BIRTHDAY
2017
Directed by: Alberto Viavattene
Italy
Night. An abusive nurse wanders through the halls of a nursing home. She integrates her salary by secretly selling prescription drugs to junkies and stealing from the most vulnerable patients. The only thing she hates more than her job is old people. Upon entering room 12, occupied by three sisters, she discovers that one of them has just turned one-hundred years old: there must be a birthday present somewhere… that will change their lives forever.
THE PECULIAR ABILITIES OF MR. MAHLER
2017
Directed by: Paul Philipp
Germany
East Germany 1987: Special investigator Mahler, who is said to possess paranormal abilities, is assigned to solve the case of a missing 6-year-old before this issue leads to political tensions with the West.
PUMPKIN
2017
Directed by: Jay Rathore
Canada
Eric is your average suburban teenager, obsessed with the internet and constantly glued to his phone. Like most kids his age, he is a passenger, his mundane life dictated by the adults around him. His life online is a completely different story.
In the darkest corners of the web Eric is known as Icarus, expert troll, wordsmith and member of a vast army of anonymous internet pranksters. In a never ending quest to one-up each other, the digital rogues are constantly escalating the stakes of their morally dubious stunts. Now Icarus has a plan that will put all other 'Ops' to shame .
Using the cover of Halloween night, readily available consumer technologies , and the assistance of web comrades whom he has never met - Eric will attempt to excerpt his righteous will upon the real world, and elevate his internet persona to legendary status.
SWEET TOOTH
2017
Directed by: Nico Van den Brink
Holland
Elin's upstairs neighbours are getting on her nerves.
TASTE
2017
Directed by: Adrian Sekowitz
USA
Claire, a beautiful and calculating trophy wife, has convinced her husband to invite an influential Hollywood power couple to dinner, believing that preparing an elaborate meal for them might result in her starring in her own cooking show. Things begin to go awry when the arriving guests step over a woman's naked body in the driveway. The arrival of the paparazzi leaves the group no choice but to bring this barely conscious woman inside. As Claire struggles to remain the consummate hostess we learn that the strange woman is no stranger at all but rather a ghost from her past – one she is bonded to in a strange and supernatural way.
CROP
2017
Directed by: Kyle Ginzburg
USA
A vampiric man who works for the black market organ trade questions his predatory nature when he encounters a mysterious woman from his dreams.
HOME EDUCATION
2017
Directed by: Andrea Niada
U.K.
An inquisitive girl is convinced by her controlling mother that her dead dad will resurrect if they show how much they miss him. That is, until he begins to rot...
iMEDIUM
2017
Directed by: Vincet Blonde
Spain
A woman reaches out to her dead daughter through a phone app to help answer questions about her early demise. This is the perfect subject for a short film. If the story where much longer the idea of a phone app that can connect people to the dead would probably unravel. But as it stands iMEDIUM packs an effective punch and was the biggest surprises of the SMALL GAUGE TRAUMA series.