Seventeen-year-old Annika Santos shares her passion for fencing in this stylish portrait by Amsterdam-based director Miguel Luis. For the last seven years, Annika has been immersing herself in a sport that is based on speed — one where the most crucial moments occur in the blink of an eye. While a single flick of the wrist can mean the difference between triumph or defeat, there’s nothing in the world Annika would rather do.

Featuring Annika Santos
Director & Editor: Miguel Luis
Cinematographer: Riel Manuel
Original Music & Sound Design: Olivier Terpstra
Boom Operator: Bunso Tranquilino
Gaffer: Arar Ancero
Camera Operators: Peter Frac & Tim Tupa
Camera Assistant: Von Rañada

This video was submitted by Miguel Luis 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 Rodney Chrome’s debut track “Pulpit” by New York City-based director Zachary Dov Wiesel.

Director: Zachary Dov Wiesel
DOP: Shane Bagwell
Producer: Shuni Dhar
Co-Producer: Adrian Sobrado
Assistant Director: Gabby Zhong
Production Designer: Lauren Nicola
Art Assistant: Cara Griffin
Gaffer: Joel Kaswan
Key Grip: Crispin Tan
Grip: Daniel Wilson
1st AC: Hrishi Bardhan
Hair: Ms. Angel T
Costume Designer: Ece Ecranli
Make-up: Aria Grasso
Titles: Ariel Kader
Foley: Sam Clegg
Colorist: Dayle Chen
Choreography: Rodney Chrome
Dancers: Brandon Trent, Gregg Sainvilus

Cast:
Markelle Jones
Noble Zahairagunn
Humayun ‘Sulliefacts’ Choudhury
Somatrist
Elijah Ryder
Tymothee Harrell
Devin LaShawn
Trajen Lee Johnson
Adham McGuire
Isaac Boateng
Mathew Manswell
Ojobayo Lyons
Kim Anderson
Klaus Vallie

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

A subtle yet powerful short about guilt and identity by Berlin-based writer-director Felix Aaron Schroeder. “Dobermann” follows a man named Siras who has been released from prison after many years due to a false sentence. Despite not being guilty of what he was accused, Siras struggles to adjust to his new life and doubts its truth. As Schroeder shares further, the main concept explored in the film is sociophobic behavioral disorder and the consequence of self-alienation or seeking captivity as an abstract form of freedom:

“Working with psychoanalytic as well as philosophical theories, I was fascinated not only by sociophobia but also by the question of guilt and the idea of accepting or actually giving in to an image others might have painted of you. The idea of so called ‘attack dogs’ such as a Dobermann just seemed to be the right metaphor for that concept. In the process it only felt logical to shoot the whole film at night, as well as in the winter, where there is only a limited timespan of daylight. This certainly helped us as a team to dive into this feeling and to set the stage.

Even though it’s been a while since I wrote the initial screenplay to Dobermann, the story always felt relevant to me, especially nowadays during these abstract times.”

Watch above and see full credits below!

Starring
Tom Wlaschiha
Elias Eilinghoff
Frederik Schmid
Sinja Dieks
Michael Epp
Henning Kallweit
Oleg Tikhomirov
Katrin Flüs

Director & Writer: Felix Aaron Schroeder
Director of Photography: Julian Jonas Schmitt
Assistant Camera: Cristina Amate, Cavo Kernich
Gaffer: David Schmitt
Lighting Technician: Constanze Schmitt, Malte Siepen
Costume: Timo Schmitt
Make-Up: Naemi Vahldiek
Set-Design: Lukas Olfe, Moritz Balzer
Animal-Trainer: Christine Schaumann
Production Sound Mixer: Yannick Spiess, Philipp Fröhlich
Sound-Design: Jochen Jezussek
Soundtrack: Daniel Heidt
Edit and Post-Production: Felix Aaron Schroeder
Head of Production: Felix Aaron Schroeder
Production-Assistant: Sophie Frentrop

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

Nice candid portrait of New York City-based artist Danny Singh by London-based director Tom Gorst. Shot back in the Summer of 2018, Gorst has taken advantage of the current lockdown to finish editing this short profile, as he reminisces:

“I was shooting a commercial in New York and had a camera available over the weekend so I went to the lower east side to scout someone to make a film about. I came across Danny Singh, an incredibly talented up and coming music artist from Queens. I talked to him about his music, values and journey so far. Over the past few years we have continued to work together and have become friends.”

