Synopsis: 1. Daily Bread / Manuel Sirgo / Spain / Animation / 8 min.
“An exchange student living in Madrid sets out to buy a loaf of bread, but finds herself lost in translation, making unexpected connections on her journey.”
2. A Winner / Mehdi Mahaei / Iran / Drama / 20 min.
“The story of a female filmmaker who lives and works in her mother’s greenhouse. After her film gets selected in a reputable film festival abroad, she is faced with problems to leave the country.
3. Eureka / Miida Chu / USA / Foreign Language / 15 min.
“A young indentured Chinese prostitute must overcome her toxic dependency on the brothel madam on the eve of the 1885 anti-Chinese riot in Eureka, California.”
4. Swole Ghost / Tim Troemner / USA / Comedy-Made in Illinois / 8 min.
“Vicky and Jake believe there might be a ghost in the house. Maybe. Whatever it is, it’s too weak to communicate. But maybe all this presence needs is a bit of fitness; maybe it just needs to get…swole.”
5. The Single Horn (Unicorn) / Mohamad Kamal Alavi / Iran / Drama / 13 min.
“A little girl goes to the amusement park to play with her friends without the family’s permission. Everything has changed when she returns home.”
6. Bird Lady / Carter Rostron / USA / Student / 17 min.
“In this short documentary, Kansas City the filmmaker explores the mystery surrounding a statue that has become known as the ‘Bird Lady.'”
7. Don’t Breathe / Milad Nasim Sobhan / Iran / Drama / 15 min.
“To exert more tyranny and suppression, the ruling power has done something to its dissenters that they exhale smoke when they breathe, and the agents must take into custody such people wherever they find them. Unaware of the law, a man meets one of the dissidents and it changes the course of his life, until he decides to immigrate to a better land with the dissident for a better life.”

Language

Run Time

1. DAILY BREAD / none available
2. A WINNER / “We always have to pass obstacles to accomplish our ambitions and how unfortunate that these obstacles have been created by wrong legislation. The issue of getting the husband’s consent to apply for a passport has always been a controversial issue in countries with traditional cultures. We have seen many examples of successful women who were unable to go abroad to participate in Olympic Games or sports tournaments, film and music festivals and universities, etc., due to lack of their husbands’ consent. A woman in Iran who wants to exit the country, has to have her husband’s consent to get a passport and that creates many problems for a female citizen, whereas there is no such law for men. This inequality has prevented many women from growing, flourishing and reaching their goals and aspirations.
Another issue that this film addresses is the matter of choice. Choice between becoming a mother and spouse and forming a family and having a simple life or pursuing goals and aspirations? Which one has priority over the other? Which is right and which is wrong? Could a general conclusion be reached for the validity of each choice? Could both be achieved, simultaneously? Is it possible to grow roots and sprout?
3. EUREKA / none available
4. SWOLE GHOST / none available
5. THE SINGLE HORN (UNICORN) / “Do you know unicorns really exist?
Believing in fate and human predetermined destiny, in our culture (Iran), has a very noticeable presence and lots of wrong and inappropriate traditions have been produced by these sorts of thoughts.
Especially when it comes to children and women, there is a consensus among people to enforce these unwritten laws and one of the clear examples of that can be obviously seen in child marriage.
Paying attention to these kinds of issues and then narrating the relevant stories in cinematic forms has been my ongoing concern as a filmmaker. “The Single Horn” puts a little girl in a predetermined situation which will change her life and future forever, yet her own choice doesn`t count. She is besieged by decision- makers of her life but in the last moments her faith comes to help and save her, since there is always a way for anyone to change the situation and take their destiny in their own hands.”
6. BIRD LADY / “In this short documentary, Kansas City filmmaker Carter Rostron explores the mystery surrounding a statue that has become known as the “Bird Lady.” For years, an assortment of small ceramic birds and other figures have appeared around the base of the statue. The documentary explores what’s been happening, what it means, and how it has become a beloved part of neighborhood folklore.”
7. DON’T BREATHE / “It is often said that “Who accommodates under water long enough, will eventually grow gills or in other expressions ‘water-lungs.’” Will the one who lives in smoke for a prolonged period eventually grow ‘smoke-lungs’?”

