Official Selections: LA Indie Film Festival

Congratulations to our accepted filmmakers!
Complete Line-Up Below
Films are listed in alphabetical order, index to the left.
Use Index to learn more about each film.

We want to highlight three key elements in the creation of the short film Mute: Makeup, Art Design, and Sound Design. These aspects represented a fundamental artistic challenge in building the atmosphere and emotional depth of the story, allowing us to convey the protagonist’s psychological experience with greater impact. It would be an honor for these elements to be considered in the selection, as they reflect the dedication and creativity of our team.

Obscura was a UCSB FAMST-106 production selected to be made out of a pool of 40 scripts. It was made by a team of extremely hard-working and talented students on a low-budget, but with high ambitions!

Biography:

 The passion for storytelling on stage begins right away, at the age of 6.  The shows were staged purely for profit, and the ones paying for the tickets were the grandparents from around the block. The proceeds vanish into the nearest ice cream shop. It soon becomes clear that to convince an audience, you had to move them emotionally, that’s how the first stories and poetry are born. Theater classes followed as a consequence of this passion. Kristina studied under internationally renowned Lithuanian theater directors and actors. 

 From the start, it was clear that her primary interest is writing and directing theatrical plays. In an occupied country, cinema turns out to be a distant reality, impossible to reach. It’s a celebration every time the parents secretly record with a VCR, bringing it home wrapped in an old blanket, hidden from prying eyes, in an almost religious manner. The illegally rented and stolen tapes from some movie theaters in Northern Europe, are the forbidden fruit to be enjoyed by the whole family. Only rarely, and only like this could they watch all the films with Bruce Lee, as well as ‘Star Wars’, F.F Coppola’s ‘Dracula’ and ‘The Godfather’. In addition, there were the films with Schwarzenegger, Stallone, and Van Damme. A mix of battles for honor and images of inaccessible places, sparking desire like a fuse. They are like bananas hidden in the pull-out sofa, bought on the black market, which could only be eaten at home, far away from the eyes of communist spies. When the VCR is turns on, silence falls, and it doesn’t matter if the film is interrupted by shadows passing over the screen. Kristina is fortunate, and the Soviet Union’s regime quickly collapses. Color TV arrives, bananas are everywhere, and the first Mexican soap opera, The Slave Isaura also arrives. The series becomes so important that they bring a TV into the classroom and suspend lessons at the public elementary school. The values of liberty are flaunted everywhere. There is confusion, so, when in doubt, the professors say nothing during math class. Kristina rests various books on her lap and instead of studying the assigned material, reads Greek comedies and tragedies. Kristina’s passion for the theater is endless, she thinks of nothing else, and by age 14, she is selected for Adomaitis’ Mime Academy. Her poems caught the attention of the former director of the Kaunas Musical Theater, who then decided to give her private individual lessons. At age 17, Kristina decides to finish school a year early to be selected for the directing course by the great Lithuanian theater director J. Vaitkus, but the school does not approve. J. Vaitkus gives her advice: ‘Don’t study directing right away; go abroad, study philosophy or literature first. Forget about directing for now; the experience in directing always matures with time.” So she does. She tries to study philosophy at Kaunas, but after realizing that there is a six-month waiting list for E. Kant’s book at the city library, she leaves. She goes to Italy – the cradle of world culture – and studies philosophy in Naples. She starts to write in Italian. She becomes familiar with the works of Pasolini and after seeing Salò at an anarchist club in Naples, she realizes that the theater is the right path for her. So, she studies and works. She finds a job at the embassy in Rome as a secretary, and a year later, is nominated Director of the Lithuanian National Tourism Agency in Italy, but she knew that this was not her path. She earns various master’s degrees (after a bachelor in Philosofy at University l’Orientale, she also obtaines a Master degree in digital dramaturgy at Sapienza University, and after she obtaines a second master degree in information, publishing and journalism at Roma Tre University) so she develops her own theory of cinema, challenging C. Metz’s thesis. Cinema for her is not only an expressive artistic form such as painting, but is a true digital language, like French and English, except it is written with images. The real question is: how does an audiovisual language affect the human brain? Kristina delves deeper, making a documentary on audiovisual therapy for autistic children, particularly following the studies of Professor Gallese, who studies the reactions of the human brain in front of screen and mirror neurons. She writes a classical drama  - “Paper Heart” – her first work. The script is structured with more plot twists, and the secondary characters are made more complex with the intent of stimulating emotional involvement. According to the director, wonder also affects the mechanisms of persuasion. Thus, she decides to involve various artists in the film and mention several paintings that are part of art history and that continue to amaze and surprise people with their beauty. “For me cinema is an interdisciplinary field. It has to do with neuroscience, with the development of our emotional intelligence, with literature, phycology, philosophy, but also chemistry. When we experience emotions while watching a film, intense tension that causes stress leads to the production of cortisol, which, in fact, increases blood sugar and fats in the blood. On the other hand, pleasant emotions trigger the release of dopamine and serotonin, the happiness hormones – which generate physical well-being, promote neural connections at the synaptic level, and support the proper functioning of our brains. Cinema can heal and hurt; it can persuade people to become better, as well as lead them to make wrong decision. This is due to a complex process of mimesis that deposits the film experience in the same part of the brain where we also store all our directly lived experiences. It can be a weapon as well as a wonderful and exciting cure.

