For the 13th annual edition of Short Circuit, CineVic presents a rich and evocative selection of short films from British Columbia and regions around the Pacific Ocean including Chile, Singapore, New Zealand, Taiwan, Colombia, Guam, Hawaii, California, Alaska, and Yukon.
Join us May 1-3 in Victoria BC for more than three dozen films in five screening programs, plus filmmaker Q&As, parties, awards, and more!
Trailer
2025 Award Winners
Outstanding Local Film
Day 3
Outstanding BC Film
DTF?
Outstanding International Film
The Queen’s Flowers
Outstanding Documentary Film
Saturday
Outstanding Animated Film
Door to Door: A Loogaland Cartoon
Outstanding Direction
Lea Tupu'anga / Mother Tongue
Outstanding Cinematography
Allergic to Love
Outstanding Screenplay
Obscura / 옵스큐라
Outstanding Art Direction
Moonbeaming
Sound
Easybake
Music
She and Her Good Vibrations
Editing
Obscura / 옵스큐라
Performance
Lea Tupu'anga / Mother Tongue (Luciane Buchanan)
Audience Choice (tie)
Obscura / 옵스큐라
Beyond the Salish
Festival Program
Thursday May 1, 2025
Opening Party
Thursday May 1, 2025
6:00pm-8:00pm
The Sticky Wicket - Clubhouse Room
919 Douglas St.
*Enter off Courtney St.*
FREE admission
19+
It was so much fun last year, we're doing it again!
Mix and mingle at the launch of our 2025 festival - a spread of munchies will be provided and your first drink is on us.
Enjoy a preview of this year's official selections with a short screening of trailers.
Party down with the Victoria film community, then hop across the street to The Vic Theatre for our opening night screening of local short films starting at 8:30pm.
Disturb The Peace
Thursday May 1, 2025
8:30 pm
The Vic Theatre
808 Douglas Street
$16
19+ Screening
🎟️ >> Get Tickets << 🎟️
Short Circuit opens with a screening of five local short films with moody vibes that capture the current climate of disquiet, unease, and apprehension.
*Filmmakers in attendance*
Total running time: 89 minutes
Obscura / 옵스큐라
Victoria • 20 mins. • Arnold Lim
Sang-Ook, a Hikikomori (shut in) whose locked himself in his room for a year, builds a camera obscura from his room as a conduit to the outside world.
Arnold Lim is an Independent director and producer who won Telefilm’s Talent to Watch grant twice, with past awards including the Director’s Guild of Canada’s Greenlight award for Obscura which won the 2024 Leo Award for Best Short Film. A video journalist of more than a decade and Photography Manager for five Olympic Games, he hails from Victoria BC where he lives with his wife and two children.
Forest Echoes
Victoria • 20 mins. • Eva Grant
A love story set against the backdrop of the climate crisis and the opioid epidemic, Forest Echoes follows Echo and Wild, two urban Indigenous land defenders. On the one-year anniversary of their arrest on the front lines, a death in their community opens old wounds but also offers them a chance to heal.
Eva Grant is an Indigenous-Eurasian filmmaker, curator, and artist. She is a Stanford University alumna, a Sundance Institute Fellow, and an ImagineNATIVE Originals fellow. Her world-building practice, under the banner of Tooth & Nail Pictures, spans narrative and new media, with a focus on climate storytelling, alternate histories, and decolonial futurism.
Minor Keys
Victoria • 11 mins. • Sohee Hong, Daniel Hoo Youn Kwon
A young girl who doesn't want to connect with the outside world is finally convinced by her mother to leave the house. But if she has to go outside, she has one condition her mother has to accept.
Daniel Hoo Youn Kwon is a multitalented filmmaker, the director, writer, editor and co-producer of 2022’s Cinespark winning film “The Girl in the Forest”. He is a true renaissance man: screenwriter, director, editor, colourist, set decorator, graphic designer and animator.
