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Hey, how are you? Now before we start I just want to advise you that this film festival will display many paths we are all familiar with. For many they could be triggering and for others a sigh of relief. You are not alone.

We were all born to give love and receive love, it's what makes the universe go round. See recently I went through a very traumatizing breakup, never in a million years did I think I was going to cry my nights away asking the heavens "why me?"

It wasn't until recently that I analyzed it all and paid visits to memory lane. If this relationship wouldn't have happened I would have never learned how brave I am, how intelligent I am, how kind my heart is even to those who do not deserve it. It's all part of my journey, it was bound to happen because it was a growing opportunity or as some storytellers may say it's my character development.

I acknowledge my past and have hope of trusting my future timeline. I want to invite the audience to ground themselves and be vulnerable to the idea that there is no such thing as coincidence, we all meet people and invite them into our story even if it's for a season because the encounter was meant to happen at that exact moment in your life.

With that being said I leave you here with this french saying c’est la vie.

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Who remembers their first big crush? I definitely do, and it feels like it was just yesterday when I would come home from middle school and play the song Rockstar by Hannah Montana on repeat because the lyric “Some days I spend a little extra time in the morning just to impress you” would resonate so much to the current situation I was in. I never told Aaron A. I liked him, but I hope he is doing well. I was a very shy kid, so never in a million years did I think of making a move or telling my crush how I felt, but don’t get me wrong I did think about it on occasions where I was ready to press send on MySpace and then I would back out. In this film THE GF CLUB directed by JACK ANDERSON we will embark on a journey of innocence, excitement, and the outcomes of just living in the moment.

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With the announcement last month that AIM will be shutting down in December, a wave of pre-pubescent nostalgia wiped over me. Like many a millennial, my pre-teen years were spent wasting time on AOL's legendary chat app (I had the unfortunate handle "gameplaya99"). We were all riding the crest of a new communication revolution-pre-Facebook, pre-Twitter, it was truly a new frontier of digital correspondence.

Filmmaker Jack Anderson's the gf club may not be about instant messenger specifically (it uses google chat as the platform instead), but it still very much captures the essence of what it's like to be an early teen pining after that guy/gal you've been crushing on via online messaging. It's the adorable awkwardness of kids pretending to be adults, perfectly distilled into chat form-simultaneously innocent, sweet, and hilarious.

We had a bit of debate internally when screening this film on whether or not to feature it. After all, there isn't a "plot" in a traditional sense and the animation itself isn't particularly complex (even a novice After Effects user could probably pull it off). So, what makes Anderson's film stand out? Well, many filmmakers attempt to capture this particular moment of youthful innocence, but few, ultimately, succeed. Anderson figured out how to condense all those big, messy middle-school feelings into and undeniably creative (and compelling) package. It just feels...well...true. Beyond that, it's impeccably timed. Ostensibly, it may appear easy to pull off a film like this, but, I guarantee that it's tougher than it looks. The timing of every click...every keystroke...every camera pan is essential to conveying both the comedy and the feelings of the characters (whose "real" faces we never get to see).

Communicating with Short of the Week via e-mail, Anderson relates the genesis of the project:

"Several years ago, I realized Gmail was saving all of my chat history. Google Chat was HUGE for me in middle school, so I was really excited to learn that I had unknowingly been making a detailed time capsule of my life back then. It was really cathartic (and cringe-y!) to see the person I was just a few years back."

Currently, Anderson spends his days working with the production powerhouse, Psyop. And, while that experience is no doubt rewarding, short experimentations like the gf club allow him to create interesting films without the burden of navigating client notes.

Already a S/W Featured filmmaker with his previous CG hit, Wire Cutters, this film is undeniably lo-fi in comparison. But, I think, in a way, that makes it more impressive. I've always believed that production polish can only take you so far-I'll take truth and heart any day. Based on that criteria, the gf club more than delivers.

