2021-2022
SYNERGY FILM FESTIVAL 2022 WINNERS & OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
SPECIAL JURY AWARD
AWARD WINNER
Happy Transmissions
Directed by
Dusty Saunders
Follow our hero Happy down a sedative rabbit hole, filled with adventure, strange trips, and good times.
ANIMATION FILMS
AWARD WINNER
Suddenly
Directed by
Director Nic Gregory
The journey of a lightning bolt from sky to ground highlights the saying “life flashes before your eyes”.
SEMI-FINALISTS
Directed by
Oskar Salomonowitz
Oskar Salomonowitz, the 12-year-old son of filmmakers Anja Salomonowitz and Virgil Widrich, had drawn 206 frames of a flip book when he died in an accident. Using the remaining blank sheets, his father continued drawing the film.
Winner of 61 international film awards!
Directed by
Nicolas P. Villarreal
Endless distractions threaten to destroy creativity.
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Directed by
Tzu-Yu Pan
Directed by
Phyllis Bulkin Lehrer
Directed by
Jan Beyen
William Afton vs Andrew - Lego Fight
Directed by
Mark Bakunin
MUSIC VIDEOS
FINALIST
All the Flowers
Directed by
Marlena Ariana Martinez
Through a gloomy world of giant wilting flowers Velvet Penny crawls up a giant staircase through a light-filled door where she enters onto a cliff and continues to blissfully walk to her death in the golden hour; surrounded by personifications of mixed emotions and lost innocence. As she makes her final wish the viewer then follows Velvet Penny into 'a world of her own' where dancing flowers surround her in a void of darkness
SEMI-FINALISTS
Corrupted Matter / Vocal & Visual Expression
Directed by
Perla Joe Maalouli
In times of wound and insecurity, people were invited to a safe cocoon to listen to the vocal expression "Corrupted Matter". We have captured their emotions and created this visual expression/music video for the one-year commemoration of the Beirut explosion on August 4th, 2021.
Florida Music Video
Directed by
Simon Davies
Music video for 'Florida' by Fauvely
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Let the wind sing
Directed by
Igor Sukachev
Isolation
Directed by
Soheil Mosharraf
Oliver Tree & Little Big - The Internet
Directed by
Oliver Tree, Alina Pasok Pasok, Maxim Semyonov
OLIVER TREE & LITTLE BIG - TURN IT UP
Directed by
Alina Pasok, Iliya Prusikin, Oliver Tree
LITTLE BIG - MOUSTACHE
Directed by
Alina Pasok, Iliya Prusikin
BEST STUDENT FILMS
WINNER
LEMON
Directed by
Yuanyuan Lu
A man is sitting in a narrow living room and reading a book. There is a sofa, a box filled with various stuff and a ceiling lamp in this room. The lamp lightens the room. However, the bulb is broken without warning. The man is shocked and tries to find a new bulb in the box in the darkness. After a search, he finds something that has a similar shape and plugs it into the lamp. However, after the room becomes lightened again, he notices that the thing he finds is actually a lemon but can be used as a bulb somehow. The space lightened by the lemon becomes a lemon tree woods, which becomes the start of his adventure.
SEMI-FINALIST
MOANIN'
Directed by
Jason Michael Perniciaro
An aging Jazz star struggles to play his instrument while fighting with his new live-in nurse.
The Statement
Directed by
Owen Imgrund
After investigating an Elder cult's meeting place, a professor wakes to find himself in an interrogation room with a grotesquely scarred hand.
Pirouette
Directed by
Shaily Sanghvi
Pirouette takes you through the journey of life. Sometimes the purpose that you choose, does not choose you. Is that the end though? Look closer and you’d be surprised how life runs in circles.
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
The Walk
Directed by
Courtney Travelle Wheeler
Transfert
Directed by
Emeric Gallego
The Meantime
Directed by
Samantha Pess
EXPERIMENTAL FILMS
WINNER
The Sip
Directed by
Paul Bestolarides
A man must come to terms with his past on a camping trip. 'The Sip' was shot during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. The thematic elements explore death and how loss impacts life.
SEMI-FINALIST
Something
Directed by
Barbara Stepansky
A million moments in time of a relationship at a crossroads is juxtaposed with the question about the future of physics and the existence of a multiverse.
Involutati, A Journey of the Soul Through Matter
Directed by
Salvador Ortega, Arturo Sastré, Claire Becker
A classic romance with a twist of the stomache.
Claire's hands search in this world of matter for the nuances of the soul, and shape the clay until its voice is freed. A luminous journey to reconnect with life.
Otonashi
Directed by
Martin Gerigk
"Painted in silence, a sparrow’s dream invokes timeless harmonies. In the heart of the universal geometry, the seed of calm is formed." Otonashi is a philosophical voyage through inner and outer experiences of the human existence - an audiovisual meditation of futuristic transmutations about the Japanese Hannya Shingyō.