Sohee Hong is an emerging Korean-Canadian filmmaker, producer, assistant director working in British Columbia, Canada. She has produced and worked as a crew member on several funded narrative films and documentaries. She is an active member in independent film society and currently pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts in University of Victoria.
Moonbeaming
Victoria • 18 mins. • Charlie Gudgeon, Tavish Gudgeon
After the death of his fiancée, a man attempts to navigate his grief. His would-be brother-in-law struggles to connect with him.
The Gudgeon Twins are Victora/Vancouver/Los Angeles based writer/directors. They've crafted films that blend truth and fantasy, which have earned international festival acclaim. They co-founded Westdowne Productions and currently work at Atomic Cartoons and Annapurna Pictures.
Day 3
Victoria • 20 mins. • Emanuel Foucault
Haunted by a melody and tormented by her peers, a tree-planter and aspiring folk singer seeks solace in the wilderness — only to find the land whispering her deepest desires, pulling her into something darker than she ever imagined.
Shaped by a childhood of frequent moves, Emanuel Foucault was exposed to a wide range of cultures and people, sparking a deep curiosity about how the stories we tell ourselves shape our lives. His background in classical music, political science, and theater studies led him to film as the ideal medium for telling multifaceted stories. As a director, producer, and editor, Emanuel blends these influences to explore the intersection of nature, history, and the human experience. For over a decade, he supported his filmmaking career through tree planting — an experience that inspired his short film Day 3, which premiered at the Victoria Film Festival.
Friday May 2, 2025
Touch Grass
Friday May 2, 2025
6:30 pm
The Vic Theatre
808 Douglas Street
$16
19+ Screening
🎟️ >> Get Tickets << 🎟️
Our documentary shorts program includes five films that showcase the strength it takes to harness the beauty - and survive the wrath - of nature's canvas.
*Filmmakers in attendance*
Total running time: 81 minutes
The Beginning
Squamish / Argentina • 13 mins. • Cristóbal Ruiz
Alenka Mali, a 24-year-old raised in Slovenia and born in Argentina, grew up immersed in the outdoors, guided by her parents, both acclaimed climbers. After moving to Canada, she embraced freeride snowboarding and met her partner, Spencer, who introduced her to the world of BASE jumping, sparking a new dream — to combine her passions by attempting a snowboard BASE jump off Goat Mountain in Squamish, BC.
Cristóbal Ruiz is a film director born and raised in the south of Chile and currently based out of Vancouver, Canada. Through his production company Pachamama Film, he channels his creative vision, collaborating with purpose-driven brands and organizations in the realms of athletes, adventure, remote communities, and human stories of resilience. Cristóbal's portfolio boasts collaborations with renowned brands such as North Face, Adidas Terrex, Destination Canada, and La Mer, as well as partnerships with platforms like Showtime and WaterBear Network. His work is characterized by its emotional depth, progressive themes, and explosive visuals, creating a human experience that deeply resonates with viewers on an emotional level.
Beyond the Salish
Vancouver • 18 mins. • Richard Chen, William Chong
Two kayakers take on a once-in-a-lifetime journey off the Pacific Coast of Vancouver Island, breaching into relentless waves, unpredictable weather, and the uncharted depths of their own fears.
Filmmaking and photography has been Richard Chen’s passion since he was 15, and he’s worked between the medium of narrative and documentary films as well as art photography and photojournalism. His narrative short film Meeting Amy has screened at DCIFF and Vancouver Short Film Festival. Through outdoor adventure filmmaking, he’s combined the two things he loves, and is extremely excited to form this adventure into the story of a lifetime.
William Chong is an adventure filmmaker and photographer from Hong Kong, now based in Vancouver. In British Columbia, he has embraced the outdoors, mastering backcountry skiing, climbing, sailing, and kayaking. His solo kayak journey through the Inside Passage is the ultimate testament to his adventurous spirit. Alongside Richard Chen, he co-created the short doc Beyond the Salish, winning Best Sea Kayaking Film at the Paddling Film Festival. Holding a BA from UBC’s Sauder School of Business, William combines business acumen with storytelling.
