Narrative 2026 - 5th Season

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All That She. 

0:05:56

USA

Nicola Pieper,  Director, Writer, Producer, Editor

Melanie Pieper, Animator

Noellie Nemoto, Dancer/Choreographer

Bex Morgan, Music

 This short is a poetic tapestry of womanhood, woven from intimate phone footage shared by women across four continents, five countries, and eight states. Untethered by a traditional script, the film reveals female strength, vulnerability, resilience, and contradiction through diverse voices, reflecting the multifaceted nature of womanhood in all its depth and nuance.

Key Cast," There Selves"

Abby Dengler, Aissa, 

Alexa Gabriel 

Alyssa Faye Tseng

Amanda Halim, Amy Kress

Anda Yoshina,

Ashley Kendall Jones,  Beata Ellis, Bet Morgan,

Brenda Harjono, Caroline Jelley,

Catalina Lima, Cate Baker,

Cecily Hendricks, Chairmain Chen, Cheryl K. Chiu, Chris Kresbach, Claudia Pieper, Cristi Miles,

 Elissa Wu, Ellie Demmon, Eugenah Chou, Elizabeth Narayan, Evelyn Wangsa, Evie Huang, Hannah Yang, 

Hanni Hergenröther, Isabelle Cham, Jacqui Carpenter, Jan Hobart, 

Jeanne Ann Paris Comiskey, Jillian Rywalt, 

Jutta Kuchenbrod, Karen Linares, 

Kayla Caldeira, Kayla Farner,

Kit Pennell,

 Kyah McKinlay, Laura Joffrion,

Maren Kuchenbrod,

Melanie Pieper,

Melody Tay Kelly Xi Ching,

Nancy Gurnee, Naomi Aasland,

Señora Natalia Collier,

Annette Pieper, Nicola Pieper

Nicole Kolodka, Noellie Nemoto, Rachel Jeannette,

Rachel Tsao, Rian Plastow,

Sabrina Cham, Sarah Duff 

Sheridan Ellis, Skylar Kindred,

Sunmi Kim,

Theresa Hughes,Tiffany Tsai. 

Arise 

0:03:59

Singapore

Yahssir M, Director

Catherine Joan Devadason, Writer

Imran Manaff, Producer

Kavitha Krishnan, Producer

Jiaying Weng, Key Cast

Keanan, Key Cast

Arise is a heartfelt poetry film inspired by Catherine Joan Devadason’s tender verses about solitude and connection. Set in bustling Little India in Singapore, the film follows two individuals living parallel lives—separated by walls yet bound by the shared ache of loneliness. 

Through their daily routines, subtle signs of yearning emerge: glances out the window, the echo of footsteps in empty streets, and unspoken hopes written in journals.

Guided by Devadason's evocative words, their lives converge in a serendipitous moment of courage—an act of reaching out that transforms their isolation into friendship. With delicate imagery and poignant narration, Arise celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the profound joy of finding companionship where it’s least expected

Comma of Didymus

0:08:56

U.K.

Angus, Scotland

Steve Smart, Director, Filmmaker, writer

Rebecca Sharp, Poet

Alex South, Original Score

"The comma is the cost, a thing cut off – not a loss, but what we want."
An entrancing metaphorical journey fusing filmic imagery, extraordinary poetry and musicianship to create a compelling meditation on adjustment, loss and reconciliation in times of change. 

"..as distances drift between notes so nearly unexpectedly – the moment of discovery that all is not at ease."

'Comma of Didymus' is a new poetry film collaboration between poet Rebecca Sharp, composer Alex South, and filmmaker Steve Smart.

“extraorinary, utterly unique … an antidote to the Anthopocene"
John Glenday on Rebecca Sharp's poetry.

"A virtuoso ability"
The Herald on Alex South (clarinet).

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Cynical Trains

0:02:24

USA

Lauren Yang, Director, 

Writer, Producer

Lauren Yang, Original Score

Garrett Durbin, Original Score

A short work of Contemplation on connections via train.

