Toronto Lift-Off Film Festival 2024
Network Round Shorts
Monday 8th July - Sunday 14th July
1. Matterhorn
Director/Writer: Anne Madeleine Mancosu
Producer: Florian Kasperski, Spandana Patanaik
United Kingdom
Synopsis: Two estranged sisters reconnect during their stay in Switzerland where terminally ill Maggie ends her life by means of assisted suicide.
2. Mr. Lamb
Director: Paul Morel
Writer: Sebastian Baczkiewicz
Producer: Gary Barber
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Synopsis:A successful business man returns to Dartmoor to fulfil a reckless promise made in a moment of desperation some eighteen years before.
3. Repercussions
Director/Writer: Gilad Levy
Producer: Emily Cronin
Country of Origin: Canada
Synopsis: Itay, a former combat medic haunted by grief and PTSD is asked by his teammate Tomer to play drums at their friend's memorial. Despite Itay’s refusal, Tomer attempts to reconnect by reminiscing about their army days, but instead triggers war flashbacks for Itay, leading to a traumatic incident with his girlfriend.
4. The Wagon Master
Director: Laura Valencia Cruz
Producer: Paul Cassar
Country of Origin: Canada
Synopsis: Hurst, a former advertising firm owner and part-time cowboy, inspires his community by creating a camp for at-risk youth.
5. Heavenly Flames
Director/Writer: Quentin Ferrant
Country of Origin: Canada
Synopsis: Two lonely souls searching for love ask St. Joseph for help.
6. Finding the light
Director: Lucian Vasile
Producer: Emily Howard
Country of Origin: Canada
Synopsis: A beautiful micro documentary exploring life after loss and the powerful healing that comes from a daily painting practice
7. Rat King
Director: Simon Balthazar
Country of Origin: Mexico
Synopsis: Rat King is a short dance film about a group of explorers stranded in an abandoned post-climate-disaster landscape, next to a strange green lake. They find an object which initially guides them but ultimately ensnares them. And why does it look so familiar?
8. Surviving Silence
Director: Ian Simon
Writer: Fareh Malik
Producer: Safa Ali Mudei
Country of Origin: Canada
Synopsis: SURVIVING SILENCE is a short film that explores the link between depression and movement. It finds the intersection of one's own painful hope---a journey into joyful thriving---and an invaluable tool of perseverance: dance.
9. The Inevitable Process Of Drowning
Director/Writer/Producer: Marco Bazzi
Country of Origin: Italy
Synopsis: After receiving a mysterious card, Ryan has 9 minutes to stop the procedure that forces him to kill his best friend.
10. The Lost Key
Director/Writer: Eyma Garçon
Producer: Oriana Di Nucci
Country of Origin: Canada
Synopsis: When a crypto investor discovers his crypto wallet has been stolen, he enlists the help of an old, technologically illiterate detective to help with his investigation; which through multiple twists and revealing flashbacks makes you wonder, does it really matter whodunit if you're rooting for the bad guy?
11. Kafka's Doll
Director/Writer:Bruno Simões
Producer: Humberto Santana, Roger Torras, Celine Fernandes
Country of Origin: Portugal
Synopsis: Inspired by an unproven myth, Kafka’s Doll is an animated short film that blends factual research, fiction, fantasy and myth into a single heart-warming story about loss.
12. Won't You Come Out
Director/Writer/Producer: Thomas Chiasson
Producers/Writers: Guillaume Forbes, Joshua Zuckermann
Country of Origin: Canada
Synopsis: Best friends Millie and Matty challenge the confines of everyday life for a taste of freedom. Their day begins in high spirits, but they are forced to change tack when Millie is locked away by her father. Now Matty becomes her liberator, and leads Millie into a night of unbridled adventure. Together Millie and Matty will test the limits of friendship and discover the price of hedonism.
13. Soulmate
Director & Writer: Richard Fenwick
Producer: Joe Binks
United Kingdom
Synopsis: Anna, a lonely computer coder, has been nurturing an illegal romance with an AI in a computer simulation for the past six months. When her company uncovers the affair, she’s forced into a desperate battle to save her precious relationship.
14. Opia
Director & Writer. Cosmo Calman
Produces. Daniel Betty, Yvonne Lorkin & Brad Taylor
New Zealand
Synopsis: Set in a modern cityscape.
Two young Graffiti Artists, both loners from different worlds, one of opulence the other of poverty, explore the streets. They hunt for new walls, evading the law and each other.
Through a trick of fate they cross paths. Curiosity is aroused. Nervously they meet and collaborate on a unique artwork and connect in an unspoken language.
Love.
15. Kruz'
Director & Writer: Loic Zimmermann
Producers: Loic Zimmermann, Anna Rybchenkov, Jane K Lee, & Martina Cloyd Schmidt
United States
Synopsis: "If hell is around the corner, Jonny got himself a ticket"
The film follows Jonny Favorite (Michael A. Barker) as he struggles to remember the truth about a specific day in his life, all while being questioned by Louise Cypher (Audrey Looye).
14. Forgiveness in F Minor
Director & Writer. Doug Sroka
Producer. Chad Tailor
Canada
Synopsis: Austin MacIntosh grew up in a loving, conservative, christian home with his younger brother Josh, mother Laura, and father Marc whom he shared a love of music with. Austin had a strong bond with his father who taught him piano from a young age. At the age of 16 Austin came out as gay to the one man he looked up to, his father. Instead of accepting Austin, Marc refused to believe or have any understanding of his son's sexuality and kicked him out of their home.
10 years later, and set in the present, Austin receives news of his father's death. He arrives home for his father's wake, desperate for the apology he never received. He is then forced to choose between an apology on his own terms, or the family he misses.