Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival 2020 - Network Round Shorts
Tuesday 20th October - Friday 6th November
1.
Appetite
Dir. Xuemeng Li, Katrin Larissa Kasper
UK
Logline: Steph is a predatory dater. She always insists on paying. When a large bill arrives, she’s nowhere to be seen, for Steph is a serial dine-and-dasher. Wearing elaborate guises, she believes she can slip away from the table and not suffer the consequences. But everyone has to pay the bill in the end.
2.
BoyMom
Dir. Emily S. James
UK
Logline: Daisy Gates, a mom of two rowdy young boys, has a seemingly normal interaction with her kids that suddenly leads to a panic attack. Rattled by her own reaction, she tries to work through it in therapy, and in an awkward attempt to connect with her husband… but ultimately she begins to confront a past trauma with a man -- and how it is affecting her parenting of two young men in the making.
3.
Bubble
Dir. Haonan Wang
China
Logline: This is an urban tale of love and sacrifice set in a mysterious restaurant hidden in an alleyway. On an ordinary night, a man eats a lot of herbal plants in front of a woman, transforming himself into the woman’s food.
4.
Bunkers
Dir. Ollie Anderson
USA
Logline: After finding an ancient golf course in the jungles of San Francisco, the worst golfer of the year, Starlo Von Sourdough, discovers he can recover the treasure of eternal life during the Covid-19 global pandemic. But first he’s got to learn the rules of golf…and in particular…Bunkers.
5.
CARETAKERS
Dir. Thang Ho
USA
Logline: With the help of an experimental tech program, an overworked single mother uses an artificial intelligence clone to help raise her son.
6.
Cold Call
Dir. Katherine Cronyn
USA
Logline: Christian, a brilliant businessman, deal-maker, and self-proclaimed master-of-the-universe, receives a phone call and an offer for which he can negotiate no terms.
7.
Flamboyanes
Dir. Javier Montes d'Arce
Mexico
Logline: Mateo, an 83-year-old man lives in a town and has refused to speak. Immersed in his silence and isolated from the world he navigates between reality and fantasy, mixing stories stored in the memory of the heart with the person with whom he has shared his life.
8.
HighBread - C'est La Weed
Dir. Jayesh Jaidka
USA
Logline: HighBread is a Serio-comedy about Jai who wants to open the first of its kind Pot bakery in Boston despite being an expelled international student from Boston University, having over-controlling, interfering and orthodox parents alongside an expired US visa.
9.
I’m From A Place
Dir. Samuel Rigal, Dominic Crisp
UK
Logline: Set in South London, 'I'm From A Place' follows a house robbery and it's repercussions over the course of an evening.
10.
In My Head
Dir. Charlie G
USA
Logline:
11.
Ironrite
Dir. Clayton Combe
USA
Logline: A 1950s housewife struggles to accept her place in the world, while hiding herself and her young son from an aggressive door-to-door salesman.
12.
Libba
Dir. Colin Henning
USA
Logline: The late Grammy Award Winner Elizabeth Cotten taught herself guitar 'left handed and upside down' as a young girl in North Carolina – and then didn't touch it for 40 years. She returned to the guitar to record her 1958 album. Using Elizabeth Cotten's songs to bridge the 40 years where she didn't play, the film explores why Ms. Cotten gave up her music to begin with - and why she chose to return to it.
13.
Little French Fish
Dir. Eva Lanska
UK
Logline: Lea is an artist from an Eastern European Jewish family. Djamil is а young man from the Middle East. They accidentally meet in Paris and fall in love. Their story is filled with passion, romance, and profound tenderness, but it cannot last long as they choose family traditions over their own happiness. Being apart is unbelievable, but will they change their mind if one day they have a second chance? One day, when they accidentally spot each other in a dark cinema hall.
14.
Northern Light
Dir. Fanny Lecendre
France
Logline: Alex and Hugo meet on the anniversary of their father's death to reconnect with each other, on a journey with the elements of the Northern French coast.
15.
