Director Brian Lawes live-action short shares a story of a young boy searching for food to feed his younger brother. This topical film has been selected to premiere at the Oscar qualifying Calgary International Film Festival, followed by Edmonton International Film Festival and Santa Fe Independent Film Festival. Lost Kings, won the grant support of the Community Builders Grant, the OVAC Artist Grant, and was made possible by the support of a Jury Award prize for his previous film, Rock Paper Scissors.
Searching for food, a boy breaks into a neighborhood home. But when the homeowners return, he becomes trapped inside with those he’s stealing from.
Brian Lawes is an American film director, writer and producer who is known for Lost Kings (2020), Rock Paper Scissors (2018), and Temp (2017). His films have played at numerous high profile film festivals across the world, earning multiple jury awards, with notable premieres at Oscar Qualifying festivals like Cleveland International Film Festival and Indy Shorts International Film Festival.
Lost Kings will screen at Calgary International Film Festival from 23rd September to October 4th, Edmonton International Film Festival from October 1st-10th and Santa Fe Independent Film Festival from October 14th-18th.
Charles Xiuzhi Dong’s AFTER CLASS shares the story of a poverty-stricken single parent who is desperate to send her daughter to school
Winner of the Best Short Award (Asia International Competition) at Short Shorts Film Festival and Asia
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/339781789
Director Charles Xiuzhi Dong’s topical live-action short film tells the universal story of a mother who is willing to do whatever it takes to help her child. Having only recently begun its festival run the film has just been awarded the top Oscar Qualifying prize at Short Shorts Film Festival and Asia, in Japan.
Eight-year-old Su Min and her mother reside in the slum of a metropolis in China, making ends meet by cleaning toilets and picking garbage. Su Min dreams to go to school someday. Marginalized by the school registration system, her mother tries to send her daughter to school at any cost.
The film’s award-winning Chinese director Charles Xiuzhi Dong is based in Los Angeles. He received a BFA at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and was recently accepted to the American Film Institute’s directing fellowship. His short films AFTER CLASS and COOKIE HEART screened at numerous high profile international film festivals. His feature documentary debut, AN ANSHAN STORY, follows the investigation of his family saga, post-Chinese cultural revolution history.
AFTER CLASS has also been selected to screen at the upcoming Tehran International Short Film Festival in October.
