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NOBODY F*CKING LEAVES, a stand-alone short film and proof of concept for an episodic, explores the shifting sands of memories and truths we construct. The story centers on Riley who is living a seemingly perfect life in an idyllic suburban town but beneath the polished exterior lies discontent and a mystery buried deep within her psyche—one that even she is unaware of until she's abducted by her former family and it all comes back -- along with some pretty badass powers. The story itself is one of empowerment as we follow Riley from the “Postcard” world in which she has little value, limited agency, and essentially no power, to a world in which she begins to remember, perhaps reluctantly, who she really is and the incredible power she holds. And as Riley rediscovers her true self, we may begin to ask ourselves - what powers are we willing to repress to fit into the world we find ourselves in?
Writers: John Mossman, Jennifer Jelsema and Will Meyers
Director: John Mossman
Producers: Jennifer Jelsema and Will Meyers
Director of Photography: Chris Rejano
The fight for your right to dance: Movement is the multi-perspective, multi-layered real-life story of the NYC Cabaret Law, and how the grass-roots movement that repealed it stopped the raids on parties and started the Office of Nightlife. Yet the fight continues today.
Producers: Benito Sinclair, Jake Bradbury, Cassandra Tyler
Director: Benito Sinclair
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Rabbit Rabbit is a surreal comedy that centers on one woman’s ordinary abortion which coincidentally occurs the same day Roe V. Wade gets overturned. This provokes her best friend into her own repressed memories from her abortion a year before. With the help of their fiercely loving friendship, a badly timed engagement party, and the use of some unconventional coping mechanisms, both women are forced to reckon with their past in order to rediscover their potential.
Writer/Producers/Actors: Poppy Golland and Cassidy Slaughter-Mason
Director: Kristina Valada-Viars
Producers: Alexis Schaetzle and Meghan Schaetzle
Director of Photography: Chris Rejano
Casting: AJ Links
Peter, Peter is an award-winning feature-length screenplay (Chicago Screenplay Festival, LGBTQ Unbordered International Film Festival). This nuanced coming of age story follows 12-year-old Peter Goldsmith while he navigates all the developmental changes of early adolescence as a Jewish kid of divorced parents in a culturally blended family, and as a gay kid who won’t figure that out for another 10 years. Set in the early 80’s, a time with few cultural markers for suburban kids and even fewer markers (if any) for queer kids, Peter has little guidance from parents and step-parents about how to make his way. But with the help of a few understanding adults (and daydreams of the musical fantasy variety that keep him sane), Peter starts on the long path to making sense of it all.
Director: Leah Raidt
Writer/Producer: Paul Fagen
Composer: Erik Hall
Casting Director: AJ Links
Production Team: Jake Prine and Gia Capra, Kernel Productions
Inspired by true events, GUYS NIGHT is a compelling and heartwarming story about one of the most important aspects of life - family.
Taking place in 1985...it's a ‘traumedy’ about the struggles of divorce - exploring a year in the life of three boys getting into some mischief while learning how to cope with their mother leaving...and following their stoic father's journey of love, loss, and acceptance.
LOGLINE: When a father finds himself divorced and raising three boys, he creates a weekly movie night. Struggling to keep his family stable, he learns that you can't win every battle with your kids. You try to win the war, and the war is raising them right.
Writer/Producer/Actor: Niko Vitacco
Producer: Andrew Baird
Director: Dave Eichhorn
Director of Photography: Louis Powell
Directed by artist Glenn Lutz, And There’s Light at the End of the Tunnel convenes a dynamic cast of trailblazing Black artists, activists, and changemakers for a cinematic exploration of the intersection of mental health and Black masculinity in America. Brutally honest, yet shot through with warmth, humor, and hope, their conversation captures the complex reality of this long taboo topic, and the healing power of storytelling itself.
Director: Glenn Lutz
Co-producer: Greg Jacobs
Co-producer: Jon Siskel
Boasting both a national championship and a Heisman trophy winner, Syracuse was at the center of the college football universe in 1960. But by 1970, their national glory was replaced by national scandal, as eight Orange players put their futures on the line to battle racism. Using previously sealed records, The Syracuse 8 Project (working title), chronicles the heroism of these men who lost everything while changing the future for everyone.
Creative Producer: Amir George
Director: Donald Conley
Executive Producer: Larry Weitzman
Burning Sage follows a former con artist turned creative writing teacher finally on the straight and narrow who is forced to run scams on the Chicago elite to save her community's art center. Our story highlights discrepancies in the distribution of wealth, how that affects the decisions of people in dire need and touches on how we might be the one thing that we’re afraid of. Think White Collar, Snowfall, and The Blacklist with a sprinkle of some Black Girl Magic.
Creator/Writer/Producer: Kimani Whitsey-Gully
Director/Producer: Imanne Mondane
Producer: Dashawna Wright
An Account follows Luis and Avery's crumbling marriage in the face of a child abuse investigation. This series blurs the line between reality and fiction as it incorporates domestic drama, news headlines, and autobiography.
Writer/Director/Producer: Josue Turcios
Project overview: The Cabinet Maker chronicles the life and work of Chicago native, Lawrence D’Antignac. A lifelong woodworker, D’Antignac reflects on his childhood and formative years; his introduction to woodworking; his time stationed in North Korea; and his South Side art gallery, The Woodshop.
