March 28,29 & April 4,5 2025
The 2025 Media Film Festival is four nights of independent short films across four different venues throughout Downtown Media, Pennsylvania. Since 2007, the Media Arts Council (MAC) has been celebrating the best of local and regional moviemaking talent, as well as national and international films, showcasing their creative spirit and striving to elevate the quality of local filmmaking. The festival is about connecting filmmakers with other filmmakers, industry professionals and audiences while having fun doing it!
29 Movies. Four Great Locations!
Saturday, March 29 Beer and A Movie Sligo Irish Pub 11 West State St
Friday, March 28 Opening Night The Townehouse 117 Veterans Sq
Saturday, April 5 Movies & Awards The Media Theatre 104 East State St
Friday, April 4 Documentary Night Institute of Science 11 Veterans Sq
Friday, 3/28: 7pm Townehouse
Opening Night
My Name is Jonas (drama, Phila)
Grin (horror, Philadelphia)
Driven Out (thriller, regional, NJ)
Warmth (animation, Korea)
My Couch (comedy, Media)
Saturday, 3/29: 7pm Sligo
Beer & A Movie
The Concert (drama)
Come Out, Wherever You Are (apocalyptic)
Willow (Newark)
For You (heartwarming, Iran)
Be Kind! (heartwarming, France)
Friday, 4/4: 7pm Institute of Science
Documentary Night
Adidas Owns the Reality
Gardner of the Galaxy (Villanova)
Trash and Burn (Chester)
Followed by Q & A with the Directors
Saturday, 4/5: 3pm Media Theatre
Best of Local & Regional
Her Own Skin (dystopian, West Chester)
Good Job, Troy (Langhorne)
MACFI
Singing in the Lifeboat (Elmhurst, NY)
Baby Love (Merion Station)
Ah-Ma-Burns (drama/fantasy, West Chester)
MACFI
Saturday, 4/5: 7pm Media Theatre
Movies & Awards
Jules (drama, West Phila)
The Waiting (heartwarming, Iran)
Steps (Comedy, Canada)
Warmth- (Animation, Korea)
10 min intermission
Please Send Help (drama)
The Pizza Connection (dark comedy, Schuylkill Haven)
Crowboy (animation, Penn State)
Allure-(animation)
Muddy Goes To College (comedy, Phila)
The Media Film Festival Is Made Possible By:
2025 Films In Detail
March 28th Lineup: Opening Night at the Townehouse
My Name is Jonas (10 min)
On his first day in rehab, a man battling the demons of drug addiction reveals a mind-bending truth.
Director & Writer: Cory Bortnicker
Producers: Cory Bortnicker, Melanie Speck
Director of Photography: Emily Marquet
Editor: Ben McGinley
Key Cast: Cory Bortnicker
Grin (5 min)
A teen discovers that sometimes home is the least safe place to be.
Director & Writer: J. P. Hoffman
Driven Out (20 min)
Director: Andy Currie
Writer & Producer: Dan Fried
Key Cast: Rick Irwin, Stephen Cofield Jr., Have Burton Paschall, David Tyree
Warmth (5 min)
High in the wintry mountains, a lonely snowman cares for an abandoned child.
Director: MinSeok Jean
Writer: JinHee Lee
Producer: JiSeon Kim
Animation: JiSeon Kim, JungHyun Ahn, JinHee Lee, SooHyeon Seo, YeonSu Jang, YunA Pak, YoonYoung Choi, SeoYeon Lee, DaSom Yoo, SoYe Park
Rigging: Hyun Hur
Voice: JiHyang Jung
My Couch (6 min)
In a comedic flurry of frustration, a guy is just trying to get his dad’s sofa back.
Director & Writer & Key Cast: Michael DiMonte
March 29th Lineup: Beer and A Movie at Sligo
The Concert (7 min)
Bonded over their love of music, a trio of teen girls offer each other support.
Director & Writer: Elizabeth Bourgeois
Producer: Hays Hitzing, Nancy Nagrant
Key Cast: Sophie Ryann Farnan, Demetris Owens Jr.
Cinematographer: Tyler Williams
Editor: Stephen Takashima
Music: Darren Morze
Come Out, Wherever You Are (29 min)
Retired mayor Vernon Parrish hides himself away in a remote cabin, yet his past still finds him.
Director: Caitlyn Presberg
Writer & Producer: Dan Burns
Cinematographer: Anh Vo
Key Cast: Blake De Pastino, Marilyn Bass, Amber Rose Mason, Douglas “Hurricane” Hall
Willow (6 min)
Two sisters bear their souls for the first time during a simple picnic.
Director: Alyssa Rose Capitini
Writer, Producer & Key Cast: Jackie Diehl, Kaitlyn Diehl
Sound: Yaaseen Henneghan
For You (5 min)
Wishes come true for three pre-teen friends who host their own celebration for their shared birthday.
Director, Writer & Producer: Samaneh Esmaeili, Yavar Darehzami
Key Cast: Hadi Nabidost, Amirreza Abaspour, Mohammad Nabidost
Be Kind (18 min)
In the idyllic French countryside, a cankerous senior makes his wife a promise that’s hard to keep.
