- This event has passed.
The Nickel Independent Film Festival – Saturday June 17th. 8pm
June 17, 2023
Saturday June 17th. 8pm
Pay What You Can
Hearts Illuminated: Short films on love and loss
Presented by CBC NL
Our Secret
Director / Writer: Ryan Ward . USA . 8 mins
As a young girl dreams about life, the universe and everything, she discovers the power of connection and the potential of the human mind.
Kiss ‘n’ Ride
Director / Writer / Producer: Olivia Jensen . USA . 8 mins
An animated film that will give you butterflies! On her way home from a lovely café date, a woman finds reminders of her date in every little thing. She falls in love with the Chicago winter night around her, and dreams of the date ending differently.
First Position
Director / Writer / Producer: Mallory Clarke . Newfoundland & Labrador . 5 mins
A person who hates all their clothes struggles to decide what to wear to a house party. When later they see their ex-it’s-complicated with a new partner, it triggers a nascent lifestyle change. Director Mallory Clarke used their experience telling great stories on stage to inform this strong debut film through the First Time Filmmaker Program by NIFCO.
to my next lover
Director / Producer: Kieran Charnock . New Zealand . 4 mins
Based on a poem by the same name by New Zealand writer Paula Harris, this four minute film is blocked with powerful images depicting a whirlwind romance that has yet to happen and is destined to not end well.
Grown in Darkness
Director / Writer: Devin Shears . Producer: Anna Wheeler . Newfoundland & Labrador . 17 mins
Henry lives alone on his farm growing rhubarb in a dark cellar. “Rhubarb grows better in the dark,” he says. “It reaches up, looking for the light that isn’t there, and so the stalks grow longer, and sweeter.” When his friend Emmanuel arrives to collect the harvest, together they spend the days exploring the limits of their relationship. Featuring impressive, understated performances from Andy Jones and Lawrence Barry, this short is simply beautiful.
Sampo
Director: Marziyeh Riahi . Iran . 13 mins
Struggling to make ends meet, a single mother caters the funerals and weddings of the rich. But her daughter has different ideas about her mother’s job.
Mother’s Skin
Director / Writer / Producer: Leah Johnston . Nova Scotia . 20 mins
A neglected six-year-old girl struggles to cope with her mother’s depression and her father’s alcoholic rage. At night, violence erupts around her and threatens to tear her family apart. But when the girl discovers a hidden secret in their home, her dysfunctional world takes on a strange new meaning. A haunting and darkly poetic film.
Content warning: domestic abuse / attempted suicide
Post-Screening Q&A in the Second Space
Featuring Rhiannon Morgan (NL)