Kristina Sarkyte is writer, producer and director of:
First Feature “Paperheart”.

First World Premiere- 32 Woman’s International Film Festival Sguardi Altrove, Milano.

Winner:

 Audience Award- Special Mention Winner at 32 Woman’s International Film Festival Sguardi Altrove
Official Selection: International Premiere- 25 Los Angeles Indie Film Festival.
Screenplay Paperheart is a finalist at Moondance International Film Festival 

2022. The Contact- a short documentary movie.

Winner: 

1. Silver award, Spotlight Documentary Film Awards. USA;

2. Best short Doc award, Rome Prisma Film Awards, Italia;

3. World Indie Film Award, USA;

2023 Award Winner, Tokyo Shorts, Japan;
Honorable Mention: A.I.M.A. 2022 festival, Athens;

2015 Short Movie  “Broken”, 12’ Italy/Lithuania.  
In Official selection: Phoenix Film Festival, Melbourne; 7 Cinemathor International Film Festival, Carros, France; Goldensun International Film Festival, Malta; Lumiere International Film Festival, Italia; Arroios Internationla Film Festival, Portogallo; Volves International Film Festival, Lithuania; Ozark Shorts, USA; 

2013 Short movie “Superstar”, 15’. Italy
First World Screening at 67 Cannes Film Festival, selected to Short film Corner;  
Official Selection in 35 Cinemed International Film Festival 2013, Panorama, Montpellier, France.
3 Gold Elephant World - International Film & Musical Festival, best director- rivelation.
29 Clermont Ferrand Short Film Market.

Official selection in: Costa Rica International Film  festival, 2 BIFF 2014, Cinema Invisibile 8 - Lecce 2013,  3 Morlupo Corto festival, 14 Festival Internazionale del Cinema di Frontiera, 9 Festival del Cortometraggio Gabriele Inguscio,  9 Sardinia International Film festival, 1 Erice Film festival, 11 CINEMADAMARE, 3 Tofla Short Film festival, 13 Festival del Cinema Indipendente di Foggia, 2 Bibbiena Film festival.

Awards for a screenplay “Superstar”:
Honorable Mention al Mexico International Film festival 2012,
Honorable Mention all’International Californian Short Film festival 2012,
Finalist Hollywood International Screenplay Contest 2012,
Finalist at Columbia George International Film festival 2012,.

Directors Statement: “Every director has a reason for filmmaking. I have immense faith in the power of this wonderful medium. I believe that cinema can change the way we think, can make us become more empathetic, more sensitive, more inclusive, and more capable of putting ourselves in others’ shoes. I thought of “Paper Heart” as a film capable of giving value to those who fight, even when they are children, even at unequal arms like David against Goliath. It is for those who always dream and those who never give up. It is not important where you are from or who you are. No one, no one, for any reason can take away your dreams and you soul. There is always hope and always a solution.

