April 21, 2021
The second annual Washburn International Film Institute will kick off at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, April 22. All events and free and open to the public. Around 50 films from filmmakers around the world will be shown. The schedule also includes free workshops, panels and special events.
Most of the festival is online, but there is a special showing of Pixar’s movie, “Soul” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 24 in Yager Stadium. Film lovers can purchase WIFI T-shirts for $10 and visit with members of the Department of Mass Media. The department is especially thankful for the generous community support of the WIFI Film Festival.
Audience members can also vote for their favorite narrative and documentary here.
Filmmaker: Eddie Silva
Film: “Covid-19 Zeitgeist-20”
Duration: 0:04:10
Synopsis: Short film inspired by a Tolstoy short story, made during the pandemic quarantine. From words to GIFs, different eras with something in common. How much time does a man need?
Writer & Director: Eddie Silva
Filmmaker: Scott Cierski
Film: “Six Day Back”
Duration: 0:03:40
Synopsis: Three bodybuilders sing about a revolutionary new workout regimen.
Director: Scott Cierski
Filmmaker: Silvia Mañes
Film: “Cazando Gamusinos”
Duration: 0:05:27
Synopsis: Humans possess a totem that gives them control of their imagination. When a gamusino steals Ruben’s totem, his son Hugo goes on a quest and will confront the creature to restore his father’s vitality.
Writer & Director: Silvia Mañes Velasco
Producer: Máster de Animación UPV
Filmmaker: Radheya Jegatheva
Film: “The Quiet”
Duration: 0:10:00
Synopsis: When an astronaut ponders on the quietude of space, he comes upon a startling self-realization. The truth is written in the stars, but what will he uncover?
Writers & Producers: Radheya Jegatheva, Jay Jay Jegathesan
Directors: Radheya Jegatheva
Filmmaker: Migrant Kitchens
Film: “Cocin(ando) Wichita”
Duration: 0:18:25
Synopsis: Cocin(ando) Wichita is a narrative of Hispanic immigrants and their culinary traditions in Wichita, Kansas. It acknowledges the immense value of people who are looking for a better life and how they have helped to shape the culture of the city through their recipes and traditions. The title is a play on words between walking through the city and cooking Wichita´s community.
Writers: Jose Enrique Navarro, Rocio del Aguila, Alejandra Zambrano
Producers: Rocio del Aguila, Enrique Navarro, Travis McCarty
Director: Rocio del Aguila
Filmmaker: Aleks Martray
Film: “From Digital Divide To Digital Equity”
Duration: 0:07:10
Synopsis: In this short documentary, we explore how the digital divide is both a public health & education crisis in Philadelphia and why the internet should be a public utility for everyone – especially students and teachers.
Producer: Big Picture Alliance
Director: Nasya Jenkins
Filmmaker: Mahesh Madhav
Film: “How to Bend Concrete in 108 Easy Steps [Festival Cut]”
Duration: 0:16:36
Synopsis: Engineering meets art as we follow a designer in his efforts to bend industrial concrete into beautiful furniture. Underneath the documenting of the physical process of manifesting the sculpture, we also document the ethos and mental process of ideation, discovery, and presentation — capturing what all content creators struggle with on every project. Filmed in Portland, Oregon.
Producers: Mahesh Madhav, Sean Conley, Ruchika Agrawal
Director: Mahesh Madhav
Filmmaker: Chris Rochon
Film: “Power for Pollinators”
Duration: 0:19:00
Synopsis: “Power for Pollinators” explores how large land managers have a unique opportunity to turn tens of millions of acres into healthy pollinator habitats. In particular, power companies with right-of-way corridors and buffer zones are uniquely positioned to create large pollinator highways. These untapped areas have the potential to become one of the largest pollinator projects in history. If power companies and other land managers choose to work together planting flowers and reducing chemical use across the landscape, we can bring back pollinators and—with them—a host of essential food and ecosystem resources. As electricity flows through the landscape, power companies can help pollinators flow through the ecosystem.
Writer & Director: Mathew Schmid
Producer: Mathew Schmid, Leila Conners, Tree Media
Filmmaker: Cigdem Slankard
Film: “Pretty Vacant”
Duration: 0:20:00
Synopsis: Pretty Vacant tells the story of a site-specific community art project in the Slavic Village Neighborhood in Cleveland, during which abandoned and blighted houses slated for demolition are transformed into temporary art installations.
