A long-running Cindependent favorite! Off-Kilter Party Shorts brings the heat to close the 2024 festival with the wildest stories that don’t fit in any one category. See a shrimp dream of being a star, a woman who has a memorable conversation with Whoopi Goldberg, animated witches, cannibals, a mime having a communication breakdown, and more. Come party with us! Total runtime: 95 minutes
Cindependent After Dark
Places
A couple hide out in a closet after witnessing something horrific.
Safety State
In the dystopian near future, a gay and a lesbian couple form an unlikely friendship as they flee the midwest for safety in New England. As rights are being rolled back and travel bans are going into effect, Shay and Quincy decide to leave their home in Ohio and travel East to a safety state where it is safe and legal to be queer. They meet up with another couple, Jacob and Michael, so together they can pose as straight married couples. Quincy takes an instant dislike to her new "husband", Jacob, as she resents depending on the men and pretending to be straight. As they face different threats on their journey, they form an unlikely friendship.
PRAWN STAR
When a young shrimp gains aspirations to become an actor, he purposefully gets caught by humans so he can end up at a fancy restaurant and on the plate of someone who could make him famous. Shot partially underwater and partially on location in a restaurant and bar, this tale of a puppeteered peeled shrimp and his movie star aspirations illustrates the absurdity of "going for it" and what it can really take to follow your dreams...
Dream Operator
Going through his daily motions, a weary Dream Operator, a person inside our heads who constructs our dreams, is suddenly confronted by a rogue creation.
Dissolve
Dissolve follows someone on a journey to find the end of a trail of brightly glowing mushrooms. Beginning in a run down city, they follow the trail into the forest. Along the way, the mushroom version of the character keeps appearing in the background, in reflections and water. Over time, the character stops at the edge of an unsettling lake. They move forward at the insistence of the mushrooms. They come to a small pool and meet the mushroom version of themselves in the water. The character reaches out, and the contact causes the character to grow into the mushroom self and vice versa. The character seems to accept this after a moment, and fades away.
Witch Woman
"A dazzling, contemporary style of stop-motion animation is used to depict one of the oldest stories dating back to ancient times: men's fear of women and of the power of motherhood. In the film, people and objects glide and stutter through space, fluid and staccato at the same time, as the reality around them warps and shifts." - Christopher Rohde, Mirror Mountain Film Festival
Jiangxue
This film is a short 3D animated film that takes inspiration from the poem "Jiang Xue" written by the Tang dynasty poet Liu Zongyuan. This film will demonstrate that the blue-and-green style and ink-and-wash style of traditional Chinese painting can be achieved in 3D. The emphasis of the film will be on the environmental story, with animation created using Blender, and the cinematography will highlight the atmospheric landscapes.
Super High: A Period Piece
In the semi-autobiographical short film "Super High: A Period Piece," Amanda battles excruciating period pain caused by fibroids. Desperate for relief, she experiments with a celebrity cannabis brand's edibles. A dosage mishap catapults her into a surreal, anxiety-filled journey until she awakens.
Stoned
"A Midwestern stoner must decide between being " managerial material" or accepting her role as a gun wielding criminal when a conflict with a co-worker escalates."
Splat
When a revealing video is posted on the internet, Lucy finds ways to get revenge.
Carnivora
When their mother vanishes, two estranged sisters are forced to caretake for their catatonic grandma… only to realize that grandma isn’t grandma at all. Starring Gigi Zumbado (Bridge and Tunnel, Hightown) Carmela Zumbado (You, Power Book IV:Force) and Julia Vera (This Fool, The Old Ways)
Le Charade
A psychological comedy set in a run-down 1950s diner. Le Charade follows the final performance of a lonely mime and the psychotic episode that ensues after his imaginary friend breaks up with him and he is forced to re-enter society.