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the gf club by Jack Anderson | Comedy Short Film

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With the announcement last month that AIM will be shutting down in December, a wave of pre-pubescent nostalgia wiped over me. Like many a millennial, my pre-teen years were spent wasting time on AOL's legendary chat app (I had the unfortunate handle "gameplaya99").

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Who believes in love at first sight? Is it real? Is it an infatuation with the thought of someone? Whatever it may be we all can agree that love is exciting and even more so when it is unexpected. For many cases it turns your life upside down and inside out just like the Diana Ross song. This film ONCE UPON A LINE directed by ALICJA JASINA will follow the regular nine to five colorless work life of a man, who by slight chance the universe connects him to the perfect woman who brings color into his life. This film is the introduction to this festival because it clearly emphasizes the key concept that we meet people not by coincidence but because it had to happen. The universe incorporates these events into our timeline because they are destined to be part of the journey, for the most part the outcomes are way better than what was expected.

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Winner of a Student Academy Award in 2016, Alicja Jasina's Once Upon a Line is a sweet seven-minute animation looking at love at first sight and the aftermath of such an experience. Following a man, stuck in his dreary daily routine, this University of Southern California production uses a fun line-based aesthetic to breathe some fresh air into a well-explored storyline.

Narratively, Once Upon a Line follows a pretty conventional romantic path. Man meets women, they fall in love, things are never the same. It's a short that wears its story arc on its sleeve, with its rises and falls clearly signposted and perfectly-placed, but although the plot is fun and engaging it was the aesthetic here that truly won us over.

With the titular line in Jasina's short not only serving as the basis for a clever fairytale pun in its name, but as metaphor for life and the path we take through it, it's visually that the line feels most important as it drives the film forward, injecting it with energy and direction.

Constantly travelling from left-to-right, the line takes our protagonist from home to work, it's where he eats, sleeps and hangs his clothes, until "she" (neither character is named) comes along. And this is where Jasina starts to have some fun.

With those straight black-and-white lines suddenly injected with colour and curves, Once Upon a Line's smitten lead-character suddenly sees his once consistent, unwavering path through life full of twists and turns. Almost instantly after his interest is reciprocated the line begins to swirl, leap and pulsate on the screen and it's hard not to lose yourself in the dizzying effect of it all, as story and style start working together in true harmonious fashion.

I don't usually get swept up by sentimentality in films, but there's something about the portrayal of that instant attraction in Once Upon a Line that really hits home for me. Anyone lucky enough to know that feeling of an all-consuming allure to a potential partner, will know how it takes over your life and makes it hard to think about anything else.

I hate the term 'love at first sight', as for me love never came that easily (until I had kids) and as someone in a long-term relationship of 15+ years, I can categorically state the start of my relationship was nothing like the whirlwind romance of Once Upon a Line. However, it's the portrayal of "young love" in Jasina's film that's really stuck with me ever since I first saw it.

A feeling hard to capture on screen and difficult to recapture in life, Once Upon a Line has the ability to take you back to the intoxicating early days of a relationship or give you hope for a potential romance yet to appear and that's a really powerful thing.

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Once Upon a Line by Alicja Jasina | Animation | Short Film

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Winner of a Student Academy Award in 2016, Alicja Jasina's Once Upon a Line is a sweet seven-minute animation looking at love at first sight and the aftermath of such an experience. Following a man, stuck in his dreary daily routine, this University of Southern California production uses a fun line-based aesthetic to breathe some fresh air into a well-explored storyline.

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I think one of the best feelings in the world is when you make unexpected connections with people. There is something about telling a stranger your whole love life situation that makes you feel liberated and heard. The small talks turn into deep talks and as humans that is something we seek for comfort. I can tell you now that I’ve made so many good friends on social media platforms by simply venting or letting them vent out to me. RECEPTION directed by JOE GILLETTE gives you butterflies and traces it all back to the first time you met someone after the biggest heartbreak of your life. A huge takeaway from this is that who you thought was the one is sometimes not meant to be yours, no matter how much you want it, but that doesn’t mean you won’t find your dance partner one day. Your timeline is still being created.