Wild Aerial
Kimberley • 16 mins. • Trixie Pacis
Aerial artist Sasha Galitzki overcomes extreme cold and dizzying heights to attempt the most ambitious routine she’s ever performed outdoors, set against the backdrop of the rapidly changing Canadian Rockies.
Trixie Pacis is a Filipina-Canadian filmmaker based in Kimberley, British Columbia, with a fiction background in script development and producing. Her documentary work amplifies unheard voices and communicates environmental stories. She has three short films on the mountain festival circuit. Her first feature, Dil Rakh, is on Tubi and Amazon.
The Bird in My Backyard
Victoria • 20 mins. • Ryan Wilkes
A window salesman documents the secret lives of hummingbirds in his urban backyard.
Ryan Wilkes is a documentary filmmaker and photographer focused on science, conservation, and wildlife. With a PhD in Bioengineering, he simplifies complex topics through storytelling. His work has aired on CBC, PBS NOVA, and ARTE. An award-winning creator, he shares his photography and films with 150k+ Instagram followers on @itsryanwilkes.
Our Table
Penelakut Island • 14 mins. • Steve Sxwithul'txw
A First Nation works to educate others about importance of protecting their beaches from outside polluters near Penelakut Island, Canada.
Steve Sxwithul’txw is an award winning Producer from the Penelakut Tribe located just off Vancouver Island, Canada. He is currently senior producer of Kwassen Productions / OCM Productions Inc. and has a new TV docuseries on APTN and CHEK called Ocean Warriors ~ Mission Ready which focuses on a team of volunteer First Nations mariners who react to calls for boaters in distress along BC’s vast coastline.
Living on the Edge
Friday May 2, 2025
8:30 pm
The Vic Theatre
808 Douglas Street
$16
19+ Screening
🎟️ >> Get Tickets << 🎟️
This year's selection of films from around the Pacific Rim takes us through the relentless pursuit of love and happiness against all odds -- from the magic imagination of childhood to the hard work of modern adult life.
*Filmmakers in attendance*
Total running time: 84 minutes
Rodrigo Branquias
Colombia • 17 mins. • Andrés Guevara Espinosa
A 9-year-old boy with an extraordinary talent for holding his breath underwater dreams of participating in a freediving championship, and at the same time wants to prove to his mother that dreams, with passion and perseverance, can come true.
Audiovisual producer and screenwriter, expert in children's and young adult projects. He has written screenplays for series such as FRANCISCO EL MATEMÁTICO, FLORICIENTA, A MANO LIMPIA NOOBEES. He wrote and directed the children's short film LAVÍA LÁCTEA and is currently in post-production on his first children's feature film, EL RESCATE DEL PATACÓN.
Marahoro
Chile • 16 mins. • Sofía Rodríguez Pizero
A 15-year-old Rapa-Nui boy finds in an ancient holler the strength to confront his father's harshness and pursue his calling from the voices of the sea.
Born and raised in Chile, Sofía Rodríguez is a filmmaker who first fell in love with making movies by filming funny sketches with her classmates and her dad's camera. She studied Communications and Film at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile where she persued her passion for writing and directing. She wrote, produced and directed her short film debut Marahoro to honor the island of Rapa Nui and its community. With the script she was selected to participate at Aotearoa Script Lab (2018), the MapuLab (2020) and the 'Ohina Labs (2021). Marahoro premiered at Maoriland Film Festival (2024).
Lea Tupu'anga / Mother Tongue
New Zealand • 17 mins. • Vea Mafile'o
A young speech therapist disconnected from her Tongan heritage lies about her Tongan language skills to get a job. Out of her depth, she must find a way to communicate or risk her patient’s life.