Director & Writer: Antoine Béguin
Producer: Julien Aouidad
April 4th Lineup: Documentary Night at the Delaware County Institute of Science
Adidas Controls the Reality (21 min)
Activist prankster group Yes Men launches a bodacious hoax to spark debate on Adidas’ labor practices and the plight of their garment makers.
Director: Keil Orion Troisi, Igor Vamos
Producer: The Yes Man, Threads and Tits, Clean Clothes Campaign
Key Cast: Len Leng, Igor Vamos, Isabell Schnalle, Paula Keilholz
Gardener of the Galaxy (10 min)
Hoping for a green future, Astrophysicist and planetary scientist Dr. Edward Guinan details Villanova University’s “Red Thumb Mars Garden Project,” experiments with growing sustainable edible plants on Mars.
Director & Producer: Nick Natalicchio
Producer: Alex Djordjevic
Trash and Burn (18 min)
Trash and Burn lays witness to the U.S.’s largest trash incinerator processing waste from Canada to Puerto Rico, one economically disadvantaged inner ring city, and a community’s life and death 30-year-old fight against environmental racism.
Director, Writer & Producer: Bilal Motley
April 5thth Lineup: Best of Local Films at Media Theatre
Her Own Skin (18 min)
A woman’s journey to independence leads to a life-changing discovery.
Director, Writer & Producer: Brian McDermott
Key Cast: Giovanna Baccini, Ibrahim Miari, Laura Vivo, Lyratah Barrett
Good Job, Troy (4 min)
Desperate for a creative outlet, a young man questions his need for originality.
Director, Writer & Producer: Austin Courtney
Key Cast: Henry Zinn
MACFI
Singing in the Lifeboat (14 min)
During the COVID pandemic, Jin seeks solace in the wilds of Montana but her dark thoughts follow her.
Director & Writer: Grace Wijaya
Producers: Yaari Tal, Zachary Jones, Grace Wijaya
Key Cast: Pricilla Jin Chung
Baby Love (7 min)
In a war of words, a pregnant teen seeking an abortion and a judgmental physician’s assistant spar.
Director, Writer & Producer: Kate Klesen
Producer: Rodney Reyes
Key Cast: Kassandra Perez, Veronica Papianna
Ah-Ma Burns (12 min)
Director, Writer & Producer: Max Kane
Producer: Alyssa Callahan, Joey Krulock, Kenzo Le
Key Cast: Alice Lin, Jeff Chen, Joey Krulock
Cinematographer: Jay Swuen
April 5th Lineup: Best of Fest at Media Theatre
Warmth (5 min)
Director: MinSeok Jean
Writer: JinHee Lee
Producer: JiSeon Kim
Animation: JiSeon Kim, JungHyun Ahn, JinHee Lee, SooHyeon Seo, YeonSu Jang, YunA Pak, YoonYoung Choi, SeoYeon Lee, DaSom Yoo, SoYe Park
Rigging: Hyun Hur
Voice: JiHyang Jung
Jules (20 min)
Amid hairpin turns and breakneck speeds, aspiring motorcross racer Jules faces the ultimate test.
Director, Writer & Producer: Tiffany M Abney
Writer: Emalie Moniz
Key Cast: Renelle Nicole, Mike Merrill, Eric C. Lynch
The Waiting (3 min)
A small act of kindness between two young boys is a beautiful snapshot of friendship.
Director & Writer: Amir Rooini
Steps (19 min)
Kidnapped and locked inside, fitness-obsessed Tanner Slade is having the worst vacation ever.
Director, Writer & Producer: Dan Bricker, Eytan Millstone
Key Cast: Evan Williams, Vincent Cueva
Allure (4 min)
An astronaut is torn between the stars and his best friend back home.
Director & Writer: Jerry van de Beek, Betsy De Fries
Producer: Betsy De Fries
Music: Nature Ambient Seatools
Please Send Help (20 min)
Adrift in grief, two brothers attempt to navigate failed relationships.
Director & Writer: Danny Corey
Key Cast: Robert Malcolm Cumming, Scott Kruse, Miranda Baker
The Pizza Connection (4 min)
Tin is the traditional gift for tenth wedding anniversaries, but the Zhous are celebrating with pizza with a heaping topping of resentment.
Director & Writer: D.J. Higgins
Producer: Julie Robinson, Joe Minella, Joe Sernio
Key Cast: Stu Li, Jenny Lin
Crowboy (5 min)
A lonely young boy goes on a magical quest facing challenges and making friends.
Director: Alexander White, Cynthia White
Writer: William Doan, Frank Martinez
Producer: William Doan
Original Art Work: William Doan
Animation: Alexander White
Voice Actors: Jeanne Simmons, Leo Rubenson
Musician: Takuma Kanaiwa
Muddy Goes to College (11 min)
Muddy, a brilliant wise-talking dog, and his stoner buddy get enrolled at Kutztown University and hijinks ensue.
Director & Writer: Alex Reinhard
Producer: Max Morgan, Katherine Reinhard
Key Cast: Joseph Dedricks, Jeffery Alan Solomon, Erich Rausch, Oaklky, John Potvin, Conner Applegate, Melissa Hurst, Amariah Dionne, Boubakar Djombana
Director of Photographer: James Powers
Gaffer: Maxwell Collins, Jason Penza
Camera Assistant: Adam Hribar, Joe Grasso
Scorer: Alexander Arntzen