Director: Cigdem Slankard
Filmmaker: Andrew Ishak
Film: “Shots in the Dark”
Duration: 0:09:25
Synopsis: The Inside Story of the World’s Most Popular Only-at-Night Campus Disc Golf Course. A group of friends leaves a fun legacy at their alma mater by creating a not-so-secret, only-at-night disc golf course on campus that is still being played by students and alumni almost two decades later.
Writer/Producer/Director: Andrew Ishak
Filmmaker: Ethan Soule
Film: “The Hubble Reef”
Duration: 0:11:30
Synopsis: Among the waves of Squam Lake exists the Hubble Reef, a diverse ecosystem of fish, birds, dragonflies, mink, and humans alike. Every year in early summer the reef bursts with activity as the local fish enter their mating season. Their behaviors, rituals, and challenges shape their futures as they try to provide for their offspring. The humans who call the lake home live among all this activity, but it is often easy to miss, hidden just below the surface. We are not living in the fishes’ world and they are not living in ours, we are sharing the one world we cohabitate.
Writer/Producer/Director: Ethan Soule
Filmmaker: Aleks Martray
Film: “A Side of Light”
Duration: 0:08:35
Synopsis: This short documentary examines how Asian American organizations in Philadelphia are working to keep their communities safe from COVID-19 and racism spurred by the pandemic.
Producer: Big Picture Alliance
Director: Michelle Wu
Filmmaker: Christina Shaman
Film: “Aged and Confused”
Duration: 0:34:18
Synopsis: Alex Jimenez has big dreams. He wants to start his own business, advocate for foster youth and adopt his younger sister. But first, he needs to find a home and manage not to flunk out of community college. With ninety days left before he ages out of foster care, Alex has to get it together, or risk going back to the world he’s trying to escape.
Producers & Directors: Christina Shaman, Anakha Arikara
Submission Category: Documentary Short
Filmmaker: Kaja Wakefield
Film: “Every Moment”
Duration: 0:05:00
Synopsis: A documentary about student Kaylee Cart and how the coronavirus pandemic has affected her life and the life of her fathers, who is diagnosed with ALS.
Director: Kaja Wakefield
Filmmaker: Asaf Yecheskel
Film: “State-Less”
Duration: 0:50:58
Synopsis: Five years documentation of Adi Khavous’s life, an artist who chose a vagabond lifestyle. Adi left home in Israel and now lives in Canada as a solitary immigrant, pursuing his dream to breakthrough as a rock ‘n’ roll singer.
Writer/Producer/Director: Sharon Hoter Ishay
Filmmaker: Alex Tweddle
Film: “Honour Me”
Duration: 0:14:55
Synopsis: Abused by her family, forced into marriage, raped, pregnant at 13 and then hunted down for violating her family’s honor– This is the shocking, compelling true story of Sameem’s struggle to break free from her past and fight back against her upbringing.
Writer/Producer/Director: Alex Tweddle
Filmmaker: Lizzie Elliott
Film: “Aging Gracefully”
Duration: 0:08:40
Synopsis: 94-year-old Grace Elliott shares the story of her incredible life, as well as the hardships she experiences as she faces the trials of aging. Grace remains optimistic, determined, and resilient as she and her family face an uncertain future colored by age.
Writer & Director: Lizzie Elliott
Filmmaker: Edouard Paquet
Film: “Remote”
Duration: 0:06:14
Synopsis: Fascinated by remote, isolated places and why people live there, I set off to Bardsey Island; home to just four permanent residents.
Producers: Saoirse Mahon, Hollie Traynor, Edouard Paquet
Director: Edouard Paquet
Filmmaker: Niels Bourgonje
Film: “Barrier”
Duration: 0:08:56
Synopsis: In September of 1944, two Canadian soldiers find a boy washed up on the Dutch beach. Where did he come from and can he be trusted?
Writer: Paul Bontenbal
Producer: Joris Vorselaars
Director: Niels Bourgonje
Filmmaker: Memento Movie
Film: “Bloody Mary”
Duration: 0:17:24
Synopsis: This story takes place in 1982, in a little town called South Fork in Rio Grande County, Colorado. Grant, 26 years old, hits the road with his car and ends up in this little town just in front of a bar, the only one around, run by James Randall.
Writer: Joyanta Singha
Producers: Noah Gaoua, Pedro Kumessa
Director: Hamé Raeen
Filmmaker: Pol Diggler
Film: “Horrorscope”
Duration: 0:04:30
Synopsis: An ordinary schoolgirl’s life unravels after an evil creature takes over her body. Only her mother, with the help of a strange doctor, will be able to save her.