Vea Mafile'o's debut feature documentary For My Father's Kingdom (2019) had its world premiere at Berlinale and placed third in the People's Choice Award at Melbourne International Film Festival. Lea Tupu'anga / Mother Tongue is Vea's first drama-based film, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024.
Pool of Plenty
China/Vancouver • 10 mins. • Louisa Phung
In a small county in China, three families make their lives around work, family, and a famous regional dish: the stinky mandarin fish.
Based out of Vancouver BC, Louisa PHUNG Suk Yee is a writer and award-winning director. She has a Bachelor of Performing Arts Degree and a Diploma in Theatre from Capilano University. Hope and Grace was the first short film project under her production company, Clever Bird Entertainment Inc., followed by her award-winning 1-minute horror short Day Break. She was selected to attend the 2025 Hong Kong Filmart as a delegate with the Racial Equity Screen Office to support the development for her first feature film, Hungry Ghosts. Pool of Plenty is her first documentary, and she is thrilled to be back at the Short Circuit Pacific Rim Film Festival!
Saturday
Yukon • 13 mins. • Jessica Hall
In Saturday, a visual celebration of her sister Katherine and mother Frances’s close and supportive relationship, filmmaker Jessica Hall chronicles their shared ritual: thrifting and building dollhouses together.
Award-winning documentary filmmaker, producer and editor Jessica Hall lives in Whitehorse, Yukon. Intrigued and inspired by the many exceptionally creative, versatile and determined local people she’s met, Jessica’s work explores these interesting, unique characters. Her most recent film Rob Is Analog won the Audience Choice award for Best Canadian Documentary and Best Overall Canadian Film at the 2022 Available Light Film Festival. Left Hand Path won the 2018 Pelican award for best documentary short at the first Hermetic International Film Festival in Venice, Italy.
Allergic To Love
Alaska • 11 mins. • Steven Cornfield
Calvin wants nothing more than to fall in love. However, the one major obstacle standing in his way is his severe allergy to love.
Steven Cornfield is a filmmaker based in Anchorage, Alaska. With roots in music, Steven’s journey into filmmaking began on YouTube, where his passion for visual storytelling quickly took hold. His latest project Allergic to Love stands as his most ambitious work to date, reflecting his continuous growth and commitment to pushing creative boundaries in the world of film. In addition to filmmaking, Steven co-founded the Alaska Filming Initiative, a coalition dedicated to reinstating Alaska's film incentive, fostering a thriving film community in the state.
Saturday May 3, 2025
INDIE+INDUSTRY
Saturday May 3, 2025
11:00am - 6:00pm
Chateau Victoria
740 Burdett Avenue
Level up your film career with a full day of professional development and networking opportunities for both indie and industry creators and crew. Registration includes plenty of food, refreshments, and breaks throughout the day, tangible skills and inspiration to employ on your productions, and creative connections forged in the fire of collaboration!
$55
🎟️ >> Register Now << 🎟️
Limited capacity * Advance registration required * Reserve your seat ASAP
Please note the Screenings Pass does not provide admission to this event.
Sponsored by IATSE 891 & ACFC West Local 2020 Unifor
First, We Brunch
11:00am
It's a tradition! Our famous film festival brunch buffet is back. Start the day with a feast to fuel your day, add a coffee buzz to kickstart the networking vibes, then open your mind to creative possibilities with 18th-floor skyline views from the Vista 18 Harbour Room at Chateau Victoria.
For even more inspiration, we'll have a short talk by video podcast duo Johnny Brenneman and David Malysheff about creating their new 8-episode series Bon Victoriage! which features an eclectic mix of locals as they travel around the city via pedicab. The project was sparked by their meeting at last year's Short Circuit brunch, and is currently rolling out on TELUS Optik TV, Stream+, and the STORYHIVE YouTube Channel. And breaking news - it was just renewed for season 2!
Hatching Success
1:00pm
Our first Indie+Industry panel features three energetic filmmakers in an intimate session that will inform, encourage, and inspire participants to follow your heart, pave your own path, and get your dreams onto the screen!
