Sherman Oaks Film Festival

2025 Official Selection: Feature Film – Horror

Raya, a tormented woman caring for her bedridden husband, is haunted by terrifying nightmares. She wakes up each morning in the forest, falling deeper into freshly dug graves beneath her. As supernatural forces torment her and the line between dream and reality collapses, she unearths a horrifying secret buried within the woods—and herself.

Director(s): Paul Bickel
Writer(s): Paul Bickel
Producer(s): Paul Bickel, Tracie Thoms
Key Cast: Tracie Thoms, Raya Miles, Paul Bickel, Eugene Byrd

Country: United States

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2025 Official Selection: Featurette – Drama

Through years of quiet struggle with trauma and emotional isolation, Pierre lives in a world that offers no compassion — until, suddenly, a moment of static sparks an unexpected connection, a chance at a new path. But how long can he endure before that hope slips away?

Director(s): Henrik Larsson, Jakob Arevärn
Writer(s): Henrik Larsson, Jakob Arevärn
Producer(s): Henrik Larsson, Jakob Arevärn
Key Cast: Tomas Hartwig, Alexandra Lindqvist

Country: Sweden

 

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2025 Official Selection: Short Film – Comedy

Jasmine, a young college girl, grapples with her situationships manifesting as floating dick hallucinations that haunt her every move.

Director(s): Jasmine Hurt, Aphrodite Armstrong
Writer(s): Jasmine Hurt, Aphrodite Armstrong
Producer(s): Jasmine Hurt
Key Cast: Jasmine Hurt, Ariel Sandino, Izaah Gray Jones, Alex Ekker, Santiago Sepulveda, Isabel Stewart, Christian Ahmad Brown, Sierra Jallad, Natasha Dvorak, Jamilah Muhammad, Courtney Hodges Jr.

Country: United States
Los Angeles Premiere

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2025 Official Selection: Short Film – Drama

An 11 year old Anjali, frustrated by her mother’s slight, threatens to leave home. When her threats are laughed at and ignored by her mother and her siblings, she sets out on an odyssey across the city of Varanasi.

Director(s): Shilpi Singh
Writer(s): Shilpi Singh
Producer(s): Reena Singh
Key Cast: Anjali Bharati

Country: India
Los Angeles Premiere

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2025 Official Selection: Short Film – SciFi

Talia’s depression keeps her locked in her apartment until she receives a HeLP-O, a paper butler robot that unfolds, cooks, and cleans, but can HeLP-O provide her with the help she really needs?

Director(s): Kevin O’Brien
Writer(s): James Kislingbury
Producer(s): Connor O’Brien, Kevin O’Brien
Key Cast: Quinn Francis, Kevin O’Brien, Caitlin Cutt

Country: United States

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2025 Official Selection: Short Film – Drama

Eli and Curtis are not ready to go over Grandpa’s will.

Director(s): Chloe Tolderlund
Writer(s): Chloe Tolderlund
Producer(s): Aaron Bartuska, Michael Andrusiewicz
Key Cast: Ireland Tarpey, Michael Stahler

Country: United States
World Premiere

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2025 Official Selection: Music Video & Short Film – Animation

An exploration of the miracle of birth shown through the lens of a Synthwave music video.

Director(s): Rani Naamani

Country: United States

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2025 Official Selection: Short Film – Drama

Chaos ensues when a group of college students stumble upon a dead body at a frat party.

Director(s): Isaiah Silas Wright
Writer(s): Marcus Lamar Corrothers
Producer(s): Aja Hinds, Luke Pengelly
Key Cast: Aja Hinds, Jeff Lawless, Nate Bartoshuk, Zach Cowan, Marcus Lamar Corrothers, Yaya Ogun, Gabriella David

Country: United States
World Premiere

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2025 Official Selection: Short Film – Comedy

A Brooklyn woman’s search for solitude unravels when she finds herself haunted by a ghost who acts more like a bad roommate than a restless spirit.

Director(s): Daniel Padulo
Writer(s): Daniel Padulo
Producer(s): Daniel Padulo
Key Cast: Sophia Drapeau, Mallory Wu

Country: United States
Los Angeles Premiere

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2025 Official Selection: Short Film – Horror

The Joker (David Howard Thornton, “Terrifier”) has captured Robin and after two days of awful torture his revenge plays out in front of a helpless Batman. Inspired by the 1988 DC comic “A Death In The Family”—with a horrific twist.

Director(s): Aaron William Bennett
Writer(s): Aaron William Bennett
Producer(s): Aaron William Bennett, Hunter G. Williams, Vanessa Leigh
Key Cast: David Howard Thornton, Joel LeBlanc, Hunter G. Williams

Country: United States

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