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Admittedly, a 20 minute dialogue-driven dramedy where two people literally sit in one place for the film's entire duration isn't exactly the easiest sell for an online audience. But, seriously: challenge your smartphone-impaired attention span with this one. Joe Gillette's sweet and expertly performed little slice of life is the type of two-hander bound to appeal to lovers of subtle meet-cutes and good dialogue.

Gillette really captures a moment here. That may seem like a broad statement, but Reception just so effortlessly relates a certain vibe. A crisp evening. The quiet melancholy of the best man in a wedding staring at the reception that we, the audience, aren't privy to see (a brilliant low budget choice, btw). It's just an engaging little conversation between two people who form an unexpected connection. It's funny, it's sweet...but never sugary. The kind of a thing that will embolden the romantic sap inside of everyone, without being so cloying that it feels forced.

"Dare to be boring."

As director, writer, and star, Joe Gillette relates to Short of the Week:

"I wanted to watch two people meet and talk for 20 minutes without cutting away and see if we could care about them and relate to them and want good things for them. Typical meet-cutes are fast and effortlessly charming, and I wanted to try for slow and insecure. Dare to be boring."

Funny enough, Reception isn't boring because the performances and writing are too strong to let it be. It may be an oddly specific thing to note, but both actors have such terrific voices. Gillette and his co-star Devin Kelley (who is an auditory doppelganger for Emma Stone ) sound harmonious together...the slow cadence of their ping-ponging quips and comebacks a lulling and transfixing soundtrack (backed, of course, by diegetic DJ pop-music playing the background).

Reception was created by small crew of 8 one chilly night in January. In order to capture the natural progression of the real time conversation, most takes were over 20 minutes long, with the actors running through the entire screenplay. That verisimilitude really comes through. By the end of the runtime, you're just happy these two people found each other.

More to the point, we're happy Gillette, who is currently in development on future projects, was able to make this film and share it with the world.

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Reception by Joe Gillette | Dramedy Short Film

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Admittedly, a 20 minute dialogue-driven dramedy where two people literally sit in one place for the film's entire duration isn't exactly the easiest sell for an online audience. But, seriously: challenge your smartphone-impaired attention span with this one.

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Imagine each time you have a crush on someone your heart jumps out of your chest and I am not talking Bugs Bunny style but an actual heart taking character and matter into its own hands. IN A HEARTBEAT directed by ESTEBAN BRAVO and BETH DAVID is what you would get if Pixar made an LGBTQ+ animated short, where we have great storytelling through no dialogue, just action. We place ourselves in the panic and nerves of a young boy who suppresses his heart because he is scared of what the rest of the students may think of him. We learn about the fears of love and how scary it may be to let your heart speak for you, but your heart and your gut know exactly what they are doing. It is important to feel as it can help you understand yourself better.

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After lighting up the internet with a trailer 2 months ago, yesterday saw the release of Beth David and Esteban Bravo's Ringling College graduation animation In a Heartbeat, and in just 24 hours the full 4 minute film has gone on to become a sensation online as well, with over 2.5M plays. A charming school-boy romance, the 3D animated short is extremely polished, but its cute character design is an oft-imitated style familiar to fans of Pixar, and on the surface doesn't differentiate itself from dozens of other similar student shorts. However the young creative duo have managed to capture the imagination of worldwide audiences by daring to depict something that the big studios, despite their recent forays into diversity have failed to-a gay lead character.

In the film a shy bookish boy is struck by affection for his handsome young classmate. Content to to perhaps nurse his crush in secret, the boy's heart has other ideas in mind. Becoming a sentient character in its own right, it leaps out of his body in repeated attempts to get close to the object of its fascination, leading to humorously contorted slapstick sequences where our main characters attempts to stifle the impulses of his heart. Along the way he must confront the fear of rejection by his love, as well as a concern about of his sexuality being discovered by the school at large.

