Deep Impact Shorts
Shorts | February 2 | 5:15 PM
17-year-old Aria’s father promises to take her on her first driving lesson after work. When he leaves an illegal immigrant in her care and decides to go gambling with his friends instead, Aria decides to go on a joyride.
ONTARIO PREMIERE
Botanica
Noël Loozen | Netherlands | 13′
A garden-center employee fears his possible infertility and realizes that sometimes you have to swallow your pride to let love overcome.
ONTARIO PREMIERE
Dear Chickens
Mauro Mueller | USA | 14′
A stubborn old man and a fretful teenaged girl develop an unexpected friendship over their hatred of fake cheerfulness, chemotherapy, and bad hospital food.
CANADIAN PREMIERE
Jitters
Otoja Abit | USA | 12′
Minutes before his nuptials, a neurotic young man locks himself in the back room of a church with his best man. Recalling the women of his past, he questions his decision.
CANADIAN PREMIERE
Nightshade/Nachtschade
Shady El-Hamus | Netherlands | 14′
Tarik helps his father Elias to transport illegal immigrants into the Netherlands. When an accident occurs, Tarik gains the acknowledgment from his father he has yearned for, but at a high price – the loss of his own innocence.
ONTARIO PREMIERE
Nikki Marianne
Guillaume Caramelle | France | 15′
Peter, an ordinary boy, is in love with Nikki, a girl as beautiful as inaccessible. At a celebration between high school students, he sees her getting along with a 30-year-old man.
TORONTO PREMIERE
Palookaville
Pim Algoed, Sem Bucman | Belgium | 17′
Palookaville is a black comedy about a fortysomething man who compensates his social isolation with hard work. When he sees his professional life slipping through his fingers he decides to fight back.
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Space Girls
Carys Watford | UK | 10′
During a sleepover, four space-obsessed 9-year-old girls embark on a secret mission in their cardboard rocket.