Emerging Filmmaker Showcase 2023

EMERGING FILMMAKER SHOWCASE 2023 FILMS

MAY 22 - MAY 25, 2023

EMERGING FILMMAKER SHOWCASE

EMERGING FILMMAKER SHOWCASE

EMERGING FILMMAKER SHOWCASE

EMERGING FILMMAKER SHOWCASE Since 1989, The American Pavilion has offered unparalleled experiences in Cannes to film students and emerging filmmakers from around the world. AmPav’s Emerging Filmmaker Showcase provides an opportunity for filmmakers to have their works seen by Cannes Festival and Film Market attendees. Finalist films will be screened at The American Pavilion. Each of our five categories of exceptional and diverse 2023 films (Emerging Filmmaker, LGBTQ+, Student, High School Films and Alumni Showcases) will be featured to our American Pavilion audiences followed by a live filmmaker Q&A. Jury Award prizes will be awarded to filmmakers.

“As we celebrate the Emerging Film Showcase’s 15th year as a competition, we are proud to welcome 38 official selections, more than half of which were directed by women,” said Julie Sisk, Founder and Director of The American Pavilion. “Since its inception in 1997, this has evolved into a prestigious event for up-and-coming filmmakers such as Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther”) who showed his USC student film in 2009, Manjari Makijany (“Skater Girl,” “Spin”) who screened two of her shorts with us, and Alex Camilleri (“Luzzu”) who won the Emerging Filmmaker Showcase student documentary award for his Vassar College short film in 2010.

“We received record-breaking submissions from our alumni this year, so we launched an alumni showcase to support them as they continue to grow in their careers,” says Monika Skerbelis, Director of the Emerging Filmmaker Showcase.

The Alumni Showcase received more than 35 submissions from alumni and 9 submissions from student program alumni.

The American Pavilion would like to thank our sponsors

2023 EFS SCHEDULE

2023 EFS SCHEDULE

MONDAY, MAY 22

TUESDAY, MAY 23

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24

THURSDAY, MAY 25

12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

3:30 PM - 6:00 PM

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

EMERGING FILMMAKER STUDENT SHOWCASE OF SHORT FILMS AND DOCUMENTARIES AND AWARDS PRESENTATION Big Mama’s Antiques & Restoration (11 min) El Carrito (15 min) Azizam (15 min) Beyond the Chair (8 min) Backlog (18 min) Waves Apart (25 min) Fathead (20 min)

EMERGING FILMMAKER LGBTQ+ SHOWCASE FOLLOWED BY AWARDS PRESENTATION Fearless: Jazmin Theodora (5 min) Show Pony (18 min) Stealth (24 min) Ambrosia (15 min) A Question Of Service (25 min) Seven Minutes (9 min) Benny & James (14 min) The Letter Men (9 min) Nana Dara is Gay (8 min)

EMERGING FILMMAKER ALUMNI SHOWCASE Warriors: The Bernie Mac Disease (24 min) All In (15 min) Incomplete (10 min) Handwritten (9 min) Scam (8 min)

EMERGING FILMMAKER HIGH SCHOOL FILMS SHOWCASE AND AWARDS PRESENTATION Gone (5 min) ID(iots) (13 min) Bee the Solution (9 min) One For the Birds (9 min) ‘TU:LI: (11 min) Hiccup (10 min) Life of Mayfly (6 min) Little Witches (12 min) My Sisters in the Stars: The Story of Lee Yong-Soo (10 min) The Audition (8 min)

3:30 PM - 5:30 PM

EMERGING FILMMAKER SHOWCASE FILMS FOLLOWED BY AWARDS PRESENTATION De Closin Night (20 min) Choices (13 min) New Shoes (19 min) Latchkey (11 min) Shower Boys (9 min) Lunchbox (16 min) Employee of the Month (19 min) 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM

PRIVATE RECEPTION ON THE TERRACE AT THE AMERICAN PAVILION FOR ALL SHOWCASE FILMMAKERS

2023

EMERGING FILMMAKER SHOWCASE STUDENT SHORT FILMS & DOCUMENTARIES

2023

EMERGING FILMMAKER LGBTQ+ SHOWCASE

BIG MAMA’S ANTIQUES & RESTORATION

FATHEAD

FEARLESS: JAZMIN THEODORA

BENNY & JAMES

2021, 11 min., USA, Documentary, Low Key Arts

2023, 20 min., USA, Action/Fantasy, University of Southern California

2021, 4:36 min., Australia, Documentary/LGBTQ+

2023, 14:50 min., USA, Drama/LGBTQ+

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Gabriel Henk

WRITER/DIRECTOR: c. Craig

PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Nicole Sullivan

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Logan Vaughn

PRODUCER: Low Key Arts

PRODUCER: Mitchell Graham Colley, Anthony Gaitros, Letia Solomon,

CAST: Jazmin Theodora

PRODUCER: Laurie Bernhard, Ria Pavia, Mayon Denton, Robert Arnold

Jazmin is a positive person, a psychic and tarot card reader. All her life she has tried to stay true to herself, paying no mind to those who wanted to tear her down. At 83, she plays an active part in her community, and her psychic abilities attract people from all around Australia.

