Celebrating another amazing year of films & filmmakers!

IndieWorks screens short films every month produced by emerging filmmakers throughout New York. It provides a platform for those filmmakers to showcase their work in front of an audience and to network with individuals in the local film community. We aim to create a space that sparks discussion & collaboration and pushes our peers and ourselves to find inspiration from each other.

Our annual season runs June through March, culminating in our Best of Fest Finale every April. Out of 133 submissions during our 7th year, we were able to screen 46 fantastic films. On Tuesday, April 21st, all 10 of our monthly Silver Whiskers Award winners of the year were meant to screen again in the theater at the Made in NY Media Center! Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, we had to cancel the screening and find a way to bring the celebration online. This is it! We hope you watch the films over the next few days (some won’t be watchable after the 25th) and let the filmmakers know what you enjoyed about their work.

The top prize comes with winning the Golden Whiskers Award, our version of Best Picture; but we'll also be awarding Best Director, Best Ensemble, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing at the bottom of this post!

Watch our intro and the films below!

IndieWorks screens short films every month produced by emerging filmmakers throughout New York. We aim to create a space that sparks discussion & collaboration, and pushes our peers and ourselves to find inspiration from each other. Our annual season runs June through March, culminating in our Best of Fest Finale every April. This year's Best of Fest has gone virtual! For 5 days only, starting at noon on April 21st, watch the films here: www.congestedcat.com/blog/2020/4/7th-annual-best-of-fest

The lives of three strangers—a pigeon keeper, a webcam model, and a man haunted by ghosts—intertwine mysteriously amidst the backdrop of a rapidly gentrifying Bushwick. "A work of art. Gives warning to an oncoming storm...that yet has no answers. -Alan Ng, Film Threat (www.tinyurl.com/y8umvupb) “A wondrous short…propulsive…expansive and ultimately quite memorable.” -Stephen Saito, Moveable Fest (www.tinyurl.com/yymctftd) “A gorgeously mastered cinematic statement.” -Les Roka, The Utah Review (www.tinyurl.com/y6cet3oh) Featured on designcollector: https://designcollector.net/likes/neighborhood-1 https://designcollector.net/submit Featured on NoBudge: http://nobudge.com/main/neighborhood http://nobudge.com/submit Official Selection: BAMcinemaFest Sheffield Doc Fest Doc/Player New Hampshire Film Festival Fear No Film IndieWorks Year 7 Promofest Short of the Year Winner: IndieWorks Best of Fest Fear No Filmmaker Award Promofest Short of the Year - Special Mention Director & Editor: Ben Garchar Cinematographer & Producer: Jeffrey Johnson (www.thecuttingboardnyc.com) Featuring: Lindsay Dye (www.lindsaydye.com) Music: 88 Palms (www.88palmsmusic.com) Sound Edit / Design / Mix: Steve 'Major' Giammaria (www.soundlounge.com) Colorist: Chase Whiteside www.bengarchar.com

Neighborhood (14:30) directed by Ben Garchar

August Winner (Watch Q&A)
Nominated for Best Editing. Eligible for Golden Whiskers

Will I Say So (6:48) written & directed by Jamie DiNicola (@jamiedinicola)

June Winner (Watch Q&A)
Eligible for Golden Whiskers

Simply, a story of vulnerability.

(Excerpt) Film no longer available.

Bath (14:56) written & directed by Meredith Dobbs (@meredobbs)

February Winner (Watch Q&A)
Nominated for Best Director & Best Ensemble. Eligible for Golden Whiskers

End of Summer (14:39) written & directed by Serena Kuo (@serenackuo)

September Winner (Watch Q&A)
Nominated for Best Cinematography. Eligible for Golden Whiskers

(Trailer) Film no longer available.

The Shallow End (10:22) directed by Cynthia Silver (@ccsilverdirects), written by Wendy MacLeod

November Winner (Watch Q&A)
Nominated for Best Director, Best Ensemble, Best Editing. Eligible for Golden Whiskers

Take a 10 minute intermission. Maybe find the last 5 directors on social media and do the mingling you would’ve been able to do in person. Tell them what you thought of their film!

Eudaemonia (14:28) written & directed by Julia Ngeow (@juliagneowfilms)

July Winner (Watch Q&A)
Nominated for Best Cinematography. Eligible for Golden Whiskers

STARRING Amy Everson & Alexandra Nell WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY Julia Ngeow LOGLINE A talkative Australian traveler and a reclusive artist form an unlikely bond after an accidental 'break and enter' in Brooklyn. SCREENINGS Fem Film Fest 2019 IndieWorks July 2019 Queens World Film Festival 2019 Sydney Indie Film Festival 2018 Sydney Underground Film Festival 2018 Cinefest Oz 2018 Chain Film Festival NYC 2018 Women Texas Film Festival 2018 Revelation Film Festival 2018 Marin County International Festival of Short Film & Video 2018 Shorts Night Film Festival 2018 PictureFarm Film Festival 2018 Cannes Short Film Corner 2018 AWARDS Silver Whiskers Award - IndieWorks July 2019 Best Narrative Short - Chain Film Festival 2018

(Trailer) Film no longer available.

