About: Rabia, an English teacher from Kabul, is forced to make an agonizing choice to save her family as they resettle in the US. Inspired by true events.
Director Anya Raza
Anya Raza is a Pakistani-Dutch writer, filmmaker and economist. Moved by the human spirit, Anya works at the nexus of art and justice, and has over a decade of experience telling stories, distilling complex messages and finding commonality in grey areas. Her thought-provoking, poetic and sometimes humorous stories aim to break stereotypes, encourage critical thinking and catalyze change. Anya believes deeply in building community.
Her stories have a focus on quieter voices, supporting social justice themes of freedom of expression, economic empowerment, equal rights and humanitarian causes, amongst others. Her debut documentary on dance and activism in Pakistan, How She Moves (2020), toured 22 film festivals globally, and won six ‘Best Documentary’ awards.
Her last film Still Here, advocated for support for survivors of torture globally, and received critical acclaim from human rights experts. Anya’s films Asma and Stars are in post-production. She is a proud member of Brown Girl Doc Mafia, Video Consortium & stand-up comedy troupe Auratnaak.Anya has an MA in Film & Media Production from American University and an MSc in Economics from the University of Amsterdam.
About: June is determined to protect her daughter from the arrival of the Fog: an ominous force that comes for young girls at a certain age. But when confronted with echoes of her own encounter, she struggles to suppress fears that her mother's failures will become her own.
Director- Desiree Abeyta
Desirée is a multifaceted Hispanic creative known for exploring social and feminist themes through a magical / hopeful lens. Her works have explored themes of loss, conflict, and coming of age through creative metaphors and heightened realities. She highlights women focused narratives with characters that are not simply "strong female arch types", favoring instead women who exist within the complexities and nuances of day to day situations. Her first venture into filmmaking as a writer/director, “An Invitation to Tea”, is a grounded, whimsical tale that explores the dichotomy of inspirational stories we are told as children in relation to adult, real-life problems. It was one of 5 recipients of the inaugural Inwood Artworks Filmmakers Grant and went on to win Excellence in Filmmaking, Best New Director, and multiple Audience Choice Awards in various festivals across the country. Her second short film, "ANNE", explores the racial tensions of color blind casting while questioning the true importance of story telling and was in consideration for a 2023 Academy Award Nomination. Her most recent film, "Beyond The Fog", was a recipient of a production grant through IndieGrants.org. She resides in NY with her husband and has just entered the chaotic glory that is motherhood.
Director Statement
I read a quote recently that said, "As a woman, I have so much empathy for my mother. But as a daughter, I have so much anger." As a new mother myself, I found these words to be particularly truthful to my own experience. My mother is not a bad person. She tried hard to fit into what a mother "should be", having herself been raised to buy in to certain roles and expectations for women. What came with it was almost an unconscious complacency for how women were viewed and, as a by product, treated. I came to learn that this is not unique to my specific upbringing or my specific culture. In fact, it may be one of the few things that connects women across most cultures, races, and (even still) generations. I think about this when I look at my own daughter. I think about the lessons and values I hope to instill, the ways in which I hope to embolden her to live without fear, and naturally the things I hope to do differently as her mother. When it's her turn to face the world as a young woman, will I have done enough for her to be victorious in her own inevitable battles? As a filmmaker who is drawn to allegory and magical realism, I was eager to encapsulate this moment, as well as the hope I carry for it, in a unique and distinctive way.
About: As the boundaries between the living and the dead blur, Irène’s denial navigates through the five stages of grief, ultimately confronting her profound anguish and sorrow.
Director Kate Maveau
Kate Maveau (34, She/Her) is an audiovisual artist with a master's degree in film from RITCS, Brussels, and Newport Film School, UK. Her exploration of human behavioral patterns led to the creation of her short film "SHIMI", featured at international festivals such as Independent Days, Fiaticorti, and Clermont-Ferrand Int'l Short Film Festival. Additionally, "SHIMI" was included in ‘New Queer Visions - Lust in Translation’; a selection of international lesbian short films available on the BFI player, Amazon Prime and Apple TV. Kate also produced the Belgian/UK short film “AMIAS”, which won at the 65th Montecatini Short Film Festival and Short@Fringe. Her current award-winning short film "It Burns" won the Lovers Film Festival, was nominated at the Sunscreen Film Festival, and was selected at the Richmond International Film Festival and Rio LGBTQIA+ Film Festival. She worked on international projects like Nymphomaniac by Lars Von Trier and directed teasers for London Fashion Week and The Ethiopian Art Conservation Program. (katemaveau.com)
About: When a young hospital parking valet befriends a middle-aged patient, he discovers she wants something he may not be able to give.
Director Lyn Elliot
Lyn Elliot has been making short films, usually about the comedic weirdness of everyday interactions, for the past twenty-five years. Her body of work encompasses narrative, nonfiction, and animation. Her films have screened and won awards at film festivals in the U.S. and around the world, such as SXSW, the Ann Arbor Film Festival, The New York Underground Film Festival, and the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival. Grants Lyn has been awarded in support of her work include an Arts KC Inspiration Grant, a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Individual Artist Grant, and a Rocket Grant, funded by the Charlotte Street Foundation and The KU Spencer Museum of Art. Lyn is currently a Professor of Film and Media Arts in the Department of Media, Art & Design at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Director Leo Holderbaum
I'm Léo Holderbaum,
Born in Saint-Etienne near Lyon France. I've directed and starred in short films since I was seventeen. "Blanche" is my first professional short film. "Jeanne" is my second professional short film.
About: Kidé is a New York kid with a camera who love to take photos around his community. As his photos begin to gain recognition, he's given a choice to protect his neighborhood or go out on his own.
Director Aaron Murray Vazquez\
Aaron Murray Vazquez is a prolific NYC based film director and photographer whose work mixes natural elements, intimate moments and surreal imagery. He’s earned 12 years of experience directing commercials, photoshoots, music videos, documentaries, and short films for large companies and indie groups alike. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Rolling Stone, etc.
THE UNIFORM tells the story of a lonely woman who has slipped through the cracks of life, and the extremes to which she will go in her search for human connection.
Filmed in The Bronx, NY USA, featuring a blisteringly raw performance by Jammie Patton (The Devil You Know, Flatbush Misdemeanors, Justified) and stunning cinematography by Jeff Hutchens (Remember This, Maddoff: The Monster Of Wall Street, Murder In Big Horn)... The Uniform explores lack of human connection as a form, and a cause, of mental illness.
Directed by Dylan Gary
Writer/Director Dylan Gary began his screenwriting career on the writing staff of HBO's critically-acclaimed series TELL ME YOU LOVE ME. Since then he's had his original pilot BEHIND THE SUN included in Sundance TV’s 2015 development slate, received a "blind pilot" deal from Sony Television, and was hired to do an adaptation of a novel by Steve Buscemi’s company Olive Productions.
But film and filmmaking is Dylan’s first love and deepest passion. And he's recently formed Three Umbrella Films, a New York based production company focusing on low and micro-budget features.
His short film, THE UNIFORM, is the first film under the Three Umbrella Films banner, and the hope is that it will be helpful in attracting like-minded filmmakers and artists to collaborate with for years to come.