CAST: Phillip James Brannon, Calvin Leon Smith

SHOW PONY

THE LETTER MEN

2021, 17:41 min., USA, Drama/LGBTQ+

2022, 8:41 min., USA, Drama/LGBTQ+

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Meghan Lennox

DIRECTOR: Andy Vallentine

PRODUCER: Meghan Lennox, Julianna Gelinas Bonifacio

WRITER: Andy Vallentine, Danny Vallentine

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Christian Papierniak

PRODUCER: Mike Diaz, Cameron Hutchison, Siddharth Ganji, Garrett Clayton,

CAST: Stanley Ray Stevenson

Antique store owner, Stanley Ray Stevenson, has a collection that would rival many museums, but many of his objects paint a complex portrait of American History from the civil war to the present.

EL CARRITO 2021, 15:20 min., USA, Subtitles, Drama, University California Los Angeles WRITER/DIRECTOR: Zahida Pirani PRODUCER: Zahida Pirani, Mauricio Piratova, Ran Yan CAST: Eli Zavala, Idalia Limón, Jose Febus, Eduardo Gonzales, Jayden Toledo,

Vanessa Ortiz Nelly lives alone with her elderly father. The only way she makes ends meet is by working as a street vendor from dawn to dusk. She has learned not to trust anyone until one day she is forced to take a leap of faith or be resigned in her position forever.

AZIZAM 2022, 15 min., USA, (Subtitles), Drama, Santa Monica College WRITER/DIRECTOR: Alci Rengifo PRODUCER: José Gutiérrez, Katia Arami EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Salvador Carrasco CAST: Shahrooz Mahmoodi, Afshin Katanchi, Zina Torab, Wayne Hodges,

Rana Ghiassi, Nakta Pahlevan, Ali Azizian Iran in 1971. Two young students from opposite ends of society meet by the sea in a time where revolution hangs in the air. Bijan, the son of aristocrats close to the regime of the Shah, prepares to leave for college and feels the pressures of a future already decided by his powerful father. He meets Layla, a girl from the wrong side of Tehran, who forces him to question everything.

Their bond will challenge class and social divisions in a world soon to disappear.

BEYOND THE CHAIR 2022, 8:05 min., USA, Documentary, Florida State University PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Thomas Edward Hindy DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Samuel Benitez CAST: Eden Schroeder

An ambitious college student, EDEN SCHROEDER, is paralyzed from the chest down in a swimming accident and learns to live with her disability.

BACKLOG 2023, 18.06 min., USA, Drama/Social Justice, University of Southern California WRITER/DIRECTOR: Jacqueline Elyse Rosenthal PRODUCER: Robin Wang, Marian Cook, Josh Powell CAST: Jill Renner, Bailey Humiston, Bradley Layne Beachum, Avis Murphy,

Gary Daniel Mosher, Ivan Ellis, Natalie D. Woodard, Madeline Rae Heyman, Beth Fraser The true story of a young collegiate woman who tried to find justice for three years for her shelved rape kit—only to become the key witness in the Senate hearing to end the rape kit backlog. Can she trust the system that betrayed her?

Alexa Villarreal, Brandyn Johnson CAST: Kapri Ladd, Tremari Limbrick, Tika Sumpter, Notlim Taylor

When one of the last free children of Junkyard Paradise has her brother stolen away from her, no Ragamuffin army or vicious beasts will stop her from getting him back.

CAST: Britt Lower, Clara McGregor

2022, 24:55 min., USA, Documentary, University of Southern California DIRECTOR: Josh Greene PRODUCER: Aslan Dalgic, Ela Passarelli

What happens when your passion conflicts with your heritage? A Jewish surfer confronts the dark, antisemitic history of the sport he once loved.

Matthew Postlethwaite CAST: Matthew Postlethwaite, Garrett Clayton

Kate, a painter who hasn’t created new work in years, finds inspiration when she happens upon an adult ballet class and quickly becomes infatuated with her teacher, Laura. As their lives intertwine, Kate is shocked to discover a side of Laura she struggles to embrace.