Writer & Director: Pol Diggler
Producer: Fergaht Productions
Filmmaker: Desmond Ngai
Film: “It’s Desmond (your misguided tour guide)” with English subtitles
Duration: 0:05:45
Synopsis: In a world of disingenuous wanderlusters, “It’s Desmond (your misguided tour guide)” seeks to reveal the truth behind world travel.
Writer: Desmond Ngai
Producers: George D’Amato, Desmond Ngai, Vincent Lee, Yeunjo Kim
Director: Daniela Di Salvo
Filmmaker: Asaf Yecheskel
Film: “Moon Drops”
Duration: 0:16:00
Synopsis: A factory worker assembles an enigmatic machine that produces liquid drops from the moonlight.
Writer & Director: Yoram Ever-Hadani
Producers: Yoram Ever-Hadani, Kobi Hoffmann, Milos Djukelic
Filmmaker: Hugo Andre
Film: “Soul Forest”
Duration: 0:14:59
Synopsis: Set in a dystopian future, the jail system is undergoing experimental changes. External behavioral experts and scientists alike are carrying out their first test by selecting a handful of current offenders to undergo a virtual simulation against their knowledge and consent. The story begins with four main characters tied together, abandoned and confused in the middle of a forest. As the story develops, we learn that the forest they have been placed in is a virtual simulation- made to test their behavioral characteristics and group interactions. Completely unaware of the offenders, they are being monitored closely by scientists and parole officers- assessing their every move and concluding whether they are fit to re-enter a functioning society, after years of isolation for violent crimes.
Writers: Hugo Andre, Will Masheter
Producer: Hugo Andre
Director: Hugo Andre
Filmmaker: Niels Bourgonje
Film: “Swipe”
Duration: 0:05:48
Synopsis: A girl finds out that she has a match on a dating app with a stranger, despite swiping him to the left moments ago. She starts to fear that the man is dangerously close to her.
Writers: Niels Bourgonje, Paul Bontenbal
Producer: Steffie van Rhee
Director: Niels Bourgonje
Filmmaker: James Hughes
Film: “The Inuring”
Duration: 0:09:58
Synopsis: A bullied teenage girl finally confronts her sister to drag their fractured past out into the light.
Writer/Producer/Director: James Hughes
Filmmaker: Aashish Rego
Film: “The Longing”
Duration: 0:03:40
Synopsis: While technology has made it easier to be “alone together,” the deep burning fire of love that once consumed us, needs just a little playback from the days when you stole glances, when the heart fluttered and when you fought many battles just to spend a few moments together.
Writers: Krishna Sawant, Amee Parikh
Producer: SOC FILMS PVT LTD
Directors: Krishna Sawant, Ashna Ranade
Filmmaker: Ingeborg Putter
Film: “Turn it Around”
Duration: 0:09:23
Synopsis: At a house party 15-year-old Bram is surrounded by friends and draws the attention of many pretty girls. But he has no interest in them. He has fallen hopelessly in love with the pretty boy on the dance floor: 17-year-old Florian. Love at first sight. There is only one problem: no one knows that Bram is gay. As the evening progresses and the tension rises between the two boys, Bram realizes that he has to make a choice. When a game of spin the bottle starts, he decides to twist the fate of the evening, and maybe his whole life.
Writer: Paul Bontenbal
Producer: Worldvisuals Film
Director: Niels Bourgonje
Filmmaker: Abdullah Almalla
Film: “When it Rains”
Duration: 0:10:30
Synopsis: An incurable disease and the prospect of dying a long and painful death: This is what awaits Carlos, an artist who feels overwhelmed by a diagnosis that throws him completely off the track. He meets Marlen, a young stage actress who supports dying in dignity. They spend one summer together and finally, they make a momentous decision…
Writers: Susanne Merkel, Abdullah Rajab Almalla
Producer: SWR
Director: Abdullah Rajab Almalla
Filmmaker: Asaf Yecheskel
Film: “A Unicorn in Tel Aviv”
Duration: 0:20:00
Synopsis: A witty Tel Aviv comedy. Alonna, 28, tries to find herself in the big city despite her insistence to live offline. On the brink of giving up, the city unfolds its love and affection.
