THANK YOU FOR MAKING THE 2025 FESTIVAL A SUCCESS!

ABOUT OUR FILMS

program one
11:00 AM

We begin the festival with a program of films that tell stories of community, friendship, and the value of connection.

  • Known historically as the Orchard of England, Herefordshire is apple country. Sat in the middle is the ancient market town of Leominster, where people have been growing, picking, eating, stealing, throwing, pressing, cooking, and honouring apples for many generations. This heritage film brings together a wide-ranging and eccentric cast of local people – farmers, Travellers, former apple-pickers, clergymen, wassailers, cider makers, fruit sellers – to explore the deep relationship between the people of this area and its historic crop. Part portrait of a fading way of life, part celebration of how a living culture continues to manifest itself, the film raises deep questions about human nature. Expect games, pies, dancing, petty crime, and varieties of apple beyond your most delirious dreams. Prepare to honour the apple.

    This film was made possible with the support of the UK's National Lottery Heritage Fund, Leominster Town Council and Leominster Cultural Consortium.

    runtime 43:04
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NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

  • To save their business, two pawn shop owning bugs must go on an adventure to make their biggest score yet.

    runtime 5:26
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NARRATIVE SHORT, ANIMATED

  • A boy, a dog and his friend navigate through a turbulent world, discovering that scary times aren't so scary when you have a friend by your side.

    runtime 10:00

STUDENT SHORT

  • Per tradition, villages celebrate Chinese New Year with lively firework displays, but the presence of a man-eating monster, Nian Shou, casts a dark shadow over one village. To pacify the beast, the village started a tradition of human sacrifice, but things change when a special little girl called Little Apple is chosen as a tribute.

    runtime 2:47

NARRATIVE SHORT, ANIMATED

program TWO
1:30 PM

Our second program focuses on stories of Maine, with special guests and speakers to bring these stories to life in the room.

  • The Penobscot Nation & Maine Department of Marine Resources collaborated to help restore Atlantic Salmon to Penobscot Nation's waters.

    a film by The Sunlight Media Collective, an organization of Indigenous and non-Indigenous media makers and activists

    runtime 21:12

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

  • Maine Lines is an all-women's ski film that showcases the talent, passion, and camaraderie of female skiers in ski patrol, park, racing and backcountry settings, while exploring the unique and breathtaking landscapes that Maine has to offer.

    a film by Amanda Yolles,
    Bates college student

    runtime 24:52
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DOCUMENTARY SHORT

program THREE
3:30 PM

As the day progresses, we move into a program of incredible story-driven shorts. Striking, whimsical, musical, humorous, this collection has it all.

  • A humanitarian is tasked with transporting a box of unknown contents. When his vehicle becomes immobilized in the heart of a relentless desert, he continues on foot, accompanied by a mysterious companion he meets along the way. Together, they face a landscape as magnificent as it is hostile, while the initial mission transforms into an epic quest, revealing a destiny far grander than they could have imagined.

    runtime 24:00
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NARRATIVE SHORT

  • A monk overcomplicates the simple task of hanging a painting.

    runtime 2:33

NARRATIVE SHORT, ANIMATED

  • "Catalogue of Noses" is a short musical comedy. It tells the story of Emily, a Jewish teen actor on the day of her scheduled nose surgery, who faces off with her mother, a plastic surgeon, and the weight of her cultural identity. Through original songs that parody 'Fiddler on the Roof,' we follow Emily’s emotional state as she navigates this decision and learns unsettling truths about the consequences of assimilation.

    runtime 11:36
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NORTHEASTERN US
PREMIERE

NARRATIVE SHORT

  • Two men realise they're grappling with their love lives by pretending to understand Taylor Swift.

    runtime 6:00

NARRATIVE SHORT

  • What were Catherine and Louis thinking when they chose a cat with distinctive white spots? It would have been much easier to replace if they had picked the all-black one! Now, they will have to tell their daughter Sophie that Nugget’s dead. Unless...

    runtime 12:30
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NARRATIVE SHORT

Our festival concludes with a gripping and dark feature film that captures the audience from the outset. Please note that this film is suspenseful and not suitable for younger audiences.

program FOUR
5:30 PM

  • In the aftermath of a horrific 4th of July attack, a group of five desperate people find themselves trapped in the back room of a restaurant. But as they fight to keep alive they soon discover that their greatest threat may actually be locked in the room with them.

    runtime 1:25:30

NARRATIVE FEATURE