Official Selections For the 2022 Imaginarium Convention Independent Film Festival!
Download the full Imaginarium 2022 Program as a PDF file here!
We had our most competitive field of entries in our history and we are looking forward to showcasing the high quality projects that are included in this year’s Official Selections!
All Official Selections will be juried for awards consideration, with awards announced at the 2022 Imaginarium Convention Awards Banquet held on Saturday, July 9th, 2022!
Official Selections are listed below, followed by exhibition-only projects that will be screened on Sunday, July 10th!
Feature Films
Chain of Events
Synopsis: A romantic comedy shot entirely in the city of New Albany Indiana… A couple down on their luck encounter divine intervention and a inheritance that changes their lives forever. Starring… KATIE STEWART, ALEX MUNCY, DALE MILLER, STACI WESTRICK, MARDELL ELMER and Silvio Wolf Busch.
Director: Mark McDonald
Runtime: 1 hour 48 minutes
Echo Rhyme
Synopsis: A man in a crime family finds Salvation after receiving a heart transplant from a good man.
Directors: Caleb Johnson and Jeff Johnson
Runtime: 1 hour 48 minutes
Free to a Bad Home
Synopsis: In this terrifying horror anthology, the lives of three strangers – a widow, a thief, and an addict – are changed by cursed objects and those that spread them.
Directors: Kameron Hale, Scott Hale
Runtime: 1 hour 20 minutes 20 seconds
Jack Be Nimble
Synopsis: Old gamers living together in an assisted living facility, what could possibly go wrong? When a friend dies, they embark on a journey of discovery that may or may not be real.
Director: Steve Wollett
Runtime: 1 hour 20 minutes
Maggie Shayne’s Embrace The Twilight
Synopsis: The now multi-award winning FEATURE MOVIE based on New York Times best-selling author Maggie Shayne’s novel from her fan favorite “Wings In The Night” series. “A seductive vampire and an ex-soldier must protect the only human-vampire hybrid from dangerous mercenaries who seek the secrets of her immortality.”
Filmed in Colima, Mexico and Northwest Ohio by Vampires 2 Films & Ghost Walk Studios. Screenplay & Directed by filmmaker Carlos Dunn who tragically passed away during the final weeks of filming. His dream movie was finished by his partners at Ghost Walk Studios in his honour.
Film score by award-winning, international composer Mariano Saulino, who calls Argentina home.
Director: Carlos Dunn
Runtine: 2 hours 21 minutes
The Repairman
Synopsis: Attempting to save his sick child, a memory repairman and former hitman, Jack Whitlock, is drawn back to a life he thought he had left behind. When he is blindsided, unintended consequences arise and cause everyone from law enforcement, his former boss and current job to begin to question his motives and close in on him for the truth.
Director: Devin Shane Hylton
Runtime: 1 hour 31 minutes
Short Films
Acting
Synopsis: This film follows a young lady who sees many of the human interactions we have as fake. While struggling with her own personal issues, she tries to find the balance of how to be her own authentic self while also conforming to societal communication standards.
Director: Kene Amadife
Runtime: 23 minutes 1 second
Faustian Gamble
Synopsis: Players bet their souls against the Devil himself for a single wish.
Director: Thomas Moore
Runtime: 6 minutes 43 seconds
Happy Places
Synopsis: A mysterious stranger interrupts the evening of a seemingly normal family to visit his childhood home. But his presence progresses towards a possibly ominous outcome.
Director: Nich Frost
Runtime: 19 minutes 53 seconds
Horizon
Synopsis: In the borderlands, crossed by climate refugees looking for safety, men face their primordial nature, in a bleak reality where the law of the strongest rules the world. Hidden in an underground shelter and resigned to his fate, the main character observes the definitive decline of society as it surrender to the evil nature of men, until a special encounter, interpreted as a divine sign of light, turns on his faith and hope for the future of humanity.
Director: Daniele De Muro
Runtime: 15 minutes
The Mystic Murders
Synopsis: A young woman named Julia (Madison Crawford) moves into a seemingly harmless one bedroom apartment in Mystic, Connecticut but comes to find out very quickly she does not live alone.
Directors: Shane Ryan Richard, Tom Shaw
Runtime: 12 minutes 12 seconds
#Nofilter
Synopsis: #Nofilter addresses the ever-growing issue surrounding Body Dysmorphic Disorder through the eyes of Beth, an insecure twenty-something, who becomes obsessed with an insidious filter, leaving her to question true beauty. It is a cautionary tale for all those obsessed by “likes,” being flawless, and thinking that somehow social media is the magical cure-all for happiness. The film stars Kelly Lamor Wilson and Misha Osherovich from Blumhouse’s “Freaky.”