While we've seen LGBTQ storytelling invade most every other genre imaginable, this is the first time I can recall seeing it in a kid-centric animation, and it is honestly not a surprise that there is so much pent-up demand from audiences. This kind of animated storytelling is so dominant in youth-targeted media that Disney has, in many ways, a monopoly over the imaginations of children. However depicting queerness in these stories has been a terrible taboo-when present at all, it is only barely hinted at. This is understandable on a business level, while we've come a long way in the acceptance of sexual preference as a society, there are still large segments of the populace whom decry the normalization of Queer sexuality, and the large budget films of Disney or Pixar are trying to appeal to as broad of audiences as possible. It is ironically unfortunate however, because childhood is obviously when the initial formation of sexual preference emerges, and the fear of ostracization is highest amongst LGBTQ persons. Positive depictions of LGBTQ characters inarguably would be MOST valuable in children's animation, if the goal is to reassure these individuals of their acceptance by society.

While it is the subject of In a Heartbeat that has contributed most to its surprise success, I don't want to downplay what a quality short David and Bravo have produced. While it is a bit more twee than this site's usual programming, it is an incredibly accomplished student animation that would recommend itself on the merits of design, fluidity and storytelling regardless. I'm a sucker for action direction, and the slapstick sequences showcase a strong eye for movement and composition on the behalf of the directors, and left me with a big smile on my face. I have a feeling that we might remember In a Heartbeat in upcoming years as an important film, but it also helps that its a great one.

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In a Heartbeat by Esteban Bravo & Beth David | Romance Short Film

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After lighting up the internet with a trailer 2 months ago, yesterday saw the release of Beth David and Esteban Bravo's Ringling College graduation animation In a Heartbeat, and in just 24 hours the full 4 minute film has gone on to become a sensation online as well, with over 2.5M plays.

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Q & A WITH ESTEBAN BRAVO AND BETH DAVID 

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Q & A WITH ESTEBAN BRAVO AND BETH DAVID 

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After this short film went viral on social media it got the attention of many influencers and even The Ellen DeGeneres Show. This film brings affirmation to society that on the inside we are all the same and that what you feel no matter who you feel it towards is all valid. Through animation our creators Esteban Bravo and Beth David take us through a technicolor love letter to the innocence of crushes through our pre-teen characters Jonathan and Sherwin. Seeing LGBTQ representation getting so much positive buzz has made the entertainment industry realize that it's a topic that needs to get addressed not as a taboo but as a norm. We have the pleasure to have with us today both writers and directors Esteban Bravo and Beth David to tell us all about their short.  Moderator for this Q and A session will be social media influencer, Connor Franta.

6 questions before opening up to the audience:

1. What animators or animation styles inspired this short?

2. What was the genesis of this short film and how was this storyline created? Was it based on your own love experiences?

3. Did you guys predict that this short animated film was going to get much attention from the media?

4. If a major studio picked up the film to make a feature length film, how would you feel about it and what guidelines would you want the studio to follow?

5. Is there a reason why you guys decided to take the no dialogue route to address an LGBTQ love story?

6. What do you want your audience to take away from this short film and share with the world?

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We live in an era where we spend most of our socializing time on a social media outlet, an app, a website, or possibly a widget. If you download a dating app you’ll definitely get at least one match that has potential, and if you are a hopeless romantic you’ll quickly begin picturing your future with them. In the film 97% directed by BEN BRAND we follow a man on a subway ride when his dating app alerts him of a close compatibility, he believes he is at the right place at the right time. Although the film has little to no dialogue we learn how the protagonist reacts through points of views and strong eye contact. Main lesson to be learned is that sometimes the right person is right in front of you, you just have to look up and not be so dependent on an app that you forget that in person compatibility is stronger because your real energy is projected into the world.

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The Dutch entry into the Live Action Short Film category at the 2014 Academy Awards, Ben Brand's 97% is a captivating look at finding love in a digital age. Following hot on the heels of Samuel Abrahams' recent hit Offline Dating, another piece that takes a look at the modern dating scene, Brand's 8-minute short is a film the director perfectly describes as "a laughable love story with a contemporary theme".