Writer/Producer/Director: Zohar Ballas
Filmmaker: Patrik Krivanek
Film: “Quiet Crossing”
Duration: 0:04:00
Synopsis: 45,000 sections of reinforced concrete – three tons each. Nearly 300 watchtowers, over 250 dog runs,20 bunkers. Sixty-five_ miles of anti-vehicle trenches—signal wire, barbed wire, beds of nails. Over 11,000 armed guards. A death strip of sand, well-raked to reveal footprints. 200 ordinary people shot dead following attempts to escape the communist regime. 96 miles of the concrete wall. Families divided, loved ones lost… “Quiet Crossing is a strong emotional, political story filmed by the Film BA students at the University of Westminster/Westminster Film School (London). It is a 1967 story of East German students, opponents of the communist regime, who are trying to emigrate to West Germany hidden at the back of a food delivery truck. They must remain quiet at the time of arrival at the border crossing point, or they will be discovered and executed for their anti-political activities. Anna’s and Yans’s sleeping baby on board is a time bomb that can explode at any time, and something unexpected happens…”
Writer: Rik Hulme
Producer: Ella Eddy
Director: Patrik Krivanek
Filmmaker: Dean Marriott
Film: “Stolen”
Duration: 0:18:30
Synopsis: In the early 1960s, economic migration reversed between Argentina and Spain, with many Argentinians (and Spanish immigrants) moving to Spain to seek work. As a teenager, Soledad Solberg moved with her parents to Madrid. A talented pianist, she met her German husband-to-be, the composer and piano teacher, Heinrich Solberg. In 2008, Heinrich was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and his wish was to relocate to his place of birth, Berlin, which is where the short film takes place. Julia Thompson, adopted at birth by an American father and German mother, was raised bilingual in the USA. She was adopted from Spain during the Franco era. Her quest to find her biological parents takes her to Berlin. Inspired by the Stolen Babies Scandal, which took place in Spain during the Franco era, this bilingual German-Spanish short film brings ethics, religion, language and the exploitation of vulnerable women into question. The choice of bilingual dialogue may be controversial but is used to highlight the linguistic displacement of the stolen children globally and the theft of their biological cultural identity. The realization of this short film coincides with the current legal prosecution in Spain. In June 2018, Dr. Eduardo Vela, a former gynecologist in Madrid, became the first person to go on trial for his involvement in Spain’s Stolen Babies Scandal.
Writers/Producers/Directors: Dean Marriott
Filmmaker: Laurie Denk
Film: “Daydream”
Duration: 0:03:40
Synopsis: A student’s daydream in a class comes to life through his imagination (created with 3D animation) and brings color into his world.
Writers/Producers/Directors: Logan Bodenhamer, Adin Replogle
Filmmaker: Adler Moss
Film: “Hibakusha”
Duration: 0:11:12
Synopsis: A short documentary that tells the story of the causes and effects of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Utilizing audio recreations and rare photographs and videos, including the use of U.S. Military training reels to visually display the bombing of Hiroshima, this story is told as you have never seen it before.
Writer: Adler Moss
Producers & Directors: Adler Moss, John Schaefer
Filmmaker: Aiden Droge
Film: “Road to State – Washburn Rural High School Volleyball”
Duration: 0:04:00
Synopsis: A recap of the Washburn Rural Lady Blues second place finish at the 2019 Class 6A KSHSAA State Tournament
Director & Producer: Aiden Droge
Filmmaker: Adler Moss
Film: “BCTV: Endgame”
Duration: 0:23:11
Synopsis: The Bishop Carroll TV Broadcasting class faces its most dangerous challenge yet when their new broadcast is completely erased. The senior Class of 2020 takes the reins to save the broadcast, but in the process faces a dangerous journey through time and must reflect on the unavoidable and emotional end of their high school career. A film about bravery, retrospection, and the difficulties of leaving what has, for a time, been your entire life.
Writers: Adler Moss, William Paronto, George Walden
Producer: George Walden
Director: Adler Moss
Filmmaker: Michael Feld
Film: “40 Minutes Over Maui”
Duration: 0:13:14
Synopsis: For 40 minutes Jan. 13, 2018, the fate of the world hung in the balance for Larry and Penny… their Hawaiian vacation was ruined.
Writer(s): Steve Feld, Michael Feld, Josh Covitt
Producer(s): Brent McHenry, Nick Clifford
Director(s): Michael Feld, Josh Covitt
Filmmaker: Jerod Wood
Film: “New Medication”
Duration: 0:13:50
Synopsis: A psychological thriller about a young woman who is going through life changes. When she starts seeing things that aren’t there, she searches for answers.