Panta Mosleh is a wildly successful Short Circuit alumna who forged her early film career path as a past CineVic member and board director. Having truly travelled from indie to industry and back again, she can’t stop / won’t stop and has expanded her work into many roles, fields, and formats that now include Hallmark movies – known to locals as a juggernaut of the Victoria film scene. Panta served as EP/Producer and co-Director on the short film Hatch, screening at this year’s Short Circuit in the Mainlanders program.
Shiraz Higgins and Heather Lindsay are on a skyrocketing trajectory – racking up millions of views as director and producer for bbno$ music videos, and blurring the line between creative and commercial with edgy content for local companies and big brands. Fresh off their trip to the Juno Awards, Shiraz and Heather will get you fired up and ready to unleash your unique vision to the world!
Working with Unions and Guilds
3:00pm
Our second Indie+Industry panel welcomes representatives from four film unions and guilds in BC for a discussion on how (and why) filmmakers can (and should) work with unions and guilds, even on your low-budget / short / indie / non-union production. They'll also share some tips and tricks on how to get working in the industry through various entry points and membership requirements of each film labour organization.
Andrea Moore
Director of Operations
DGC BC
Daryl Litke
Business Manager / Agent
ACFC West Local 2020 Unifor
Michael Rosser
Props Master
IATSE 891
Wendy Newton
Business Agent
ICG 669
Serina Ram
Membership Services / Trainee Coordinator
ICG 669
The Debrief
5:00pm
Bring it in, wind it down, huddle up and hobnob with some casual networking to round out the day. Enjoy some more snacks and drinks with your fellow Indie+Industry cohort before heading over to the theatre for our final night of screenings!
Mainlanders
Saturday May 3, 2025
6:30 pm
The Vic Theatre
808 Douglas Street
$16
19+ Screening
🎟️ >> Get Tickets << 🎟️
The Vancouver film scene lights up the screen with seven stories about individual perseverance, and the sometimes unexpected ways in which we forge an identity and find out who we really are.
*Filmmakers in attendance*
Total running time: 82 minutes
Screening sponsored by ICG 669
Hatch
Vancouver • 11 mins. • Alireza Kazemipour, Panta Mosleh
NAAJI, An Afghan refugee boy hides with his mother inside a moving water tanker trying to cross the border to safety. Losing his mother in the process, he forever tries to find a way to relive his last memory of her.
Alireza Kazemipour is an Iranian-Canadian filmmaker with two decades of experience as a screenwriter in Iran. He holds a master's in Cinema studies and has directed award-winning shorts including The Gold Teeth (2022) and Split Ends (2022), recognized in over 150 film festivals worldwide, championing social justice, women's rights, and immigrant issues.
Panta Mosleh is a Queer Middle Eastern-West Asian-Canadian Director, Writer, and Producer working between Vancouver and LA. She has directed TV movies for A&E, Lifetime, TF1, NBC Peacock, and Hallmark, with multiple projects in development. She recently wrapped a documentary and is directing a $3.5M TV movie.
Night Ferry
Vancouver • 17 mins. • Perry Sieben, Alois Sieben
While aboard a ferry, Jeremy’s ideal match appears in a dating app: Nemo.
The direct communication of brothers fuels the filmmaking tandem of Perry and Alois Sieben. Their first creation is Night Ferry (2024), a short film about a dating app user sailing the seas for his ideal match, which blurs the aesthetics of digital communication with BC's beautiful islets and waterways.
Counting Days
Vancouver • 11 mins. • Hiromu Yamawaki
Ayano, a Japanese migrant worker, faces the realities of living in a foreign land and tries to seek a way to stay in Canada.
Hiromu Yamawaki is a writer/director based in Vancouver, born and raised in Tottori, Japan. He has background in Film studies at Carleton University and Film Production at Vancouver Film School. His primary interest is to make Asian representation happen both on screen and behind the camera.