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
RIMLESS
Directed by
Yi Qu
House on Fire
Directed by
Jess Hole, Jessica Stirnemann
The Song of Songs
Directed by
André Goldberg
Abstract film
Directed by
Kostiantyn Mishchenko
A Waste of Time
Directed by
Harrison Stengle
RILEY
Directed by
Jennifer Michele
The Pandemic Dances
Directed by
Richard Daniels
WEB SERIES
WINNER
DICHOS
Directed by
Mary Angélica Molina
DICHOS is a comedy web series about Latin American expressions. Because a “saying" in any language never has a literal translation in another, each episode presents absurdist stories that describe their spirit and essence. DICHOS attempts to translate the untranslatable. In the first episode, a soft-spoken woman finally asserts herself before her colleagues.
SEMI-FINALISTS
OFF GUARD
Directed by
Emile Rizk
Seb is so fed up of working for next to nothing. He can't bear to continue to disappoint his ex Élise, the mother of his son Sam. He goes to the shrink to help with his outbursts, but nothing works. It’s then that Mike, a former colleague, invites him to a recruitment session for a dubious
Arthur
Directed by
Nick Rusconi
Two serial killers on the run. A woman scorned, wanting revenge. An FBI agent on a lifelong hunt. A dwarf who knows far too much. Amidst car chases, love and torture, secrets and life-changing revelations, Arthur’s story continues: will he follow Zed’s example and resume his life as the amiable killer-next-door? Or will he finally break free from his “unsavoury hobby”?
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Frapuccino
Directed by
Paul-André Robin, David Trujillo, Barnabé Corsand, Clémentine Odion
Nothing Personal
Directed by
Fedor Kudryavtsev
Love 3.0. You're from the future
Directed by
Ольга Филонова
W.T.F. - Weird Things in the Forest
Directed by
Jordi Avalos, Samuel Télot
Cooking with Kyssara
Directed by
Anne Mueller
Thrilled to Announce
Directed by
Bret Jones
BEST SHORT FILMS
WINNER
A day will come
Directed by
Nicolas Cazalé
Weakened by a stay in an psychiatric hospital reunites with her son, Luca, who lives far away with his father now. But the joy of the reunion will be brief and Audrey will have to question her role as a mother.
SEMI-FINALIST
Uncut
Directed by
Mark Hensley
After the New Republic Patriot Party seizes control in America , and passes a law requiring all males over 35 to have a vasectomy to keep the number of babies with birth defects down, Jamie decides to flee to Canada on the eve of his 35th birthday.
Tierra del Fuego
Directed by
Oleksandr Lozytskyi
Film from an exciting expedition to Tierra del Fuego in Chile and Argentina in November 2021.
Shoutout To All Of My Haters
Directed by
Colby Herbst
A man reveals to the world that he has always had the ability to fly, and to prove it he'll fly off the roof of his apartment building. A documentary team follows him around on his final days leading up to his flight.In some rented offices, auditions are held for some independent films. Genres and approaches more or less "creative" are highlighted through the requests of directors who try to get the maximum, and perhaps more, from their work. In the meantime an attendant finds himself assisting in a more or less direct way to these controversial situations. Where will we end up with these new approaches?
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Food Apartheid
Directed by
Alan J. Chriest
The Will to Live - Yes, I was diagnosed with breast cancer
Directed by
Peiju Huang
Bluff
Directed by
Artur Matveev
A Waste of Time
Directed by
Harrison Stengle
Josefina
Directed by
Nadia Flamenco
The Militiaman
Directed by
David Peter Hansen
We Made It
Directed by
Megan Joyce Schowalter
BEST FEATURE FILMS
WINNER
Everything Will Be Fine In The End
Directed by
Joseph Bartone
Everything Will Be Fine in the End centers around three twenty-somethings whose aimless existence becomes defined by an act of violence. Buzz (Kent Harper) a small-time drug dealer and self-professed private investigator steals George’s (Elsa Kennedy) dog that she stole from Tom (Ken Forsgren) at a dog park. To get revenge on Buzz, George enlists the help of Kai (Steven Michael Martin) and Renka (Cheska Zaide). Her plan backfires when a robbery goes horribly wrong.
SEMI-FINALIST
CHILDREN AS GIANTS
Directed by
Jesse Hutchins
Living with his older brother and his fantasy world while dealing with the added heartbreak of his son's passing takes Declan McKnight on a journey where the only way to move forward is to accept fantasy as reality.
LOVE & BROTHERHOOD
Directed by
Jason Horn
Makaila and Brandon are a couple that has decided they are going to move in together after dating for some time. But Makaila has some baggage that needs to come with her, Arnold her brother who was recently kicked off the couch by his mother and now needs somewhere to stay. Moving into a new place together brought them to a building full of beautiful women which enticed Brandon to play a little on the side, not knowing that playing the game might cost you your life.
