Festival Films
BEYOND received a record number of submissions this year from filmmakers from all over the world. This year’s exciting lineup of short films spans genres and offers something for everyone.
See this year’s Lineup
BLOCK ONE
Thursday / Oct. 7 / 7 PM
Friday / Oct. 8 / 9 PM
Spotlight
Director / Animator: L. Ash
Music: Barnaby Bright
“Spotlight” is the official music video for Barnaby Bright’s 2021 single. The narrative explores fame and celebrity in the volatile age of social media. This animation is made up of 6,800 hand drawn frames.
Wear
Director / Writer / Producer: Randolph Benson
As she’s quarantined at home in the midst of the worst global pandemic in a century, Kat makes masks.
All Shook Up
Director / Writer / Producer: Matthew Ramsaur
Writers: Christina July Kim, Samuel F. Brantley
Danny is an awkward yet kind physical therapist learns to overcome his fears through lucid dreaming.
Otava
Director /Writer: Lana Bregar
Producer: Nina Robnik
An adolescent girl tries to dream about memories of Mother while having to be physically present in the surrounding farm with grandmother.
Un Cafecito
Director / Writer / Producer: Katia Carmichael
A story about what unites American-Latinx more than anything else, and coffee.
Pre-Existing Freedom
Director / Writer: Frederick Taylor
Producer: Ellen Barnard
In the year 2020 the world took a turn for the worst or the better depending on how you look at it.
…And Then the Darkness
Director / Writer: Andrew Huggins
Writer / Producer: Jay N. Cohen
A pharmacist seeks revenge as he searches for the man who took everything from him.
The Scavenger
Director / Writer / Producer: W. Jarvis Rooker
In a global warming future where food is rare, naive teenager Girl rebels against her overbearing father in order to save their family farm from invading pillagers.
Her Skin
Director / Writer: Cameron Parker
Producers: Cherise Honore, Maya Penna-Scheer
When first-time director Ravyn is confronted by an established executive producer days out from her first major production, she tries to convince him out of recasting their lead actress. By challenging the bias underlying his decision, Ravyn could end her career before it starts.
BLOCK TWO
Thursday / Oct. 7 / 9 PM
Saturday / Oct. 9 / 11AM
PROSE
Director: Kevin Wilson
Writer / Producer: Aja Cooper
Producers: Clarielle Marsh, Allan Meade Jr.
An English exam takes two college students on a journey of defining their relationship.
Good Boy Cerberus
Director / Writer: MK Singleton
Writers: Kam Szeliga, Vale Stanley
Producers: Emily Gallinger, Bobby Mageau
When Cerberus, a three-headed puppy, ends up on the lord of the underworld’s doorstep, he goes through guard dog training to become useful to his new master. Will he remain a cute and loving puppy, or end up the monster that he was born to be?
The Best You Got
Writer / Director / Producer: Taz Lake
Before starting their lives on earth, customers must get their plans approved by an unusual banker and his two assistants.
Our Side
Director / Writer: Nicola Rinciari
Producer: Emily Dillard
After a new immigration law makes her visa invalid, Adillah, a caregiver from Ghana, must decide whether to save herself or the elderly Sicilian man in her care.
The Secret Gift
Director / Writer / Producer: Sheila Conlin
Writer: Tracy Baumgardner
Producer: Lauren Conlin Adams
The story of a get-together that was more than a decade in the making. Eight brothers and sisters spanning 20 years reminisce about a mom with “surgical” advice and a dad who was a judge, with one sibling who has a profound secret.
New Mexico Deathwish Diatribe
Director: Georg Koszulinski
Three narrators converge in the deserts of New Mexico, each with a separate story to tell. One narrator is J. Robert Oppenheimer, another is an extraterrestrial being, and the other is me.
Almost a Jingle
Director / Writer: Bishen Sen
Writer / Producer: Francois Byers
Writer: Ait Fetterolf
Producers: Heath Franklin, Brenden Hubbard
A struggling jingle writer befriends a nurse after a failed suicide attempt.
Death Returns
Director / Producer: Jeff Corpening
Writer: Jeff Corpening
Producer: Betsy Pearl Cardwell
When Mr. Bookman’s time comes, things don’t go as smoothly as he hoped. As it turns out, Death holds a grudge.
Nutcracker
Director / Writer: Michael Aronson
Producer: Nathaniel Kweku
While Shelly bears this monotonous retail sporting goods job, her attempts to unite the slow and sweaty grind with the sizzle of her fantasies prove frustrating until she catches coworkers playing a provocative game in the stockroom. Will her desire for validation outweigh her self-worth?