Based on the largest collection of queer love letters from WWII, The Letter Men is a window into the untold true story of two gay men desperately in love but torn apart by war.

STEALTH

NANA DARA IS GAY

2021, 23:53 min. USA, Drama/LGBTQ+

2023, 7:48 min., USA, Comedy/LGBTQ+

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Astor Kim-Stark

DIRECTOR: Andrea Maxwell

PRODUCER: Mona Xia, Sage Sokol-Lanting, Damon Laguna

WRITER: Tammy Lynne Stoner, Andrea Maxwell

CAST: Danell Leyva, Kyler O’Neal, Ashton Grooms, Raven Miles

PRODUCER: Theresa Gallagher, Diana C. Zollicoffer, Andrea Maxwell

A stealth trans woman has a run-in with the Unicorn Gang.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Greg Tally, Tammy Lynn Stoner CAST: Theresa Burkhart Gallagher, Sheri Mann Stewart, Puppett,

AMBROSIA 2022, 15 min., USA, Documentary/LGBTQ+, Chapman University PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Isabella Miller, Gabe Braden CAST: Ambrosia Starling

An activist drag queen in rural Alabama is forced to keep her identity secret as she fights for human rights in a race against the systematic erasure of her own history.

A QUESTION OF SERVICE 2022, 24:50 min., USA, Drama/LGBTQ+ DIRECTOR: Erin Brown Thomas WRITER: Hans Obma PRODUCER: Elle Shaw POST PRODUCER: Gabrielle Fernandez CAST: Hans Obma, Dexter Farren Haag, Zina Badran, Marco Da Silva,

Kojo Attah, Caleb Conner, Yessica Sanchez Thurnherr, Roshni Rathore, Lex Quarterman, Trev Fleming From the cliffs of Wales, to the basement of MI6, to a Wisconsin farmhouse, “A Question of Service” follows Joseph, an MI6 interpreter…who may or may not be a Russian spy.

SEVEN MINUTES 2023, 8:21 min., USA, Drama/LGBTQ+, Young Actors’ Theatre Camp DIRECTOR: Shawn Ryan, Hannah Madgett, Hannah Baer WRITER: Shawn Ryan, Hannah Madgett, Diana Glogau

WAVES APART

A man, unsettled by his imminent life-changing decision, suspects his terrifying dream and his husband’s daunting parallel encounter might be a signal from God to cancel a long-awaited arrival.

PRODUCER: Shawn Ryan, Valerie Dohrer, John Ainsworth CAST: Brooke Sanders, Claire Marquette, Ethan Politzer, August Petersen,

Mackenzie Brown, Judge Cantrell When Hailey and Jordan’s friends push them into a game of spin the bottle, they have no idea that their worlds are about to turn upside down. What is said to be a pivotal moment in each teenager’s life turns into a momentous occasion for these two lovebirds. Your whole life can change in just seven short minutes.

Phylliss Bailey Brooks No amount of sweet tea and vodka will ease the tension when Nana Dara makes the big announcement to her stepchildren: the flamboyant, Bible thumping Miss Debbie and her “sister who’s a mister”, Edna (“Eddie”).

2023

EMERGING FILMMAKER ALUMNI SHOWCASE

2023

EMERGING FILMMAKER SHOWCASE

WARRIORS: THE BERNIE MAC DISEASE

DE CLOSIN NIGHT

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH

2023, 24:10 min., USA, Documentary

2022, 19:35 min., USA, Drama

2022, 18:56 min., Nigeria, Drama

DIRECTOR: Nicholas Markart

DIRECTOR: Shicong Zhu

PRODUCER/WRITER/DIRECTOR: Goga Clay

PRODUCER: Steve Hilfiker

WRITER: Ella Rouwen Chen

CAST: Tope Tedela, Elma Mbadiwe

CAST: Rhonda McCullough, Bernie Mac, Papa Yaw Annan Addo-Boateng,

PRODUCER: Ella Rouwen Chen, Brielle Yuke Li

Ibinabo, a young husband and father-to-be, lives an unremarkable but exemplary life. He strives to prove himself to his boss, but gets caught up in the horrors of the October 2020 protests against police brutality.

Marilyn Aponsah Annan, Stefan Brixner, Andrea Budde, Chasta Posey, Dr. Bettina Heidecker, Dr. Nadera Sweiss Bernie Mac’s widow, Rhonda, takes us on a deeply personal journey through the life and legacy of the beloved comedian and the impact that sarcoidosis had on his rise to fame. Patients from the USA, Germany and Ghana describe their fight.

