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Fantastic Fest 24' Shorts Programming


Shorts section for Fantastic Fest 2024' (Check Please)


Not to be overlooked is the outstanding selection of shorts coming to Fantastic Fest 2024. Many will be paired with feature films—one of our favorite aspects of the festival—and showcase a wealth of talent in this essential medium for filmmakers. Shorts often reveal the next big star in filmmaking or acting, while also providing a space for established filmmakers to reignite their passion. This year, Fantastic Fest features four competitive blocks, including fan favorites like Short Fuse and Fantastic Shorts, as well as exciting new blocks like Arab Genre Rises. With 16 world premieres and 7 projects tied to Texas, let's dive into the impressive lineup!


Fantastic Fest is thrilled to highlight 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, 2013


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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