Shortz! Film Festival

Why did Kathy Knapp, a Dallas businesswoman, leave her charmed life to bake pie in a dusty town with no traffic light, no gas station and sketchy utilities? Pie Town came upon its name honestly in the 1920s when a cattle rancher sold pie to supplement his income. The area is teeming with Old West history and hardy characters. The film is about resolve, heartache, healing, and pie as a vehicle for peace. You’ll see an alien, a dummy, feel connections to deep space, and hear some finger-snapping tunes. You will want pie, and probably more than one slice. Welcome to Pie Town, New Mexico. The name is no joke.

"Cold Spring" is a short narrative film portrays a transnational Chinese father who left his family over 20 years ago. One day he suddenly finds out his daughter is getting married. He wrestles with his emotions as he realizes she wasn't going to tell him. To save face, he quickly tries to reconnect with his unfamiliar daughter, and at the same time, has to learn how to take care of his 12 year old son. Our film explores a father's emotional reactions and struggles as a consequence to decades of absence in his children's lives.

Rev. Jimmy Snow, a 1950s preacher who spoke out against the evils of Rock & Roll music, tries to deliver his sermon, but is interrupted by numerous falling block letters.