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Shorts 8: The Shape Of Becoming
September 28 @ 1:45 pm – 3:15 pm EDT
Growth is rarely linear—and identity never comes with instructions. The Shape of Becoming is a collection of short films that trace the messy, beautiful, and often defiant paths of youth in transition. These stories explore the fluidity of gender, the complexity of sibling bonds, the ache of first heartbreaks, and the quiet rebellions that shape who we are.
From waltzing lessons and punk chords to sleepwalking mysteries and party revelations, each film captures a moment of becoming—where transformation is inevitable, and authenticity is hard-won.
*Individual tickets available for purchase the day of the show at door. Seeing more than a few films? Buy a pass!
Theater #4
About The Program
- Wrecking Party (12m)
- Wings (15m)
- Shell (17m)
- Disco (15m)
- Ask A Punk (16m)
- Come Back (15m)
A film by Elizabeth Giamatti
Kate and Lily arrive at a party together, but they have very different trajectories over the course of the night.
2025 | 12 mins | US | Color | Drama, Coming of age
A film by Amanda Mergulhão Ferrari
In a world where women learn how to waltz to get married, Odette’s true desire is to own the sky like the pilots in her family.
2024 | 14 mins | US | B&W | Drama, Fantasy
About the Filmmaker
Brazilian filmmaker born in a family of dentists, Amanda went to film college in Sao Paulo at FAAP (Fundacao Armando Alvares Penteado) where she directed fantasy and period pieces. Later she post-graduated in marketing and founded her own film festival.
To combine her interest between film and psychology, during pandemics she volunteered as film editor for some NGOs focused on: children under the spectrum, elderly people and a solar energy for favelas. Her studies in the United States began in 2017, when she studied in New York Film Academy – Los Angeles campus. She is currently doing a master program at Florida State University – College of Motion Picture Arts, specializing in directing.
A film by Sam Brain
Shell is gender transitioning. Elder sister Jess doesn’t want that to happen at all. Reunited by their grandmother’s death, the pair are faced with each other’s life choices.
2024 | 17 mins | UK | Color | Drama, LGBTQIA+
About the Filmmaker
Sam directed micro short film Nag (1min), which was made as part of the BAFTA Connect Micro-short Films initiative. Previous work includes writing Do You Have Kids? which was a ‘Yarns’ 2023 competition finalist, and producing For People In Trouble which screened at Tribeca 2023 and was executive produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.
Shell is her debut short film as a writer-director.
A film by Molly Longwell
Fourteen year old JoJo has a sleepwalking episode that leaves her haunted and determined to solve its mystery.
2024 | 14 mins | US | Color | Drama, Mystery
About the Filmmaker
Molly Longwell is a writer/director and production designer residing in Brooklyn, NY. Her work thematically explores an individual’s mental break from reality, typically a female’s subjective reality colliding with the objective “real world.” Her worlds are often designed by one character’s emotional state, freeing the story and its structure to embody a more surrealist tone.
Her most recent short film, Bad Mother was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2023 New York Shorts International Film Festival. It is now streaming on NoBudge.
She studied criminology and aspired to be a detective before becoming a filmmaker.
A film by Kevin Contento
A queer teen cultivates community, individuality, and resilience through the subculture of the DIY punk scene in Little Village on the southwest side of downtown Chicago.
2024 | 15 mins | US | In English, Spanish | Color | Drama, Coming of age
About the Filmmaker
The Colombian-American filmmaker was born in Plantation, Florida in 1990. His debut feature film The Conference of the Birds premiered in Paris and won the Narrative Features Jury Award at the 2021 New Orleans Film Festival. From fish to moon, his documentary short film, had its International premiere in the Berlinale Shorts Competition at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival.
A film by Helen O’Reilly
11 year-old Jenny idolizes her older sister and tags along with Lisa and her new friends on a day out. When she witnesses her sister being bullied, Jenny tries to help but events take a sinister turn.
2024 | 15 mins | Ireland | Color | Drama, Coming of age
About the Filmmaker
Helen O’Reilly is a writer, director and producer from Dublin who has produced several award-winning short films. Her last short, First Disco, played at 70 festivals around the world winning over 20 awards in the process and is currently being developed into a television show. Helen is also developing several other television and film projects. She is extremely excited to bring her short film, Come Back, which was funded by Screen Ireland, to audiences at festivals around the world.