Featuring Danny Singh
Directed, Shot & Edited by Tom Gorst
Colour by Tony Osbourne

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

Automation renders humanity slaves with only primitive tools to fight against it in this dystopic narrative for PBDY’s tracks “Ultra-Gash” and “This State of Mine (Mind)” featuring Anika. Directed by Jay Walker, the video was shot on location in the Czech Republic by Prague-based cinematographer Dušan Husár (previously featured here).

Production Company: Creative Embassy
Executive Producer: Matouš Heger, Petr Oplatka
Line Producer: Vít Pecka
Production Manager: Štěpán Šikl
Director: Jay Walker
DOP: Dušan Husár
Production Designer: Top Services – Tomáš Bukáček, Vojtěch Kálecký
1st AD: Mojaš Perović
1st AC: Ludvík Otevřel
Drone Operators: Tomáš Mertlík, Vojta Nedvěd, Vojtěch Pollák
Wardrobe: Martin Polák
Wardrobe Assistant: Christina Campagna
MUA/Hair: Phil La Noiraude
Sound Design: Pavel Jan
Boom Operator: Nicolas Atcheson
Gaffer: Light Service – Václav Sejna
Electricians: Viktor Vrtiška, Václav Sus
Runner: David Dešković
BTS: Jakub Medek
Editor: Jakub Podmanický
VFX : Bastian Hopfgarten
Colorist: Yerlan Tanayev
Laser Operator: Eliška Kocianová
Casting: Maya Kvetny at Myrnyx Tyrnyx, Michal Novák at Dos Amigos
Label: Brainfeeder Records

Special Thanks:
Panavision Prague | Václav Hejduk
Lunchmeat Studios | Jakub Pešek
Veronika Dvořáková
Kryštof Hruška

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

A charming short by Los Angeles-based writer-director Johnson Cheng. “Iron Hands” tells the story of a 12-year-old girl who makes an unlikely connection with a reclusive groundskeeper at the gym where she’s trying out for the traditionally all-boys Chinese youth weightlifting team. Filmed on location in Beijing, the project was part of Cheng’s graduate degree in film at Columbia University School of the Arts. Watch above and see full credits below!

Starring
Zixuan Liu
Xing Lian
Tao Wei

Written & Directed by Johnson Cheng
Produced by Tianqi Zhuo
Executive Producer: Felicity Wang
Co-Producer: Xixi Wang
Director of Photography: Shipei Wen
Film Editor: Johnson Cheng
Production Designer: Mengna Jiang
Original Score by Zeke Khaseli, Yudhi Arfani

Weightlifter Boys: Jianbin Huang, Dunhua Kang
Jiaming Wang, Aonan Wu, Zhaoshun Xie

First Assistant Director: Tianqi Zhuo
Casting Director: Ming Yi
Associate Producer: Yachi Yang
Sound Recordists: Jingxi Guo, Shanying Wang
Gaffers: Tiange Bei, Hao Wei
1st Assistant Camera: Dongsheng Zhang
2nd Assistant Camera: Zhenjie Yan
Colorists: Markus Englmair, Mikki Crisostomo
Sound Editor/Re-recording Mixer: William Hsieh
Graphic Designers: Maggie Briggs, James Lien
Title Design by Yudho Aditya
Production Assistant: Chenxi Li
Driver: Zhujun Sun

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

An intimate portrait of where fear and circumstance can lead us in this documentary short by Moscow-based director Anastasia Vorotnikova. In September 2018, World Champion snowboarded, Alena Zavarzina, announced the end of her sports career. Divided into sections based on the stages of sleep, “Slalåm” is structured around the idea that the moment between awareness and ultimately deciding is like a dream:

“Did she want to leave at that moment? Probably not, but the circumstances have done their job. What the “awakening” will be for her? Can she overcome all her fears and make the most important decision in her life?”

