Masaki Nishiyama - 22, Cao Moji - 22 | Japan

“SMAHORROR redefines screening apparatus to fit the vertical aspect ratio of a smartphone and toys with perceptions of viral videos and live streaming. This method creates an uncanny horror experience through the many layers of technological surveillance as a high school girl investigates the bathroom where a student supposedly committed suicide during a live stream.“

Thrills & Chills

Reangsei Phos - 20, Angela Wang - 19 | Canada

“Through a spectral-feeling POV, this film follows a child trying to navigate differing beliefs and cultural upbringings while being haunted in the family’s new home. From the attention given to family dynamics to the spatial awareness of beautiful digital filming, TALISMAN has some genuinely terrifying atmosphere building and imagery while being equally gentle and meditative.”

Thrills & Chills

Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto - 20, Matthew Herst - 24 | Canada & Indonesia

“As a retelling of an Indonesian myth, SRIKANDI focuses on a teenager trying to preserve her father’s memory and craft while her mother tries to sell their house along with his life’s work as a shadow puppeteer. The interconnecting of mythology and reality is complimented by a stunning color palette, light, and sound. Grief is processed through performing the craft her father secretly taught her, and a spiritual realm of connection is opened.”

Against All Odds

Kelly Yu - 19 | CA, USA

“During a rare visit to his father’s plum orchard in the Chinese countryside, this film illustrates the colliding values between a young land developer and his father with warmth and humor as the two reconnect through their collective nostalgia for certain songs. PLUM TOWN sculpts a transportive sense of home with its tangible lived-in spaces, complicated relationships, and moments that will conjure both laughter and tears.”

Opening Night

Omolola Ajao - 21 | Canada

“With beautiful, reflective spoken word overlaid, this film intimately shows a first-generation immigrant woman preparing fufu, a meal that her mother used to make. There’s such care given to the sensory in FUFU, and the process of food-making as a memory ritual translates how affecting and complex each sound, touch, and smell can be.”

Centerpiece