1. DAILY BREAD / “Manuel Sirgo is a Spanish director, producer, and animation artist, as well as an instructor at universities and audiovisual institutions. He is a member of the Spanish National Film Academy. In 1997, he founded production company 12 Pingüinos Animation Studio, through which he has won a multitude of film awards, including two Goya Awards. He received the Goya for Best Animated Short Film for Pollo in 2002 and for Cazatalentos in 2019. He has collaborated with such prestigious companies as Hanna Barbera, Walt Disney, Warner Bros, TVE, and Cromosoma. His team at 12 Pingüinos is made up of more than 30 film industry professionals.”
2. A WINNER / “Mehdi Mahaei Born on Oct 20 , 1992. Iran. Mashhad … living in Tehran. He has been graduated in BA from Mashhad University and writer & director of several movies.
He directed THE DOLLS GAME (2021) and the film has been in festivals like
Route 66 – USA ( winner ), Kazan Muslim Film Festival – Russia, Mena film festival – Canada
Lonely Seal Film Festival – USA, Catalina Film Festival – USA , Aporia Film Festival – Korea, Portoviejo Film Festival – Ecuador, River Film Festival – Italy, Dalmatia Film Festival – Croatia, El ine suma paz – Mexico
Global Youth Festival-Bangladesh, festival human right – Venezuela, himachal short festival – India, pune short film festival- India, lifft india film festival – India; 10 film festival – Iran. Then he has directed his second one named A WINNER (2022) and the film has been distributed recently and it has been in 9 festivals by the date. In 2020, he has joined the FIRST SCREEN FILM DISTRIBUTION COMPANY as a head managers and distribute and sold several movies in many film festivals like Oscar qualifying ones. He is going to be the director of his first feature film in 2023.
3. EUREKA / “Miida Chu is a Los Angeles-based writer-director. Her short film EUREKA won the prestigious Golden Reel Award at the 38th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, which qualifies the film for award consideration for the Academy Award. As a screenwriter, she specializes in high concept queer romantic fantasy. Her feature script, OBLIVION, was a semi-finalist at the Outfest Screenwriting Lab and a Quarter-finalist at the ScreenCraft Feature Competition. She was one of the seven cinematic arts finalists of the 2014 National YoungArts Competition. She served on the program committee of Miami Film Festival in 2020 and 2021. Miida holds a BA in Philosophy from New York University and an MFA in film directing from the American Film Institute. She was accepted to UCLA’s PhD program in Philosophy, but we’re glad she didn’t fall into that parallel universe.”
4. SWOLE GHOST / none available
5. THE SINGLE HORN (UNICORN) / “Mohammad Kamal Alavi October / 20 / 1983 Performing Arts (School of Art and Architecture – Tehran Center) Certificated of Advanced Direction from Young Cinematography
Directing records : nim/half (short film) / Silence Again (short movie) / The Puncture (short movie) / Tak Shakh (short movie) / and lots of cultural documentaries and short films for television.
Acting records: Disappearance Movie (Ali Askari)/Delay (Ali A skari)/ Yahya didn’t keep Quiet (Kaveh Ebrahimpour)/Rain (Omid Tootoonchi) / and…
Production Manager Records: Gaze(2017) / Disappearance(2016-2017) / Magical(2018) /Delay(2019) and…
6. BIRD LADY / “Carter Rostron has been making short films since second grade, including documentaries, comedies, and stop-motion animation. He is 17 years old and he is a senior at Pembroke Hill School.
7. DON’T BREATHE / “Born in 1989, in Yazd Province, has gotten his Masters degree in Graphic Design from The University of Art Tehran. Since 2012, he has started academically educating himself in the art of scriptwriting and movie making at Hilaj Independent Cinematic Academy. In 2015, he released his first short film, Mobile, as an experiment in the industry. Biannually since the release of Mobile, he kept releasing other short films, Swapped (2017), She Similar To Me (2019) and Don’t Breathe (2022). From the starting year, his films are getting featured in well over 20 international film festivals. More importantly, they have been nominated more than ten times for the best film and the best script. As of today, he still features his works at both national and international film festivals.”

Production Year