ALL IN 2023, 14:51 min., USA, Drama WRITER /DIRECTOR: Dusan Brown PRODUCER: James Kexian Lee, Joyce Kelly-Brown CAST: Dusan Brown, Daniel Chernish, Rolando Boyce, Staci Ashley,

Dante Brown When an enterprising teen is left with a $130,000 debt by his unscrupulous, late father, he must play poker to either make the money back and save what’s left of his family... or die trying.

INCOMPLETE 2022, 10:11 min., USA, Thriller WRITER /DIRECTOR: Zoey Martinson PRODUCER: 20th Digital, Korey Jackson, Anne Troup CAST: Marchant Davis, David Costabile

Evan is on house arrest in a haunted house. Or so he thinks?

HANDWRITTEN 2022, 8:48 min., USA, Animation/Documentary WRITER /DIRECTOR: Jaime Sunwoo PRODUCE: Alex Griffin, Jessica Simon, Jaime Sunwoo CAST: Jaime Sunwoo

After discovering old diaries and notebooks, artist Jaime Sunwoo examines her shapeshifting penmanship and wonders why she’s never had a consistent style.

Through playful paper puppetry and animation, she reflects on what handwriting means to her personally, its significance throughout history, and its relevance in our computerized world.

CAST: Ella Rouwen Chen, Rod Menzies, Jocelyn Liu, Claire Liu, Cooper Reynolds

A Chinese theater student in America risks losing her first role due to her accent. Determined to succeed, she vows to eliminate it at any cost.

CHOICES 2022, 12:50 min., USA, Coming-of-Age/Dramedy WRITER /DIRECTOR: Kameishia D. Wooten PRODUCER: Janae Greene, Meagann Pallares, Victoria Brown CAST: Marajanai Kirby, Nandi Chapman, Maxcianna Saintilus,

Keith Arthur Bolden Three very different friends find renewed connection as they await pregnancy results at their Los Angeles High School.

NEW SHOES 2023, 18:40 min., USA, Drama DIRECTOR: Thommy Kane, Bojan Vanovac WRITER: Thommy Kane PRODUCER: Susan Hollander, Bojan Vanovac, Laura Whiteley CAST: Jacob Moran, Laura Whiteley, David Afflick, Joe Vingi, Courtney Rush,

Denise Monteiro Young Tristan (Jacob Moran) desperately needs new shoes, but his mother struggles between feeding her drug addiction and providing for her child.

LATCHKEY 2022, 10:47 min., Canada, Drama WRITER/DIRECTOR: Nathalie Therriault PRODUCER: Nneka Kidada Croal, Fabian Aspell Morales, Nathalie Therriault CAST: Ashley Cartwright, Hanna Moon

Two seven-year-olds negotiate their after school life without adult supervision which slowly chips away at their innocence.

SHOWER BOYS 2022, 9:20 min., Sweden, Coming-of-Age/Drama DIRECTOR: Christian Zetterberg WRITER: Christian Zetterberg, Albin Abrahamsson

SCAM 2022, 7:30 min., USA, Comedy WRITER/DIRECTOR: Julie Sharbutt PRODUCER: Whitney Wolanin CAST: Julie Sharbutt, Jackie Welch

When a phone scammer makes one last late night call, the woman on the other end gives her much more than she bargained for.

PRODUCER: Liselotte Persson CAST: David Ramirez Knezevic, Lucas Andreasson

After a heated training match with the team, twelve-year-old Viggo and Noel go home to challenge each other’s limits and masculinity. A sudden stop to an innocent game questions what a male friendship is allowed to be.

LUNCHBOX 2022, 16:15 min., USA, Drama WRITER/DIRECTOR: Anne Hu PRODUCER: Anne Hu, Gilana Lobel, Oliver Brooks, Rachel Liu, Chenney Chen,

Gabriella Murillo CAST: Anne Hu, Dawn Ying Yuen, Elizabeth Gao, Audrey Liao

When a Taiwanese American woman prepares lunches from her childhood, she struggles to forgive herself for pushing away her immigrant mother.

2023

EMERGING FILMMAKER HIGH SCHOOL FILMS SHOWCASE

GONE

LIFE OF A MAYFLY

2022, 4:48 min., USA, Documentary, John Marshall High School

2022, 6:30 min., USA, Animation, Orange County School of Arts

PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Kyle Ward

PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: David Du

CAST: Brandon Masi, Erica Masi, Meredith Masi, Barbara Hees Masi,

Christopher Masi, Walter Randig In Pflugerville, Texas, a community is faced with the challenge of unprecedented devolvement. As housing developers and commercial companies start to inch closer and closer to the farmland, the farmers are forced to wonder how long it will be until their way of life will disappear. Most of the farmers are left with land that has been used for farming over multiple generations. To them, the thought that a housing community would be built on the land they have farmed makes them despondent. Once the land is built on, there is no getting it back.