Urn
Vancouver • 5 mins. • Ian Tan
Vera experiences chilling supernatural encounters after her late husband's passing.
Ian Tan is a filmmaker based in Vancouver, BC. He graduated with a BFA in Film Production at UBC and is an alumni of the VIFF Catalyst program and Blood In The Snow’s Horror Development Lab with award-winning shorts that have screened around the world. His experiences being raised in Malaysia have made Ian passionate about telling stories from his unique Chinese-Malaysian perspective, primarily focusing on themes of deconstructing masculinity. Ian is currently developing his horror short Karak into a feature film.
Easybake
Vancouver • 13 mins. • Sasha Duncan
An insecure teen gains the ability to sculpt her own body by eating a clay sculpture, leading to an obsessive pursuit of “perfection”.
A lifelong storyteller, Sasha Duncan (she/her) has a passion for stories featuring aggressive girlhood and bittersweet humour. She has written, produced, and directed short works which have screened and won awards all over the world, and was the 2023 recipient of the ScreenBC Short Film Award. She is the co-director of the Run N Gun Film Festival and works in development as a creative producer, two roles which exemplify her commitment to building creative communities through storytelling. Sasha is grateful to live on the land stewarded by the Coast Salish peoples, and is active in decolonizing her living and working practices. She holds a diploma in Writing for Film & Television, and a Bachelor of Arts from UBC.
Toe Pick
Vancouver • 10 mins. • Teresa Alfeld
After a serious accident at morning figure skating practice in 1999, 13-year-old Chelsea finds a way to skate on her own terms.
Teresa Alfeld (she/her) is an award-winning documentary and dramatic writer/director from Vancouver BC, with over ten years’ experience in features and shorts. Select credits include THE RANKIN FILE: LEGACY OF A RADICAL (2018), DOUG AND THE SLUGS AND ME (2022), and DAVID FOSTER’S EGGGPAA (2022).
DTF?
Vancouver • 15 mins. • Jess McLeod
A young, queer writer on a sexual bender is forced to confront his insecurities when he ends up on a date with his former English professor.
Jess McLeod is an actor and filmmaker born in Victoria, BC. DTF? is their directorial debut short, and has garnered multiple awards at festivals worldwide. Their upcoming work as a director includes the short SHE'S NONBINARY, and they will co-star with Bob Odenkirk in his next action comedy, Normal.
ANIMATION
+ Awards + Closing Party
Saturday May 3, 2025
8:30 pm
The Vic Theatre
808 Douglas Street
$16
19+ Screening
🎟️ >> Get Tickets << 🎟️
Enjoy five mind-bending short animated films on a hand-drawn trip from Hawaii to Singapore to USA and back again to BC.
*Filmmakers in attendance*
Total running time: 60 minutes
After the films we'll play a short reel announcing this year's outstanding film award winners. Then stick around for a final mix & mingle with drinks & snacks to close out the festival!
The Queen's Flowers
Hawaii • 12 mins. • Ciara Leinaala Lacy
Emma, a native Hawaiian girl in 1915 Honolulu, makes a special gift for the last monarch of Hawai`i, Queen Lili`uokalani.
Ciara Lacy is an Emmy-nominated Native Hawaiian filmmaker whose interest lies in crafting films that use strong characters and investigative journalism to challenge the creative and political status quo. Her work has screened at festivals around the world such as Sundance and Berlinale as well as shown on networks including Netflix, PBS, ABC, and Al Jazeera. Ciara is honored to be the inaugural Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellow as well as part of the inaugural class of NATIVe Fellows at the European Film Market. She has also benefited from fellowships with the Sundance Institute, the Tribeca Film Festival, the Princess Grace Foundation, Firelight Media's Documentary Lab, the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, and the Gotham Film & Media Institute. Ciara holds a BA in Psychology from Yale University, and is a proud graduate of the Kamehameha Schools Kapālama.
