Author: documentaryfestival

Daniel Parris is a documentary filmmaker based in San Francisco, California. He enjoys telling stories of people in transition. His favorite documentary films include Spellbound, Icarus, and Minding the Gap.

A short documentary following San Francisco’s longest-running movie theater, The Roxie, as it reopens after 434 days closed. Project Links  Website

Showcase of the best SHORT FILMS in the world today. AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS: Best Film: HAMBRE: HUNGRY FOR LIFE Best Direction: THE NEW NORMAL Best Documentary Subject: CARVING A NEW LIFE Best Cinematography: A COMMUNITY UNDER FIRE Best Sound & Music: DEFIANCE IN THE KINGDOM OF FAKE NEWS Theme of night: Life Watch the Audience… Continue reading HIGHLIGHTS – OCTOBER 2021 DOCUMENTARY Short Film Festival

Mathias has loved storytelling his entire life. At the age of 5, he was obsessed with Robert Ludlum’s Bourne series. At age 18, his uncle—an award-winning cinematographer—offered him an internship. On the sets of movies and drama TV, Mathias entered the world of visual storytelling. For five years, Mathias assisted in various roles, from producing… Continue reading Director BIO:  Mathias Magnason (DEFIANCE IN THE KINGDOM OF FAKE NEWS)

In the northeastern city of Changchun, China, a group of six ordinary people — a truck driver, a food vendor, a housewife, etc. — gathered in secret to plan an extraordinary task: to break into the television broadcasting system of the most tyrannical regime on earth – that of the Chinese Communist Party. Their goal… Continue reading Short Film: DEFIANCE IN THE KINGDOM OF FAKE NEWS, 10min., USA

During a 10-year career as a TV news journalist, Drew Petrimoulx told stories about many different aspects of American society, from high-profile criminal trials to natural disasters to congressional politics. Seeking to focus on long-form storytelling, Drew left the business in 2019 to start a career as a documentary filmmaker. His first documentary short was… Continue reading Director BIO: Drew Petrimoulx (CARVING A NEW LIFE)

In the summer of 2020, we started filming with a recovering addict named Daniel Bugna as he went through the process of making a classic chair from a whole piece of wood. As he worked on the intricate designs, he told us about his five-year struggle with opiate addiction. We also spoke with his mom… Continue reading Short Film: CARVING A NEW LIFE, 12min., USA

We tell the story of a small but special regional town in during Australia’s 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfire season. We highlight the importance of community – everyday people doing extraordinary things to help our community survive and recover. And we show our town’s path to recovery. How we in Braidwood in New South Wales, faced… Continue reading Short Film: A COMMUNITY UNDER FIRE, 23min., Australia

Director, producer, teacher and founder of Running Cow Films, Anushka wears many hats. With over 15 years of experience, she has worked on a wide range of TV commercials, digital content, documentaries and short fiction films. She has an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she was the sole recipient… Continue reading Director BIO: Anushka Shivdasani Rovshen (THE NEW NORMA)

Is the past the future we want ? The race to get back to normal made us question this very idea of normalcy itself – Is it normal that our planet is dying because of our economic priorities?Is it normal when lockdowns only protect the rich while the economically disadvantaged are left jobless and take… Continue reading Short Film: THE NEW NORMAL, 4min,. India, Poetry