PARIKATHA
Dir. Shashank Vishnu Dutt
India
Logline: She is destined to be crowned the fairy queen of all land. A land that has been plagued with madness. She could cure the people with her magic and all would be merry once again but her magic was stolen from her and hidden in the ocean. The people, plagued, don’t believe in her anymore. He does. He is in love with her and she with him. She is saddened that the plague has made him lose his laughter. She could have accomplished so much if only he’d laugh. His laughter could have been her strength, but it doesn’t exist anymore. All hope is lost but the two are resilient.
16.
PERSUASIVE
Dir. J. Writer Ward
USA
Logline: After a tragic event, an African-American woman decides to join the police force.
17.
PROXY
Dir. Sophia Banks
USA
Logline: Proxy is a sci-fi drama short set in the not too distant future. In a world where people hire ‘Proxys’- humans trained in the fine art of ’standing in’ for a lost loved one, a family member that has passed, a husband or wife that left, or an estranged daughter or son- Victoria (Emma Booth) tries to navigate the life of being one of the highest in demand proxies in the city while at the same time struggling with her own demons. This short explores the delicate state that is the human condition and the attempt to find succor in a time where ‘rent-a-humans’ abound.
18.
Sam & Emma
Dir. Vanessa Leigh
USA
Logline: When their love wanes after a miscarriage, two heartbroken women try to piece together their relationship, highlighting the hardship and dysfunction that can arise from trauma and grief.
19.
Synth
Dir. Scott Wheeler
USA
Logline: Set in the near future, a rogue scientist fights to free advanced humanoids that she built.
20.
Taipei Jesus
Dir. John Redlinger
USA
Logline: Washed-up writer Roy Frankel sees his dreams dashed when three boneheaded Hollywood executives hijack his biblical adaptation, "The Gospel of Matthew," and turn it into an 'edgier' holy reboot called "Taipei Jesus." Notions of religion, race, gender, and art all collide in a blistering not-so-satire that culminates in the trailer for "Taipei Jesus."
21.
The American Dream
Dir. Baldev Sandhu
USA
Logline: Three immigrants about to cross the border sit around a fire and discuss what "The American Dream" means to them.
22.
The Japanese Popstars [Feat. Martin Corrigan] - Checking Out
Dir. Sean Curran
UK
Logline: Music video for the returning electronic act The Japanese Popstars.
23.
The Resistance
Dir. Valencia Kelly
USA
Logline: The civilized world dangles on its last thread before descending into to total chaos from the rise of the new world order.
Armed with the knowledge of her husband, Dr. Jacob Martear's creation and his mission, Zuri Martear picks up the mantle to not only avenge his untimely demise, but to forge a more humane world.
24.
TOM And His Computer "Future Ruins"
Dir. Martin Garde Abildgaard
Denmark
Logline: A story about love, life and death.
25.
Trick of the Old Cat
Dir. Eugene Khazin
USA
Logline: "Trick of the Old Cat" - is an urban fantasy story about a regular working day in the life of guardian angels. This film shows their job is filled with limitations and internal struggles. Angels duty in modern days is far from being easy and calm, the decisions and sacrifices they make are closely intertwined with choices of those mortals, they are trying to guard..
26.
Unpot
Dir. Huieun Park
USA
Logline: "unpot" features Kyung-Ja, a woman iwith Alzheimer's disease, and describes her last day before she is sent to a nursing home; this is her last day outside of confinement. For her children and others around her, she is a problematic old lady, but she has her own world and her last desires. The movie follows her throughout her day: from morning when her older daughter helps her to pack her belongings, to evening as she spends the night with her younger daughter.
27.
Untitled (Sans Titre)
Dir. Clément de Dadelsen
France
Logline: Jules is about to publish his first novel but cannot find the right title with his publisher. He therefore decides to go to Lisbon to convince the greatest title writer to find him one for free. The old man finally accepts but offers him a very strange deal...
28.
Viral
Dir. Kevin Welbeck
USA
Logline: Quincy has been finding it difficult to cope with the death of his younger brother, who was wrongfully shot and killed by a police officer. When the officer is acquitted of all charges, he loses the little hope he had left in the justice system and in himself. As Quincy is pushed to face his emotions and navigate his new reality, he is presented with an opportunity to take matters into his own hands to try and give his brother the justice he deserves.