FAGS

0:02:37

Australia

On a warm star drunk night, a young gay couple, Isaac and Arlo, are confronted by a stranger’s slur. Hand in hand, they reclaim the word through Isaac’s poem, transforming an act of hate into a moment of love, art, and queer pride.

Hunter Somerled, Director,

Writer, Producer

James-paul Mountstevens, Producer

Jez Underwood, Key Cast"Issac"

James-paul Mountstevens, Key Cast"Arlo"

Marz Cooper, Key Cast

Bryce Padovan, Editor

Dominic "Mini" Altamore, Director of Photography

Joel McNamara, Assistant Camera

Adrien Marks, Script Supervisor

Zoe Stragalinos, Production Assistant

Minimae, Music

Weston Symes. Visual Effects Artist

From Saffron Moores

 0:02:11

UK

DIANA TAYLOR, Director, writer, filmmaker. Zuerst Poetry film

OWAIN Holland, Key Cast

A cornishman  revisits an ancient stone circle in England to find his ancestors  -- the Nine Maidens who have stood sleeping for some thousand years or more in a place of memory that is equal to heaven.

Hair Trails

0:07:41

Estonia

Sirel Heinloo, Director, Writer

Einar Lints, Director

Eesti Lavaluule MTÜ, Producer

Sirel Heinloo, Key Cast

Karl Petti, Music

A great long braid becomes the guiding thread of this poetic short film. It begins on the edge of the world in Norway, where the mountains and the ocean awaken a voice hidden in the strands of hair. That voice leads the storyteller back to another edge of the world at home – the ancestral lands of South Estonia, a branch of roots only recently revealed.
When hair begins to speak, what will you dare to ask?

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I Met a Stoic

0:01:43

USA

Annie Wood, Director, Writer

A work of poetry in Motion.

Annie Wood is an award-winning filmmaker and multidisciplinary creator known for her bold, emotionally charged storytelling. Drawing from her deep roots in Hollywood and a lifetime of creative exploration across acting, writing, and visual art, Annie crafts films that blend humor, heart, and human complexity. 

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Late on the Planet

0:05:00

Brazil

Julia Tonon, Director, Writer

Leonardo Piana, Writer

Veneta Production Company, Producer

Céu Lopes, Key Cast

Alexandre Pucci, Key Cast

Miguel da Silva Rodrigues, Assistant director

João Rubio, Cinematography

Bruno Alves, Editing

A boy feels the shadow of an irreversible environmental catastrophe drawing near. In the quiet of his backyard, he chooses to spend the last day before the world transforms beyond recognition alongside his mother. There, he witnesses the signs - the unrest of animals, the uprising of plants - while confronting the imminence of loss: not only the loss of a future he once imagined, but also the fragile bond that ties him to this woman and to this place. Guided by poetry, Late on the Planet is a meditation on the weight we give to the idea of finitude and on our precarious relationship with the more-than-human world. Inspired by the novel of the same name by Leonardo Piana.

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Letter

0:07:00

USA

Student

Naz Riahi,

 Director, Writer, Producer

Aidain Dick, editor

Baham, Music

Upon reaching the same age her father was when he was executed by the Islamic regime of Iran, Naz Riahi talks to him, frozen in time, through a letter that questions freedom, destiny and belonging. Upon reaching the same age her father was when he was executed by the Islamic regime of Iran, Naz Riahi talks to him, frozen in time, through a letter that questions freedom, destiny and belonging.

Long Line

0:01:41

USA

Julian Harris, Director, Producer

Barbara Fant, Writer, Key Cast

This video captures the essence of 'Long Line,' a poem from Barbara Fant’s Mouths of Garden. It serves as a visual homage to the powerful line of women who came before her.

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my father's breath: (i see you)

0:05:19

USA

Misaq Kazimi, Director, Producer

Sean Raymond Hill, Writer, Producer Key Cast

A spoken word short story about a son and his dad, cancer, hospitals, and how to navigate loving someone as they are on their deathbed. True story with real footage.