Thank you to all the filmmakers who participated in the Lift-Off Sessions Volume 7!
The festival platformed hundreds of films, each project worthy of recognition and celebration. We want to extend a giant thank you to everyone who took part and a special congratulations to all the incredible talent that went into making these projects.
Lift-Off Sessions is designed to be the entry into the Lift-Off Global Network. A platform for the avant-garde, Sessions isn't about selecting the 'best' or most 'commercial' projects; it is about providing a screening opportunity for everyone, connecting these new and emerging voices with new audiences. An option we hope highlights and educates each month!
Jury's Overall Winner
The Spirit of Dambe: Love and Legacy
Director: Mark Eyesan
Writer: Ezio Akwawo
Producer:Adeoyin Okuboyejo
Country of Origin: Nigeria, United Kingdom
Synopsis:
The Spirit of Dambe is the newest short film from Taeps.
The story centers on Farouk, a courageous 19-year-old, who enters a local Dambe tournament, where he must fight to save his sick grandmother and honor his family's legacy.
Get ready to immerse yourself in the rich culture and heritage of Northern Nigeria, authentically woven into a dynamic, action-packed narrative with the use of a popular local language (HAUSA) about Love and Legacy.
Season Award #16 Shortlist
Audience Choice Winners
BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
Director: AMELIA NASSER
Writer: FADZLI KAMARULZAMAN
Producer: Dr.Nasser Noor
Country of Origin: Malaysia
Synopsis:
"Between Two Worlds" is a heartfelt story of transformation, faith, and resilience. It explores the courage it takes to embrace change, the beauty of spiritual discovery, and the strength found in love and acceptance across cultures.
Stolen Ground: The Tygerberg Racetrack Land Invasion
Director/Writer/Producer: Joe Emilio
Country of Origin: South Africa
Synopsis:
A powerful documentary exposing the unlawful occupation of Tygerberg Raceway in Cape Town and the law that enables land grabs across South Africa. What begins as a local land dispute uncovers a national crisis of property rights, political silence, and legal loopholes.
La Luminaria – While the Flame Burns
Director/Writer: Maria
Country of Origin: Paraguay
Synopsis:
When Ana, a woman fractured by emotional wounds, discovers a mysterious violet candle, she’s pulled into a surreal inner world shaped by her own pain. There, guided by Phoenix — a soul born from resilience — Ana must confront forgotten versions of herself and decide whether to stay in a perfect illusion or return to a life that still hurts, but is real.
Beyond Expectations
Director: Flip Kwakkel
Producer: Divya Kohli
Country of Origin: Netherlands
Synopsis:
Divya pulls a cart behind her through different landscapes. The cart symbolizes expectations. Along the way, the cart becomes increasingly full and larger. Until she lets go of it at the top of a slope. The cart rolls backwards faster and faster through the different landscapes and becomes increasingly emptier and smaller.
SIDE LINES
Director/Writer: Michael Cloke
Producer: Donna Marie Sludds
Country of Origin: Ireland
Synopsis:
Set in Wexford, Ireland, Michael is a talented but struggling musician who spends his days busking on the bustling city streets, chasing a dream that seems just out of reach. Music is his soul, his refuge, the very thing that makes him feel alive. But the reality of rent payments and mounting bills looms over him like a storm cloud. His girlfriend, Siv, carries the weight of their shared financial burdens, working multiple jobs while growing increasingly frustrated at his inability or unwillingness to find more stable work.
Demons
Writer/Producer: Erin Elizabeth Cuellar
Country of Origin: United States
Synopsis:
Poem about the battle with inner demons.
Doggerland: The Dead & The Lonely
Director/Writer/Producer: Adam McHattie,
Writer/Producer:Matz Martyn
Producers: Simon Ian Wright,David Darko
Country of Origin: Spain
Synopsis:
Set in the wake of a viral outbreak that has ravaged the world, a failing survivalist, thinking he's the last human alive meets another who forces him to confront his grief and achieve his greatest goal... Not just to survive but to live.
Together they journey across the perilous and desolate Essex wasteland to find the fabled colony of Doggerland; The last remnant of a human society that hasn't fallen into barbarism. A dramedy about the impossible; making a friend in the apocalypse.
Cold Feet
Director/Writer/Producer: Ava Bella Nunziata
Country of Origin: United States
Synopsis:
As her wedding day approaches, Joy gets cold feet and goes to far extremes to back out of her engagement.
EPIPHANIA
Director/Writer/Producer: Benedetta Angeli
Country of Origin: Italy
Synopsis:
In a world of monotony and control, where individuality is erased, a girl finds a mysterious photo that will change life as she knows it, leading her on a dreamlike journey to rediscover freedom - or the illusion of it.
Aisle of Reflection
Director/Writer/Producer: Elizabeth Marie Noisette
Country of Origin: United States
Synopsis:
A young woman's patience is put to the test when an elderly man's racist comment forces her to confront contempt head-on, causing a chain reaction of rudeness among customers that finally results in a collective change of heart.
First or Last
Director/Writer/Producer: Emmett Burton
Producer: Derek Peters
Country of Origin: United States
Synopsis:
Andrew and Joseph are elderly brothers who face the hardships of rural life together. Everything changes when Joseph announces that he wants to die.
Lift-Off Season Awards #16
The Lift-Off Season Awards is an annual event that celebrates the very best of indie film. Following each Lift-Off film festival, films that have excelled in their respective category are short listed for a Season Awards Nomination. At the end of the year, once all the 12 city-based festival have taken place, the shortlisted nominated films are reviewed again by the jury and Official Nominations are designated. Click here for more information about the Lift-Off Season Awards.