SPOTLIGHT
FILM AWARDS
Spotlight After Party at Tavernpointe
Behave, Kids
By Tripp Crosby - 10 min - USA
Good boy youth pastor Greggor and his sensual girlfriend Kim have been invited over to house sit for Greggor’s new Bible beating boss Pastor Tom. It’s a suspicious gig, but once Tom and his wife leave, Greggor and Kim are free to do whatever they want in a house they assume they have all to themselves.
We Should Hang Out More
By Marquelle "Kelley" Young & Kelly Dawkins - 13 min
Two college students on summer break create an amateur detective agency to solve the case of a stolen scooter and a missing fish.
Best Narrative Short Nominees
Tavernpointe is located directly across the hall from the Synchronicity Theatre
Best of Spotlight Horror Shorts
WINNER!
WINNER!
Peggy
by Justin Miller - 12 min. - USA
Everything seems to work out perfectly for Peggy, but her social graces are put to the test when she is surrounded by admiring and covetous parents at a birthday party for her eight-year-old son. Chaos ensues.
Jackrabbit
By Alex Feggans - 8 min - Australia
Jed lives with his father at a remote gas station in Australia. They take a special interest in an Italian backpacker who stops by to refuel.
The Peephole
By Enrique Manzo Escamilla - 8 min. - Mexico
A man hears screams from outside of his apartment. Through the peephole, he sees a woman in trouble. When he opens the door to help her, he discovers something terrifying.
Adams
By Tom Stern - 20 min - USA
Based on a short story by Man Booker Prize winning author George Saunders, Adams is a very dark comedy starring Patton Oswalt and Fred Armisen. Oswalt plays Roger, a regular guy who's always been suspicious of Adams (Armisen), his pretentious next door neighbor. One day Roger comes home to find Adams standing in his kitchen in his underwear. The allegorical conflict that ensues explores themes like fear of the other and anti-intellectualism that are very much of the moment in America today.
Don’t Croak
By Daun Kim - 2 min - USA
An agile long-legged frog escapes from being dissected by a frenzied determined 12 years old girl.
Best Documentary short Nominees
Lobisome
By Juan De Dios Garduño - 11 min. - Spain
Jorge and Iván receive a simple assignment: steal a briefcase and deliver it to their client in the bathrooms of an airport. What they did not imagine is that the briefcase contains a thousand-year curse.
Dear, Dreamer
by Kristian Melom - 11 min. - USA
“Dear, Dreamer” is a lyrical portrait of the life and work of rising literary star Jason Reynolds. Best known as a New York Times Best-Selling author and mentor to young adults, this short documentary finds Jason in the writer’s room preparing for the release of his next book. Here we catch a rare glimpse of a singular artist and thinker as he traverses the schools and landscapes of modern-day America. “Dear, Dreamer” is a testament to our shared experiences and the power of seeing yourself in books. It was produced in collaboration with the hardworking students, educators and dreamers who are dedicated to the written word.
Jerky
By: Amy Trefry & Brent Braaten - 13 min. - Canada
A Feminist Poetic Horror movie about a recluse falconer, her quirky neighbour Alice, and the things in the forest that slither between the trees.
Gryphon Animo
By Matthew Maloney - 11 min. - Spain, USA
To save his ailing sister, an unlikely hero must journey afar to pluck a feather from the mighty Gryphon.
Dictoven
by Ammar Nusry - 7 min - USA
A delusional dictator gets ready for the arrival of his massive piano. He snaps out of delusion in the midst of his spectacular performance to realize that the music and the world are not what he thought they were. Still in denial he orders his soldiers and guards to fix it, the only way he knows how, brute force.
The Loneliest Man in the World by Pacifico
By Tiffany Sewell, Jonathan Downing - 4 min - USA
The video was made as a metaphor for the creative process as a whole, a visualization of the often lonely and often beautiful cycle of creating and sharing.
WINNER!
Shelter Me
By Zach Lawson - 20 min - USA
The only hope for a million stray cats and dogs in Texas may be one woman...and her camera. Professional photographer Nanette Martin returns to her hometown of Houston, TX to battle the city's stray animal crisis in this gripping documentary short.
Molly
by Phyllis Jackson - 10 min
He’s just your average, middle-aged divorcee looking for his first fix. Today he meets Molly.
I Think My Dead Sister is Following Me Around
By David Nobles - 14 min
A woman begins to see her dead sister, and as the ghost lingers, it eventually brings up their fractured relationship.
Join us Saturday, January 11, 2020 at the Synchronicity Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia as we present the top short films of the year. The audience will decide who takes home the awards for the best of the year!
Address:
1545 Peachtree St. NE suite 102, Atlanta, Georgia 30309
The theatre is located inside the Invesco building.
