USA Tag Archive

Animation, Music Video

James Siewert Spins up a Stop Motion Tale of Capitalism’s Inevitable Downfall for Just Desserts’ ‘Tender’

James Siewert's music video whisks us from the birth of modern society, to it's capitalist systems now creaking at the seems, and it's inevitable demise.

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Documentary

Livia Albeck-Ripka & Víctor Tadashi Suárez Expose the Poison of LA’s Post-Fire Limbo in ‘Still Standing’

Turning 16mm film stock, degraded tape and suffocating silence into tools of witness, 'Still Standing' documents once intimate spaces becoming hazardous zones.

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Live Action

How a Recurring Daymare of Isolation and Gentrification Led to Lucas Murphy’s ‘You Can’t Talk to the Dude’

Lucas Murphy explains how his own anxieties of gentrification and living alone became a mysterious horror comedy that begs the question - what would 'you' do?

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Live Action

Idyllic Surroundings Mask a False Serenity and Something Far More Sinister in Nick Dugan’s ‘Foxhole’

Nick Dugan shares how a fateful trip led to his gripping story of surface beauty and stillness acting as a façade for a sinister and violent reckoning.

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Live Action

Taryn Ward Reckons With Disorientating Grief in His Quiet, Contemplative Short ‘NEST’

Immersing audiences in isolating silence, Taryn Ward details crafting his intimate portrait of a man mourning his late brother in his now empty house.

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Live Action, Premiere

Carissa Gallo Navigates Inner Turmoil and External Expectations as a Woman in Shutting Off Drama ‘Someday It Is’

Carissa Gallo explores the quiet tension of inner conflict vs outward perfection as a woman's deep malaise prompts her to flee her life for a desert motel.

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Awards, Documentary

Joshua Seftel Finds the Weight of Absence in the Specific and Small in Oscar-Winning Doc ‘All the Empty Rooms’

Stripping back commentary and even dialogue, Joshua Seftel builds a documentary film about gun violence from silence and the objects children left behind.

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Animation, Awards

How Nathan Engelhardt & Jeremy Spears Turned a “Love-Letter to Stop-Motion” into Oscar-Contender ‘Forevergreen’

Challenged by truth to materials, Nathan Engelhardt & Jeremy Spears developed a unique replacement animation system to give digital assets a physical weight.

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Awards, Live Action

Sam Davis Crafts an Ode to Vulnerability Via Men Who’d Never Dream of Showing It in Oscar-Winner ‘The Singers’

Through wholly unconventional casting, Sam Davis spotlights the unsung talents at the heart of his genre-bending short about men finally being heard, together.

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Awards, Documentary

Craig Renaud Mines 20 Years of War Journalism in Tribute to His Brother in ‘Armed Only With a Camera’

Craig Renaud discusses facing the impossible task of turning a tragedy into a cinematic tribute while wrestling with the ethical boundaries of showing death.

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Live Action, Premiere

A Real Life Marketplace Encounter Leads to the Wildly Entertaining Fever Dream That Is Olivia Accardo’s ‘Baby Tooth’

Olivia Accardo reveals how her encounter with a local seller led to her absurdist comedy short offering a potential boat buyer way more than he anticipated.

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Awards, Live Action

Julia Aks & Steve Pinder Turned Bloody Shame Into Period Parody in Oscar-Nominated ‘Jane Austen’s Period Drama’

Corset comedy, cramps and Academy glory; co-directors Aks & Pinder unpack the pun-inspired joyfully bloody road of their hilarious Oscar-nominated short.

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