It is gone forever.

ID(IOTS) 2023, 12:48 min., USA, Coming-of-age/Comedy/LGBTQ+, Young Actors’ Theatre Camp DIRECTOR: Suzan Jones, Spencer Davis WRITER: Jacob Manning PRODUCER: Shawn Ryan, Valerie Dohrer, John Ainsworth CAST: Sam Shenkman, Jazzy Liston, Mason Bradshaw, Kaleah Taylor,

Jacquelyn Packard, Riley Brown, Spencer Davis A gender non-conforming camper struggles to balance the conflicting advice of their ID and Super Ego in order to face their greatest fear... asking their crush to the dance.

ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE COMPOSER: Matthew Blam

A mayfly is an insect that only lives for one day. This film revolves around a curious little mayfly and his adventure through life. It’s a deep take on the meaning of life and finding purpose, told in a sweet and simple story.

LITTLE WITCHES 2023, 11:46 min., USA, Comedy/Drama, Young Actors’ Theatre Camp DIRECTOR: Maxim Bouffard, Frances Capel WRITER: Frances Capel PRODUCER: Shawn Ryan, Valerie Dohrer, John Ainsworth CAST: Sofia Alverde, Sydney Alvelda, Natalia Cruciani, Madden Wincentsen,

Chase Nakayama, Amelie Pan A coven of witches run an operation at their school turning spells for quick cash.

MY SISTERS IN THE STARS: THE STORY OF LEE YONG-SOO 2022, 9:55 min., USA/Korea, Animation/Documentary, Harvard-Westlake WRITER/DIRECTOR: Ian Kim PRODUCER: Harry Kim, Kay Park, Sophie Kim ORIGINAL SCORE: Abe Effress

BEE THE SOLUTION

CAST: Yong-soo Lee

2022, 8:59 min., USA/UK, Documentary, St. Margaret’s Episcopal School

An animated documentary about the life story of Lee Yong-soo, one of 11 remaining known survivors in Korea of the Japanese WWII-era Comfort Women system of human trafficking and sexual slavery.

PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Charlotte Quintanar CAST: Paula Carnell, Nick Tew, Amanda Mahaffey

Leading bee experts explain the causes for declining bee populations around the world and offer approachable solutions individuals can take to support their local pollinators.

THE AUDITION

ONE FOR THE BIRDS

CAST: John Gialitis, Sam Lazzara, Abigail Gampell

2023, 8:40 min., USA, Drama, Young Actors’ Theatre Camp

A young pianist makes a startling discovery while painting that changes his relationship to music forever.

DIRECTOR: Max Coddington, Jai Kamra WRITER: Nathan Adloff PRODUCER: Shawn Ryan, Valerie Dohrer, John Ainsworth CAST: Jude Biggers, Teagan Nichols-Marcy, Dylan Arie, Sylvia Imbens,

Lee Cummings, Caitlyn Gorman A camp is in lockdown after a dead body is discovered and Nicholas cannot seem to find his younger brother. Five best friends start a journey into the woods to solve the case.

‘TU:LI: 2022, 11:15 min., USA, Drama, Orange County School of the Arts WRITER /DIRECTOR: Carrington Holritz PRODUCER: Melissa Holritz CAST: John Kerry, Alan Maxson, Naiia Lajoie

An ornithologist loses his lifelong research to a strange and unusual bird. As he seeks to identify its obscure species and origin, the line between nature and nurture becomes hazy.

HICCUP 2023, 10:12 min., USA, Comedy/Drama, Young Actors’ Theatre Camp WRITER /DIRECTOR: Elizabeth Popov PRODUCER: Shawn Ryan, Valerie Dohrer, John Ainsworth CAST: Chase Nakayama, Myari Adams, Chris Phalen, Hannah Ballew,

Leo Dibbelt, Laurel Ames Max is nervous for his big date with Aimee… but what could go wrong?

Uncontrollable hiccups, that’s what! While the evil Lord Hiccup torments the poor boy, Max’s friends try ever increasingly drastic measures to cure him!

2022, 8:10 min., USA, Drama, Saint Ann’s School PRODUCER/WRITER/DIRECTOR: Eli Berliner

The American Pavilion would like to also thank our prize award sponsors

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