"The story was great, relevant, funny, tragic and also told without any dialogue which I thought was a real nice test"

With a narrative originating from the much-discussed topic of how present technology is impacting our everyday life, 97% is Brand's take on how social media apps are affecting the way we interact. The second film we've featured on Short of the Week from director Brand, following animation Life is Beautiful, the script for 97% was actually submitted to the Dutch NTR SHORT competition alongside the script for the aforementioned short. "Only one could be chosen and they chose Life is Beautiful", Brand reveals when discussing the origins of his latest short, "which was great, but because my background is in making live-action films, I desperately wanted to make 97% too. And so we did. I thought the story was great, relevant, funny and tragic and also told without any dialogue which I thought was a real nice test...We applied for the AFK which is an Amsterdam-based art fund and they were so generous to give us €5000 to make the film. The only problem was that we had to shoot in a subway train, which is nearly impossible in Holland".

"We are going to take our +30 extra's with us SECRETLY"

After navigating the problem of shooting on the train, through a fortunate connection made with the director of the Amsterdam transport department, one week before shooting Brand and his team were informed that they could only take 7 people with them on the train. "This was a big problem" says Brand, "because we needed a lot of extras, story wise and continuity wise. That's when we thought; Fuck it! We are going to take our +30 extra's with us SECRETLY. So we gave them a daypass and told them that if someone would ask them what they were doing, "they were going home". We shot like this for over three nights".

Despite the difficulties with production, Brand and his team still managed to make a film that looks fantastic and is utterly charming and compelling throughout (no mean feat when you consider it's dialogue-free). Currently working on his first feature script with co-writer Ilse Ott, Brand should start shooting his next project in April/May 2016. Imaginatively titled Find this dumb little bitch and throw her into a river the director describes the film as being "about growing up and making mistakes - to get the chance to learn from the stupid stuff you do as a kid and to be able to make mistakes in the future again". Here at Short of the Week, we're all excited to see what Brand can achieve with a longer run-time, but we also hope he returns the short format sometime in the not-too-distant future.

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97% by Ben Brand | A Short Film about finding love (online)

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The Dutch entry into the Live Action Short Film category at the 2014 Academy Awards, Ben Brand's 97% is a captivating look at finding love in a digital age.

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If the film LA LA LAND directed by DAMIEN CHAZELLE and Cartoon Network had a baby you would receive this very emotionally driven animation. Planning the rest of your life with someone whether you are dating them or marrying them is so beautiful, because you see yourself building a story and not only writing a few chapters. In this very color driven animated short HERE’S THE PLAN directed by FERNANDA FRICK we follow the newlyweds on their journey to successfully accomplish their one dream of having a bakery together. The power of love, communication, and understanding, is the strength of this story and what makes these animal protagonists so relatable is that they project a scenario that is very probable for many. Losing track of your dreams and getting a wake up call is sometimes what is needed to snap out of it and see where all of the delayed process has led you to be.

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Here's the Plan, Fernanda Frick's ambitious 18min short film, is notable for its audacity-the audacity to tell a relationship story about two people who genuinely love each other and work to support each other and their marriage. This is neither a romance about the initial hot and heavy days of the chase and infatuation, nor a heroic adventure about love conquering all. It is instead a remarkably grounded narrative that traverses years of its central couple's lives and documents the minor sacrifices and changing priorities that cause a shared dream to be deferred. Its originality is in its simple faith that communication and commitment can get partners back on track. No wonder such a fantastical narrative needed to star a dog and a cat instead of humans!

Kidding aside, something about the sweetness of the film and its desire to illustrate a healthy relationship struck me. The film is intimate, centered entirely on the couple as they grow from newlyweds to jaded, detached professionals. When young, they had a passion to start a bakery together, but obstacles presented themselves-the oven broke, their kitchen was too small. The desire for money to ameliorate their situation grew, and as they embarked on professional lives far away from baking, they learned they were good at their new occupations. Work intercedes, and professional growth becomes a larger priority. What was once a means to an end, becomes an end to itself. Despite their fancier clothes and steadily bigger house, their lives are increasingly siloed from one another, and the shared passion they felt is lost. Can they recognize what has happened to them? Can they recover what they once had?

