16 mins
Director: Charis Chu, Ben Liu
Writer: Charis Chu, Ben Liu
Producer: Christy Ip
Cast: Dough-Boy, Belinda Yan
Kit has smuggled goods for his boss, ManLong for years. It’s just another routine pick up on Christmas Eve when he encounters a familiar face. From then, it soon becomes clear that Kit's past is not what it seems.
Solo Trekker
Taiwan / Drama / 25 mins
Director: Jing-Ye Chang
Writer: Jing-Ye Chang
Producer: Yi-Hua Wang
Cast: Shan Cheng-Ju, Devin Pan
Up in the mountains in the darkness of the night, a young logger who illegally cuts down Formosan cypress trees meets a middle-aged solo trekker who broke his leg after falling off a cliff. The trekker offers the young man ten times the price of a Formosan cypress to carry him down the mountain. Will the deal help the trekker survive? Will the logger get his reward? The fates of two souls who trek alone intertwine briefly.
Soyka
United States / Drama / 15 mins
Director: Anastasiya Sergienya
Writer: Anastasiya Sergienya
Producer: Kacey Montana
Cast: Lyanka Gryu, Marilynn Larkin
Anna, a young woman from Belarus, tries to survive in New York City while dreaming of a better life. This intimate portrait of an individual showcases the experience of the American immigrant: loneliness, fear, happiness, self-realization, and ultimately hope.
Swim to Steven
United States / Drama / 15 mins
Director: Amy French
Writer: Amy French
Producer: Brenda Blair, Diana Gitelman
Cast: Diana Gitelman, Avi Rothman
When a middle-aged mother takes her young son to his first swim class, the handsome instructor jogs a memory from her adolescence and uncovers some unresolved issues in this hilariously awkward short that shows you never really grow up.

The Boy in the Snow
Germany / Drama / 28 mins
Director: Dieter Primig
Writer: Samuel Jefferson
Producer: Samuel Jefferson, Dieter Primig
Cast: Claudio Magno, Lukas Stöger
An abandoned soldier finds himself unable to kill a young boy after a bloody raid on an enemy village. Forced to take the boy with him through the surrounding mountains and wilderness, the boy’s presence begins to slowly reawaken his lost humanity. During their arduous journey an unlikely bond forms between the two enemies.