Have I Swallowed Your Dreams
Vancouver • 6 mins. • Clara Chan
A poetic conversation between an immigrant daughter and her mother about sacrifices and dreams.
Clara Chan works as a VFX Supervisor at Sony Pictures Imageworks by day, and as an independent filmmaker by night. She started Flying Dumpling Films in 2022 because she is passionate about telling unique and authentic stories that connect with people. She has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (Animation Branch) since 2021.
Jet Lag
Washington/Oregon • 6 mins. • Kacey Morrow, Dustin Morrow
Using frame-by-frame rotoscope animation, the stylized aesthetic of classical airline safety brochures, and an almost stream-of-consciousness narration, Jet Lag playfully communicates the shifting complex emotions, anxieties, frustrations, and excitement that coincide with air travel.
Kacey Morrow is a filmmaker, motion designer, and Professor in the Department of Design at Western Washington University, teaching motion graphics, animation, and digital video.
Dustin Morrow is an award-winning filmmaker, bestselling author, media artist, and a Professor in the School of Film at Portland State University.
She and Her Good Vibrations
Singapore • 11 mins. • Olivia Griselda, Sarah Cheok
A stressed-out, middle-aged woman discovers the wonders of a vibrator, but she soon becomes addicted to solo pleasure sessions and loses touch with reality.
Olivia Griselda is an Indonesia-born, Singapore-based director, writer and producer. Her directing works include experimental short Rite of Passage (2020) and romantic drama short Just Because We’re Friends (2019). Sarah Cheok is a Singaporean animation filmmaker. Her animated short film The Growth (2019) won Digicon6’s Next Generation Award.
Door to Door: A Loogaland Cartoon
Wasa • 15 mins. • Jake Brassard
In this collaborative film, various mysterious doors lead Bun and Soop on an adventure through Loogaland’s different dimensions.
With a commitment to his craft, Jake Brassard has created his own animated universe, "Loogaland", animating and self-producing his independent films. Brassard aspires to engage audiences with his blend of traditional and experimental animation, inviting them on surreal journeys through imaginative worlds.
May 1-9, 2025
Odeon Alley
*EXTENDED RUN*
May 1-9, 2025
764 Yates Street
Odeon Alley returns to downtown Victoria!
Every year we show Short Circuit films for public viewing in the art window near CineVic headquarters in Millie's Lane. No nickel needed, this one's a freebie!
Big thanks to Cenote and Volta for the use of their art window. We highly recommend Volta for scrumptious breakfast or lunch, and Cenote for late-night cocktails and food.
Odeon Alley includes all films from the cinema screenings, plus we've added even more documentary, experimental, music video, and animation films from Victoria and around the Pacific Rim:
Ruth
Victoria • 7 mins. • Shana Lee Gibson
Urban gardener Ruth Tschannen is determined to build community and teach her neighbours how to grow food and flowers in unconventional places.
Shana Lee Gibson is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and writer. Her films have screened at Yale, the San Francisco Indie Festival and the Short. Sweet. Film Fest. Grief and Joy (2022) streams on CGood TV. Ruth (2023) won Best Cinematography and was nominated for Best Edit and Best Film at the Art of Documentary Fall 2023 competition.
Wouldn't Make It Any Other Way
Guam • 20 mins. • Hao Zhou
Having built a colorful queer life in an American prairie town, an aspiring costume designer visits their island homeland of Guam to make costumes for a children’s theatre while reconnecting with distant parents.
Hao Zhou is a filmmaker from southwest China, currently based in the USA. Zhou's films span narrative, nonfiction, and experimental genres, including Correct Me If I'm Wrong (2025), Like What Would Sorrow Look (2024), and Here, Hopefully (2023).
Inkwo for When the Starving Return
Vancouver • 19 mins. • Amanda Strong
Dove, a gender-shifting warrior, uses their Indigenous medicine (Inkwo) to protect their community from an unburied swarm of terrifying creatures.
