FANTASTIC FEST INVITES YOU TO REVEL IN SHORT FORM CINEMA
SHOWCASED THROUGHOUT THE 2024 LINEUP!
Austin, TX - Wednesday, August 28, 2024 — Fantastic Fest is thrilled to announce the Short Film lineup for the 19th edition of Fantastic Fest, which runs September 19th - September 26th, 2024 at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, TX.
Curated by the program team of Jean Lauer, Varun Raman, and Helena Vilaplana, this year’s lineup showcases the innovative minds of new and returning talents — and the breadth of form and content that contemporary media makes possible — as filmmakers draw from traditional and cutting edge techniques alike to invite audiences into the worlds they create. Audience members will be treated to mysteries, horrors, wonders, tragedies, surprises, and more.
The 2024 program includes four competitive blocks familiar to Fantastic Fest audiences: FANTASTIC SHORTS, SHORT FUSE, SHORTS WITH LEGS, and DRAWN AND QUARTERED as well as this year’s special sidebar, ARAB GENRE RISES — a co-presentation with Maskoon Fantastic Film Festival that celebrates voices from a new generation of Arab filmmakers. The short film selections are rounded out by a baker’s dozen of shorts that will open for features throughout the festival. World premieres, award-winning films, Fantastic Fest reprisals, new works by alums, and first-time filmmakers abound!
This year’s selected short films hail from 6 continents and 28 countries, with a spread of 15 languages (16 if we include mermaid song)! Almost 40% of the short film lineup is by female filmmakers.
“We had a tremendously competitive selection process for this edition, with a record-breaking number of submissions, up more than 22% compared to last year. We have had the pleasure of watching so many incredible films, but that also meant we had to make tough choices to get to the final 59,” said Short Film Program Director Jean Lauer. “We are elated to showcase 16 World Premieres and 7 projects with a direct connection to Texas. We can’t wait to share this year’s unforgettable lineup with Fantastic Fest fans in Texas and around the world.”
The Jury members for the 2024 Fantastic Fest Short Film Competition include actress and producer Barbara Crampton (YOU’RE NEXT, RE-ANIMATOR), ATX Television Festival Director of Operations Laura Kincaid, and filmmaker Alex R. Johnson (New York Times Critic's Pick, TWO STEP).
The complete 2024 Short Film lineup, divided by program, is as follows:
FANTASTIC SHORTS
Scratch all your itches with our 2024 Fantastic Shorts selection: ten filmmakers from five continents ponder the sublime, explore the unsettling, and challenge your sense of self – here on Earth, and beyond. These cinematic gems will delight, mystify, horrify, and surprise you. Guaranteed. Disconnect from the quotidian and dive head-first into our worlds of wonder.
ATOM & VOID
Portugal, 2024
World Premiere, 9 min
Director - Gonçalo Almeida
Mysterious tremors waken a sole survivor in a bleak and barren place. A real spider stars in this haunting sci-fi from Fantastic Fest alum, Gonçalo Almeida (THURSDAY NIGHT and THE GIRL FROM SATURN).
A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY FOR THE LADY AVENGERS
Taiwan, USA, 2024
World Premiere, 12 min
Director - Birdy Wei-Ting Hung
Taiwan, 1980s. A hot summer day, watermelon juice, and celluloid dreams fuel 15-year-old Ming's sexual awakening in this stunning 16mm sensory experience by SFSU grad student Birdy Wei-Ting Hung.
DO BANGLADROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC TAGORE?
USA, 2024
World Premiere, 3 min
Director - Aleem Hossain
In this desi-futuristic sci-fi, a documentarian investigates the abandoned droids in the New Jersey Exclusion Zone and their peculiar obsession with a subversive Bengali Renaissance poet.
EMPTY JARS
Chile, 2024
US Premiere, 21 min
Director - Guillermo Ribbeck
A lonely landlord falls in love with a charismatic spirit and helps him find a new body, resulting in consequences beyond her expectations. An award-winning tale of possession and serendipity by Chilean documentary filmmaker Guillermo Ribbeck.
THE MEANINGLESS DAYDREAMS OF AUGIE & CELESTE
Australia, 2024
Regional Premiere, 7 min
Director - Pernell Marsden
Two young girls with wildly vivid imaginations have their friendship put to the test after they encounter a handsome scarecrow in this twisted coming of age tale.
