Ties That Connect (Grade 9-12 English-Languages)

2021 Festival

ONLINE April 26 to May 9

Presented by ATB and Swan City Rotary Club, this enlightening package contains films that look at the connections and disconnections between people who have just met and family members who have grown distant. With films from the US, Europe, Israel, and Australia, this geographically diverse package includes narrative films, a documentary, and a silent film.

Films in this package

A young helpline operator takes her first call. Won Best Narrative Short at the 2019 Austin Film Festival.

A woman watches her favorite YouTuber as he answers questions from his fans during a live chat. Can she find the right words to join the conversation? Won Audience Award for Best Short Film at the 2019 Merlinka Festival among other awards.

A German voice actor has been hired to dub an English actor’s voice in a film noir set in 1944 Berlin. It’s work as usual until the English actor in the film looks at the camera and revolts against the dubbing process.

An elite high school football star known as “The Machine” is challenged by an outsider in a series of races. Against the backdrop of wintertime Richmond, Virginia, the former capital of the Confederacy, this opportunity for friendship is a chance to humanize “The Machine”.

A clinic offers a couple a guaranteed cure for the husband’s condition and they are eager to sign the consent form until the doctor explains the side effects. Won Best Screenplay at the 2020 Festival Alto Vicentino.

A factory worker, tired of his dead-end job, assembles an enigmatic machine that produces liquid drops from moonlight. The bottled drops are a hard sell at the town market, but all that changes when their surprising effect is revealed. Won Judges’ Choice & Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy at the 2019 Comic-Con San Diego among other awards.

A capsule romance is tested against the backdrop of the pandemic as two filmmakers are forced to move in together after two weeks of knowing each other. Won Best Short Documentary at the 2020 Kerry Film Festival among other awards. Screened with the kind permission of Network Ireland Television and Michael-David McKernan.

An elderly man lives as a recluse until an unexpected visitor arrives and disrupts his lonely routine. Won Best Foreign Film at the 2019 LA Shorts Fest among other awards.