Despite the anthropomorphized leads, the film script could have been live-action, as there is nothing high-concept about the world they inhabit. Live-action would deny us the pleasure of Frick's art though. The film is pleasingly styled, if somewhat safe. The middlebrow preoccupations of the plot are mirrored in its cute, mainstream design, however to achieve animation on this level, at this length, is quite an accomplishment. Over 32 individuals worked on the project, via a distributed workflow organized online through Slack, and other tools.

Frick and the team are Chilean, yet the voice acting is in English to ensure a larger potential audience. Frick has some knowledge of the potential benefits that can accrue from international recognition, as PunkRobot, a Chilean studio that is prominently credited in the film, is responsible for Historia de un oso, which won the Oscar for best animated short in 2016, becoming the first Latin American winner of the category. The decision to record the dialogue in English has its pluses and a minuses however. While the voice acting is by and large good, it is also cloying, and the saccharine nature of the narrative can be off-putting to audiences at first. We're used to independent animation being edgy, and so the wholesome sincerity evinced can be obnoxious. Yet the undeniable truth embedded in the character development is refreshing, the unvarnished depiction of a relationship as it could, as it should be, is daring. Frick, via email described her inspiration as a desire to fight against "perpetuating gender stereotypes", feeling that the majority of onscreen romance "normalizes toxic and bad relationships, making you think 'maybe that's how it is' when it doesn't have to be."

The result is a film that I believe will be profoundly moving to audiences that allow themselves to be open to it, especially audiences that are themselves in a committed relationship. The level of recognition they will experience in the trade-offs and compromises that the protagonists engage in is rare in visual entertainment. It is a natural experience when navigating a shared future with a loving partner, and yet it is not a common theme in media of any type, and especially not within animation, which leans heavily towards fantastical narratives.

The film, like Historia de un oso before it, is in the running for an Oscar nomination, and this week will see a flood of high-quality animations seeking to build buzz online during the Academy's initial voting window, as 70+ qualified films will be narrowed to a 10 film shortlist. Frick has a good partner in this process as Here's the Plan is the debut film of CB Fest Season 2, an online initiative of the influential animation website Cartoon Brew which will premiere 7 animated shorts over the coming weeks. Short of the Week is partnering with Cartoon Brew to present 3 of those films, but the whole series is worth checking out. Best of luck to Frick with Oscar voting, if you love this work, do your part and share.

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Here's The Plan by Fernanda Frick | Romance Short Film

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Here's the Plan, Fernanda Frick's ambitious 18min short film, is notable for its audacity-the audacity to tell a relationship story about two people who genuinely love each other and work to support each other and their marriage. This is neither a romance about the initial hot and heavy days of the chase and infatuation, nor a heroic adventure about love conquering all.

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Do you ever wonder with “what if” statements? For instance, what if I hadn’t taken the blue bus that morning, what if I had never attended the party, and so on. We usually think of this statement when we want to acknowledge the present. A SUBWAY STORY directed by EUGENE KOLB is exactly what the “what if” statement would feel like if it was wrapped up in a bow and put in film. We never get to see the real characters,we experience their honey like voice overs of their lovers told with simplistic sketches of New York City as they narrate their love story. This story shows the power of courage and how sometimes by a simple look you just know someone is about to partake in an important role in your life. The characters crossed paths and didn’t even know the moment they both took the same subway route that day in 2011.

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When I was a hopeless romantic attending college in DC (i.e. a loser), I often would imagine meeting my soulmate on the subway. We'd lock eyes from across the car. Music-that only we could hear-would play. And, then, we would start a Linklater-esque dialogue about books, movies, and art. It would be the ultimate meet cute between myself and the shy girl of my dreams.

