Tonight and Every Night

In this tender short film by New Jersey native Christina Eliopoulos, an aging gentleman named Yianni lives inside a colorful world of make-believe. Challenged by dementia, his mind drifts between an ever-darkening reality and a fantastically lively TV talk show where he is the host and the people from his life are the guest stars.

One day, while wandering the streets of New Jersey beach town Asbury Park, he stumbles on a lost local boy, who sees in Yianni a kind of grandfatherly savior. They strike up an unlikely friendship. Despite the urgency of the situation, Yanni has trouble summoning the memories he needs to help the kid find home, and the pair only gets further lost.

The stakes of Yianni's illness have ratcheted exponentially higher. Can he right now find the shred of reality he needs to extricate himself and a helpless neighbor from this predicament? You can watch the trailer here: Tonight and Every Night Trailer

Heavy Nimbostratus Clouds

In this atmospheric student short by Newark, New Jersey-based filmmaker Michael Turner, foster siblings fall back into each other's company after their mother passes away, an awkward situation that dredges up painful memories and highlights personal differences. Yet Turner places little emphasis on conflict and traditional narrative. Instead, he employs long camera shots, soft lighting, brooding music and philosophical vignettes in service of a lyrical and dreamlike mood.

Given the inferred and emotional nature of the work, one could say this is a difficult film to comprehend completely on the first pass. However, thoughtful editing gathers the poetry of Heavy Nimbostratus Clouds into a cohesive whole and the excellent cast makes Turner's characters highly relatable. An altogether fine effort from a talented, emerging filmmaker and his team.

You can watch the trailer here: Heavy Nimbostratus Clouds Trailer