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.
 

Shonda

United States / Drama / 13 mins

Director: Ryan Lacen 

Writer: Deidre Scott

Producer: Deidre Scott

Cast: Deidre Scott, Pardis Saremi

A dispirited thirty-something gets the chance to work with an insta-famous life coach who may have ulterior motives.

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

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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

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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.