FOUND (3MIN, CANADA)
DIRECTOR: GABRIELA ESQUIVEL
CHICAGO PREMIERE
A girl goes through life facing rejection, only to find out it is because of her skin colour.
I AM THE STANDARD (6min)
I AM THE STANDARD is a collaboration of thirteen inspirational shorts shot in New York City. This film showcases diversity utilizing scenes surrounding politics, gender, race, sexuality, impairment, mental illness, religion, and body image. I AM THE STANDARD is a celebration of individuality. Celebrating your individuality is the first step towards becoming the best you you can be. To reach your highest level of self you must revert back to the basics. Basic: Love of Self.
THE BULLY TRAP (5MIN, SINGAPORE)
DIRECTOR: SANGEETA NAMBIAR
WORLD PREMIERE
THE BULLY TRAP is a short film that hopes to end the vicious cycle of bullying that seems so prevalent amongst kids today.
KIDS' GAMES (7MIN, AUSTRALIA)
DIRECTOR: BARRY GAMBA
WORLD PREMIERE
Nine-year-old Dylan wants his Dad's attention but must compete with the TV. A prime-time current affairs show holds Dad's attention and peddles fear and loathing about refugees and 'boat people', while Dylan's big sister would rather be left alone on the phone. It all comes to a head for Dylan and his family in the playground.
AMERICAN IMAM (20MIN, USA)
DIRECTOR: DONYA RAVASANI
WORLD PREMIERE
Imam Siraj Wahhaj is one of the most prominent and controversial Islamic clerics of the United States. He leads a Muslim community in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. His daughter Hujrah Wahhaj works along side him, reaching out to the Facebook generation in search of its soul. The Imam's longtime companion Ali Abdul Karim has helped him lead the Islamic community where they settled in the 1980s when the neighborhood was Brooklyn's roughest ghetto. This is a look behind the scenes of the African-American Muslim community in the United States today.
LOVE, SEX & DISABILITY (50MIN, CANADA)
DIRECTOR: CARLO BASILONE
WORLD PREMIERELove, Sex & Disability is a film that follows several individuals as they explore their thoughts on sex, disability and their own desires. They explain the challenges and pleasures of their own bodies, relationships and the battles to tear down the modern stereotypes of body image and beauty.
