- WINNER - Daddy Written & Directed by Jo Steinhart Jo Steinhart is a writer and director from San Francisco living in Los Angeles. She received her MFA in Directing from The AFI Conservatory in 2022 and her BA in Film & Gender Studies from Sarah Lawrence College. Her AFI thesis film DADDY stars Emily Robinson (Eighth Grade, Transparent) and is currently on its festival run, screening at such notable festivals as AFI Fest, Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival and Tallgrass Film Festival. While working toward a career in feature filmmaking, she also directs music videos, shorts, and commercials. Jo’s work focuses on complex characters and taboo topics explored through darkly humorous character-driven stories. Follow on: IG | Film IG | Vimeo - FINALISTS - Aftertaste Written & Directed by Christianne Cruz Christianne Cruz is a queer Filipinx writer/director and producer born in Toronto and...
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- WINNER - Massagers 4 Sale Written by Chris Lui Chris Lui hails from Honolulu, Hawaii, where his childhood was spent at his Popo’s (grandma) place, right on the edge of Chinatown. Watching Hong Kong action movies at an early age, he later graduated to grindhouse kung fu flicks and high-flying wuxia fantasy films. An interest in economics led him to serve in the trenches of the State Legislature before jumping ship to USC for an MFA in Film Production. His writing has placed as a finalist in the Austin Film Festival, Humanitas Originals, PAGE International Screenwriting Awards and the Top 50 of the 2023 Nicholl Fellowships. - FINALISTS - Doors by Gina DeAngelis Gina DeAngelis is the youngest of 10 kids who all talked at once. She started writing just to get a word in. A professional writer for 20+ years, she won an Emmy Award for historical drama,...
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Winner Bahar, Born at Night by Michael Bina Michael A. Bina is a writer, director, and producer who graduated from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. His script Bahar, Born at Night tells the story of a woman who looks back on her childhood in Iran as a gay man, where she reminisces on her first love, its fallout, and the gender reassignment surgery she was pressured to have. Michael is compelled to explore themes of immigration, growth, and adaptation in his projects and is confident that audiences will respond positively to these compelling stories and create a dialogue surrounding such topics of human life. His previous short film, Children of the Revolution, was set during the Iran-Iraq War and told the story of a mother who worries about her son who has gone missing in combat. The film was awarded 2nd place by Kathy Bates,…
Winner Distance Directed by Grace Swee Written by Grace Swee & Apoorva Charan Grace Swee is a Singaporean filmmaker, based in New York. Her shorts have screened at various international film festivals. Her most recent short, ‘空间Distance’, received a Special Mention at the 39th Film School Fest Munich. In 2018, her project pitch was selected for the South-East Asian Film Lab to be developed as a first feature. Grace is a film graduate from Columbia University, School of The Arts. She enjoys telling stories of different genres, expounding on family relations, deep character studies, with a touch of magical realism. Runners-up Augustus Directed by Jon Alston Story by Ayindé Howell and Jon Alston Written by Ayindé Howell What Daphne Saw Written & Directed by Lizz Marshall Finalists Attrition Written & Directed by Kelly Holmes It’s Me (Era Yo) Written & Directed by Andrea Casaseca In Orbit Written & Directed by…