We’ve shared our fair share of Star Wars Fan Films over the years with some pretty impressive ones. But not many gave us as much fun and thrill than Christopher Parks’ Star Wars: X-Wing. A shear 5-minute non-stop (one take) action film that takes place on Coruscant after the Empire’s defeat on Endor. The kind of sequences that fans simply crave for. Make sure to read the full interview with Christopher.

We are proud of our Québec Home-grown films, and our Top 10 rarely fails to feature any. This year it’s Alexandre Dostie’s ‘Je finirai en prison’ that’s caught our attention – and many others. In the film, Maureen Sauvageau’s escape comes to an abrupt end when she drives her monster truck into a deadly car accident. Stuck in the middle of nowhere, she must share the company and the blame of a rather touching junkie dubbed Jelly the Loon.

Strong tensions and unequivocal character designs are at the forefront of Eric Jungmann’s debut short film ‘Body of the Mined’. While the story quickly introduces a wide range characters with unusual acquaintances, the situation and setting slowly builds out the narrative in a rather obscure way.

This one comes and goes before you know it. Craig Bingham takes us through a raw, tense and emotional one-take sequence that will leave you wondering what you just witnessed – in the best way possible. And then you will watch it again. The story moves quickly, but also very little, which has the viewer inching for any little detail he can get in the surroundings.

Rat Tail just hits differently than all the other films. Coming from the latest trend of self-authored films, Rat Tail explores director Chad Sogas’ battle with depression. What begins as a comedic story about the rat tail he had for nearly ten years transcends into a journey of unexpected self-discovery and healing. Chad lures us in with his quirky story and documentary filmmaking style. But as the narrative around rat tail takes form, the story seems to take a life of its own and become something much bigger than anticipated.

‘Neven’ may be the most ambitious film of this year’s batch. Running near half hour, the science fiction film is certainly not lacking in visual effects quality.  The story runs at an atypical pace for the genre, but Adrián Adamec is able to ease us into the profound narrative with intriguing characters.

Living in an era where biosuits seem like common wear, the initial look at ‘Homesick’ may not be so shocking. But director Koya Kamura quickly makes us forget about Covid in the magnificent and emotional short. Despite its close-to-30-minutes timeline, we quickly get invested in our main characters and particularly the unique storyline. The film bings us in the dangerous no-go zone in Fukushima two years after the nuclear disaster, to reunite a father with his eight-year-old son.

‘Decima’ just takes us away with its full audio/visual experience. The film would not be the first conference opening title sequence to hit our Top 10 (check out IFCC 2017 Main Title), this one produced for the legendary design conference OFFF Barcelona. The film focuses on the human condition and examines the deep emotional connection to loss and rebirth, exploring themes of mortality, empowerment, soul passage, and illumination.

It’s this year’s live-action Oscar Winning short film. Directed by Aneil Karia and starring Riz Ahmed, ‘The Long Goodbye’ takes on social commentary and extremism that can feel quite relevant in today’s world. What starts off as a hectic – but day to day normal at Riz’s house – turns into an incredibly devastating and gruesome carnage.

And finally, it’s no surprise that we have the other Oscar winning short, ‘The Windshield Wiper’. Created by renowned animator Alberto Mielgo (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Love Death and Robots), the film is a collection of vignettes and situations stemmed from a man’s ambitious question: “What is Love?”. While you are firstly hooked with its impressive visual style, the thought-provoking narrative certainly does the rest of the work to keep you engaged.

Congratulations Alberto and your entire crew, a true marking masterpiece.