Amanda Strong is a Michif/Métis artist, writer, producer, director, filmmaker and mother. As the owner and executive producer of Spotted Fawn Productions Inc., her collaborative creations serve to amplify Indigenous storytelling and ideologies. Strong’s work has received Canadian Screen Award and Emmy nominations, and her films — which include Biidaaban and Four Faces of the Moon — have been shown worldwide at venues such as TIFF, the Cannes film market, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and the American Museum of Natural History.
Ema I'u - Flower of Life
New Zealand • 5 mins. • Francis Baker
On a planet collapsing under climate catastrophe, a spiritually gifted woman must unlock her ancestral knowledge to lead the remnants of humanity to salvation.
Ko Gertrude tōku waka
Ko Munro tōku clan
Ko South London tōku hapū
Ko Brixton Hill tōku maunga
Ko Thames tōku awa
Ko Tāmaki Makaurau tōku kāinga
Ko Francis Baker ahau
Inspired by counterculture movements, philosophy, martial arts and meditation, Francis Baker pushes boundaries, builds bridges, and dreams of cosmic exploration.
The Elevator Dance (For Elisa) Remix
California • 6 mins. • Jessica Sison
A re-enactment and radical re-interpretation that transforms the infamous viral video of Elisa Lam, a young woman who vanished and died in a hotel, into a tribute to her life and a celebration of her spirit through dance.
Jessica Sison has over 20 years of experience in entertainment as a producer, editor, director, and camera operator. Her documentary directorial debut My Mother Said (Kuna Ni Nanang) has screened at over 50 festivals including Tribeca and Hawaii. She is passionate about documentaries and continues to collaborate with other filmmakers.
to the Memory of BOATSWAIN, a DOG
Victoria • 4 mins. • Spencer Irwin
Taking its name from a Lord Byron-penned epitaph, ‘to the Memory…’ follows a young person’s journey to come to terms with the loss of a beloved pet.
Originally from Vancouver Island, Spencer trained and worked in the US & UK before returning to Canada in 2020. Seeing Dancer In The Dark at an arguably too-young-age brought an awareness that film can veer from the pristine, and be a means to work-out and share difficult feelings.
Urban Chime
Victoria • 4 mins. • Eric Hinch
A music video portraying the challenges that many people face when moving to a new city. Based on the song ‘Urban Chime’ by Steve Barker.
Eric’s filmmaking captures the beating heart of a story. With a strong background in theatre as an actor / director/ kids performer / writer and producer, his storytelling can utilize conventional methods or be unleashed with wild imagination. He resides in Victoria BC.
Road of Lux
Taiwan • 7 mins. • CHIA-HSUN WU
A courageous coal elf defies the ordinary path, drawn by light, enduring trials to transform into a shining diamond.
CHIA-HSUN WU was born in Taichung, currently studying at Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology.
Lover
Taiwan • 5 mins. • CHING-WEN YANG, SHAO-HUA WANG, ZHI-KOU ZHAI
A companion robot, ALICE, clings to her love for Hana despite abuse, only to be left deactivated after her suicide.
My name is YANG,CHING-WEN. I am a giraffe who loves movies and enjoys creating dazzling visuals using 3D techniques.
Tickets
Screenings Pass
$40
Provides admission to all 5 short film screenings.
Please note this pass does not provide access to non-screening events.
Single Screening Tickets
$16
INDIE+INDUSTRY
Saturday May 3, 2025
$55
Limited capacity * Advance registration required * Reserve your seat ASAP
Please note the Screenings Pass does not provide admission to this event.
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CineVic acknowledges and respects the long and continuing history of the Lək̓ʷəŋən-speaking people, now known as the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations, on whose traditional and unceded territory we carry out our activities.
CineVic gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance and support of Canada Council for the Arts, British Columbia Arts Council, Province of British Columbia, CRD Arts Development Service, and City of Victoria
Gratitude to our Festival Sponsors:
Much Love to our Community Partners:
