New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) is proud to announce the projects selected for the 5th Annual NYWIFT Online Shorts Festival, presented in partnership with iWomanTV.
NYWIFT was founded in 1977 by a handful of women who saw a pressing need in New York for a networking and education forum for women in the entertainment industry. Nearly 45 years later, NYWIFT’s diverse membership is now 2,500 strong, made up of professionals who work in all aspects of television, film and digital media, from behind-the-scenes to in front of the camera to the executive suite. We are thrilled to showcase some of established and rising stars through the Online Shorts Festival!
The selected films and webisodes are available to stream on:
(Please note you will have to sign up for a free account with iWomanTV to watch the films.)
The film with the most views from March 1-31 will be awarded the Audience Choice Award from iWomanTV!
First Place (Most Watched Film) – $1,000
Second Place – $500
Third Place – $250
* First, second and third place will receive their designated cash prize as well as an opportunity to be featured on iWomanTV’s Creator Conversations series.
Thank you to our friends at iWomanTV for offering this incredible opportunity to the NYWIFT community.
Watch the films online now:
500 Calories
NYWIFT Member Cristina Spina
(Writer & Director)
A human being needs at least 1200 calories a day to live. A woman in the middle of an existential crisis confronts her ballet teacher who had forced her, at the age of 13, to restrict her diet to 500 calories a day.
6:18 to Omaha
NYWIFT Member Terry Lawler
(Producer)
6:18 to Omaha takes place in 1959, includes are three characters, including an African-American women, a white woman and a white man. They meet in a coffee shop near the train station and teach each other about their lives.
A Man of His Time
NYWIFT Member Estelle Parsons
(Director)
A descendant of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney invites a descendant of Dred Scott to sit down over coffee off a New Jersey Turnpike in hopes of issuing a long overdue apology from his family to theirs; what Taney gets in return is an education and an awakening to his own ignorance and place in an ever-burgeoning racist America.
A Million Strangers in Their Pocket
NYWIFT Member Mary R Katzke
(Producer & Director)
This short film was created with the Victims for Justice organization here in Alaska with the aim of stopping TikTok related violence and informing parents about aspects of what their teens are experiencing online that they may be not realize.
Appetite
NYWIFT Member Margarita Zhitnikova
(Actor, Writer, Producer)
NYWIFT Member Stacey Maltin
(Director, Producer, Editor)
Jack, an aging hedge fund CEO, hesitantly acquiesces when Ruby, his wife or 25 years suggests they check out an open love party. Thrust into a new world, he is surprised to uncover the intimacy he actually desires.
Archive & The Storyteller
NYWIFT Member Natasha Rivera
(Director)
Set against the backdrop of a not so distant future; 20 years ago the world received a message from beyond the known edges of the universe. Earth and all life within it was going to end and then restart. The ‘Archive’ is a reincarnation project that promises to preserve and restore those who decide to stay within the program. With only a few months left, Mathew and Krystal fall in love further complicating the time they have left.
Blessed
NYWIFT Member Janelle Meghan
(Actress & Producer)
A routine interrogation reveals a woman’s abusive situation, but can the detective convince her to get help?
Blood Hana
NYWIFT Member Flo Mitchell-Brown
(Executive Producer)
Lily, an introverted teen, begins questioning her faith in God and her sexuality as she develops a crush on her classmate, Alex. As the two girls become closer, and Lily’s feelings develop, she becomes sicker and sicker. After throwing up a flower, she seeks help from her mother who reveals to her that she may have inherited a disease called Hanahaki, which is formed out of unrequited love. Lily must make the choice to remove the flowers and her love for Alex or allow them to consume her.
Break Like You
NYWIFT Member Mel House
(Director & Cinematographer)
BREAK LIKE YOU is a short character-driven documentary about Emile Jansen – a founding member of South Africa’s oldest Hip-Hop crew, Black Noise.
Buried & Forgotten
NYWIFT Member Ali Ahmed
(Writer, Director, Producer, Actor, Editor)
An alcoholic with a martyr complex who is losing his grip on reality must stay sober for a weekend trip home to see his dying uncle and religious Muslim family. But going home forces him to grapple with not just deeper childhood traumas, but also new dark revelations of sexual abuse in this neo-noir tragedy.
Capucine Bourcart
NYWIFT Member Linda Porto
(Executive Producer)
Capucine Bourcart is a contemporary visual artist living, working and exhibiting her art in New York City. Of French and Vietnamese heritage, Capucine takes the audience on a journey as she creates her mixed media assemblages and photo collages that capture the character of New York City. We see her on the streets of the city, in her studio in Harlem – and exhibiting her work in public spaces and galleries in her adopted home.
Chance
NYWIFT Member Elizabeth Page
(Director)
“Chance” is set in the 1870s and adapted from a play by W.S. Gilbert of Gilbert & Sullivan fame. Shot at the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum in NYC, it’s about two estranged sweethearts who run into one another at an inn in New York City during a thunderstorm – the chance encounter giving them a second chance to take a chance on love.
Choice
NYWIFT Member Dawn Young
(Writer, Producer, Actress)
A cautionary tale of what can happen when a woman’s choice is taken from her in a situation where the ultimate decision should be hers alone. The involvement of others who are not directly involved in the consequences of the decision only further complicates an already difficult and heart-wrenching decision for the woman in question who will ultimately bear the consequences of that important choice that she must make depending on her life situation.
Come Find Me
NYWIFT Member Nela Wagman
(Writer & Director)
After a single car accident claims life of her baby sister, Sophia yearns for a connection to a mother now broken by grief and trauma. Her father too, is absorbed in his wife’s pain and his own, and cannot give Sophia the support she craves. As Sophia’s mother begins to recover, it seems all she wants is to start everything anew. Sophia sees herself as a part of the old, sad world being pushed away, and soothes her loneliness in a world of fantasy.
Como Se Dice
NYWIFT Member Gwendolyn Hulet
(Writer & Executive Producer)
Two employees at an all-night diner, each struggling with their own desperate situation, form an unexpected bond while attempting to help one another out of their hapless circumstances.
Crepuscule
NYWIFT Member Tamara Daley
(Producer)
Our most cherished memories often include wine & music – both leave an invaluable legacy for the next generation.
Crepuscule is a short film about Pier Luigi Tolaini’s reflections on life. The founder of Tolaini vineyard / estate, he reflected on the similarities between vines and men and wine and music in the crepuscule of his life.This film is a collaboration between the Monk and Tolaini families, in honor of their fathers’ legacies. It is narrated by Thelonious Monk lll, and uses as the soundtrack “Crepuscule With Nellie (Live In Milan / 1961)” by Thelonious Monk.
Dear Chickens
NYWIFT Member Jennie Allen
(Writer)
When a stubborn old man and a fretful teenage girl are forced to share a hospital room, an unexpected friendship forms over their hatred of fake cheerfulness and bad hospital food.
Debate Prep
NYWIFT Member Rachel Cunningham
(Writer, Actor, Executive Producer)
Inside the campaign office of the underdog candidate in a race for Mayor of a small Ohio town, Campaign Manager Aimee has crafted the winning strategy to knock over the corporate-owned incumbent. Or at least, she thinks she has. A comedy about the drama, the absurdity, and the truth that politics is always local.
Defining Beauty
NYWIFT Member Gina Angelone
(Writer & Director)
DEFINING BEAUTY is a 6-part series about 5 major social-media influencers–all African-American women–as they reveal their personal journeys toward self-acceptance through both profound and humorous experiences. Shot documentary-style, these amazing women ignite important conversations on everything from hair to colorism as they share their insights on defining beauty for women of color. In this episode, the women discuss the emotional topic of hair and how perceptions of “good hair” are finally shifting. (This original series was created for Verizon’s Go90 network by Disney/MAKER Studios.)
Destiny’s Fuge
NYWIFT Member Breton Tyner-Bryan
(Producer, Director, Choreographer, Actor, Designer, Editor)
Hazel and Augustine journey down the rabbit hole of their past clandestine affair to revisit their collectively fractured memories in a reverse warholian experience. Destiny’s Fuge is a haunting and playful examination of fantasy, pleasure, and the limitless human experiences of vindictive dissociation. Defined by self absorption, devotion, and love, the power a memory holds over us ultimately becomes the map to past and future, with the truth sandwiched somewhere in the middle.
Do Nothings
NYWIFT Member Amy Poux
(Director)
Do Nothings is a 10-minute short film that introduces us to 1-year-old “Tamarin” (they/them) and their outsider best friend, “Alex” (she/her). The film takes place over one day and brings us into their bubble, an irrepressible escapade of dancing, vamping, gorging, and confessions. Torn between fitting in and forging their own paths, when Alex admits to vaping, it tests the strength of their friendship and the safe space the two of them have always known.
Frontline Arts Buffalo
NYWIFT Member Lukia Costello
(Producer, Director, Editor)
Frontline arts institutions maintain communities, contribute to society, and create culture, often with very limited resources and public recognition. This video engages the public in conversations around the value of these institutions and the importance of advocacy so that they may be funded in an equitable and sustainable way. Frontline Arts Buffalo is a collective of arts organizations and dedicated individuals work to support frontline arts and cultural organizations in Buffalo, NY in their transition from conditions of precarity to viability.
Good Girl
NYWIFT Member Alicia Herder
(Writer & Director)
New girl on the block, Harper, arrives at a Midwestern college party with the intent of getting closer to her crush and host of the party, Michael. After Michael stereotypes Harper as a drug dealer, Harper flees the scene and meets Nina in the bathroom – a girl who feels so isolated from her peers that she’s cutting herself. Harper and Nina share their vulnerabilities and their scars, leading Harper to crave revenge against Michael. But when her plan goes awry, Michael throws Harper’s new relationship with Nina in jeopardy. Will Harper stay silent or is it already too late?
Grist
NYWIFT Member Shannon Harris
(Writer, Director, Producer, Actor)
Hannah ends a three-year on-again, off-again “situationship” with Roman due to irreconcilable world views that have potentially serious ramifications.
Heavy Feathers
NYWIFT Member Laura Lockwood
(Actor)
Inspired by pop-art imagery, Heavy Feathers is a colorful short drama about 18-year old Myna, who starts looking for her past in a household where her mother and sister only want to look forward.
Her Own Hero
NYWIFT Member Lukia Costello
(Producer, Director, Editor, VFX)
A brief history of women’s self defense based on the work of Wendy Rouse.
Narrated by Wendy Rouse, Associate Professor of History, San Jose State University as excerpted from her California Historical Society Book Talk ‘Her Own Hero: The Origins of the Women’s Self Defense Movement, March 13, 2018.
Hotline
NYWIFT Member Jennifer Plotzke
(Producer)
A Thanksgiving crisis brings two lonely strangers together in an unlikely way.
How Do You Type a Broken Heart?
NYWIFT Member Susannah Nolan
(Writer)
How close to the abyss would you go to save another person? New mother Becky is awakened at close to midnight by Justine, an alcoholic who is on the brink of self-destruction. In order to reach Justine, Becky must open her own padlocked past and finds the imps inside are harder than she thought to get back in.
How to Make a Feminist
NYWIFT Member Susan Freel
(Producer, Writer, Director, Cinematographer)
A look at the tribal relationship of siblings during the years before going to kindergarten and its ramifications, as represented by my family photos, iPhone footage, and additional open sourced internet video footage.
I AM
NYWIFT Member Laura Arten
(Director)
A documentary series that explores the life and work of queer artists who paved the way for gender equality movement by daring to be themselves fully.
I’m Okay
NYWIFT Member Amy Poux
(Director)
The sequel to Do Nothings, I’m Okay picks up the storyline one year later. Shot in August 2020, the film is based in today’s pandemic. We find “Tamarin” as they escape high school and the social scene that will never accept them; we meet “Jaden”, “Tamarin’s” brother, who has a terrible case of senioritis; and enter a sibling oasis that staves off the world outside for a moment.
Innocent Chat
NYWIFT Member Brigette ReDavid
(Producer, Assistant Director)
When his wife won’t go to therapy, a man considers another alternative to happiness after he he flirts with a younger woman on the internet. But their seductive dream of being lovers shatters when they finally meet.
IRA: Cashing In
NYWIFT Member Catherine Vouvray
(Writer, Director, Producer)
A retired Irish couple use the skills they learned during the Troubles to save their American granddaughter from the US healthcare system… by robbing English pubs.
Jumper
NYWIFT Member Jennifer Plotzke
(Actor, Producer)
An ordinary day becomes extraordinary as paths intersect on an NYC subway line and a new mother copes with exhaustion.
Keeper
NYWIFT Member Maren Lavelle
(Director)
After a traumatic accident leaves Caleb Armstrong with a rare neurological disorder rendering him nearly paralyzed, his brother Marc takes on the role of his sole caretaker. As a way to deal with the pressure of daily life with the now non-verbal Caleb, Marc escapes into his mind, replaying the day of the accident, desperately searching for what he could have done differently. Can Marc let go of his guilt from the past and forge a new bond with his brother in the present? Or will Marc remain locked-in to his mind just as Caleb is locked-in to his body?
Kurtis on Zoom
NYWIFT Member Jennifer Dean
(Producer, Editor)
KURTIS on ZOOM is a five-episode series about the anxiety and frustration of love and loneliness during COVID. Here we are sharing episodes 1 and 2 which kick off the series for consideration.
Letters From My Father
NYWIFT Member Johnny Olmez
(Director)
Years after running away from home, a struggling writer must make amends with the life he left behind when he returns to his estranged family.
Lonely Voices – Grandparents Coping with COVID
NYWIFT Member Melissa Farris
(Director, Producer)
A short documentary featuring interviews with grandparents trying to cope, while distanced from their families during the first lost year of COVID.
Lost + Found
NYWIFT Member Jennifer Plotzke
(Actor, Producer)
A haunting, film noir adaptation of John Milton’s “Paradise Lost.”
Making the Impossible Possible: The Story of Puerto Rican Studies in Brooklyn College
NYWIFT Member Pam Sporn
(Co-director, Co-producer, Co-editor)
MAKING THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE tells the story of the student led struggle to win Puerto Rican Studies at Brooklyn College, CUNY, in the late 1960’s. The documentary is a mosaic of voices, film footage and photographs taken by student activists. This important story highlights the powerful alliance Puerto Rican, African American and other progressive students and faculty forged that changed the face of higher education with the founding of one of the first Puerto Rican Studies departments in the nation.
Maya
NYWIFT Member Maren Lavelle
(Director)
Maya, a Queer, Korean-American stage manager in New York City, struggles to run the rehearsal for a play about a gay couple falling in love as she pores over the details of her real-life break up from the night before. In a series of flashbacks, we watch Maya and her white partner, Phoebe, reenact their first date, in an attempt to rekindle their romance, which ultimately unravels into an argument about race, class, and privilege within their relationship. In the end, Maya must choose between letting go of her grievances or the woman she once loved.
Means of Escape
NYWIFT Member Lisa Thompson
(Writer, Producer, Co-director)
his short documentary is about my move to New York and my relationship with the Essex Market on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. I moved to Manhattan in April 2019, not really knowing anyone, and I began shopping at the Essex Market, which is in my neighborhood. I began building relationships with some of the vendors and during the Pandemic, those relationships grew stronger. The Market is a vibrant and diverse community that I felt compelled to document and celebrate.
Night Call
NYWIFT Member Amanda Renee Knox
(Director, Producer)
When a Black female cop, living in and patrolling Inglewood encounters gets called to a disturbance, she is forced to make an unprecedented, life altering decision.
Nuestras Historias – Los Artistas Del Barrio Buffalo
NYWIFT Member Lukia Costello
(Director, Producer)
Created in collaboration with youth as a pilot visual storytelling workshop, this video shares the story of Los Artistas Del Barrio. LADB unites Western New York Latino/a/x and Hispanic artists of all genres in creativity, culture, collaboration, and community, to celebrate, and inform others of our ethnicity and roots.
Park Slope Moms
NYWIFT Member Alexandra Foucard
(Creator, Producer, Actor)
Park Slope Moms is a female-centric dramedy set in an affluent, progressive neighborhood in Brooklyn. The men and children are heard but never seen. The ensemble is plunged into a competitive world of PTA fundraisers, cupcakes, neighborhood politics and spy surveillance. After all it is about the children. Right? A closeted Conservative and recent stay-at-home mom, Carley Fuller-Fowler reluctantly takes on the role of PTA president at the behest of her momfriends. Things take an ominous turn when Carley attempts to enforce her extreme views on child-rearing and relationships.
PIN-UP
NYWIFT Member Liz Lachman
(Writer, Director)
A celebrated, disillusioned photographer becomes obsessed with the mysterious woman who saves her life, not realizing that her newfound “muse” can also lead to destruction.
Portrait of the Artist – Adele Henderson
NYWIFT Member Lukia Costello
(Director, Producer)
A short Buffalo Society of Artist commissioned profile piece featuring artist Adele Henderson.
Promises to the Future
NYWIFT Member Catalina Giraldo
(Writer, Director, Editor)
As the filmmaker pursues a creative career, she goes looking for others in similar positions to explore what her decision entails. Mixing experimental art and documentary film, this work explores the real and imaginary boundaries of creativity.
Real Laws in Real Places
NYWIFT Member Cristina Doikos
(Writer, Producer, Actor)
Joyce and Tammy, loyal cheese factory employees, find themselves on house arrest after a breaking a law they didn’t know existed. Real Laws in Real Places explores absurd laws in the United States, mockumentary style!
Sasha & Mar
NYWIFT Member Anya Dombrovskaya
(Director)
Tensions arise between two young women after an unsettling night that they cannot quite recall (short film).
Shadow Man
NYWIFT Member Roberta Pyzel
(Writer, Director)
Ricky, a small-time drug dealer, is sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for a violent crime he did not commit. He breaks down as he tries to convince a disinterested lawyer of his innocence. The conversation between this desperate man and the woman who holds the fate of his life in her hands is gripping from the outset. It is a tale of redemption and a powerful argument against mandatory prison sentencing.
Swingin to the Blue
NYWIFT Member Nancy Cohen
(Director, Writer, Actor)
Liz Lentil interviews a few hold outs for Biden and convinces them to swing to the blue.
Tell Me About Orange
NYWIFT Member Robin Noonan-Price
(Director)
When his best girl friend expresses her romantic feelings, a blind teenage boy struggles to express his. He realizes that sometimes love really is blind.
The Clinic
NYWIFT Member Jennie Allen
(Writer, Director)
A skeptical woman participates in an experimental research study, taking a high dose of psilocybin to face her fears about dying. This short film is inspired by the work of Dr. Bill Richards at John Hopkins School of Medicine, and by Michael Pollan’s article “The Trip Treatment.”
The Couple Next Door
NYWIFT Member Abbesi Akhamie
(Writer, Director, Producer)
A 41-year-old woman grapples with her singlehood when a charismatic African couple moves into her building.
The Feather
NYWIFT Member Catriona Rubenis-Stevens
(Director)
During a less than incredible first date, an unusual moment with a loose feather could change the course of the night.
The Ghost Within
NYWIFT Member Thais Sherell
(Writer, Director, Producer)
A fragile woman must confront the effect of a childhood trauma that burrowed within and now returns to claim the peace of her adulthood.
The LIBBY Show
NYWIFT Member Suzanne Curry
(Creator)
The LIBBY Show: Lunch with the Ladies is a brand new streaming talk show aimed at women “of a certain age.” It was developed because the creator saw a need to address topics of importance to this demographic. In this episode renowned physician Elsie Koh, MD talks about how we can live our best life, the mind/body connection, better sleep habits and how to stay vital at any age.
The Mayor
NYWIFT Member Cloe King
(Producer, Casting Director)
Based on the testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, The Mayor tells the story of a young enthusiastic radio host, Benjamin White, Jr., who desperately wants to help his father, Mayor Ben White, Sr. secure a seat in Congress. However, Benjamin must reconsider his position after a woman accuses the Mayor of sexual abuse over the live broadcast.
There Will Be Bowling: Little Miss Anastasia Fakename
NYWIFT Member Mari Lyn Henry
(Actress)
Episode 7 – Meg and Abel’s mother purposely books an appointment with the wrong doctor so she can tidy up some past mistakes.
“There Will Be Bowling” is seven episodic shorts performed by some of New York’s best over 50 actors. Margot Avery, Jay Patterson, Christine Farrell, Don Castro, Lou Liberatore, Mary Lyn Henry, and Star Bobatoon join forces to bring you the story of old wounds and new puppies in the days of a never ending Covid-19 lockdown.
Three Birds
NYWIFT Member Shannon Harris
(Writer, Director, Producer, Actor)
Stella visits her college library with two tasks in mind. A third awaits.
Time Busters
NYWIFT Member Morris Jackson
(Director)
Three college students unlock the secrets of time travel. Now at their fingertips, they must decide to either use it for the advancement of humankind or to monopolize on it when everything goes wrong.
Trash Day
NYWIFT Member Caroline Vokas
(Director, Editor)
In the film, America’s abundance of discarded goods is examined through New York City dumpster divers.
Two Teresas
NYWIFT Member Rosanne Limoncelli
(Writer, Director)
Two women from different cultures and generations meet at a fragile time and forge a friendship that changes the course of their lives, proving that we have more in common than what divides us.
Uber Oracle
NYWIFT Member Renée Stork
(Writer, Director, Producer)
This mystifying story follows an unassuming New York City Uber driver who is a modern-day Oracle. Once a person rides with her, their life inexplicably changes. A few sage words from the Oracle and obstacles are overcome, breakthroughs and inspiration happen, conflicts resolve and dreams come true. A lesson in how miracles happen when least expected.
Under the Same Sky
NYWIFT Member Allison Chace
(Writer, Director, Executive Producer)
Women from around the world share wisdom during a global pandemic.
Veral
NYWIFT Member Erin Harper
(Writer, Director)
Haze, “big-city” newspaperman, searches the High Plains for a “country-flavor” story for the Post. The urban/rural divide is palpable the moment he arrives. Is understanding possible between city slickers and this reclusive community? His search leads him to the Veral “Wax” Museum, presided over by solitary teen Alicia. The basement houses the town’s mummified dead, preserved through her forebears’ formula, dating from the Homestead Act. Alone in this stark tomb, Alicia seeks to transfigure the irrevocable law of life and death while Haze’s deadline hangs in the balance.
Will You Take This Dog?
NYWIFT Member Shari Albert
(Writer, Director, Actor)
When a broken-hearted New York City wedding photographer’s fiancée ‘needs more time’ to decide about marriage, a chance encounter with a lost dog changes her relationship and teaches her the meaning of love.
Woodford County
NYWIFT Member Eileen Weisinger
(Actor)
On a snowy, winter morning in North Texas young woman sprints from the back door of her farmhouse and disappears into the woods. When Paul, a policeman from a neighboring town comes to investigate, he finds the young woman’s mother, Adelaide, tending to the aftermath. Through their interaction we learn of a tumultuous pass between mother and daughter, between Adelaide and Paul, and how the line between wrong and right is often drawn thin by the ghosts of our past.
Woody’s Order!
NYWIFT Member Martha Ann Talman
(Writer, Director, Actor)
Woody’s Order! follows my story as “thy brother’s keeper”. For Woody to see the 75-minute solo play Woody’s Order! in public would have been overwhelming. So I filmed myself doing scenes to capture his reactions hearing it for the first time. One camera always on me, one Woody and a master. Family home movies filmed by our late mother weave into the film. Her POV, a loving ghostly presence. It reveals the hurdles and moments of despair but more moments of irreverent humor and courage. Woody and I had to learn to “float on our own” in this life.
Yield
NYWIFT Member Ani Schroeter
(Writer, Director, Producer)
On her way to visit her sick father, an adrift young woman, Riley Varick, hits a deer on the road and is forced to confront and accept her actions as a prerequisite for her father’s inevitable demise. Meanwhile, her father is completely immersed on a Virtual Reality beach accompanied by a computerized seagull.
You Can Kiss Me
NYWIFT Member Jan Jalenak
(Writer, Director)
Penelope’s search for the kind of love and intimacy that is missing in her life leads her to a motel room with another woman – only to be confronted by the realities of her marriage. All gets complicated when things aren’t as expected.
