Apex Film Festival

Yesterday was our inaugural event, and it certainly was exciting to have an outlet for short films and music videos in Rochester, Minnesota! Attendees aged 10 to 50+ shuffled in and out through the day. We screened 55 videos and presented 3 Q&A panels with filmmakers who traveled to our festival, and also filmmakers from right here in Rochester.

Our festival was covered by PBS affiliate KSMQ and local documentary series The Rochester Experience.

When asked what the most memorable part of the event was, one of our staff answered, “Hearing kids actually know about a film they saw on our web site, and talking about how excited they were to finally see it.”

The films and music videos alike were all well received. Ballots are still being tallied, but event staff noted that both Intersection and Operation A.N.G.E.L. moved audiences to tears.

Awards will be announced soon!

Desperate for work, Darren agrees to a one-day trial as a door-to-door meat salesman.

Michael Forstein is a director and producer from Minneapolis, Minnesota. His work has screened at festivals throughout the country including Sundance, SXSW, Los Angeles Film Festival, AFI Fest, and the Rooftop Films Summer Series. Meat is his directorial debut.

A sci-fi themed music video featuring a dancing cardboard solar system, musical space beings, and an ill tempered robot.

Jesse Mercury is a sci-fi electro-pop musician, making his directorial debut with the music video “Relativity (or: How to Stop Worrying and Love the Computer).”

Preparing to embark on a major study in Norway, renowned Child Psychologist, Dr. Russell Winfield, agrees to meet with an institutionalized graduate student who has requested him by name. Hoping to quickly diagnose the young man and return his focus to the study, Dr. Winfield immediately discovers the magnitude of their encounter.

Director David Traverso is a Mathematics professor at a Pennsylvania State University. His career has afforded him ample time to pursue film. He began writing screenplays and quickly discovered a love for storytelling. As a result, he decided to fully fund his own short film project, “The Prodigy.”

A man is robbed – then offers to take his attacker to lunch.

Director Jason Honeycutt was born and raised in rural Michigan. He worked three jobs to pay for film school and moved to Los Angeles. This film is based on a true story.

An incident. A policy. A strange, seductive option…

The Platinum Plan is a unique dark comedy short film from writer, director, and producer Chris Pickenpaugh.

The Elephant is Contagious is a short film based on an original poem by Eabha Rose, an Irish poet. It tells the tale of a territorial battle between two romantic rivals at a polite and outwardly formal gathering.

Afraid of flying, Yoram must make it to London in 24 hours or else his inheritance will go to his aunt’s favorite charity.

Flightophobia is a quirky dramedy made as the graduation project of students from IMPRO acting school in Israel. This film was directed by Alon Newman who was born in Tel Aviv and served in the Air Force.

This music video was directed by Wan-Lin Chuang, a music video director from Tainan City, Taiwan. She explained the video explores the desire to hold onto something one cannot, choosing to be alone versus watching someone live unhappily, until that final moment when realizing the only true happiness is being together.

A ghost hunter travels deep into the rural Midwest to investigate an abandoned farm house. With the rest of his team unable to attend he must perform the investigation on his own. Things quickly take a turn for the worst, and the ghost hunter must face the consequences of finding what he’s been hunting for…

From the up and coming local Rochester film group, Shattered Prism Studios, comes their first short film, “Absence”, a chilling supernatural thriller that will leave you questioning if you should ever be alone in the dark.

https://www.facebook.com/ShatteredPrismStudios