While my far-fetched fantasy never actually became a reality, I'm glad that filmmaker and animator, Eugene Kolb had more success with a similar scenario. Simple and sweet, his live action and animation hybrid, A Subway Story, feels like romantic wish fulfillment. It's a deeply personal story wherein two people recount how they met on the NYC subway several years prior. While not narratively complex, it's the kind of film that just feels charming: the perfect 5 minute watch to put you in a good mood. It's all the more sweet that it's based on actual events.

Kolb had been attempting to adapt his real-life meet cute into a film for a few years before stumbling across the simple narrative structure and pleasing visual delivery shown here. Communicating with Short of the Week, he goes deeper into the film's creative process:

"It started with a lengthy interview where we tried to piece together the story as it had happened. Then I edited the audio, added music and started adding simple drawings, similar to the ones I was used to drawing on the subway. The text and drawings were drawn by hand in 3-4 iterations to create the jitter effect. Then I scanned everything in, and finished in After Effects and Premiere."

Premiering at Tribeca in 2016, A Subway Story is a real crowd pleaser-a joy for all you romantics out there. Kolb is currently editing his second short, an experimental film called Numb Thumb about a sculptor who loses her sense of touch. It's a mix of live-action and stop-motion. If you're curious, you can check out work-in-progress stills here:
http://eugenekolb.com/numb-thumb

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A Subway Story by Eugene Kolb | Romance Short Film

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When I was a hopeless romantic attending college in DC (i.e. a loser), I often would imagine meeting my soulmate on the subway. We'd lock eyes from across the car. Music-that only we could hear-would play. And, then, we would start a Linklater-esque dialogue about books, movies, and art.

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Many of us have distinct ideals on romance, love at first sight, soulmates, destiny, twin flames, karmic partners, friends with benefits, etc. But if there is something we can all agree on is that love is felt and recognized right away by our body, mind, and soul. Running away will never fix anything, it will just be a temporary heal. We all want to find comfort in people that make us feel most at home. Home being our true selves. Displayed through beautiful cinematography the film LONELY PLANET directed by ALEX BURUNOVA is a love letter to Spain and its wonderful attractions. We see the story of a nomadic woman who is in love with traveling, because a place has never broken her heart unlike a person. That is until she visits the technicolor country of Spain and intersects paths with a local who immediately gains her trust as he shows her around the city. Their meeting will change her perspective on love, forever.

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The lone traveler; a tall dark stranger; a beautiful European city. These three elements can be cliché, and usually promise yet another, I-know-it's-unrealistic-but-I-still-love-it reaction in those who are romantically-inclined. While there is nothing wrong with a good ol' sappy romance, Alex Burunova's Lonely Planet manages to present a refreshing take on the genre through its genuine delivery of an interesting philosophy, complemented by its solid production and compelling performances.

The protagonist Julia is a travel writer for a guidebook company (great film title, by the way) who is well adapted to the city-hopping lifestyle. She follows a mantra so many of us in this faced-paced era know: no commitment, no feelings, no heartbreak. As she freshly arrives in Barcelona her affair in London is reaching its natural demise; photos are deleted, messages are left, a few tears are shed. Her newfound solitude is brief however-one day in front of the Museo de Picasso, she meets Pau, who proposes a challenge: to live her three months in Barcelona to the fullest, with him.

This concept of the film is interesting in that it is bigger than "l-o-v-e", it seeks to explore an attitude towards life. Director Burunova says she was inspired by a theory: " They say, if you accept death as inevitability - you will find happiness. Because you will learn to live in the moment (...) What if we applied this theory to love? Since nothing is permanent, love will also inevitably end. What happens if we assume this as a fact... Would we love more? Would it be more intense? Would we be able to let go of our fears? Fear of commitment? Fear of trusting another person? Would we learn to love in the moment?"

Indeed, Lonely Planet is an exploration of this idea, more satisfactory than a meekly exclaimed "carpe diem". The romance is dialogue-driven in a way that is reminiscent of Before Sunrise , but more realistic in its avoidance of soulmate/destiny-type themes. Instead it's about decision, the conscious choice to enjoy the moment to the fullest rather than worry about the past or future. Of course, it is more than the philosophy alone that makes this film great, and, as the image above shows, Burunova is not reticent to showcase her attractive actors in some steamy scenarios.