 Maybe this reflects my own way of being. Today I am 42 years old, and only now have I created my first work. It took 12 years of relentless work and fundraising to turn my screenplay into a film in a wonderful and complicated country like Italy. There are those who didn’t take me seriously, and there are those who said to me over and over again, “Now you are a mother, go home and think of your children, stop with this film business”, but I didn’t stop. After gaining the support of actresses like Stefania Rocca and Isabella Briganti, the support from composer Alessandro Quarta,the contributions of artists like Nicola Genco and Giuseppe Ravizzotti, and even after finding the funding for the film, the adventure for the film was not yet finished. We needed the trust of banks and part of the funding was about to expire. The executive producer that I had turned to suggested that I give up. According to him it was impossible to make a film under these conditions. I realized I had to let him go. The shoot was scheduled in Salento, so I packed my car with the necessary scenic supplies, knowing that at this point I didn’t even have a production manager, no one, except for the main artistic cast. I was aware that the long-awaited public funds, which were dispersed in the last moment, would expire within thirty days. In order to secure them, I would have to complete the filming of the movie exactly within those thirty days. In just three days, I found the fantastic executive production company, Brando Film. They prepared everything in 11 days and we filmed the movie in only 16. Neither a daily schedule full of red flags nor last-minute location changes stopped us. I knew I had worked with the lead actor in the past, and to prepare for the film, Gabriele studied singing for two years.

 I was certain that with only 16 days, there wouldn’t be much room for experimentation. We had to find solutions to save time and get the film done. We all tried to give it our best; the film was made in an atmosphere of extraordinary collaboration, friendship and affection. Together, we wanted to speak out against the rise of patriarchy during such a delicate historical period for Italy. We wanted to shout together “no” to femicide, “no” to homophobia, “no” to gender-based violence, and yet another strong “no” to a violent and ignorant education that judges children based on gender. We all wanted to shout “yes” to freedom of choice, of life, and the ability to express oneself in any field. With these motivations, and the sense of dedication from the 1st AD, the entire directing and production team, we completed the filming of ‘Paper Heart’ together.

 Experimenting is important to me as a matter of creative urgency, and if it can’t be done with images, I try to experiment with sound. ‘Paper-heart’ will therefore be the first film that has its own heartbeat. It is artificially alive. If it is agitated, its heart beats more intensely; if its cinematic story progresses slowly, so does its heartbeat. The low vibrations of the heartbeat, barely perceptible, are not heard very well by the ear but are felt by our stomachs, by our entire body – every organ vibrates according to different frequencies. Just as images impact our brain and hormone production, so too do sound and frequencies affect us. I tried to recreate the primitive connection of a heartbeat – a guiding pulse that should facilitate the transmission of emotions in this way, creating an intuitive and non-verbal bond with the viewer.

 But why do all of this? Why do I make films? I would love to know that you were moved.  If it happened, the cortisol, endorphins, and serotonin in the last scene of the film should have traveled through your synaptic connections, bringing you pleasure. The visual experience acquired, connected to the positive emotions felt, could permanently leave within you the experiences and ideas I wanted to share: a happy family is made up of people who love each other, it doesn’t matter if they are only men or only women; what matters is that they know how to love, like Luigi and Pietro; The traditional family that lives in the darkness of ignorance harms all its members and often kills, as Paola did; violence only destroys, and there’s no need to film violent scenes for this –If you have felt Laura’s pain, perhaps a dance might suffice, referencing the fallen angel by Alexandre Cabanel’s and Bergman’s lesson. If you felt Luca’s passion, perhaps the beauty of art and wonder can bring us happiness and joy, as it does for him. Finally, if I have told this story persuasively, some of you will have experienced Kant’s dynamic and mathematical sublime together in a whirlwind of emotions that can only be experienced inside cinema. As I mentioned in a scene in the film, you and I, we met within the film. You, all the viewers, will be in my work as protagonists and authors of your future, but will also have the memories of my film. Through the experience of the film, you will travel within me, and I will remain within you through the images and emotions you wish to acquire and preserve in your minds. We will unite under the light of audiovisual experience, touching The One in a fulfilling immaterial spiritual dimension that has nothing to do with the materialistic meat grinder of the real world. Incredibly, we will remain united through shared visual memories and emotions felt, even if we are physically distant. I don’t want to start the conversation on quantum physics, which also involved cinema; I will stop at the origins, at Plato. We are many, united in The One, tending towards deeper beauty and awareness through light—and the light I have to share with you is all made of cinema.