Sunshine & Swampland: New Florida Shorts
Total Running Time: 91 MIN
From landing the quintessential skateboard trick, to a sleepover that will be talked about for years to come, this program might seem a little crazier than most, but the films collected here actually address the human (and corgi) condition with profound insights into parent/child relationships, gender and identity, and making one’s own inimitable mark on a world that has seen an overpowering sense of change in the last two years. So please join us in celebrating some unique voices working in the state today.
My Favorites

Sunshine & Swampland: New Florida Shorts
¡OLLIE!
Directed by: Abiesel Aleed Báez and Corey Ray Marr
USA, 2021, 5m
In Spanish with English subtitles
Winner of the Grand Jury Award at the 2021 Brouhaha Film and Video Showcase, this UCF film follows a young Hispanic man skating his way through life as he faces his biggest challenge yet: landing the ollie.

Sunshine & Swampland: New Florida Shorts
I Won’t Let You Get Lost
Directed by: Dakota Renée
USA, 2021, 10m
A UCF student’s personal experience in coming out as a bisexual trans man to their mother presents in a series of interviews that take place in both subject’s cars. Through the combination of these interviews, we witness a very personal coming-out experience from two distinct perspectives.

Sunshine & Swampland: New Florida Shorts
Barking Orders
Directed by: Alexander Tullo
USA, 2021, 2m
When the entire British royal family tragically dies, the Queen’s corgi finds himself next in line for the throne in this hilarious animated short from Ringling College of Art & Design that received the student Oscars® Silver Medal.

Sunshine & Swampland: New Florida Shorts
Lioness
Directed by: Molly Smith
USA, 2022, 7m
A moving and powerful look at the bonds of parenthood. Barricaded in a motel room, a mother’s determination and primal instincts kick in to protect her child’s innocence.

Sunshine & Swampland: New Florida Shorts
Hammer
Directed by: Masood Ahmed
USA, 2022, 11m
Executive produced by Michael Jordan’s son Marcus, this stunning documentary follows Delray Beach boxer Erickson Lubin as he prepares for his first pay-per-view fight.

Sunshine & Swampland: New Florida Shorts
Chicks
Directed by: Geena Marie Hernandez
USA, 2022, 12m
It could almost be a midnight movie! FSU alum Geena Marie Hernandez throws the covers back to finally dispel the myth of what teenage girls REALLY do at sleepovers.

Sunshine & Swampland: New Florida Shorts
Julian Comes Home
Directed by: Joseph Ziad Khoury
USA, 2021, 9m
In this winner of the 2021 Central Florida Film Slam, 21-year-old Julian comes home from college after experiencing symptoms of agoraphobia and panic disorder. Fed up with anguish, he forces himself to leave his house.

Sunshine & Swampland: New Florida Shorts
Linda
Directed by: Kali Kahn
USA, 2022, 12m
An estranged mother and daughter struggle to wade through their murky relationship during an insidious getaway in Central Florida. Evocative and richly imbued with Florida vibes comes a new film from the director of the equally exquisite “Fairchild” (FFF 2020).

Sunshine & Swampland: New Florida Shorts
Pink is the Color of the Ocean
Directed by: Summer Schantz
USA, 2021, 14m
Living in a trailer by the sea, Carmen does everything to give her half-sister May a better childhood than the one she had in this haunting film about losing the freedom of youth by taking on the de facto parenting role in one’s sibling’s life.

Sunshine & Swampland: New Florida Shorts
Hot Dogs!
Directed by: Frank Volk
USA, 2022, 7m
UCF alum Frank Volk returns for his third visit (“Things Happen Because,” FFF 2020; “Sitting Still,” FFF 2021) with this unique animated film about a hot dog man who has a crisis of faith.

Sunshine & Swampland: New Florida Shorts
Dino Bone
Directed by: Jordan Power and Sam Durkin
USA, 2022, 2m
After seeing a suggestive fossil of two dinosaurs “getting it on,” an anxious father tells his curious son a series of little white lies to avoid having “the talk,” in this hilarious animated short from the Ringling College of Art & Design.