Toronto-based filmmaker Sean Cartwright highlights the life of drag queens Miss Steak, Sofonda Cox, and Devine Darlin in this documentary-style short for King Henry’s track “Never Give Up”:

“This was a very personal project and I’m very thankful for the opportunity to collaborate with these talented artists and performers.”

Director & Editor: Sean Cartwright
Cinematographer: Peter Hadfield
Featuring: Miss Steak, Sofonda Cox, Devine Darlin
Assistant Director: Karyn Avalon
Still Photographer: Angelica Henderson
Special Thanks: Kiki
Film Stock: Kodak Vision3 7207 AND 7213
Equipment: LIFT
Film Processing: Niagara Custom Labs
Scanning: Frame Discreet

This video was submitted by Sean Cartwright and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

A fantastic short about the extremes of life by Brooklyn-based writer-director Jose Acevedo. “Eagle” tells the story of Edgar, a high school senior, who receives some good news from his guidance counselor.

Starring
Daniel Taveras
Antonio Ortiz
Roy Wood Jr.
Yunior Reyes
Danny Ralph Muñoz

Writer & Director: Jose Acevedo
Producer: Lexi Tannenholtz
Director of Photography: Conor Murphy
Production Designer: Amanda Carzoli
Production Manager: Denise Canares
Costume Designer: Morgan Bush
Key Hair & Makeup: Meraly Lopez
1st AC: Daniel Rampulla
2nd AC: Stephen Mathis
Key Gaffer: Shane Bagwell
Key Grip: Josh Sturm
Audio Mixer: Catherine Hood
Production Coordinator: Dez Savini
Production Assistant: Manny Zerpa
Production Assistant: Kathryn Teaney
Production Assistant: Amandeep Soria
Editor: Jon Higgins
Assistant Editor: Crystal Platas
Media Manager: Nick McGee
Color Grading Services: Irving Harvey
Colorist: Matthew Greenberg
Color Assistant: Kevin Ratigan
Finishing Producer: Kerry Mack
Post Production Sound Services: Parabolic NY
Supervising Sound Editor: Jerrell Suelto
Dialogue Editor: Alfred DeGrand
Foley Artist: Shaun Brennan
Music Composition: Jake Falby
VFX Artist: Alex Familian
Titles Design: Alex Diaz

This video was submitted by Jose Acevedo and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

Two brothers struggle to navigate the politics of their working-class neighbourhood in this gritty video for Merina Gris. Directed by David Olariaga of Madrid-based production company Alabama, “Besteek Zer” explores themes of social pressure and the difficulty of fitting in.

Directed by David Olariaga
A film by Alabama
Produced by Badator & Alabama
Cast: Alberto Rodriguez & Unai Ingunza
DOP: Marino Pardo
Screenplay: David Olariaga, Marino Pardo
Costume Design: Alejandra De La Plata
SFX Department: Baconsfx (Mario Campoy & Irene Rio)
Edit: David Olariaga
Colorist: Marino Pardo

This video was submitted by David Olariaga and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

A grim post-apocalyptic tale by Vancouver-based director Nano Clow. Written by Dylan Schmid and produced by King Louie Palomo, “The Loneliest Boy in the World” follows a young man (played by Schmid) through his day to day life as the last person on earth. Despite having everything he needs physically, his thoughts become the greatest threat to his survival. As Clow states, the film is a meditation on the things we need (or think we need) in order to be fulfilled:

“This short film is important to me and Dylan because it digs into some problems most of us encounter. The inability to accept and move on. The inability to look outside the box. The inability to achieve our greatest goals, while being blinded by greed. Being blinded by the need to feel loved, safe, and comfortable. The passion for our film was a possible solution. The film features a boy in present day living in an extinct world where materialistic things are never good enough. He fights isolation, but the true obstacles come from memories and dreams of a past lover. We follow his constant inner battle of self love, being loved, or finding any TRUE connection at all.”

Director/EP: Nano Clow
Writer/EP: Dylan Schmid
Producer: King Louie Palomo
Starring: Dylan Schmid, Kaitlyn Bernard
Cinematographer: Joseph Schweers
Production Designer: Aniya Godden
1st AD: Ken Sasaki
2nd AD: Laurent Piche
Production Assistant: Diane Lee
1st AC: Mark Levinson
Gaffer/Grip: Simon Huculiak
Sound Recordist: Francisco Castellanos
Hair and Makeup: Becca Randle
Armorers: Dan Saworski, Jeannie Jimenez
Catering & Craft Services: Krista Bernard
Editor: Simon Huculiak, Nano Clow
DI Colorist: Joseph Schweers
Composer: Cayne Mckenzie
Sound Edit & Designer: Christopher Clark, Rootchord Sound
VFX Provided by: Pixel Perfect VFX

Produced by King Louie Films Productions
Produced in Association with Book Club Classics
Produced in Cooperation with the UBCP

This video was submitted by King Louie Palomo and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

A brilliant short by Sydney-based filmmaker Dane McCusker (previously featured here). “The Complex” tells the story of a young woman forced to contend with the unwanted advances of her new neighbour. Capturing a situation both highly fraught yet terribly mundane, McCusker offers a crucial commentary on the quagmire of modern gender relations.

Nice video for Jarryd James directed by Australian filmmaker Mick Soiza. Collaborating with animator James Siewert and Sydney-based studio Heckler, “Miracles” follows Jarryd as he explores the depths of his own psyche with the help of two doctors — figments of his own mind. As Soiza states:

“I feel like as humans and creatives in general we are really pushing ourselves to the limits, trying to find the answer, the key that unlocks that magical answer –- as we go through this process, we break down to build back up — realising if we just let go and follow the process we can stay on track and not overwhelm ourselves.”