Director: Nathan Crooker
Runtime: Nathan Crooker
The Music of Erich Zann
Synopsis: An aimless musician becomes obsessed with the music her mysterious neighbor plays in the wee hours for an eldrich, unseen audience, in this updated take on the classic H.P. Lovecraft short story.
Director: Jesse Keller
Runtime: 12 minutes 34 seconds
Piper Pence and the Pandemic
Synopsis: Piper Pence is isolated by herself at home during a worldwide zombie pandemic. She spends her days trying to stay safe, stay sane and stay entertained. After months in isolation, when the situation begins to feel somewhat normal, the threat comes closer to home than ever before and Piper must defend her sanctuary for the first time.
Statement from the filmmaker:
“I realize zombies are played out but it’s not a zombie movie for the sake of zombies. The film explores my personal experiences in isolation since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Everything from mood and energy swings, to frustration with those who aren’t helping, being unable to express myself to my mother and the fear of possibly confronting a deadly illness in my own home. I needed a tangible way of telling the story.”
Director: Shane Devon
Runtime: 12 minutes 31 seconds
Posi-Traction
Synopsis: An intense emotional conflict scene between a mysterious older man and a younger man in a scene floating between reality and imagination, fear and despair. A man searches for something to justify his wrongs, but what awaits him will be his lesson of a lifetime.
Directors: Caleb Johnson, Clint Calvert
Runtime: 4 minutes
The Restless
Synopsis: A father is left tossing and turning every night to a constant disturbance he has no control over.
Director: Derrick Spruill
Runtime: 7 minutes 29 seconds
Saternus
Synopsis: Three petty thieves form a cult in order to prey on the weak, but one of them takes it too far.
Director: Malakai Tyne Bisel
Runtime: 13 minutes 24 seconds
Sword, Skill, & Sorcery
Synopsis: A baker’s son quests to locate a wanted sorceress, but mistaken identities cause the wannabe knight to plunder more than he bargained for.
Director: Shayna-Raye Funderburk
Runtime: 15 minutes 23 seconds
Two Weeks to Slow the Spread
Synopsis: A couple from Chicago moves to a remote farmhouse in Kentucky in the spring of 2020 to wait out the coronavirus “for just a few weeks.” They end up staying over a year and must learn to co-exist with their new neighbors.
Director: Wesley Mullins
Runtime: 29 minutes 59 seconds
UPSIDE-DOWN SKY
Synopsis: A single moment changes everything for a family in turmoil.
Director: Michael Ricci
Runtime: 6 minutes 25 seconds
Vindicate
Synopsis: A young woman loses her dog to a drunk driver, and while dealing with the trauma, she seeks revenge.
Director: Samuel K Pittman
Runtime: 5 minutes 10 seconds
Waiting on Love
Synopsis: When a waiter discovers a man is proposing to his gal, he tries to help him out by magically producing the ring; disaster quickly ensues
Director: Clare Mullen
Runtime: 2 minutes
Documentaries
Breaking Through
Synopsis: A narrative docudrama featuring the director’s journey to recovery and success and how she got there.
Directors: Amy Leigh McCorkle, Tim Druck
Runtime: 51 minutes
Lockdown – The Doctor Who Fans’ Survival Guide
Synopsis: During the Covid-19 pandemic, a call went out to fans of the BBCtv science fiction series DOCTOR WHO to film personal videos of how they coped with being confined in their homes for months on end.
Shot on mobile phones, laptops, tablets and cameras …anything they could lay their hands on … the following film is the result.
It’s an inspiring tale of the indomitable human spirit – all wrapped up in some utterly unique stories and videos!
Prepare to be amazed!
So hang on to your facemasks … as we go on a worldwide tour to learn about the incredible ways Doctor Who fans’ survived lockdown!!!
This production is respectfully dedicated to all who suffered pain, grief and loss.
Director: Roger Christopher Stevens
Runtime: 46 minutes
Omar Sosa’s 88 Well-Tuned Drums
Synopsis: OMAR SOSA’S 88 WELL-TUNED DRUMS is a feature-length documentary film on the life and music of Cuba-born pianist and composer, Omar Sosa (b. 1965). Multiple Grammy-nominee Omar Sosa is one of the most versatile jazz artists on the scene today. He fuses a wide range of jazz, world music, and electronic elements with his native Afro-Cuban roots to create a fresh and original sound—with a Latin jazz heart.
