Seven short films featuring love and loss

FIRST POSITION

Our Secret

DIRECTOR /

As a young girl dreams about life, the universe and everything, she discovers the power of connection and the potential of the human mind.

First Position

A person who hates all their clothes struggles to decide what to wear to a house party. When later they see their exit’s-complicated with a new partner, it triggers a nascent lifestyle change. Director Mallory Clarke used their experience telling great stories on stage to inform this strong debut film through the First Time Filmmaker Program by NIFCO.

Kiss ‘n’ Ride

DIRECTOR / WRITER / PRODUCER: OLIVIA JENSEN • USA • 8 MINS

An animated film that will give you butterflies! On her way home from a lovely café date, a woman finds reminders of her date in every little thing. She falls in love with the Chicago winter night around her, and dreams of the date ending differently.

To My Next Lover

Based on a poem by the same name by New Zealand writer Paula Harris, this four minute film is blocked with powerful images depicting a whirlwind romance that has yet to happen and is destined to not end well.

Grown in Darkness

Sampo

Struggling to make ends meet, a single mother caters the funerals and weddings of the rich. But her daughter has different ideas about her mother’s job.

Mother’s Skin

DIRECTOR / WRITER / PRODUCER: LEAH JOHNSTON • NOVA SCOTIA • 20 MINS

“Kiss 'n' Ride is about my first date with my partner, and it took me about a year to make. We got engaged during the process!”

A neglected six-year-old girl struggles to cope with her mother's depression and her father's alcoholic rage. At night, violence erupts around her and threatens to tear her family apart. But when the girl discovers a hidden secret in their home, her dysfunctional world takes on a strange new meaning. A haunting and darkly poetic film. cw domestic abuse / attempted suicide