2025 FESTIVALApril 2-12, 2025Lansing, MI

Reality Benders Shorts

*FILMMAKER IN ATTENDANCE*

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  • Hunger
    Hunger
  • Left Behind
    Left Behind
  • I'm At Home
    I'm At Home
  • Of Dionysus
    Of Dionysus
  • My Soul to Take
    My Soul to Take
  • Big Touch
    Big Touch
  • The Call of Water
    The Call of Water
  • Epoufette
    Epoufette

Hunger

A child is being tormented by a voracious well demanding food from him. But as he proves unable to satisfy its hunger, he drags himself to find another way of feeding it.

  • DIRECTOR
    Carlos Meléndez
  • YEAR
    2021
  • RUNTIME
    15 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    Spanish
  • COUNTRY
    Mexico

Left Behind

A priest tries one last time to convert his brother, to save him from his dying farm.

  • DIRECTOR
    Montepulciano Callen
  • YEAR
    2021
  • RUNTIME
    5 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    Australia

I’m At Home

The host of a children’s television show aimed for creativity starts experiencing burnout after needing to force that creativity every day.

  • DIRECTOR
    Philip Thompson
  • YEAR
    2021
  • RUNTIME
    13 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    United States

Of Dionysus

Of Dionysus is about the experience of creating new life. The experimental drama film is arranged by intercutting four vignettes: Abraham returns to a familiar place to face his former employer, Michael; Mariella and Emily meet after a college class to hang out; Maria and Joseph have a big decision to make only weeks before their wedding; and a mysterious god-figure creates all life on earth.
“Scott Giameo’s Ambitious and Powerful Debut Film” Of Dionysus began principal photography in 2016, filming in Madison, Passaic & Roselle Park, NJ. Edited over and over again over the last 5 years.
All original music by Kevin McDaniel & Dan O’Hara

  • DIRECTOR
    Scott Giameo
  • YEAR
    2021
  • RUNTIME
    20 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    United States

My Soul To Take

After a year filled with hopelessness, low self-esteem and loneliness, Quinn retires for the night in her downtown high-rise. A software update on her phone appears and is accepted without hesitation. An update, which summons her into a dream world of antiquities and powerlessness.

  • DIRECTOR
    Laura Vandervoort
  • YEAR
    2022
  • RUNTIME
    14 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    Canada

Big Touch

An Afro-Surrealist story about a giant woman and a tiny man who through the power of touch, experience an unexpected transformation.

  • DIRECTOR
    Christopher Tenzis
  • YEAR
    2021
  • RUNTIME
    3 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    No Dialogue
  • COUNTRY
    United States

The Call of Water

Flung into the astral-plane, Nadia must face ancient forces in order to realize her responsibility to her homeland.

  • DIRECTOR
    Kaya Tone
  • YEAR
    2021
  • RUNTIME
    19 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    United States

Dead House ’98

The year is 1998. A young data analyst spends his time working for hours on end. Suddenly, in the dead of night strange signals emerge from his television and the real survival horror begins

  • DIRECTOR
    Sergio Emilio Torres, Andrew Louis Reynoso
  • YEAR
    2021
  • RUNTIME
    5 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    United States

Deficit Anima

Grace, discovering what her husband is hiding, is taken in a terrible vortex.

  • DIRECTOR
    Jake Meniani
  • YEAR
    2021
  • RUNTIME
    11 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    France

Epoufette

When you find yourself alone, in a place you’ve never been, you become an outsider. When everyone you meet is a stranger, your reputation doesn’t matter. In a time like this, you are given a choice: rely on the instincts that define your past, or transform yourself to change your future.

  • DIRECTOR
    William r Corbett
  • YEAR
    2022
  • RUNTIME
    19 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    United States
Check out other upcoming events
  • Thu, April 7 9:00 PM
  • The Avenue
More Info
  • Thu, April 7 7:00 PM
  • Lansing Public Media Center
More Info