Read below for a synopsis of each film and a bio from the filmmaker.
Each of these films screened live on Friday September 29, 2023 at the Episcopal Actors Guild Hall in NYC.

A Few Strands of Hair

Changing a woman's worldview and her tendency towards feminism leads to behavioral and personality changes in her married life which is not understandable for her husband, and not raising this issue leads to seemingly small problems and making excuses following a separation.
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Shahin Jabbarzadeh - Born in Urmia city of Iran in 1982, Shahin Jabbarzadeh has been a part of the filmmaking industry in Iran for over ten years. The roots of his interest in filmmaking lie in his involvement with dramatic arts as a school student and his deep interest in classical cinema. After gaining hands-on experience in different genres of filmmaking such as documentary filmmaking and short film as an editor, a cinematographer, and an assistant director, he went on to participate in a course, equivalent to a master’s degree program, offered by Iranian Youth Cinema Society. His first short film, A Few Strands of Hair, has won numerous awards in different festivals.

Dissociation

An exaggerated look into a day in the life of a twenty one year old girl suffering from mental health issues.

Andrew Graziosa is a filmmaker living in Valley Stream, New York. He wrote his first feature length screenplay at the age of 14 and has been writing ever since. He completed his first short film titled Gateway Eyes in October of 2021. Andrew studies at Adelphi University and is aiming to get a BAF in Communications/Film Production and a Minor in Acting. Andrew has had a passion for horror films since he was a child and has drawn much inspiration from late 70’s - 80’s horror films. Andrew has acted in a handful of student films and worked a few of his own as well. Andrew is now beginning pre-production on his first feature length film titled Gateway Eyes which hopes to begin filming in early 2023.

Lucky Coin!

"Lucky Coin !" is about a college student who believes he’s constantly failing a course because of “bad luck” and tries to break “bad luck” by an extraordinary way to pass the course.

EDUCATION
University-1 : Anadolu University Faculty of Business Administration Department of Business Administration
(2008-2013)
University-2 : Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Science Department of Mathematics
(2009-2014)
Certificate : Istanbul Cinema Academy Film School (2015-2016)
Master Degree : Beykent University Institute of Social Sciences, Film and TV Master of Arts
(2015 - 2017)
Doctorate Degree : Beykent University Institute of Graduate Studies, Film and TV, Doctor of Arts
(2017 - 2022)

​FILMOGRAPHY
Mirrorty (2017) (Short Film)
Resurrection under the Ocean (2021) (Short Film)
The Librarian (2022) (Short Film)
The Death Ox (2022) (Short Film)
Lucky Coin ! (2022) (Short Film)

The Archive

The archive manager of an organization, when faced with the demands of the clients (representing various revolutions against different systems), encourages them to participate in the violation with a deceptive offer.

Sajjad Abdollahi was born in 1993 in Urmia city of Iran. Having one documentary film in his career, "The Archive" is the first short film of this award winning director.

A Place to Start

Reilly tries to keep up the illusion that he has his life under control.
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My name is Tony. As a kid I used to make my friends act in my little short videos on my miniDV camera. My little brother was mainly the star. I knew from an early age that I wanted to tell stories through film/video. In high school I took tv production classes all four years. Being influenced by all the movies and tv I watched.
I went to college and got my bachelor's in film studies. I learned a lot, mainly film theory and history. It was not until I got a job as a Post Production manager at Maine Media workshops that I got the most education. There I learned how to edit with a fast turn around, I hung out on film sets, and watch classes taught by industry professionals. From there I got my first real editing job at Powderhouse Productions in Boston. I worked on shows for Disney , PBS, Discovery, and HGTV.
After working there in 2014 I took a hiatus from the industry. I was working in logistics and wasting my time with drinking.
In 2019 I got sober. With my sobriety I got my passion for filmmaking back and in January 2022 I released my first short film in seven years. I wrote, directed, shot, acted and edited the film all on my IPhone. It went on to win the award of merit at the IndieFEST film awards. I have a new film currently in the festival circuit and another one I just finished writing. I’m not sure what the future holds but what I do know is that I'll never stop creating visual stories.

Like a Power Point

A man and woman negotiate the expectations of their romance.

