Tag: Female Director

Filmmaker Spotlight, Oscars, Short Film

OSCAR CONTENDING DIRECTOR SPOTLIGHT – Lauren Melinda on Transforming Personal Grief Into BEFORE YOU

Before You has emerged as one of the most emotionally arresting contenders of the season — an intimate, devastating portrait of a couple navigating the end of a planned pregnancy. The film arrives without spectacle or political framing, instead carrying the soft, unspoken weight of lived experience. It is a work built from silence, color, memory, and the kind of grief that resists public language. In … Continue reading OSCAR CONTENDING DIRECTOR SPOTLIGHT – Lauren Melinda on Transforming Personal Grief Into BEFORE YOU

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Filmmaker Interview, Academy Awards, Director Spotlight

Carlos Fernández de Vigo and Lorena Ares on the Triumph of Oscar® Contending CAFUNE

Their acclaimed film CAFUNE is hitting the next level of filmiatic achievement; qualifying for the 97th Academy Awards, now they have sat down with us to discuss their film and its socially important themes. Carlos and Lorena, CAFUNÈ has been hailed as a breakthrough in animated storytelling. What specific challenges did you face in transitioning from your previous works to a deeply emotional short like CAFUNÈ? How did your … Continue reading Carlos Fernández de Vigo and Lorena Ares on the Triumph of Oscar® Contending CAFUNE

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Film Review, Oscars

OSCAR CONTENDING SERIES: CAFUNÈ Is a Heart wrenching Ballad of Resilience

CAFUNÈ is an animated short film that transcends the boundaries of its medium, offering an experience that is both heart-wrenching and inspiring. Directed by Carlos F. de Vigo and Lorena Ares, this deeply affecting film takes audiences into the emotional world of a young refugee girl named Alma, who is struggling to come to terms with the trauma of being the sole survivor of a devastating … Continue reading OSCAR CONTENDING SERIES: CAFUNÈ Is a Heart wrenching Ballad of Resilience

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Film Festivals, Filmmaker Interview, Filmmaker Spotlight, Films, HollyShorts Film Festival, Live action short, Short Film

INTERVIEW: Meron Alon’s TOO GOOD: Laughing, Squirming, and Questioning What Makes Us ‘Good’

My work tends to focus on feelings that are right under the surface, bringing them to consciousness. I realized that something I ask myself a lot is: “Am I a good person?”. While I try to be the best person that I can, I’m definitely not perfect. So that begs the question – Do the tiny selfish/inconsiderate acts we do tarnish the goodness within us? … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Meron Alon’s TOO GOOD: Laughing, Squirming, and Questioning What Makes Us ‘Good’

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21st Anniversary, Female Director, Film Festivals, Film Review, HollyShorts Film Festival, Live action short

REVIEW: Mahnoor Euceph’s 11:11 Turns a Teen Wish Into a Sharp Reckoning With Assimilation

Premiering at the 2025 Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival, 11:11 marks a striking new entry in the canon of diasporic coming-of-age cinema, one that dares to blend teen wish-fulfillment fantasy with the painful realities of assimilation and internalized identity loss. With sharp humor, an audacious high-concept premise, and a clear directorial voice, Mahnoor Euceph crafts a short that is as entertaining as it is quietly devastating. At the center of 11:11 is Noori, … Continue reading REVIEW: Mahnoor Euceph’s 11:11 Turns a Teen Wish Into a Sharp Reckoning With Assimilation

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