NIGHT FISHING
South Korea, 2024
US Premiere, 13 min
Director - Byoung-gon Moon
Palme d’Or winner Byoung-gon Moon (SAFE) re-imagines catch-and-release fishing in this dashcam footage sci-fi featuring Korean star Son Sukku.
PAPER TOWELS
USA, 2024
Texas Premiere, 3 min
Director - Ethan Kuperberg
A man becomes consumed by guilt after an automated customer service agent takes his heated words a little too literally. Featuring Josh Brener (SILICON VALLEY) in this pitch-black satire.
REDLIGHTS
Canada , 2023
Texas Premiere, 14 min
Director - Eva Thomas
A fun night out takes an unsettling turn when two Indigenous women are separated by a chance encounter with the police.
SKEETER
USA, 2024
World Premiere, 4 min
Director - Chris McInroy
Mixing friend groups can be tricky, but it is even more challenging when one of them was raised by mosquitoes. By Austin filmmaker and Fantastic Fest alum Chris McInroy (GUTS, WE JOINED A CULT).
YUMMO SPOT
USA, 2024
Texas Premiere, 8 min
Director - Ashley Brandon
When a couple moves to the mountains to start a family, they discover the demanding high standards of the “Live, Laugh, Love” lifestyle – thanks to the local wildlife.
SHORT FUSE
The horror! The horror! Your deepest, darkest fears will manifest blood, pus, and guts in this year's anthology of high-grade nightmare fuel. Brace yourself for monstrous mothers, lovesick psychopaths, clingy sex dolls, pocket-dwelling demons, soul-searching shapeshifters, horrific Halloween harvests, and more. You'll wanna gouge your eyes out, pinky promise.
BE RIGHT BACK
Spain, 2023
Regional Premiere, 13 min
Directors - Lucas Paulino & Gabe Ibañez
A mother goes out for groceries, a young girl is left home alone. Hours later, when the doorbell interrupts the girl's cartoon-binge, she faces the most dangerous home-alone game.
CHLOE
Taiwan, 2024
American Premiere, 10 min
Director - Yu Chuan
In a laundromat, late at night, a seemingly kind and sensitive man goes to meet his online date — a heartbroken girl who's simply had enough of the nice guy routine.
DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS
Spain, 2023
US Premiere, 5 min
Director - Imanol Ortiz López
Really, don't talk to strangers. Or accept candy from them. A disturbing tale, shot on 16mm and based on the short story by Fernando Iwasaki.
FACES
USA, 2024
US Premiere, 14 min
Director - Blake Simon
A murderous unknown entity hits the jackpot when an unwitting group of college friends invite it to a rowdy house party.
THE LAST THING SHE SAW
USA, 2024
World Premiere, 8 min
Directors - Anthony Cousins & Rebecca Daugherty
During a botched home invasion, a woman has a real eye for survival. A merciless, stomach-churning horror by Fantastic Fest alum Anthony Cousins (WHEN SUSURRUS STIRS, THE BLOODY BALLAD OF SQUIRT REYNOLDS) along with co-director Rebecca Daugherty.
THE NIGHT PRACTICE
Romania, 2023
Texas Premiere, 16 min
Director - Bogdan Alecsandru
A teenage soccer player with a dark secret develops a fixation with his new teammate.
POCKETMAN
USA, 2024
American Premiere, 2 min
Director - Ericka Clevenger
No one with pockets is safe when a group of friends are terrorized by a malevolent demonic entity.
PUMPKIN GUTS
Scotland, 2024
World Premiere, 13 min
Director - Bryan M. Ferguson
Halloween 1987. A young woman is thrust into a frenetic race against time when she gets a visit from the Pumpkin Pincher.
STUCK
USA, 2023
Texas Premiere, 3 min
Director - Giselle Bonilla
A man's life is thrown into turmoil when his sex doll gets a little too attached to him.
THE VISIT
USA, 2024
World Premiere, 14 min
Director - Millie Y. Xu
A young woman descends into her own terrifying reality as she avoids confronting her mother’s imminent death. A world premiere by Texan, and USC film student, Millie Y. Xu.
SHORTS WITH LEGS
Welcome to our most outlandish program, a tribute to the auteur and visionary, and a delight for those seeking something they may never be able to unsee. Please meet a selection of cat lovers, mutant images, deepfake 007s, questionable ferments, parasitic cysts, revenge missions, sleep startups, unassuming vampires, and, of course, a suspicious mime.