This film contains scenes of sexual violence and adult language. Viewer discretion advised.
BLOCK THREE
Friday / Oct. 8 / 2 PM
Saturday / Oct. 9 / 4 PM
A Moment of Humanity
Director / Writer / Producer: Randall Moser
On the battlefields of France during World War I, two soldiers, one American and one German, find themselves outcasts from their units at the far reaches of the trenches. Neither fit for war but both searching for a purpose.
Little Girl Grace
Writer / Director / Producer: Taz Lake
When her constant attempts to befriend a stoic old man go unanswered, a young girl must discover why.
El Otoño De Tus Labios
Director / Writer / Producer: Moisés Sánchez
In 1965, the young painter Julio Visquerra, during an exhibition of his paintings in Costa Rica, meets the love of his life, Helena, a ballet dancer, but a tragedy will change many situations. In the autumn of life, Julio remembers the unforgettable spring kisses of his immortal beloved, expressing his feelings through art.
Bandwidth
Directors / Writers / Producers: Pat Battistini, Robert Francke
Producer: Jason Goulet
Frank’s important job interview on Zoom goes south due to his “stay at home” Covid precautious family using up his bandwidth.
Becoming Black Lawyers
Director / Producer: Evangeline M. Mitchell
Producer: Jalene Mack
When these five Black lawyers set out on their journeys to receive a professional legal education, they did not realize that they would have to struggle against additional battles even more challenging than the rigors of learning the law in a hypercompetitive environment. They discover the contradictions of studying in an institution that idealistically represents justice for all.
MLK JR BLVD.
Director: Kareem McMichael
Writer: Chad Penchion
Producer: Riana Love
Follow the life of a young artist and music lover, De’Andre, who is dealing with resentment and grief from the loss of his dad, a police officer killed in the line of duty. He resents that his father worked for a system he feels oppresses people and expresses his distrust for the system through art.
Yard Sale
Directors: Andrew Huggins, Donna Whitmore-Sexton
Writer: Andrew Huggins, John Sexton
Shoppers unexpectedly fall in love with items at a yard sale and express their excitement in unusual ways.
Grief
Director / Writer / Producer: Alex Coppedge
Avoidance has become Robert and Lynn’s method to fill a void of grief generated by the incessant demands of their opiate addicted son, Bryan. After a barrage of phone calls, they discover home isn’t a physical space – it’s an emotional one – and avoidance is merely enablement and the failure to fix a divided relationship.
Deepwater Sponger
Director / Writer: Connor Ryan
Producer: Dillon Dipietro
In an alternate 1927 destroyed by pollution, a diver ventures into the Earth’s mysterious ocean to find its last cache of fresh water and save humankind. His treacherous descent brings him face to face with untold horrors, forcing him to decide how much he’s willing to sacrifice for the sake of the mission.
BLOCK FOUR
Friday / Oct. 8 / 7 PM
Saturday / Oct. 9 / 7 PM
3:35 To Boston
Director / Producer: Kay Barnes
Writer / Producer: Barbara Autin
A military wife, struggling to balance all the pieces of her life, breaks down when she realizes the life she had originally planned for herself may not be possible.
Mixed Head
Director / Writer: Isaiah Forte-Rose
Writer: Andres Cornejo
A difficult decision must be made by a group of the same person, each of whom have a different personality.
Otonashi
Director / Writer / Producer: Martin Gerigk
Otonashi is a philosophical voyage through inner and outer experiences of the human existence – an audiovisual meditation of futuristic transmutations about the Japanese Hannya Shingyō.
Alien Guy Tim
Director / Producer: Scott Simerly Jr.
Writer / Producer: Patrick McElroy
An outcast, Alien Guy Tim, wants to prove that he has been abducted by aliens, but encounters many obstacles along the way.
Le Varou
Director / Writer: Marie Heyse
Producer: Carine Rusznieswki
Ever since Gabi has been living alone in her caravan on the edge of the woods, a mysterious beast has been prowling around after dark.
Free Order
Director / Writer / Producer: Brian Sheehan
A delivery driver becomes involved in a customer’s family situation.
Shadowboxing
Director / Writer: Zander Heiselman
Writers: Reece Clemmons, Ralph Parker
Producer: Jenna Cusack
Fighting in an underground MMA league, a young fighter named Miles and his coercive father have dreams of being the best in the sport. After Miles believes he’s accidentally killed one of his opponents, he struggles to confront his father, his emotions, and the bet wagered by an agent that could make or break his career.
Moments
Director / Writer / Producer: Jeremy Carr
A middle-aged widower processes grief through a subtle connection with a neighborhood jogger.