Writer/Producer/Director: Jerod Wood
Filmmaker: Bryan Burton
Film: “PUSH the POINT”
Duration: 0:07:20
Synopsis: A musical short film set between the worlds of fandom and pop culture, PUSH THE POINT follows four online gamers through their squad-based mission. Harder than defeating the red team, however, is sticking together while trying to navigate toxicity, super-fandom, and the futility of having an argument on the internet.
Writer(s): Robert Calbimonte, Alex Koceja, Bryan Burton
Producer(s): Bryan Burton, Robert Calbimonte, Alex Koceja, Edison Hong, Morgan Keene
Director: Bryan Burton
Filmmaker: Emma Keehan
Film: “Ouroboros”
Duration: 0:08:01
Synopsis: One masked dancer threatens the cycle of pursued acceptance met by authoritative rejection when part of her facade falls away and she can truly see.
Writer: Nick Early
Producer(s): Emma Keehan, Andrew Harrington
Director: Emma Keehan
Filmmaker: Dylan Warrington
Film: Dark Picture
Duration: 0:03:19
Synopsis: “Dark Picture” a super short film depicting a symbolic adaptation of the dark turn one’s internal feelings could go while being isolated in one’s own home during the COVID-19 pandemic. A painter stuck in his home during the COVID-19 pandemic, sinks into darkness as his art piece is ruined.
Writer/Producer/Director: Dylan Warrington
Filmmaker: Neil Payne
Film: “Kings Boulevard”
Duration: 0:07:08
Synopsis: A satirical look at sexual harassment and inequality in Hollywood.
Writer: Marie D. Jones
Producer(s): Marvin Akanyi, Nadia Huselnikava
Director: Neil Payne
Filmmaker: Carlos Chavez
Film: “Artificial Love”
Duration: 0:02:23
Writer: Andrew Gill
Producer: Visual Poetry
Director: Carlos Chavez
Filmmaker: Josh Cannon
Film: “Defined by One’s Image: Topeka, KS”
Duration: 0:11:52
Synopsis: The City of Topeka, as told by its residents.
Producer(s) & Directors: Josh Cannon, John Burn
Filmmaker: Dylan Warrington
Film: “Delusional Friends”
Duration: 0:09:30
Synopsis: Two bellhop friends working at a hotel, living a delusional life as actors, find themselves unwittingly foiling the plans of a simple-nobody-husband, hiring a hitman, to kill his wife. Watch the credits 😉
Writer & Director: Dylan Warrington
Producer(s): Morgan Musgrave, Jayne Boggs-Varney, Dylan Warrington
Filmmaker: Dylan Warrington
Film: “Homework Effectiveness Documentary”
Duration: 0:13:00
Synopsis: The American Education System is filled with many problems, one of the problems being homework. Many students feel traditional-based homework (writing papers, tests, reading, fill-in-the-blank, etc.) to be a boring or even ineffective learning tool, while others feel project-based homework (presentations, discussions, collaborations, real-world experiences, etc.) to be a better learning tool. Washburn student Dylan Warrington takes a journey to see if traditional-based homework or project-based homework is a better learning tool for students by interviewing fellow students, teachers, and other professionals.
Writer & Producer: Dylan Warrington
Producer(s): Dylan Warrington, Sota Yoshikawa
Filmmaker: Eriko Hiranoi
Film: “Miku -Cultures-“
Duration: 0:09:10
Synopsis: This is a documentary film about Miku’s challenge with her senior art exhibition through her passion for art with some difficulties in preparing the exhibition.
Producer: Eriko Hiranoi
Director(s): Eriko Hiranoi, Drew Dickes
Filmmaker: Francesca Kelley
Film: “REA – Rural Electrification Association”
Duration: 0:04:18
Synopsis: Learn the history behind Kansans discovering light in their own home.
Director & Producer: Francesca Kelley
Filmmaker: Jennifer Yi
Film: “Surprise”
Duration: 0:05:09
Synopsis: A man suspects his girlfriend of cheating, so he decides to follow her.
Writer/Producer/Director: Jennifer Yi
Filmmaker: Drew Dickes
Film: “Tell No One”
Duration: 0:07:46
Synopsis: A young car salesman, Tom, is stuck in a mundane routine of waking up at the same time every day and going to work at a car dealership. But, soon his wife will realize Tom has a secret.
Writer & Director: Drew Dickes
Producer: Will Hartner
Filmmaker: Meredith Field
Film: “The Stray”
Duration: 0:02:09
Synopsis: This film is animated and produced in Adobe premier and Adobe animate. It is a story about a stray kitten finding his forever home.
Writer/Producer/Director: Meredith Christine Ballew Field
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