CONSIDERING CATS
USA, 2024
Regional Premiere, 12 min
Director - Matt Newby
A playful, anecdotal, lo-fi documentary delves into the world of Cat Shows at the Long Island Pet Expo, introducing us to an array of obsessive feline enthusiasts.
DATA FLESH
Chile, 2024
American Premiere, 5 min
Director - Felipe Elgueta
Images from an old 2016 Tumblr are recovered and re-imagined as mutants trying to survive the GenAI era, in this uncanny and mesmerizing essay by Chilean animator Felipe Elgueta.
DUCK
UK, 2024
American Premiere, 17 min
Director - Rachel Maclean
When 007 discovers Marilyn Monroe has returned from the dead, he exposes a reality-altering conspiracy. An uncanny, deepfake-infested, satirical spy thriller from acclaimed artist Rachel Maclean.
A FERMENTING WOMAN
Canada, 2024
Regional Premiere, 24 min
Director - Priscilla Galvez
A peculiar chef and fermentation expert prepares a career-saving meal using a very special ingredient. Walk the line between mouthwatering and revolting in this controversial culinary gamble for all the yeast and kimchi lovers out there. Starring Canadian multi-hyphenate Sook-Yin Lee.
THE INESCAPABLE DESIRE OF ROOTS
Singapore, 2024
Texas Premiere, 6 min
Directors - Mark Chua & Lam Li Shuen
A performance art piece and meditation on things that are out of our control... for example, hair.
IS THAT A MIME?
USA, 2024
World Premiere, 5 min
Director - Phil Cheney
An idyllic picnic date is soured by an argument over blue cheese and the arrival of an unusual party crasher.
MAULED BY A DOG
Wales, 2024
World Premiere, 19 min
Director - Sion Thomas
After his girlfriend is viciously attacked by a dog, a lowly call center worker ventures on a surreal mission for vengeance through the dark underbelly of the South Wales Valleys.
RE-MEMORY FOAM
USA, 2024
Regional Premiere, 8 min
Directors - Zachary Bailey & William Phoenix
A feverish look at the high-stakes and mind-boggling world of the mattress-selling business.
SHE STAYS
Mexico, 2024
US Premiere, 10 min
Director - Marinthia Gutiérrez
In this grainy 16mm hybrid of occult horror and interpretive dance, a young woman is torn between rekindling things with her ex or pursuing an exciting and mysterious opportunity.
DRAWN & QUARTERED
This year’s Drawn and Quartered is all about monsters, big and small, good and evil, friend-shaped, and foe-looking. Our selected filmmakers imagined them in every possible way: from forest-dwelling cryptids, deep sea mermaids, and cute hairy balls, to grief-feeding bugs and butt-eating dogs; from controlling parents, evil music managers, new messiahs, and egotistical friends, to the ultimate ghoul: Death itself.
BUNNYHOOD
UK, 2024
US Premiere, 9 min
Director - Mansi Maheshwari
When her mother's deception turns into an unexpected hospital visit, a young girl is thrust into a frenzied and demented rollercoaster ride through her subconscious, questioning the nature of lies and the supposed underlying good intentions of loved ones.
CIRCLE OF LIFE
UK, 2023
American Premiere, 4 min
Director - Peter Millard
Every species has its own life cycle in this absurd doodle bonanza.
COMPOST
Argentina, 2024
World Premiere, 14 min
Directors - Hermanos Sinay (Matias Sinay & Augusto Sinay)
Enigmatic oil-painting fantasy about a plant nursery owner who uses her late husband’s body as compost.
CROW MAN
Lebanon, 2023
American Premiere, 8 min
Director - Yohann Abdelnour
A gutsy young girl confronts a grim visitor who is after her grandfather. This gorgeous Cannes and Annecy select is the graduation film of Lebanese animator Yohann Abdelnour.
HUNTSVILLE, JULY 1981
Canada , 2024
World Premiere, 13 min
Director - Sol Friedman
In this captivating dark comedy by Fantastic Fest alum Sol Friedman (LOVE SONGS FROM AN ANDROID, BEASTS IN THE REAL WORLD) four bizarrely relatable characters cope with the ferocious attacks of a creature lurking in the woods.