Director: Anastasia Vorotnikova
Director of Photography: Arina Romanova
Sound: Varvara Frolova
Music: Giuseppe Falivene, 36/Syne

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

Lovely simplicity and sweetness to this video for Joy Anonymous’ track “Whale and Bear” by director Tom Ringsby (previously featured here). As Ringsby notes, “Somehow every film made before quarantine feels more relevant than ever”:

“We originally planned this documentary-fiction project to capture real couple Leaf & Helena (and their real cats Zelda & Smudge) as a simple lazy-Sunday video bringing to life Joy Anonymous’ stripped down acoustic track, but it’s now taken on a different meaning entirely. Hopefully we can still find this sort of spirited optimism even after weeks turn into months.”

Starring Leaf & Helena & Zelda & Smudge
Director & Editor: Tom Ringsby
DOP: Henry Gill
Loader: Rhys Warren
Colourist: Andi H. Chu @ ETC London
Titles & Illustration: Laura N-Tamara
Shot on S16mm Kodak film
Scan & Process @ Cinelab London
Shot on location @ Cara House, N. Ldn

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

Iglooghost and Amu set off to find answers after being tasked with warding off the pesky Yemmo in this fanciful video by director Luke Gibson (previously featured here).

Director: Luke Gibson
3D Animator: Christopher Casey Denton
Creative Direction: Iglooghost
Director of Photography: Jack Wells
Production Designer: BABii
Editor: Luke Gibson
Colorist: Darren Samuels
Additional VFX: Cooper Vacheron

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

A delightfully offbeat short about the end of the world by directors Florence Hyde and Dominic Applewhite. Great cinematography by Jacob Sacks Jones.

Starring Dominic Applewhite & Gráinne O’Mahony
Written by Florence Hyde
Directed by Florence Hyde & Dominic Applewhite
Produced by Jacob Sacks Jones
Cinematography, Edit & Grade by Jacob Sacks Jones
Score: Cora Miron
Sound Design: Ruth Knight
Music: ‘Teeth’ by Stepbrother
Released on The Rhythm Studio Recordings (2018)

This video was submitted by Jacob Sacks Jones and selected by our team. Consider participating here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!

A fun and timely exploration of boredom for Tessa Violet by Los Angeles-based director Jade Ehlers (previously featured here):

“This was the last video I shot before the quarantine. Tessa Violet came to me about a month before about wanting to do a video of being imprisoned in your bedroom and the anxieties we hold within ourselves. Little did we know, there would a be a global pandemic that makes this so relevant.”

Artist: Tessa Violet
Director: Jade Ehlers
Produced by RE-OS
DP: Patrick Jones
Production Designer: Brian Mayfield
Choreographer: Kayla Kalbfleisch
Edited by Christian J. Sweet & Jade Ehlers
Color/ VFX: Jade Ehlers
SFX: Stephen Laurenson

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

An uplifting documentary short by New York City-based directors Elle Ginter and Stephania Dulowski (previously featured here). The product of many sleepless nights spent driving through NYC at the height of the quarantine, “Excelsior #EverUpward” was created in effort to reflect positively on what people miss most but also what they’ll do #WhenThisIsOver.

Production Company: Sanctuary
Directed by Elle Ginter & Stephania Dulowski
Shot by Stephania Dulowski & Elle Ginter
Edited by Stephania Dulowski
Grade by Elle Ginter
Sound Mix by Only Audio / Daniel Lidchi

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