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Arshinagar (Reflection)
Directed by
Ahmed Tahsin Shams
Team Pierre
Directed by
Pete Koff
An Exercise in Empathy
Directed by
Cedric O'Bannon
The Dental Plan
Directed by
Wayne Diu
GEORGE M. COHAN TONIGHT!
Directed by
Jon J Peterson
BEST FOREIGN FILMS
WINNER
THE UGLY TRUTH
Directed by
Krishna Ashu Bhati
Mona, her husband Theo and daughter Hanna live in an idyllic villa on the outskirts of Berlin. When the attractive 18 years old daughter of a friend comes to visit, the profound problems and fragility of the small family reveal, as a tragic downward spiral takes its inevitable course.
SEMI-FINALIST
October 22
Directed by
Nauwroz Khan
The moment he sees her from a distant, he was able to identify that she is the one! The very first love of his life. Memories are rekindled, he remembers the days both used to celebrate their birthdays in primary school (October 22nd). He is so happy to see her again after decades, but not realizing that she is diagnosed with dementia; she is not able to remember her past. Will he be able to make her remember the days they used to be together?
Marie-Luise
Directed by
Hervine De Boodt
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
TROUBADOURS CELESTES
Directed by
Hervine De Boodt
Letter from Bobeyan
Directed by
Stephen Paul Cooke
BEST DRAMA FILMS
WINNER
Pirouette
Directed by
Shaily Sanghvi
Pirouette takes you through the journey of life. Sometimes the purpose that you choose, does not choose you. Is that the end though? Look closer and you’d be surprised how life runs in circles.
BEST TRAILER
WINNER
It Began In Brooklyn
Directed by
Daxton Dubach
A first hand account recollecting growing up in the United States during a simpler time that gave rise to incredible and hilarious stories.
SEMI-FINALIST
The Chief
Directed by
Aundra' Michael Segrest
The Chief in Nash Valley has been characterized as a spiritual man, but firm when it comes to fighting crime and being respectable, to all persons regardless of race,
creed, color, origin, nationality or sex. He conducts and carry himself in a very professional manner. He is married with no children. The chief (Spencer James Johnson) is a bright young man with inspirations to make a difference in law enforcement practices and the community. His life’s track and career ladder were no easy journey. Early on during the chief’s life, he was engaged to Melody Cooper. Melody got on drugs and ran off to Orange County. She was pregnant with his child, which he had no knowledge of. Melody later died, but she wrote the Chief a letter letting him know he had a daughter. He eventually started a new life and got married. Despite his turbulent journey through life, the chief never lost sight of trying to make a difference in the community.
An Unimportant Girl
Directed by
Daxton Dubach
Born in Nazi Germany to a life of poverty, Vivianne overcomes the obstacles of hunger, sexual harrassment, immigration and suicide on her journey to find her place in this world.
BEST DIRECTOR
WINNER
Music and Mental Health
Directed by
Tina Rix
Beautiful charming Austin, TX....the Live Music Capital of the World, has been the home of Nigerian American psychotherapist, singer, and Film Director, Tina Rix for the past 5 years. A transformation began to take over Tina from day one of opening her mental health company here. Austin is a city that recognizes mental health as an important issue and one that can be combated by spreading awareness, we invite you to watch the Music and Mental Health Docuseries
SEMI-FINALIST
The two brothers and Santa Claus
Directed by
Gabriel Tibi
As Christmas Eve approaches, Léo, a naïve 7-year-old kid, searches for evidence to prove that Santa Claus really exists.
His older brother, Kevin, tries to prove him wrong.
October 22
Directed by
Nauwroz Khan
The moment he sees her from a distant, he was able to identify that she is the one! The very first love of his life. Memories are rekindled, he remembers the days both used to celebrate their birthdays in primary school (October 22nd). He is so happy to see her again after decades, but not realizing that she is diagnosed with dementia; she is not able to remember her past. Will he be able to make her remember the days they used to be together?
BEST SCRIPT/SCREENPLAY
WINNER
Bad Love Tigers
Directed by
Kevin Schewe
It is New Year’s Eve, 1974, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the fun-loving and adventurous teens of the Bad Love Gang are ambushed by a Russian KGB agent. This propels them to use the White Hole Project Time Machine to time travel back to World War II. The gang meets with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who guides them on their mission to protect a mysterious alien spaceship and America’s top-secret Area 51.
On their perilous mission, the gang must deal with Russian, Chinese, and Indian espionage forces who stand in their path. Along the way, the gang encounters danger, intrigue, betrayal, and a little romance. Ultimately, the intrepid Bad Love Gang triumphs over their adversaries to protect the alien spaceship and maintain the security of Area 51. It's Stand by Me Meets Raiders of the Lost Ark.
