Narrative Shorts Competition presented by IMDbPro
Narrative Shorts Program 2
A selection of original, well-crafted films that take advantage of the short form and exemplify distinctive and genuine storytelling.
Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.
Program Includes:
"Slick Talk" follows Kiki, a Chinese-American rapper from New York, on the day she is supposed to meet with a connected music manager. Leading up to the meeting, Kiki feels judged by family and strangers alike for her life decisions; she knows it’s uncommon to see someone like herself enter the hip-hop arena, but she sadly underestimates the world’s ability to mislabel her. The story unfolds over a single day and culminates with the anticipated meeting with her potential manager. For Kiki, her Chinese-American identity and burgeoning hip-hop career are completely separate parts of who she is, but she slowly discovers that, to the people around her, they couldn’t be more intertwined.
Recovering from a broken leg, Sally begins a phone relationship with Richard — a much-needed intimacy boost in her dreary haze of crushing loneliness and painkillers. They talk nonstop and fall head over heels. Things get kind of sketchy when Richard starts asking for money to pay for his mom’s “medical bills.” But Sally has some secrets of her own, and nothing is as it seems in this phone-sex-fueled psychodrama about the sick thrill of a good old-fashioned scam.
At the Sisters of the Rotation’s convent, the Earth doesn’t spin by itself.
Minna, a self-flagellating influencer, is concealing her crush and fandom for Frank while invited to be a guest on his famous podcast. Frank is hiding his deep, longtime online obsession for Minna. She starts off strong with her performative vulnerability, but Frank eventually strips off her flirtatious facade and they discover they’re both even more attracted to the honest truth.
Jesse, one of the most famous billionaires on Earth is the first human to successfully clone and marry himself. After being married for a year, Jora, Jesse’s clone, is reaching the crux of an identity crisis. On the day of their anniversary, Jesse invites “their” best friend Roberto to give him a gift. Roberto is in love with Jesse, and suffering from unrequited love. Jesse’s solution is to gift Roberto with a hyper-realistic sex doll of himself, as a token of friendship. The doll is the last straw for Jora, who finally decides to revolt against Jesse’s tyranny by devising a plan to finally escape from the prison they call home.
On a snowy Christmas Eve, Paul drunkenly crashes his car into the neighbor’s yard and flees the scene. His parents, Bill and Linh, send Paul to bed and debate whether or not they should call the police. John, their eldest son, offers to take the blame in order to keep his brother out of jail. With the plan set, Bill and John return to the accident scene. A gruff Cop arrives and soon grows suspicious of their story and asks to use their restroom. Once inside their home, tensions rise as the panicked family tries to keep their lies afloat.
Anna is an adult with an Cognitive Disability living with her mother in Midland Florida. When her mother is unresponsive, she calls her sister for help, but without the language to be believed, Anna is brushed aside. Emily returns home and is immediately engulfed in a futile struggle for medical information, while Anna’s world is deconstructed. In this sadness, Anna sees the bigger picture and with a straightforward strength, Anna holds her own. The uncertainty for the sisters’ future independence remains but they are now a team against all odds.
"Slick Talk" follows Kiki, a Chinese-American rapper from New York, on the day she is supposed to meet with a connected music manager. Leading up to the meeting, Kiki feels judged by family and strangers alike for her life decisions; she knows it’s uncommon to see someone like herself enter the hip-hop arena, but she sadly underestimates the world’s ability to mislabel her. The story unfolds over a single day and culminates with the anticipated meeting with her potential manager. For Kiki, her Chinese-American identity and burgeoning hip-hop career are completely separate parts of who she is, but she slowly discovers that, to the people around her, they couldn’t be more intertwined.
Recovering from a broken leg, Sally begins a phone relationship with Richard — a much-needed intimacy boost in her dreary haze of crushing loneliness and painkillers. They talk nonstop and fall head over heels. Things get kind of sketchy when Richard starts asking for money to pay for his mom’s “medical bills.” But Sally has some secrets of her own, and nothing is as it seems in this phone-sex-fueled psychodrama about the sick thrill of a good old-fashioned scam.
At the Sisters of the Rotation’s convent, the Earth doesn’t spin by itself.
Minna, a self-flagellating influencer, is concealing her crush and fandom for Frank while invited to be a guest on his famous podcast. Frank is hiding his deep, longtime online obsession for Minna. She starts off strong with her performative vulnerability, but Frank eventually strips off her flirtatious facade and they discover they’re both even more attracted to the honest truth.
Jesse, one of the most famous billionaires on Earth is the first human to successfully clone and marry himself. After being married for a year, Jora, Jesse’s clone, is reaching the crux of an identity crisis. On the day of their anniversary, Jesse invites “their” best friend Roberto to give him a gift. Roberto is in love with Jesse, and suffering from unrequited love. Jesse’s solution is to gift Roberto with a hyper-realistic sex doll of himself, as a token of friendship. The doll is the last straw for Jora, who finally decides to revolt against Jesse’s tyranny by devising a plan to finally escape from the prison they call home.
On a snowy Christmas Eve, Paul drunkenly crashes his car into the neighbor’s yard and flees the scene. His parents, Bill and Linh, send Paul to bed and debate whether or not they should call the police. John, their eldest son, offers to take the blame in order to keep his brother out of jail. With the plan set, Bill and John return to the accident scene. A gruff Cop arrives and soon grows suspicious of their story and asks to use their restroom. Once inside their home, tensions rise as the panicked family tries to keep their lies afloat.
Anna is an adult with an Cognitive Disability living with her mother in Midland Florida. When her mother is unresponsive, she calls her sister for help, but without the language to be believed, Anna is brushed aside. Emily returns home and is immediately engulfed in a futile struggle for medical information, while Anna’s world is deconstructed. In this sadness, Anna sees the bigger picture and with a straightforward strength, Anna holds her own. The uncertainty for the sisters’ future independence remains but they are now a team against all odds.