The chemistry between the actors is so tangible that it's hard to believe they were cast separately-Nadine Nicole Heimann and Roger Batalla only first met during rehearsals . Their scenes of love are conveyed in a parabola of genuine feelings: tenderness, passion, security, fragility. The wintery, less saturated tones of the film complement and highlight the warmth found within their relationship in a manner that is incredibly convincing. Overall the 24-minute film sucks you in, feeling like 10 minutes instead, while leaving a sense of well-rounded depth and satisfaction associated with a feature-length. Walking away from the film, I caught myself musing: "Truly, life is too short not to love!"

Funded by a Kickstarter campaign and filmed with a 50 person volunteer Spanish crew, Lonely Planet has enjoyed a successful festival run, being officially selected at 30+ festivals, including Palm Springs and Soho International. Burunova's other short, , has just begun its own festival runs with a successful Best Showcase Short Film win at the Soho International. She is currently preparing to shoot a feature film in early 2017- and frankly, I'm enticed.

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Lonely Planet by Alex Burunova | Romance Short Film

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The lone traveler; a tall dark stranger; a beautiful European city. These three elements can be cliché, and usually promise yet another, I-know-it's-unrealistic-but-I-still-love-it reaction in those who are romantically-inclined. While there is nothing wrong with a good ol' sappy romance, Alex Burunova's Lonely Planet manages to present a refreshing take on the genre through its genuine delivery of an interesting philosophy, complemented by its solid production and compelling performances.

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I am pleased and honored to announce the winner of THE EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON FILM FESTIVAL, to whom I present the one and only They Really Love Me Award, and that is to LONELY PLANET directed by ALEX BURUNOVA. This award is given to those films who make you feel immersed in the story, warmth, depth, and leaving the screening room with a new found view. As Robert Mckee, author, lecturer, and story consultant,would say “[s]tory isn’t a flight from reality but a vehicle that carries us on our search for reality, our best effort to make sense out of the anarchy of existence.” Great storytelling helps us understand and find answers in our own realities, and this short did just that in 24 minutes by showing in such a poetic manner with outstanding cinematography and direction the satisfaction of being afraid to not only love in the moment but also live in the moment.

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This festival came together to unite those hopeless romantics, the secret hopeless romantics, but most of all to bring closure to our hearts. In our lifetime we will always experience some type of heartbreak more or so it's the event that shapes us and our views on romance. Just because you’ve healed doesn’t mean you’ve forgotten, you just learned to live with the event that happened. But if we really think about it, without that heartbreak you wouldn’t be where you are today. It’s not an easy feeling to understand and between you and me love is like a rollercoaster full of surprises and butterfly feels. I structured the screenings for THE EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON FILM FEST in a particular way that portrays a story of its own. We start off by learning innocence and living in the moment because when we are kids it’s much easier to just want to take action when the opportunity shows up. Next we navigate and learn about the excitement of meeting a stranger and wanting them to stay a little longer in your life because they add that spark you’ve been missing. As we move along through the films the audience grows to see a different point of view regarding courage and how powerful another human's actions can be to help grow our characters into more defined versions of themselves. Not everything will always be rainbows and butterflies, but love finds you no matter how much you hide from it, receiving that message, on your way to work, a wedding reception, school, whether it's from a dating app, opening a bake shop, a new subway route, or traveling. And remember just because they aren’t written in this chapter, doesn’t mean they aren’t a big part of your story. Everything happens for a reason, trust it. Thank you.

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ADD SONGS THAT FEEL LIKE LOVE TO YOU. THEY WILL BE PLAYED AS LOBBY MUSIC THROUGHOUT OUR FILM SCREENINGS

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ADD SONGS THAT FEEL LIKE LOVE TO YOU. THEY WILL BE PLAYED AS LOBBY MUSIC THROUGHOUT OUR FILM SCREENINGS