Drawing from memory, personal photographs, and archival materials, this story paints a revealing portrait of family, community, labor, and loss.
Director & Producer: Adewole A. Abioye
Executive Produce: Aderemi Abioye
Executive Producer: Skylah Sensahrae
Associate Producer: Ife Olatunji
Unit Production Manager: Rahim Branch
Director of Photography: Dan Scotti
Sound: Kevin Vicks
Editor: Meg Walsh
Project overview: Fortified follows a 30-something couple having a rare day off together at home. As the day goes on it’s clear that there are deep-seated problems within their relationship that neither of them possess the emotional intelligence to tackle head-on. Instead, they engage in their usual routine of jokes and games and it devolves into a role play that gradually consumes their entire existence. However, it is through this experience that they are finally able to genuinely communicate with each other and determine whether or not they should even be a couple at all.
Producer/Director: Jake VanKersen
Producer/Writer/Actor (Hector): Ross Compton
Producer: Tyler Core
Producer: Scott Cupper
Executive Producer: John Otterbacher
Actor (Penny): Stevie
Wonderful World is a dramedy short film that will act as a proof of concept for the feature version. It’s the 1960s and Katharine is a music-obsessed, first-generation, Chinese- American with no prospects after high school graduation. When she and her band get a chance to perform at a local night club, she struggles with what means more to her: family or her own passions.
Wonderful World explores what it means to dream and how that differs amongst generations, especially immigrants and their children. For the protagonist, Katharine, life in America is about self-actualization. She’s been afforded the ability to pursue her dreams. For her immigrant parents, it is about pushing aside their own passions so they could adapt and survive in this new world. It’s a layer that many families of immigrants will recognize and hopefully enlighten those who are unfamiliar with it.
Writer/Director: Melissa Kong
Producers: Aimy Tien, Grace Hahn
The 6th edition of the Cinema Femme Short Film Fest runs from April 26 – May 2, 2024. This one-of-a-kind festival emphasizes the importance of supporting emerging female and non-binary filmmakers by connecting them to seasoned industry members through the Breaking Down Walls mentorship program and retreat. The hybrid film festival will screen 20 short films at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago and online with panel discussions on relevant industry topics and a tribute event honoring a seasoned industry member.
Festival Director: Rebecca Martin Fagerholm
When night terrors start impinging on her reality, a fragile woman named Nelly must fight her inner demons to save her decades-long marriage to Pete, a seemingly doting but manipulative husband. Is love enough to overcome?
Director: Patricia Frontain
Executive Producer and Writer: Sylvie Sadarnac
Welcome to the world of Wizdom, a neon-lit colony where daylight is scarce and humans live with bionic implants. Eos, a professional thief, is saved by a strange character, Carbon, who has a higher purpose for Eos and her younger sibling Vayle.
Director: Layne Marie Williams
Executive Producer, Writer: Ashton Swinford
Writer: Zack Sievers
Producer: Grace Hahn
Producer: Aimy Tien.
Tree Huggers Comedy melds stunning visuals, unexpected humor, and the odd person in an animal costume to create nature documentaries that explore America’s wild wonders—and the issues facing them. Our 5th film, Funeral for a Glacier, centers around a farcical funeral that we hold for the glaciers that the park is losing at an alarming rate. Tonally it is a cross between planet earth, the daily show, and Calvin and Hobbes; a little bit John Muir, a little bit Jon Stewart and a lotta bit John Cougar Mellencamp (assuming he was an actual cougar).
Series Creators: Brad Einstein & Kyle Niemer
Producer: Linsey Miscato
Writer & Actor: Lisa Burton
Puppet Fabricator & Associate Producer: Megan Burbour
Editor: Dave Thomas
A hardened criminal robs a gas station and takes the first vehicle he finds by force. As he makes his escape, he realizes that he has an unexpected passenger. The man is left to make a difficult choice as he faces the consequences of his actions and discovers how seemingly insignificant decisions can devolve into chaos. With the clock running out on his time to escape, the man is left to contemplate his past and whether redemption is possible. What is the point of no return?
Directors: Matt Miller & Michael Pancico
Producer: Devon Gulati
Director of Photography: JP O'Rourke
It’s 1986 and Noor is a customer service representative at Jockey’s Frozen Dinners and Jockstraps— where the “Manliest Men Come First”. When she is not dealing with eccentric food and/or jockstrap related calls, she’s having awkward encounters with her cubicle neighbor Andy... Encounters that lead her to use many, many stress balls.
Her home life is never quite as eventful. She spends most nights alone with a frozen dinner and her two best friends, Harold and Dr. Happi. Except, Harold is a cat and Dr. Happi is the host of My Desires With Dr. Happi, a late night tv show where people express their strangest desires. These desires include, for example, sexual fascinations about Jesus...but who doesn’t desire that?
This is Noor’s happy place, until she sees an ad for 1-800-GET-SEXY, a phone sex operation company. Though at first she quickly changes the channel, things get weird when Dr. Happi himself starts to persuade her to become a phone sex operator through her own television set.
Noor must decide what she truly desires, even if it goes against everything she’s ever known.
Director: Sade' May
Producer: Madelyn Cardarelli