JESUS 2
USA, 2024
World Premiere, 8 min
Director - Jesse Moynihan
What if we had no choice but to live forever? In a universe cursed with eternal life, two heroes attempt to end everybody's suffering by killing an annoying messiah in this neo-psychedelic meditation on death and the afterlife by ADVENTURE TIME and MIDNIGHT GOSPEL artist Jesse Moynihan.
LA VOIX DES SIRÈNES
France, Italy, 2024
US Premiere, 20 min
Director - Gianluigi Toccafondo
When mermaid siblings are forcefully separated and exiled from the ocean, they resolve to reunite. A mesmerizing animation evocative of a painting brought to life.
THE NIGHT BOOTS
France, 2024
World Premiere, 12 min
Director - Pierre-Luc Granjon
The forest can be full of scary creatures, Eliot’s parents caution, but the mystery might be too tempting for a kid who doesn’t want to go to bed. A 2D computer and Pinscreen animation by the co-director of THE INVENTOR.
MIRA
USA, 2023
Texas Premiere, 12 min
Director - Eva Louise Hall
An ambitious young musician plunges into darkness when she is sewn into her own instrument, in this body horror musical by Eva Louise Hall.
UGH, LISTEN!!
Israel, 2023
American Premiere, 6 min
Directors - Alma Keni & Aviv Gafni
Love them or hate them, voice notes tend to be both TMI and incredibly out of context. An animated documentary about a surreal day of heavy voicemail traffic.
ARAB GENRE RISES: A Co-presentation with Maskoon Fantastic Film Festival
How can you still dream and imagine when your reality is stranger than fiction? This is the main challenge that Arab filmmakers have faced as they navigate a society where daily struggles are as daunting as living in apocalyptic times. Between the grand-scale futurism of the Gulf countries, the dystopian North African nations, and the war-torn Levant, Arab filmmakers have had to deal with the shadows of post-colonialism that have torn their societies in two and still haunt their daily lives. For these reasons, most Arab films have frontally dealt with realism and nationalism to convey their own representation.
But, in the past decade, things have slowly started to change. A new generation, raised on ‘80s and ‘90s cinema, no longer feels the need to carry the burdens of their elders. Instead, they’re driven by an urge to trace their own path; they reject the rules of their own society and are keen on reshaping their nations into something closer to their own identity, rather than what was imposed upon them.
This new generation can now imagine, dream, and speculate about a possible new future. With them came a new wave of Arab genre films that is gradually taking over film festivals around the world. This short film program is a small sample of a larger shift in Arab cinema, evolving beyond the miserabilism of dramas into more complex cinematic proposals. The new Arab filmmakers appropriate the codes of horror, sci-fi, and film noir to ponder and meditate on their own demons: trauma, societal divides, class, and colonialism. Through these very personal films, they continue their own revolution, carving out a unique new voice, a scream for change and evolution.
DOWN IS THE NEW UP
Lebanon, 2017
American Premiere, 13 min
Director - Camille Cabbabe
A darkly funny mockumentary that deals in an absurd way with the mental illness plaguing Lebanese youth, starring indie rock musician Charbel Haber in the lead role.
HOW MY GRANDMOTHER BECAME A CHAIR
Germany, Lebanon, Qatar, 2021
Retrospective, 10 min
Director - Nicolas Fattouh
A bittersweet award-winning animation film that flirts with body horror, Nicolas Fattouh's personal ode to his grandmother is also a meditation on how sometimes the only things that remain from our loved ones are still objects.
J'AI LE CAFARD
Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt, 2021
Retrospective, 14 min
Director - Maysaa Almumin
A rare Kuwaiti venture into genre filmmaking using a Kafkaesque twist to deal with workplace societal pressure.
LAST DAYS OF THE MAN OF TOMORROW
Lebanon, Germany, 2017
Retrospective, 29 min
Director - Fadi [fdz] Baki
An odyssey into an alternative history of Lebanon as seen through the eyes of an automaton, pondering how Lebanese society has become addicted to the nostalgia of a non-existent past.
NATION ESTATE
Palestine, Denmark , 2012
Retrospective, 9 min
Director - Larissa Sansour
As the Palestinian state’s existence is questioned and torn to shreds by daily bombings, contemporary artist Larissa Sansour imagines a dystopian skyscraper as the last remnant of a Palestine still fighting for its existence even in the very distant future.
NIGHT SHIFT
UAE, 2022
Retrospective, 12 min
Director - Ali Faisal Mostafa
Ali F. Mostafa, director of THE WORTHY, weaves a tight and tense masculine tale about an ambulance driver stuck in a night of terror.