Saturday, January 11, 2020 at 7:30 pm
Go Back
By Matthew Barber & Nathaniel Barber - 7 min. - USA
In the fall of 1978, a distraught commuter travels down a haunted country road only to discover that its inhabitants have other plans.
WINNER!
Best Local Short Nominees
WINNER!
WINNER!
(Un)Divided
by Paul Raila - 11 min. - USA
Amina is an Iraqi American refugee and Muslim. Joe is a Trump supporter who was afraid of Muslims in America — until he met Amina.
The widening political division and polarization of our world have become so personal, and so volatile, that the very idea of civil, open-minded conversation can seem unreachable at times, and solutions scarce — until you meet Amina and Joe. Their unlikely friendship is the clearest example of how best to listen and collaborate across political divides.
Godspeed
by Sunny Wai Yan Chan - 3 min - USA
Godspeed is a story about a mother saying goodbye to her son at the airport.
Withorwithout
By Benjamin Howdeshell - 7 min - USA
Benjamin Howdeshell partners with film icon Milla Jovovich in directing a horror short film-slash-music video for the Berlin-based band Parcels. The all-too-real fears of home invasion create an unexpected and genius backdrop for the track “Withorwithout,” as Howdeshell crafts a film fraught with palpable tension.
Half-Cocked
By Aaron Barrocas - 16 min. - USA
Two brilliant yet shortsighted scientists find themselves ill-prepared when the experiment of their lives goes horribly right.
Saturday, January 11, 2020 at 3:45 pm
La Noria
By Carlos Baena - 12 min. - Spain
A young boy who loves to draw and build ferris wheels encounters strange creatures that turn his life upside down.
Toxic
by Khitam Jabr - 6 min. - USA
Calvin Arsenia's music video for TOXIC by Britney Spears
Saturday, January 11, 2020 at 9:00 PM
JAnuary 11, 2020 at Synchronicity Theatre
Duke
By Thiago Dadalt - 17 min. - USA
Duke is a heartwarming story about a nonverbal autistic 17-year-old struggling in school and at home. With an overprotective mother and barely-there father, Duke must fight to find his voice, stay in school, and keep his family from falling apart.
Give Us Free
By Mac Grant, Chad Tennies - 20 min - USA
Told through the eyes of two men, one a white police officer and the other a black mechanic, the story follows a day in the life of each, highlighting the fact that the two are more similar than they appear on the surface. These two lives eventually collide with tragic consequences. The story takes an omniscient look at the theme of race perception in today's America, challenging the audience to think instead of telling them what to think.
Trouble In My Mind
by Allison Flom - 4 min - USA
Official Music Video for Hero The Band's latest single. Hero The Band is an Atlanta-based rock alternative group comprised of 4 biological brothers. They are signed to Lava Records/Universal Music Group and are committed to spreading a positive message through their music and story.
Spotlight Film Awards
Saturday January 11, 2020 at 1:00 pm
Lost In Carranza
By Marin Troude - 23 min - USA
In the night of October 12th 2015, Pablo Carranza falls back into hard drugs despite his sobriety and battle against years of addiction. Alone in his apartment, filled with regret and guilt, he decides to confess by leaving a final voice message for his first love.
Best Comedy Short Nominees
Best Animated and Music Video Nominees
Venue
Saturday, January 11, 2020 at 6:15 pm
Best Horror Short Nominees
Fever
Brian Rosenthal - 8 min. - USA
A dark supernatural presence stalks a sick little girl and her skeptical mother.
Limerence
Charlene Fisk - 9 min
When 10-year-old Park works up the nerve to give the girl across the street a love note, she faces the judgement of those closest to her. Will Park remain true to herself or become what others expect her to be?
How Far
By Alexis Ostrander - 11 min. - USA
An intense psychological thriller about bystander effect, gender inequality, and rape in America after a bus ride home for the holidays goes terribly wrong.
Saturday, January 11, 2020 at 5:00 pm
Night Crawl
By Gregory Shultz - 9 min. - USA
Two inmates tunnel through the walls of a hellish prison, only to find something more terrifying than death row.
Here There Be Monsters
By Drew Macdonald - 15 min. Australia
To escape incessant bullying on the bus ride home, a young girl falls asleep only to wake up trapped at an empty bus yard, with something lurking outside - something big - and if she wants to make it out alive, this frightened girl will have to unleash a monster of her own.
PhotoBomb
By Catherine Dyer - 9 min
Four strong women, two bumbling goons and one pair of red sunglasses make for a night to remember.
WINNER!
Saturday January 11, 2020 at 2:20 PM
Sex Planet - Lacie
By Zach Strum - 3 min. - USA
An exploration of identity through an androgynous male.