Money Shot

These five award-winning coming of age short films offer a glimpse of how boys and young men tackle life's difficult desires: confronting one's demons, understanding sexual relationships, gaining the respect of one's father, or simply running away from it all. This is only the start of their complex formative years, where not every question has an answer, and not every answer makes sense. The short films are: Boys [Pojkarna] (2015); Ioana (2015); Kiem Holijanda (2017); Picnic [Piknik] (2015); Tomer & Elias [Tomer en Elias] (2016).

George and Iggy, first generation Ukrainian American brothers live together in the same neighborhood where they grew up believing they are destined for great things. George is a wannabe business scion and Iggy is a small-time pot dealer and aspiring Rap mogul. Stuck together in a suffocating apartment, they are constantly at each other’s throats … convinced that their situation is temporary.

Fast Eddie Felson is a small-time pool hustler with a lot of talent but a self-destructive attitude. His bravado causes him to challenge the legendary Minnesota Fats to a high-stakes match.

A stuntman who dabbles as a petty thief for corrupt policemen decides to quit. His bosses do not let him go but, instead, he is tortured. His consistent brushes with the law earn him a prize on his head and attention from a daily.

In the wake of their Amma's deteriorating health, estranged brothers Rajesh and Shiva reunite, only to clash over BREATHE, an app offering to erase painful memories from their brains. Rajesh, a realist, and Shiva, a BREATHE addict, grapple with divergent approaches to coping. Against the backdrop of a society seduced by memory erasure, their battle becomes a poignant exploration of family, culture, technology, and the human spirit's resilience.

Lucas and Mateo are brothers and have a distant and somewhat conflictive relationship. What seems to be just another morning becomes the beginning of a new stage in their lives. When they wake up, they notice that their mother is not at home and they wait for her to return, but that moment will never come.

Alejandro, a man with alcohol problems, helps his older brother hide something wicked in the bathroom of his house, without imagining that with this he would face a dark memory from his past.

Absent-minded street thug Rusty James struggles to live up to his legendary older brother's reputation, and longs for the days of gang warfare.

Fred Claus and Santa Claus have been estranged brothers for many years. Now Fred must reconcile his differences with his brother whom he believes overshadows him. When an efficiency expert assesses the workings at the North Pole and threatens to shut Santa down, Fred must help his brother to save Christmas.

Kekaiulu Hula Studio follows the Proclaimed Hula Halau of the same name, showcasing their twist on what the real reason for hula is and what life as a dancer in the halau is really like. Something previously unseen in the public eye.

Rugby league is arguably the toughest form of football on the planet played by men that play the game hard and live even harder. Set in Sydney in the 1980s, the movie is a drama about the effects upon the players, supporters and the game itself as the sport grows from being the semi-pro suburban game it's been for nearly 100 years into a fully professional international sport. Superbly written and acted by Matt Nable, a former football player along with other former players mixed in with some internationally recognised actors, the story is a realistic snapshot into the lives of people for whom the game is a weekend escape from their otherwise ordinary lives. That's all about to change as big business realises the potential the game holds leaving those clinging to the old ways in their wake.

This story of two temperamentally different brothers takes place in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku during the 1970s. The elder brother Jalil is a married postal worker who keeps bees as a hobby. Younger brother Simurg is more adventurous by nature and capable of going after his goals, not just dreaming about them. Jalil has a recurring memory: once, when he was still a kid, his mother, pregnant with Simurg, took him to a women’s sauna. When both brothers fall in love for the same beautiful girl, their differences become apparent once again.

An unemployed loafer who spends his time playing pool decides he's ready to look for a job so he can secure his girlfriend's parents' approval for their marriage.

Jack, Thomas and Wayne are the Stickmen. They like nothing more than having a beer in one hand, a pool cue in the other, a coin on the table and a sexy bird or two. They play pub pool for fun and money at Dave's bar. Desperate to get out of debt, Dave gets the Stickmen entered into a high stakes pool tournament run by vicious crime boss "Daddy". He also gets them into a whole rack of trouble.

A retired pool hustler is forced to pick up the stick again when his brother starts a game he can't finish.

Various interconnected people struggle to survive when an earthquake of unimaginable magnitude hits Los Angeles, California.

Set on New Year’s Eve, FUEGO follows Gio, a guarded bartender who recounts the story of how a salsa class—and a lie from his brother—sparked an unexpected journey. Through the backdrop of family tension and romantic possibility, Gio must ask himself what it truly means to carry on his father’s passion, and whether he’s brave enough to chase his own.

During the summer, the relationship between two brothers is set to the test when they join the older brother's friends at the harbor.

In a family of sheep rustlers, a 15-year-old must go up against his domineering father to help his younger brother keep the lamb left orphaned by their latest slaughter. Rustling touchingly presents an alternative masculinity instilled not with machismo, but with empathy.

The Munns, father John and sons Chris and Tim, recede to the woods of rural Georgia. Their life together is forever changed with the arrival of Uncle Deel, though the tragedy that follows forces troubled Chris to become a man.