A Poem in Bamboo (4:34) directed & animated by Luke-Yao Chang (@lukechang676) & XuFei Wu

January Winner (Watch Q&A)
Nominated for Best Editing. Eligible for Golden Whiskers

Power Out (5:40) written & directed by Ben Myers (@benjaminlawrencemyers)

December Winner (Watch Q&A)
Eligible for Golden Whiskers

Five millennial friends. Five opinions on the State of our Nation. Five potential voters. Five people who didn't see the warning lights blinking red. Millennials make up the largest voting block as we head into these important midterm elections. Slightly more than half say they will vote in this upcoming election- but will they? In this short film, we ask What kind of America do you want to live in? What impact will your vote have? Will you show up? And what happens if you don't? Producers: Ben Myers and Rachel Pearl Writer/Director: Ben Myers Editor: Rachel Pearl Director of Photography: Andrew Trost

When Daniel Foster crosses a dangerous crime leader, he resorts to humor in a desperate attempt to save his life.

The Gaffer (7:58) directed by Paul Robinson (@sen3paul), written by Sashia Dumont (@sashiadumont)

March Winner (Watch Q&A)
Nominated for Best Ensemble. Eligible for Golden Whiskers

Come Be Creepy With Us (15:39) directed by Beth Fletcher (@ebmfletch), written by Michael Calciano (@neeshcalneesh)

October Winner (Watch Q&A)
Nominated for Best Director & Best Cinematography. Eligible for Golden Whiskers

A millennial nightmare that follows Anna, a young woman stuck in the midst of a quarter-life crisis, who learns how to keep on living after being haunted by the undead spirit from her summer camp past. It’s about emerging adulthood and millennial angst; about letting go of our pasts and embracing what it means to grow up. Oaxaca Film Festival Bushwick Film Festival Picture Farm Film Festival FEARnyc IndieWorks Directed by: Beth Fletcher Written by: Michael Calciano Produced by: Mike Labbadia Co-Produced: by Michael Calciano, Adelaide Lummis and Beth Fletcher Director of Photography: Coyote Edited by: Ede Bell Crowder Production Designer: Melissa Woods Starring: Adelaide Lummis Jasmine Kimiko Co-Starring Michael Calciano Tierra Luckey Dylan Arnold Carissa Bazler

Now maybe find those 5 directors on social media and tell them what you thought of their films!

All 10 Silver Whiskers Award Winners are eligible for the Golden Whiskers Award. The other nominees are:

BEST DIRECTOR

Come Be Creepy With Us (Beth Fletcher)
The Shallow End (Cynthia Silver)
Bath (Meredith Dobbs)

BEST ENSEMBLE

The Shallow End (Zoe Wilson, Zoe Manarel, Sanai James, Parker Winston, Trevor Brooks)
Bath (Georgia Clarke-Day & Joseph Cullen)
The Gaffer (Sashia R. Dumont, Brent Bruckner, Dan Aloisi)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Eudaemonia (Scott Miller)
End of Summer (Hannah Kitasei)
Come Be Creepy With Us (Jesse Coyote Sanchez-Strauss)

BEST EDITING

Neighborhood (Ben Garchar)
The Shallow End (Will Mayo)
A Poem in Bamboo (Chun-Yao Chang & XuFei Wu)

THANK YOU.

To all of the incredible people involved in this community who submit their work, attend our monthly series, follow our content, and spread the word of anything IndieWorks... we truly thank you. It's been another great year of innovative, imaginative & inspiring local films and filmmakers.

AND THE AWARDS GO TO...

Join us as we announce our awards! Congratulations to all the nominees and winners, and what an honor it was to screen ALL 10 fantastic films! http://www.congestedcat.com/blog/2020/4/7th-annual-best-of-fest

CongestedCat & IndieWorks founder Christina Raia allowed her cat Addie to help present (photobomb) the physical awards. We will ship them out to the winners!

**BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: “Come Be Creepy With Us”**

BEST EDITING: "Neighborhood” — **BEST EDITING**: "**Neighborhood”**

BEST ENSEMBLE: "Bath" — **BEST ENSEMBLE**: "**Bath**"

BEST DIRECTOR: "The Shallow End" — **BEST DIRECTOR**: "**The Shallow End**"

GOLDEN WHISKERS (BEST OF FEST): "The Shallow End" — **GOLDEN WHISKERS** (**BEST OF FEST**): "**The Shallow End**"

Golden Whiskers Award Winner:

Winning filmmaker gets $100 towards a future crowdfunding campaign should they choose Seed&Spark as their platform.
A 1 hour production, post-production, or marketing phone consultation from 4milecircus.
CongestedCat Productions will offer free script coverage for the director's newest shorts.

Category Winners:

Each winner gets $50 towards a crowdfunding campaign should they choose Seed&Spark as their platform.

THAT'S A WRAP!

As we take next month to recover from the circumstances of the pandemic, we hope you will too. Safety pending, our 8th Year of IndieWorks kicks off in June, with our Pride-themed screening. That isn’t looking likely at the moment, but that lineup is set and will be the first of Year 8, even if it needs to happen at a later month. In any case, we hope we’ll be able to see YOU there. Keep in touch & stay up to date through our social media accounts. Be well!

Be sure to submit your films on our IndieWork page, and watch episodes of our Insider Series with the monthly Winners from all 7 years to get more insight into their screened films & upcoming work. Also, films that are available for free online from ALL 7 years are watchable on our Past Films page.