Extensive interviews with Omar Sosa, archival video and stills, and, of course, a lot of music form the backbone of the film, with animated segments bringing bold and colorful movement to Sosa’s stories, especially early ones for which there is no supporting material. The film traces Sosa’s artistic origins from his birth and childhood in Camagüey, Cuba’s third-largest city, conservatory education at the prestigious Escuela Nacional de Música in Havana, military service in Angola during that country’s long civil war, and eventual relocation to Ecuador where, for a time, he wrote, arranged, and performed commercial jingles. Sosa’s story continues with a fateful mid-90s move to the U.S., a stint as a sought-after sideman in the Bay Area’s burgeoning Latin jazz scene, and partnership with longtime manager Scott Price that continues to this day. In his 25+ years as a solo artist, Omar Sosa has released over 30 albums and received four Grammy nominations and three Latin Grammy nominations. Often performing as many as 100 concerts across six continents annually, Sosa is known for a rhythmic style and musical influences and collaborators as diverse as his travel itinerary. As Eugene Holley writes in a 2004 Village Voice piece that inspired the film’s title, “Sosa’s pianisms evoke distant echoes of McCoy Tyner’s power, Keith Jarrett’s improvisational flights of fancy, and Thelonious Monk’s angular harmonies, transforming the piano into 88 well-tuned drums.”
Director: Soren Sorensen
Runtime: 1 hour 39 minutes
Writing the Impossible
Synopsis: Juan Tallón (Vilardevós, Ourense 1975) writes all day long, especially when he is not writing. He is a regular contributor to El País, Jot Down, El Progreso and Cadena Ser. He has published 6 novels. In 2020, shortly before the lockdown, he published ‘Rewind’ (Anagrama), a book, set in Lyons (France), about the fragility of life, its unexpected blows and the things we have lost forever. This documentary tells the story of how ‘Rewind’ was created and how the new reality ended up being stranger than fiction.
Director: Simone G. Saibene
Runtime: 1 hour 2 minutes 27 seconds
Web Series
Abracadavers: Season 2
Synopsis: Our friends have settled into a comfortable routine which is quickly interrupted when they’re brought to a halfway “camp” for people with special abilities. In the past they demonstrated an inability to control their powers and have been offered, more or less without a choice, the opportunity to learn how to control their powers under the guidance of more experienced power users.
Directors: Morgan Ermter, Anna Cooley, Reamonn Joshee
Runtime: 30 minutes
Arthur – Second Season
Synopsis: Two serial killers on the run. A woman scorned, wanting revenge. An FBI agent on a lifelong hunt. A dwarf who knows far too much. Amidst car chases, love and torture, secrets and life-changing revelations, Arthur’s story continues: will he follow Zed’s example and resume his life as the amiable killer-next-door? Or will he finally break free from his “unsavoury hobby”?
Director: Nick Rusconi
Runtime: 1 hour 13 minutes 47 seconds
My Human Experience: Episode #1
Synopsis: Logical and socially inadequate, alien explorer, Lex, is assigned to study the human race from a sociological perspective, a mission way outside her comfort zone. To make matters worse, she’s teamed up with the erratic and emotive, Xalax; her complete opposite.
Director: Sylvia Ray
Runtime: 10 minutes 47 seconds
Recovery Unplugged: Featuring Bob Saenz
Synopsis: A discussion with screenwriter Bob Saenz about his career and experience with mental illness.
Director: Amy Leigh McCorkle
Runtime: 30 minutes
The Pixiestick Incident
Synopsis: A tip from an old friend sends ex-cop Eldridge Haas and his “best good boy” Tanner to investigate a bizarre death that may lead to the trail of his brother’s killer.
Director: Michael Henry
Runtime: 12 minutes 9 seconds
Music Videos
Breathe in the Fire
Synopsis: A lyric video by the Louisville Ky based Hard Rock band As Embers Burn.
Director: Jon Mattingly
Runtime: 4 minutes 31 seconds
Conceal
Synopsis: Prayerformance film fusing spoken word, dance & music that illuminates the rise of the divine feminine and her sacred call to the divine masculine to dismantle the Patriarchy and lead with love, truth & vulnerability.
