2025 SHORT FILM FUND SPRING SEASON WINNERS

PAPER DAUGHTER

A young Chinese woman grapples with the guilt of using the identity of a deceased girl to immigrate to the United States via Angel Island in 1926.

THE TRUTH ABOUT SPACE

A young man is released from prison and has to face up to the lie that his estranged daughter has been led to believe – that he was in space.

And congratulations to our Top 5 Finalists!

BELUGA by Alexander Gustaveson
I WAS A TEENAGE LESBIAN WEREWOLF by Zoey James Towner
SHEIGETZ by Joseph Schweitzer
SQUIRREL by Laura Campbell
THREADS by Jordan John & Georgina Ambrey

This season, the Top 5 Finalists will receive script feedback from one of our industry Judges. Finishing Funds Finalists will receive feedback from a producer at Vanishing Angle, and the Top 15 Finalists for the production grant will have an opportunity to have their scripts circulated to select members of our Industry Roster.

OUR 2025 SPRING SEASON FINALISTS

PRODUCTION GRANT ($15k)
(in alphabetical order by script title, 15 screenplays have progressed)

	Beluga	Alexander Gustaveson	After belugas have gone extinct, a daughter dives into the future and her father fights to protect her.
	Cult Favorite	J Taylor D’Andrea & David Espey	Under the guise of a girl’s weekend, three women kidnap and attempt to deprogram their friend who is deep in the throes of a wellness cult.
	Frankie	Rachel Thomas-Medwid	After a young girl with a frankfurter fixation inadvertently grows an army of murderous hot dogs, the glossy veneer of her 1950’s American household explodes as the bloodthirsty creatures begin enacting revenge on her behalf.
	I Was a Teenage Lesbian Werewolf	Zoey James Towner	After bungling her first kill, a young werewolf ends up on a date and must balance her desire to devour with her longing for connection.
	Lejos de Aquí (Far From Here)	Missy Hernandez	Desperate to create a better life for her daughter, a tenant farmer’s wife must clean up a murder scene and get rid of a body before sunrise. A Feminist Western Murder Mystery set in rural 1950s Puerto Rico.
	Marigold Leaves Her Body	Adesola Thomas	After partner abuse isolates her from her beloved punk scene, Marigold, a Black punkfemme, attends a house show for the first time in a year with plans to mosh.
	Northern Lights	Julien Trauman	After colliding with an iceberg while attempting a solo crossing of the Northeast Passage, Raphael is forced to make a stop in an abandoned mining town in Northern Siberia, where he encounters Vassili, who has been surviving alone since being left behind during the hasty evacuation of 1991. As they work together to repair the boat, a friendship develops between the two men, but when Raphael offers to bring him back to civilization, Vassili refuses.
	Paper Daughter	Cameron Kwan	A young Chinese woman grapples with the guilt of using the identity of a deceased girl to immigrate to the United States via Angel Island in 1926.
	Sheigetz	Joseph Schweitzer	A rebellious 12-year-old from Brooklyn’s Ultra Orthodox Jewish community sneaks out to a punk show, uncovering a life-altering family secret about his beloved older brother.
	Squirrel	Laura Campbell	A woman struggles to help her father on the day he is released from prison.
	Talk To Me Like A Person	Casimir Nozkowski	A stoned fingerboarder, trying to print an important document, tumbles down a digital rabbit hole when she calls the helpline for her mom’s obsolete printer.
	The Short Escape	Paweł Grajnert	An elderly former secretary of a Nazi death camp evades responsibility for her actions one last time, based on true events in 2021 and 1945.
	The Worst Choices	May Suri	When a teenager grappling with the aftermath of sexual violence turns to her closest friend for support in securing an abortion, their relationship is tested as a devastating betrayal surfaces.
	Threads	Jordan John & Georgina Ambrey	A mixed-race man grapples with his estranged culture when he’s thrown into a family gathering where language and tradition collide.
	Weight Class	Matt Campanella	On the eve of his biggest wrestling match, a queer Sri Lankan American teen battling body dysmorphia makes a questionable choice in search of validation — forcing him to confront what it really means to be seen.

FINISHING FUNDS ($4k)
(in alphabetical order by script title, 5 short films have progressed)

	Man Made Lake	Written & directed by Annie Ning	In the idyllic confines of a gated community in China, young Nita gets her finger bitten by a creature in the neighborhood’s lake. Her French mother, Marie, is determined to find out what’s lurking in the waters, igniting a series of cultural clashes throughout the community.
	Stranded	Written & directed by Raina Yang	A marine biologist arrives in a remote fishing village to save a repeatedly stranding humpback whale, only to be swept into resurfacing childhood memories of the home she left behind in coastal China.
	The Truth About Space	Written & directed by Jeremiah Towolawi	A young man is released from prison and has to face up to the lie that his estranged daughter has been led to believe – that he was in space.
	This Blows	Written by Molly Clark, directed by Talia Smith	An 11-year-old girl’s misunderstanding of a “blow job” sets her babysitter on a chaotic mission to save her at a birthday party.
	Welcome to Paris	Written & directed by Allegra Oxborough	American foot model, Evie, shows up for her first gig in Paris, only to be fired when the agency discovers her foot doesn’t really look “wholesome.”

OUR 2025 SPRING SEASON SEMI-FINALISTS

PRODUCTION GRANT ($15k)
(in alphabetical order by script title, 75 screenplays have progressed)

FINISHING FUNDS ($4k)
(in alphabetical order by script title, 25 short films have progressed)