Announcing the Fifth Annual Apex Festival

The annual Apex Short Film + Music Video Festival is returning to sunny Tucson, Arizona on Saturday, February 23rd, 2019 for its fifth season. Join us at The Screening Room on East Congress Street downtown.

An $8 day pass will get you unlimited access to a red carpet photo shoot, exclusive short films and music videos from around the world, and Q&A panels with filmmakers from all over the southwest. Check out our lineup of videos here.

Get tickets online below!

Filmmakers can submit their work through January 12th.

We hope to see you again in 2019!

2018 Award Winners

Audience ballots from the weekend have been tallied, and we’re thrilled to announce the winners. It was an exciting competition due to the high caliber of submissions we received. We look forward to our next festival with even higher expectations!

Best Film: SUPER DAD by Maria Pretzl
Best Music Video: RESCUE OF A BIRTHDAY PARTY by Brass Department
Best Folk Video: I KILLED THEM BOTH by Wayna Hancock
Best Foreign Film: SWAMP AFFAIR by Aleksi Puranen
Best Drama: PAUSE by Ryan Glauser
Best Production Design: IN A DREAM by Edina Kishonthy
Best Rock Video: SOLA by Jonathan Nix
Best Costume Design: ASHAGETA by Vary Demidova
Best Hip Hop Video: WATCH IT BURN by Tasha the Amazon
Best Cinematography: LIKE A CHILD by Bold Sun
Best Animated: BATTLE OF THE MILLENNIAL MIND by Jazzy Boho
Best Thriller: FOLLOWER by Eric Flores
Best Western: POWER OF PRAYER by Drew Henriksen
Best Sci Fi: REACTIONARY by Gary Taylor
Best Comedy: LOCKER ROOM MASCOT MASSACRE by Joseph Dutra

2018 Festival Wrap-Up!

Our fourth annual festival was a big success! VIP filmmakers from Los Angeles and New York joined local Arizona filmmakers and musicians in seven Q&A panels spread throughout the screenings of nearly 50 short films and music videos at Unscrewed Theater in midtown Tucson. We got some great feedback from attendees, and we’re already looking into how best we can expand our programming for next year.

We’re also tallying up the audience ballots to determine the awards, which will be announced here and on social media later this week. For now…enjoy some photos from the weekend!

Schedule for Sunday, March 25th, 2018

We’ll kick off the event with a red carpet photo shoot and introduction, and will have Q&A panels with VIP filmmakers throughout the day. The following times are approximate.

3:00 – Red carpet & introduction
4:05 – Filmmaker Edina Kishonthy & dream expert Jason DeBord
4:55 – Filmmakers Gary Taylor & Eric Flores
5:15 – Filmmakers Ryan Riffle & Jazzy Boho
6:15 – Filmmakers Rebecca Ruhm, Rob Walker, Avai d’Amico
7:00 – Band The Endless Pursuit
7:30 – Filmmakers Jacob Glass and Ryan Glauser
8:00 – Filmmaker Drew Henriksen

Music Video for “Peaceful Life” by Guts feat. Lorine Chia

A homeless man lies in a crowded street. Ignored by the pedestrians, the old man is robbed of one of his only possessions : a football.
To take it back, the poor man stands up and shows everyone he is not only what he looks like.

Directed by: Sébastien Bellaval
Written by: Sébastien Bellaval and Laetitia Gau

Cinematography: Stefano Forlini