Located on the cutting edge of cinema, Women on the Verge is a female-centric midnight shorts block offering laughs, profoundly disturbing horror and everything in between.
IN-PERSON: Saturday 9/18 at 11:00 PM in Theater #2
ONLINE: Available Friday, 9/17 from 7:00 PM through Sunday, 9/19, 9:00 PM
*The filmmakers of The Not So Perfect Polly, Meet Your Match, Pap Trap and The Happy Pill are expected to be present for a discussion following the in-person screening.
Gilt
9 mins | US | Color | Drama, Horror | 🍊 🦩🏆
Stranded in the South with no access to women’s health services, a sixteen-year-old enlists an old friend to carry out an improvised abortion.
by April Nations
April is a Miami-based filmmaker. Born and raised in Polk County, Florida, Nations’ work opts to explore the moral ambiguity and realistic horror stories that women face in their day-to-day lives. April has previously worked as a director’s assistant to filmmakers including Barry Jenkins on his most recent film, If Beale Street Could Talk, Amy Seimetz on the second season of The Girlfriend Experience, David Robert Mitchell on Under the Silver Lake and Jonathan Entwistle on his Netflix series, I Am Not Okay With This. April is working on her debut feature, Lamb on the Throne.
The Not So Perfect Polly
14 mins | US | Color | Comedy, Horror | 🍊 🦩 🏆 🎬
An unsuspecting young man accidentally makes a blood-pact with a small, demonic, plastic parakeet who seeks to isolate and possess him.
by John Forier
Meet Your Match
17 mins | US | Color | Drama, Horror | 🍊 🦩 🏆
A woman cleverly lures a persistent stalker into thinking that she will be his next victim, but the tables swiftly turn when he realizes the trick is on him.
by Z.L. Spivey, Jr.
Pap Trap
6 mins | US | Color | Comedy | 🏆
Based off of a true life experience, Pap Trap is a short “gyne-comedy” about a pill poppin’ party girl in search of her next fix, only to find herself in the middle of a well woman exam gone wrong.
by Rachel Napolitano
Rachel lives in Fort Worth, TX, working as a freelance filmmaker. She has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from National University and studied Radio-Television-Film at University of Texas. She enjoys shooting comedy sketches, writing/reading screenplays, and cooking.
Limestone
11 mins | US | Color | Drama | 🍊 🦩 🏆 🎬
Eager to go home with a former lover after a night out in Miami, a young woman decides to cut the night short in an unconventional way.
by Paula Andrea Gonzalez-Nasser
Paula is a Colombian-Palestinian writer, director, and producer currently living in Brooklyn, NY. She attended the Florida State University, College of Motion Picture Arts where she assisted Antonio Mendez-Esparza on his Spirit Award-winning film, Life and Nothing More in her final year. Paula is the co-founder of 5th Floor Pictures, a Brooklyn & Florida-based production company, specializing in short and feature-length films. The shorts she has produced have played at festivals such as Palm Springs Short Film Festival, New Orleans Film Festival, and others. She is currently developing April Nations‘ feature Lamb on the Throne, executive produced by PASTEL, as well as Melina Valdez’s Saca Tu Lengua. Both projects were selected for IFP’s Film Week in 2018 and 2020, respectively. She is also developing her own feature, which she aims to direct, titled Yellow is the Color of Caution.
The Happy Pill
14 mins | US | Color | Horror, Comedy | 🍊 🎬
Neglectful family and abusive work relationships beat Amy into trying every pill under the sun, until she finally takes the revenge that some may find hard to swallow.
by Kayla King
The Happy Pill is the first film I’ve ever written and directed. I initially wanted to prove that it’s possible to create a movie with a low budget, as long as you have the resources you need. I knew that in order to convince talents to create a movie pro-bono, I had to write something that most people can relate to while minimizing the cost of production, yet still make a huge impact. Born a visual artist and self taught in digital photography, horror has always been my main interest and focus. Making this film was a great way to conquer my own demons, and I hope to send the message that fear is not something you can forget, but it is something you can continue to fight. You are never alone.