HollyShorts 18th continues to celebrate pride with its unique film selections. HollyShorts 18th, the Oscar-qualifying film festival line-up features the following films. The first is Zen Pace’s FRAUD stars trans actress Dana Aliya Levinson. Dana plays a petty credit card fraudster. She finds her life forever changed when her latest target surprises her with an unforeseen proposition.
Secondly, P.J. Palmer’s heart-wrenching NORTH STAR stars Emmy-nominated actor Colman Domingo. In North Star Colman Domingo plays a rural rancher. His ailing husband struggles against poverty and isolation. They make a heart-breaking decision to preserve the dignity of their marriage.
gay and LGBTQ+ activist Antonio Marziale directs STARFUCKER. Its a tale of an intimate evening between a film director and an escort. But their private moment is suffers an interruption when a familiar face arrives.
Sam Max’s directs a chilling short film titled CHAPERONE starring Zachary Quinto. As the chaperone who picks up a young man in his car. The two drive together and settle into an austere rental house in the country. Later, the details of their arrangement become guttingly clear.
Kaz PS directs PROXY which stars DeWanda Wise a woman who is a surrogate for a couple with fertility issues. Soon, they decide they no longer want the child when the child who is has a genetic illness.
April Maxey shines with her film WORK. The story of Gabi is played by Marisela Zumbado who struggles to move on from a recent breakup. And impulsively drops into an old job at an underground lap dance party. There she runs into a friend from her past.
COMING OUT WITH THE HELP OF A TIME MACHINE is directed by Naman Gupta. The short is A unique, never before seen LGBTQ, sci-fi, immigrant family drama.
Harris Doran’s F^¢k ‘Em R!ght B@¢k stars queer Baltimore rapper Ddm Ddm. A queer black aspiring Baltimore rapper outwits his vengeful day-job boss to avoid getting fired after accidentally eating an edible.
Queer director Gbenga Komolafe gives us 100% USDA CERTIFIED ORGANIC HOMEMADE TOFU. It tells a story about trans people that you don’t see often. One that really strays away from tragedy and the harsh realities of the world.
HARD directed by Robin Takao D’Oench follows the story of a teenage boy who experiences awkwardness and struggles to navigate the uncertainties of his sexuality after his first time with a girl doesn’t go as expected, forcing him to confront his feelings of desire for his best friend.
Sarah Kaskas’s THE WINDOW shares the story of two girls who meet a year after the Beirut explosion in their old bedroom. Surrounded by a view of the port’s remains, the two women attempt to resolve their shared trauma and broken relationship. Valentin Stejskal’s 5PM SEASIDE dives into Nikos, a solitary truck driver’s 4oth birthday, he arrives on a remote beach. where he’s going to meet his former military buddy Christos, whom he hasn’t seen for many years.
Aisha Evelyn’s ALEX shares the story of a young unassuming black woman who is forced to reckon with judgement when all-too-familiar systems kick into gear and things accelerate out of control. ALL I EVER WANTED directed by Erin Lau shares the story of rom-com obsessed teen Christine has always longed for the picture-perfect romance – but she’s soon confronted with the fact that her ideal prince charming might actually be a princess charming instead.
Tan Yi’s ALL THE CROWS IN THE WORD is a story about an 18-year-old school girl shenanigans enters a night of adventure in the adults’ world. LGBTQ+ advocate Rylee Jean Ebsen’s BOOMERANG follows a flailing millennial forced to move back into her childhood bedroom and navigate life with her dysfunctional parents. Determined to take on a lover, she re-connects with a middle school crush.
CATALINA directed by Tyler Rabinowitz starring LGBTQ+ Sam DiGiovanni as a queer man and his two childhood best friends reunite for a weekend camping trip on Catalina Island. Writer Rae Binstock and director Zoe Martinson’s DIVR shares the tale of three founders of an exclusive lesbian sex app that may be shattering the start-up world’s glass ceilings, but the pressures of success have begun to threaten the integrity of their friendship – and worse, their brand.
Sining Xiang shares a heart-warming story with his film FOREIGN UNCLE, when Sining brings his American boyfriend, Patrick, back to China to visit his family. After Sining accidentally comes out to them, everyone’s attitude towards Patrick goes south – except for Sining’s 7-year-old nephew, Naonao.
Emma Needell’s LIFE RENDERED is set in the near future, Mark splits his time between rural Colorado and virtual reality. In rural Colorado, he is his disabled father’s caretaker. In virtual reality, he finds LGBTQ+ love. SKIN CAN BREATHE by Chheangkea Ieng is a lyrical short filmabout a boy coming of age and coming of worlds. It is about our longing to understand our own complex network of identities that gets very confusing very fast when they collide with one another.
In the short hybrid documentary, THE ACT OF COMING OUT the filmmaker, Alexandra Stergiou invites queer and trans actors to interpret what she calls “the never-ending process of coming out.” The film takes the form of a casting tape, and the actors perform the ordinary yet emotionally charged act in ways both devised and improvised, with Stergiou rotating between the roles of director and scene partner.
Sean Lionadh’s TOO ROUGH follows the story of Nick who after a night of intoxication, hungover and hysterical wakes up next to his boyfriend Charlie and must conceal him from his own homophobic and dysfunctional family.
Nicole Castro, Daniel Sol and Theo Dumont said in a joint statement: “It’s truly a pleasure to announce this year’s official selections for HollyShorts as we embark on our 18th anniversary of the Oscar-qualifying festival with 2 Academy Award winners this past year and 6 nominees. This year, we have a record of 41 countries represented in the official selections, which truly speaks to the global impact short films are having. We can’t wait to share these incredibly talented short films at this year’s festival and thank all the filmmakers who have submitted along with all of our amazing staff and incredible sponsors for supporting us.”
This year’s hybrid celebration of short films at HollyShorts 18th will take place in-person with screenings at world-renowned TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood and virtually through the official festival streaming platform BITPIX.
HollyShorts 18th screenings will take place from August 11-20 at TLC Chinese Theatres, 6801 Hollywood Blvd. 3rd Level, Hollywood, CA, 90028, followed by the annual awards gala on August 20.
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