Shorts Programs

Showcasing short films that capture resilience in its many forms, this collection highlights characters and communities who confront adversity with courage, creativity, and hope.

The Green Buffalo

Directed by Joel Caldwell
USA, 19 min.
Southeast premiere

Can you build affordable housing, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and bootstrap a strapped community all at once? On the plains of Minnesota, the Lower Sioux Indian Community has the answer — and it starts with hemp.

Producer: Joel Caldwell, Monika McClure
Director of Photography: Chris Naum
Editor: Jackie Viviers

Ibuka, Justice

Directed by Justice Rutikara
Canada, 23 min. 
Georgia premiere

Valentine and Jean-Claude form a new couple at the start of the 1994 genocide and civil war in Rwanda, making repeated attempts to flee the killings with their newborn son.

Animation: Noah Jung, Bren López Zepeda, Sunny Stanila
Editor: Mélanie Obomsawin

The Return

Directed by Jeremy S. Levine
USA, 23 min.

After being apprehended at the U.S. border and separated from his father for six months, 12-year-old Geovanny returns home to Guatemala, while his father stands to lose his land — the source of his livelihood. Filmed over six years, The Return is an intimate portrait of boyhood interrupted, an exploration of the bonds of family across borders.

Cinematographers: Nicolas Abaunza, César Martínez Barba, Jeremy S. Levine
Original Music: Bruno Cortina

Inside, The Valley Sings

Directed by Nathan Fagan
Ireland, 15 min.
Georgia premiere

Trapped in the never-ending horror of prolonged solitary confinement, three prisoners seek comfort and escape in the boundless vistas of their own imaginations.

Animation Director: Natasza Cetner
Producer: Seamus Waters
Composer: Die Hexen

Oh Whale

Directed by Winslow Crane-Murdoch
USA, 26 min. 
Southeast premiere

When news anchor Paul Linnman arrived in Florence, Ore., on Nov. 12, 1970, he had no idea the story he was about to tell would forever define his career. Oh Whale follows a small Oregon town, an exploding whale, and the man who made the story famous.

Producers: Luke Terrell, Cecilia Brown, Rachel Gardell
Editor: Corky Devault
Cast: Paul Linnman