The 36-city Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour rolls into Kansas City this Saturday.
From August 31 to September 4, the Screenland Armour will air a 110-minute program featuring seven of the short films from this year’s festival. Here are the showtimes; we suggest going on opening day, Saturday, to catch some of that opening day buzz and only pay $8 to get in.
The collection includes two dramas, three comedies (including an animated film), a biography, and a horror film. Here’s a preview of each.
Essex Girls
Director: Yero Timi-Biu
Genre: Drama
Accolades: Best Director, S.O.U.L. Fest
Teaser: “After an incident at her high school pulls her into the orbit of the only other Black girl in her year, ‘Essex Girl’ Bisola is plunged into a journey to discover a whole new side of herself.”
Bug Diner
Director: Phoebe Jane Hart
Genre: Comedy, animation
Accolades: Short Film Jury Prize (Animation), Sundance Film Festival; Special Jury Award (Animated Shorts), SXSW Film Festival
Teaser: “A dissatisfied marriage, a secret crush, and workplace fantasies come to a head in a diner run by a mole with a hot ass.”
Pisko the Crab Child is in Love
Director: Makoto Nagahisa
Genre: Comedy
Accolades: Short Film Special Jury Prize (Directing), Sundance Film Festival
Teaser: “Pisko’s father is a crab while her mother is human. Pisko falls in love with her teacher but is heartbroken when he leaves her because she is half-crab. Pisko finally finds love and companionship with her friend Kubokayo.”
Pathological
Director: Allison Rich
Genre: Comedy
Teaser: “A woman who’s a pathological liar wakes up one day to discover her lies have become true.”
ALOK
Director: Alex Hedison
Genre: Biography
Accolades: Best Documentary Short, Sarasota Film Festival
Teaser: “A compelling portrait of Alok Vaid-Menon, acclaimed nonbinary author, poet, comedian, and public speaker.”
Dream Creep
Director: Carlos A.F. Lopez
Genre: Horror
Accolades: Special Jury Award for U.S. Live Action Short, Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival
Teaser: “A couple awakens in the night to sounds emanating from an unlikely orifice.”
The Masterpiece
Director: Alex Lora Sercos
Genre: Drama
Accolades: Short Film Grand Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival; Best Live Action Short, Raindance Film Festival
Teaser: “Leo and Diana, a wealthy couple, meet Salif and Yousef, two scrap dealers, at a recycle center. Offering them more junk, Diana invites them to their mansion, but the immigrants actually might be the ones with something she wants.”