Director: Cheyenne Sapphire
Runtime: 4 minutes 34 seconds
Otanashi
Synopsis: “Painted in silence, a sparrow’s dream invokes timeless harmonies. In the heart of the universal geometry, the seed of calm is formed.”
Otonashi is a philosophical voyage through inner and outer experiences of the human existence – an audiovisual meditation of futuristic transmutations about the Japanese Hannya Shingyō.
Director: Martin Gerigk
Runtime: 10 minutes
Over the Under
Synopsis: Travel into the mind of Mental Illness. This Haunting look at the physical as well as the terrifying imaginings of the worlds suffered by millions around the World. Song Writer and Singer Jayson William Allen and his Band Poetry of the Dead invited you to “take a look” inside what your worst nightmares might look and feel like. Long time collaborator, Director/Cinematographer Herschel Zahnd returns to go OVER THE UNDER.
Director: Herschel Zahnd
Runtime: 7 minutes 15 seconds
The Rise of Gemini
Synopsis: A re-imagining of a gospel tune tells the story of a pickpocket’s rise to power
Director: Amy Leigh McCorkle
Runtime: 2 minutes 37 seconds
Waterfall
Synopsis: The opening number to to forthcoming musical, it describes a dysphoric mania. a collaboration between playwright Amy Leigh McCorkle and the Christian Pop artist Lina, and directed by Amy Leigh McCorkle. Waterfall is relatable and opens up a discussion about mental health.
Director: Amy Leigh McCorkle
Runtime: 3 minutes 28 seconds
Exhibition-Only Projects To Be Screened
The following projects will be screened as part of our film festival with an exhibition-only designation (these projects are not being juried for the awards).
Imaginarium 2022 is proud to present the following additional screenings:
An Affair to Forget
(short film)
Synopsis: A grieving widower is trying to get his life together again, until a homicide detective arrives to dig up painful memories of the past; six months after his wife’s untimely demise, in this riveting sequel to “An Affair To Remember”.
Director: Rose Marie Machario
Runtime: 19 minutes 16 seconds
Del Weston: Creator, Visionary, Believer
(Documentary)
Synopsis: A tribute to AOF Megafest founder Del Weston who has touched countless lives with his mentorship and support who might otherwise fall through the cracks.
Director: Amy Leigh McCorkle
Runtime: 19 minutes
Foster Home
(short film)
Synopsis: Four former foster kids, now in college share their experiences with a college film class, their stories changes a life.
Director: Aaron Allen
Runtime: 23 minutes 30 seconds
Letters to Daniel
(feature film)
Synopsis: Amy and Missy set out to conquer Hollywood, only to be confronted by an invisible enemy, Amy’s bipolar disorder.
Director: Amy Leigh McCorkle
Runtime: 1 hour 1 minute 33 seconds
Screenplay Finalists
Long Format Screenplays
A Long Way Home by Steven Bogart
A Whisper From The Waves by James Fox and Mikayla Iverson
Amazing Grace by Allison Hanna
Amy and Angel by Deedee Benkovich and Julia Verdin
At the Mercy of Faith by Samuel Lee Taylor
Consumed by Don Stroud
Dream Spell by Keshia Thomas
Fat Camp by James Sabata
Saffron and Lily by Sandra L. Bucy
Soul Survivors by Adam Poulos
M30 Oxy by Wesley Mullins and Leanne Johnson
Nocturnal by Peter Hardy
Of God and Country by Larry Neil Henderson and Nick Henderson
The Assassin’s Redemption by Amy Leigh McCorkle and Melissa Goodman
The Darkest Shade by Kim Sheil and R.J. Redl
The Good Book by Lucy A. Fazely
Trinity by Samuel Hayden Marx
Short Format Screenplays
A San Muerte Birthday Party – by Julian Rosado Machain
Bau Bau Tu – by Frederico Pieri
Bloody Johnny by Victoria Zykina
Dolores by Michael Seabolt and Gregory M. Shroeder
I Dream Analyze Genie by David Creighton
Jake Was Here by Esther French
Lee by Michael and Alan Lucks
Office Gossip by Keshia Thomas
Room Full of Strangers by Norberto Perez
Slim Chance by Erick Buckley
Sutton Holler by Tennessee Martin
Tanked by Jojin Van Winkle
The Bad Poet by Michael Clifton
The King of the Diamonds by Lottie Finklaire
Timmy Adventurous and the Orphan Gang by N.J. Robins