Producer: Coralie Tapper
Director: Mick Soiza
DP: Sean Ryan
1st AC: Bruce Truong
2nd AC: Danny Haneman
Gaffer: Glenn Jones
Best Boy: Clive Rippon
HMU: Natalie Stanfield
Production Assists: Monty O’Brien, Craig Burns, Jensen Just
Post Production: HECKLER
Post Exec Producer: Will Alexander
Producer/Studio Coordinator: Brittany Jones
Editor: Lucas Vazquez
Animator/Artist: James Siewert
Senior Flame Artist: Brad Smith
Colourist: Fergus Rotherham
Cast: Charles Allen & Michael Croaker

This video was submitted by Mick Soiza and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

A wonderfully creative short written and directed by Diana Gradinaru and Rory Waudby-Tolley (previously featured here). Made with the support of BFI NETWORK, “New Year” tells the story of a boy in 1999 who becomes obsessed with the Y2K bug and a girl in the distant future who is learning to be a priest in the religion that emerged from the ‘artefacts’ the boy left behind.

“Ravaged by millennia of climate breakdown, Britain is underwater. But Simon’s ramblings and football stickers inspire a faith where the heat of the earth is respected and 90s Man United midfielder Nicky Butt is worshiped as a God. The Year 2000 was simultaneously the beginning of the future, and the end of world.”

Written & Directed by Diana Gradinaru & Rory Waudby-Tolley
Produced by Becky Perryman
Executive Produced by Phil Davies
Starring Jason Forbes, Thea Gajic, Lorna Gayle, Javone Prince
Animation & Design by Diana Gradinaru, Rory WT, Ala Nunu Leszynska, Chiara Sgatti
Sound & Music by Skillbard
Hymn by Paul Devlin
Casting by Leanne Flinn

This video was submitted by Rory WT and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

A man is followed home by an unusual horde of individuals in this delightfully absurd short by Arthur Studholme and Cosmo Wellings (aka Uncle Shortbread).

Starring Liam Toon
Created by Arthur Studholme & Cosmo Wellings
Directed by Arthur Studholme
Producer: Joseph Taylor
DOP: Aidan Bryan
1st AC: Kam
Editor: Mike Radforth
Art Dept: Nina Athill
Sound Recordist: Gus Macleod
Colourist: Jon Dobson
Sound Design Producer: Matej Oresovic
Sound Design: Chas Langston
Score: Will Allen
Runner: Molly Peel

Cast:
George Adams
Mike Wellings
Will Roberts
Harriet Eastdale
Tom Bird
Tom White
Viola Zichy
Tiger Miles
Daisy Nicholson
Rosa Brenthall
Alfie Husband

This video was submitted by Arthur Studholme and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

When Duck Sauce released their latest video this morning, director Keith Schofield tweeted, “Covid kept delaying our shoot so Duck Sauce is releasing the animatic as the official video.” We’ll suspend our disbelief and imagine that there really could have been a live action version of this insanity (maybe one day, fingers crossed). “Mesmerize” is further proof of Schofield’s genius. This is music video perfection. Viewer Discretion: there are lots of buttholes in this video (and many other NSFW things if you decide to investigate frame by frame).

So many stunning shots in this video for Brazilian singer-songwriter MC Marechal by director Breno Moreira. Raised in the small suburbs of Rio De Janeiro, Marechal’s track reflects on the cycles of life and how we transition from childhood to adulthood through depictions of various examples of family — mothers, fathers, sons, daughters — from different backgrounds.

Director: Breno Moreira
Prod Company: Capuri
DOP: J.P. Garcia
Edit & Sound Design: Mah Ferraz
Graphic Design: Diego Limberti
Color: Jesus Mendes

This video was submitted by Mah Ferraz and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

Great energy to this video for Cakes Da Killa directed by Brooklyn-based artist dayday. Shot in the Blaxploitation style, “Don Dada” is about showcasing Bidi, and all black women as the powerhouses they are. As Cakes Da Killa states:

“The 70s was such a rich and electric time drenched in black excellence and expression. I wanted to capture a bit of that with my own flair for the visual. The film follows a gorgeous model, maybe even a spy (played by Bidi), as she heads to a photoshoot with a very eccentric photographer (played by me) and the curious exchange they share as they shoot. ‘Intermission’ at the end is something we wanted to add as a dessert.”

Starring Bidi & Cakes Da Killa
Directed by dayday
Director of Photography: Mayer Chalom
Assistant Camera: Agustina Biasutto
Production Assistant: Tata Milan
Production Assistant: Rob Rusli
Editor: Christian Oreste
Colorist: Josh Bohoskey

This video was submitted by dayday and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

A colourful critique on institutional conformity and consumption culture for Blood Cultures by New York-based filmmaker Saleem Barbados. Drawing inspiration from 60’s French new wave cinema, science class documentaries, and a touch of B-horror, “Hard to Explain” explores its subject through text commentary, revealing a deeper meaning that speaks to our current disillusioned generation.

Directed by Saleem Barbados
Music by Blood Cultures
Performance by Katya Meliton
Photography: Joseph Bressler
Wardrobe: Nancy Koté
Production Assistance: Chayse Schutter
Props: Samuel Guertin

This is just one of the many wonderful submissions we’ve received in the past week. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!