SO WHAT IF THE GOATS DIE
France, Morocco, 2019
Retrospective, 23 min
Director - Sofia Alaoui
Sofia Alaoui’s multiple award-winning short, which she later expanded into her feature debut, uses an alien invasion as a cataclysm to shake her deeply tradition-rooted Moroccan society.
PAIRED WITH FEATURES
As is our tradition, Fantastic Fest audiences will be treated to a variety of short form cinema at this year’s event, including the following selections that will show up throughout the program in front of feature films.
CHECK PLEASE
USA, 2024
Regional Premiere, 10 min
Director - Shane Chung
A Korean and a Korean American fight for the restaurant’s check — and their honor — in this zany martial arts comedy by Northwestern University grad Shane Chung.
THE DAY THE EARTH GOT FREE RICHARD PRYOR PHOTOS
USA, 2024
US Premiere, 3 min
Director - Ivan Peycheff
Inspired by Robert Wise’s THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951), this experimental essay explores decay and creation by re-mix, with hand-cut 16mm and raw audio. By the Head of Film Restoration for the American Genre Film Archive in Austin, Ivan Peycheff.
THE FLACALTA EFFECT
USA, 2024
Texas Premiere, 8 min
Director - Rochée Jeffrey
An unexpected side effect of a fast-slimming drug zombifies most White people in the US and leaves two antithetical Black sisters unsure of what to do next. A satire about race and beauty standards in the post-Ozempic era, executive produced by David and Christina Arquette.
GODFART
USA, 2023
Regional Premiere, 3 min
Director - Michael Langan
In the beginning... God embarked on a quest... for breakfast. An apparently very true story of how the universe was created.
HER HOUSE
USA, 2024
Regional Premiere, 12 min
Director - Will Lee
A young woman and her estranged mother are forced to reconcile their differences when they discover an evil presence lurking in the home of their recently deceased matriarch. From Fantastic Fest alum Will Lee (RINGWORMS).
THE MASKED MONSTER
South Korea, 2024
American Premiere, 15 min
Director - Syeyoung Park
A young woman, overcome with hunger, trades her brother for a sack of rice. The cost will be even higher than she bargained for. A reimagining of Korean tales by Syeyoung Park, premiering at Fantastic Fest after receiving a Special Mention, Concorso Corti d’Autore, at Locarno 2024.
THE NOONDAY DEMON
Canada, 2024
Regional Premiere, 8 min
Director - Conall Pendergast
A man in the throes of a mid-life crisis reconnects with his childhood sweetheart, and unwittingly finds himself ambushed by the reveal of a dark secret. An eerie animation by Fantastic Fest alum Conall Pendergast (SELF-ACTUALIZATION OF THE WEREWOLF WOMAN).
PASTURE PRIME
USA, 2024
Regional Premiere, 10 min
Director - Diffan Sina Norman
Snakes dwell in the grass of East Texas, where a widow forms an unhealthy obsession with someone who seems to be the living embodiment of the Marlboro Man.
TWO OF HEARTS
Canada , 2024
World Premiere, 6 min
Director - Mashie Alam
Two inseparable siblings engage in an ominous game of psychological chess in order to settle a mysterious predicament.
ÜREI
Kazakhstan, 2024
World Premiere, 6 min
Director - Yerkezhan Baizhan
When a frail grandmother is left to babysit a toddler, the worst-case scenario unfolds. A creepy tale from Kazakhstan, based on a chilling true story.
WRECKED A BUNCH OF CARS, HAD A GOOD TIME
USA, 2024
US Premiere, 11 min
Directors - James P. Gannon & Matt Ferrin
A documentary that lives up to its title: Get to know a few participants in a demolition derby as they crash, and crash, and crash their individually styled cars until they literally can't crash anymore.
Z-MILE
USA, 2024
World Premiere, 8 min
Director - Gregory Stees
In this music video triptych, Merman has to juggle tremendous responsibilities — caring for his difficult grandmother, saving his floundering rap career, and surviving the zombie apocalypse.
ZIT
USA, 2024
Texas Premiere, 11 min
Director - Amber Neukum
Awkward office comedy meets absurd anxiety attack when a woman's plans to finally ask her boss for a promotion are scuppered by a monstrous bloody zit on her face that won't stop growing.
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