Executive Producer, writer, and principal actor Melanie Gretchen is an American writer, singer, and filmmaker. Originally from the Bay Area, she went to school in the Philippines, Malta, and Switzerland. After earning her bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Denver, she studied acting with Karen Kohlhaas and the Atlantic Theater Company in New York, where she is based.
As a filmmaker, she is executive producer, writer and principal actor in the award-winning office romance, "Like a PowerPoint," and the upcoming psychological thriller, "The Back Garden."
In addition, she is a Founding Supporter of the Tennessee Williams Rectory Museum, where Tennessee Williams grew up, and plays softball around New York City.
*****
Director Pat Bradley is a screenwriter/director and script consultant from Queens, New York, which IS the linguistic diversity capital of the world. Unfortunately, he never took advantage of this, butchering every language possible.
After the universe decided to halt his growth at the average height of a tweenage girl, Pat gave up on his dreams of being a professional athlete; opting instead to pursue writing and the wonderful life of a starving artist as a career. Quickly realizing that he enjoyed food too much, however, he got a job; in which he spent more time writing music and stories than working.
After creating exceptional work for others over the previous two decades, he decided it was time to start producing his own work. In December of 2015, Patrick started a film production company, “Always Write Productions." It would produce their first short film “Addicts Abuse” in April of 2016 and its first feature film, “Into the Valli,” shortly thereafter.
In his personal life, Patrick is an avid boxing fan and participant; who currently resides on Long Island, New York, with his longtime girlfriend and two dogs.

Confluence: A Meditation in Documentary Form

CONFLUENCE is a meditation on ancestry and identity through the lens of APIDA and queer artists filmed during moonroom's 2019 PHASE, an event series celebrating APIDA Heritage Month with underground events throughout Southern California. This mix of hypnotic images and heartfelt testimonies explores the turmoil of being othered, while enduring creatively and shattering community and perceptual barriers. The reductive myths unjustly stuck on the Asian American diaspora are directly questioned by those who'd rather choose their own labels — or simply do away with them altogether.

ETA is a first-gen filmmaker raised in Tustin, CA by Vietnam War refugees. Their debut feature film, Stockton 2 Malone, infused BIPOC representation into the mumblecore subgenre, premiering via AFROPUNK in 2016.
They founded the collective, moonroom, which celebrated the queer AAPI diaspora during APAHM by curating showcases throughout Southern California. The PHASE series helped organize nearly 50 events showcasing more than 200 API and Desi American artists during its 3-year run.
They are currently developing several narratives focused on aesthetic reconciliation and colonial residue.
*****
​Shanhuan Manton is a genderqueer Chinese-American filmmaker focused on composting extractive methods of cinematic storytelling into regenerative rituals and making the possibilities of speculative worlds real through collective storytelling. They are currently developing several projects centering the more-than-human world, and the collective crafting of contemporary mythologies for navigating the convergent crises of our time.
Together, Shanhuan and ETA are collaborating on several genrefluid films focusing on diaspora representation, undoing colonial trauma and queering and rewilding narrative structures.

Mel's Kitchen

"Mel's Kitchen" is based on my true stories, while living in Hell's Kitchen, New York City in 1982. These stories, told by 5 women are about the challenges we face and the choices we make.
Melanie has been a camera woman/audio engineer for The United Nations, CNN News and other networks. She’s created shorts which were selected for many national/international festivals winning awards.
She’s photographed major New York dance companies, jazz artists receiving 2 Grammy certificates. Her photography also appears in The New York Times, "Jazz Times" and “Downbeat.com.”
She’s the author of “Don Alias, Stories of a Legendary Percussionist,” which received five stars on Amazon and favorable reviews. The book can be found in various libraries and bookstores and was listed on the WGBH 24/7 Jazz Booklist. She's written featured articles for dance magazines and had her own column in music magazines.
As a choreographer some of Melanie's work was performed at major New York dance festivals.
She previously performed with New York and Boston dance companies and taught dance at well respected dance studios.

Bad Trip

When Josh and Ben set out for a trip out of the city things go from bad to worse. Ben is plagued with a bad upset stomach, causing them to make a pit stop that turns into them being mistaken for a rideshare service, which turns into a deadly hostage situation.

Filmmakers Tom Bragg, Tyrell Jason