New York Lift-Off Film Festival 2020 - Network Round Shorts

Wednesday 5th - Wednesday 19th August

1.

Astronaut
Dir. Pierre Ponchant
France
Logline: "Once upon a time, there was a broke guy who left the earth in a thrift store space suit Astronaut is a no budget Space Odyssey, a voyage into the imaginary world of a hero who, night after night, explores the universe seeking for a safe haven."

2.

OsWorld
Dir. Philip Hedegaard Povlsen
Denmark
Logline: "Oswald earns his living by making videos for his channel ""OsWorld"", on the video sharing platform, “MeTube”. The constant demand from his growing audience and insatiable ambition drives him forward. He must constantly plunge new depths to keep his subscribers, the “OsWorldians”, entertained. Despite him doing so, he feels that he is underachieving and wants more.
An opportunity presents itself in the form of a suicidal fan, offering his life for one of Oswald’s videos. He knows the “bad” publicity would perpetuate him to super stardom, but do the ends justify the means?

This dark comedic and intense thriller, will not only keep the audience entertained and on the edge of their seats, but also leave them questioning what cost their entertainment comes at."

3.

Dyed in the Wool
Dir. Bill Sorice
USA
Logline:  We follow Freddie and Ev, through NYC, as she networks with old friends and ex-coworkers in hopes of finding a new job in the fashion industry. Freddie is completely out of his comfort zone with the various array of characters he meets and has a difficult time holding back from speaking his mind.

4.

WHAT IS LOVE?
Dir. Jane Martin
USA
Logline:  The world as we know it is changing. What is holding us together is love...
Love is a word we all use, but rarely stop and try to define. ‘What Is Love?’ asks this question of people from all walks of life, ages, sexualities and cultures. Everyone brings unique stories of love: love lost, love won – perspectives both personal and universal. They speak from the depths of years of experience, from the freshness of youth, from the battlegrounds and successes of love

5.

Mommy's Calf
Dir. Victoria Runtsova
Russian Federation
Logline:  The small boy Vitya lives in a small village in the heart of Ural Mountains. He finds out that the 5 days old calf will forget his mother in one day. Vitya's life turns upside down. He deсides to return the calf back to his mom. Egor, his older brother helps Vitya. Two brothers deal with all challenges on thier way.

6.

Wherefore Art Thou, Theo?
Dir. Theodore Schaffer
USA
Logline: Wherefore Art Thou, Theo? is a short animation documenting the series of voicemails my mother sent me during a time of loss.

7.

The Basics
Dir. Mary Clare Plaschke & Ryan Beggs
USA
Logline: The Basics is an ensemble-based episodic comedy mini-series about a group of twenty-something women who shake up the mostly male-dominated world of NYC indie comedy to challenge the notion that they don't belong there.

8.

Mirror Site
Dir. Karl Richter
USA
Logline: A young man finds himself questioning his reality through a repetition of his life borne of his digital prison.

9.

Like Father
Dir. Jonathan Chekroune
USA
Logline: A man travels to a small town in hopes to find answers to his father’s disappearance.

10.

Kalangala Dreams
Dir. Daniel Hedström, Apollonia Meleouni, Sofie Andersson & Astrid Andersson Ahlbom
Sweden
Logline: The Kalangala region in Uganda depends largely on fishing. 19-year-old Ismael is a fisherman who dreams of a different life. In a village plagued by alcoholism and hard work, we get an insight into his life, which revolves around hopes, aspirations and comradery.

11.

Spanish Pigeon
Dir. Stefan J Fideli, Philip Barantini
UK
Logline: Down on their luck tricksters Richie and John, plan and execute an elaborate con against a wealthy city player, Harry Gold. However with Detective Inspector Greene sniffing around, are the odds still in their favour?

12.

Terahvin (Thirteenth)
Dir. Swaminathan Venkatraman
USA
Logline:  Tehravin is the story of a man who mourns a death for 13 days (as per Hindu rites) as he reflects back on his life and emerges stronger at the end of the thirteenth day as he moves on in his life.
I have written, edited and directed this short movie as a part of my course in New York Film Academy. The requirement of this project was to not use sound (no dialogues allowed) and only use background music.

13.

ZOO (In Between)
Dir. Will Niava
Canada
Logline:  A misunderstanding between three juveniles and a troubled man escalates to a point of no return.

14.

Kama Susan
Dir. Gail Gilbert & Joe Shetina
USA
Logline: Kama Susan is a comedy web series about a 25-year-old girl who experiments with different men and women in order to create her own original sex guide..

15.

It's a Girl Thing
Dir. Augusta Mariano
USA
Logline:  It's A Girl Thing is an honest depiction of what many women experience in college. It is a female centric and female driven series that uses each episode to highlight a way in which women experience the world around them differently than men during their late teens and early twenties.

16.

Breaking the Silence
Dir. Seayoon Jeong
USA
Logline:  Francesca, tormented by her past for nearly forty years, finally breaks the silence to tell the truth about her past.

17.

Hey Dreamer
Dir. David Erba
USA
Logline: This multi-genre film starts with three seemingly unconnected stories. In the first tale, a down on his luck movie director finds inspiration as two optimists cross paths while trying to make the world a better place in the other plots. The stories all come together and unite for a feel-good ending.

18.

Missing
Dirs. Alexander Hankoff
USA
Logline:  MISSING is a meditative character study focusing on Paul Harper, a desperate father who's exhaustive search for his lost son has led him down a path of unintended exile.