Last Tuesday was the start of our 7th season at IndieWorks, as well as our annual Pride celebration featuring shorts across different styles & genres all with LGBTQ+ representation both on & off screen! Coming off the heels of a decision to test venues for the new annual season, we decided to cap our program at 4 shorts. Our trial venue for this month, though an improvement in terms of the immersive quality we’re aiming for this year, is smaller than we’d like for our permanent new home. So we kept the program short and our external promotion minimal in order to keep the room from overflowing. Because of this, we had our smallest turnout yet of only 25 people. But it actually ended up being the perfect size for the space, and resulted in one of our loveliest Q&A’s with a real intimacy to the discussion. We hope the filmmakers and audience felt the same. And we'd like to say thank you to them for coming out to spend the evening with us. We hope all enjoyed the films, as well as the opportunity to network with other filmmakers and film enthusiasts. We know some connections were made!
We hope to see them and more of an audience at our July screening on the 30th, this time at Nuyorican Poets Cafe, for an eclectic mix of shorts about the hurdles and humor of being seen and making a connection.
See photos from the evening:
The Films of the night:
The Flickering Forest (Written & Directed Rebecca Shoptaw)
A queer fairy tale in which an eerie yet charming forest spirit leads a girl into the woods.
Like Glass (Directed by Andrew K. Meyer, Written by David Elijah)
Zion, a club kid grappling with their gender-fluid identity, finds liberation in New York City’s avant-garde nightlife scene while facing backlash from their boyfriend who struggles to understand.
Seeing Glory (Written & Directed by Rick Hamilton)
Gloria prepares a feast of the senses for the rapidly ailing Eva in an attempt to share a perfect evening and be seen for the woman she truly is.
Will I Say So (Written & Directed by Jamie DiNicola)
Simply, a story of vulnerability.
Watch our Q&A Recap. *Please know there are some film spoilers - feel free to look for an opportunity to catch the films at a festival or computer screen near you & then come back to watch!
The awards go to...
At the end of the evening, we announced our winning filmmakers for both Audience Choice Award & Silver Whiskers Award. The Audience Choice Award is voted upon by all those in attendance, and the Silver Whiskers Award is judged by the CongestedCat Team based on a rating system of 8 categories: Story, Dialogue/Writing, Direction, Acting, Cinematography, Sound, Editing, and Production Value, along with a nuanced discussion focused on inclusion and originality. The Silver Whiskers winner goes on to screen again at our end of year Best of Fest screening next April.
The Silver Whiskers winner also receives $50 towards a crowdfunding campaign on SeedandSpark.com should they use the platform and 50% off 4MileCircus' post-production audio cleaning service for a future project.
