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Welcome to May, the 5th and best month of the year!

The Overlook Film Festival

Last month I had the oppportunity to visit the city of New Orleans and take part in the Overlook Film Festival, billed as a “Four day celebration of all things Horror”. The first iteration of the festival took place in 2016 in Oregon, at the location that acted as the exterior of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining.

John Kassir (the voice of the Cryptkeeper from Tales From The Crypt) pictured with the Cryptkeeper. Photo by Adam Martignetti

I was able to meet and speak with a number of filmmakers and fans of the genre, as well as explore the city (even stumbling across the famous Bourbon Street EarthCam!), and learn about the passion of the people in the city for film and their history and culture.

Over the course of the festival I spoke briefly with Jorma Taccone (Over Your Dead Body) and Daniel Goldhaber (Faces Of Death), and both of them were excited to be at the festival and able to share projects that they championed and couldn’t wait to share with the world.

It was a whirlwind trip with lots of fun and enjoyment and celebration of film, however I only managed to see three films while I was there, and heavily suggest seeking these films out when they earn a wide release or become available on streaming!

Leviticus is an Australian film that has been referred to as “It Follows meets Heated Rivalry”. After seeing the film, I’m don’t disagree with that assessment, but I also feel that there’s a lot more to it and it stands proudly on it’s own. It’s a wonderful, touching, and heartbreaking film about young love and acceptance (or lack of it), as well as the impact of what a lack of support and understanding can have on a person.

Family Movie is worth watching whether as a Kevin Bacon fan, a Kyra Sedgwick fan, a Horror fan, a heartwarming family film fan, or a fan of films about making films. It’s got it all!

Buddy is a new film directed and co-written by Casper Kelly (who is also the Director of the infamous Too Many Cooks Adult Swim video), and the less I say about it the better, so as not to give too much away. The story is tightly written and contained enough that going into it knowing as little as you can about it is the best way to experience it. I enjoyed the film, however I would not have been upset it if were a ltitle longer to tell us and show us more about the worlds we experience within the story, and ultimately, for better or worse, feels like a long Adult Swim video.

Among the films screened at the festival that I’m excited for to get a wide release is Obsession, which releases May 15th and is not to be missed. Written and Directed by Curry Barker, most well known for his online content in the arena of sketch comedy and also expanding into longer form filmmaking with a Shorts and Features, Obsession was made with a budget of 1 million dollars, and sold at TIFF in 2025 for 15 million.

I first saw the film at Fantastic Fest in September of last year, a week after it had sold, so there was a lot of buzz surrounding the film that lead to packed screenings and I ended up sitting in the corner of the very front row. Despite that, nothing about the film was diminished for me, as I was sucked in, and, for lack of a better word, obsessed.

Of all of the many great films (Bugonia, One Battle After Another, etc) that were screened at Fantastic Fest, Obsession was by far my favourite film of the festival, and I’m excited for more people to see it.

Again, I do not want to give away many story details, but this is also a film to watch knowing as little about as possible so that everything can be a surprise. I will say this is a Horror film, so if you are going to see it, at least expect to be horrified. There’s one particular scene in the film that, being the jaded and cynical cinephile that I am, still shocked me and left me asking how. The word around Overlook was that the film had not been changed between the Fantastic Fest screening and now, aside from about a second and a half of that particular scene. I can only speculate as to why the cut was made (possibly a note from the MPAA?), but I know that it will not diminish the certainly many rewatches of the film I have ahead of me once it releases.

Family Movie

Another film that screened at the Overlook Film Festival was Family Movie, starring Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, along with their children Travis and Sosie Bacon. The film is a love letter to Horror films as well as independent cinema. The film first premiered at SXSW in March, and while not primarily a Horror festival, the film was well received for its love and celebration of the tenacity of indie filmmaking.

Premiere image from the film’s SXSW screening

When the film screened at Overlook, you could feel the appreciation in the theater while the film played, and also during the Q&A with Kevin, Kyra, and Travis afterwards. The festival was abuzz with people using the phrase “being seen”, as a very consistent throughline of the film (sometimes to a fantastical degree) is the discussion of and demonstration of the sacrifices that are made to create something purely for the love of it, and the joy of being able to share that passion with the people you love.

I enjoyed the film and appreciate what they were able to accomplish with a relatively small budget (I was not made aware of the numbers, but a common talking point was that resources were limited), but what shone through for me was that not only was this film about a family that loves each other and loved movies, but it was made by a family that loves each other and loves movies. The joy and pride that they find in each other radiated off of the screen in spite of whatever shortcomings there may have been elsewhere in the film due to budget restraints. There are appearances from some other great actors in smaller roles that demonstrates the relationships the filmmakers have maintained over the years, and their willingness to be involved in the project speaks volumes about the respect they have for the craft and what the film was trying to accomplish.

When you get a chance to see the film when it is released, don’t say I didn’t warn you when certain things happen on screen that makes you nod and say “Yup. I’ve been there”!

Butcher The Pig: The Movie

On April 24th at The Theatre On King, the team behind the film adaptation of the stage play Butcher The Pig kicked off their fundraising campaign by holding a staged reading of the play, and Q&A with the audience.

Starring Marc Ludwig and Tom Quinn, Directed by Drew Antzis, the film is scheduled to shoot in October! If you want to contribute to the fundraising campaign, or learn more about the project, visit their website!

Knowledge = Power

I’m always learning things that expand my skillset. Here are a few things I’ve come across that satisfy my curiosity to learn something new, or better educate me about something I already know!

Disclaimer: Some content I share may be sponsored. I support creators being paid for their work, but sponsorships can shape what’s featured. The ideas still matter, but you don’t always need the exact products shown to execute the ideas. If I ever find myself in a situation where I have affiliate links of my own to share, I will disclose that information.

This month I’m sharing two short films that I came across that demonstrate creativity, ingenuity, and simplicity. While both films clearly had budgets for locations, cast, etc., it is clear they are on the “low” end of the budget spectrum. That is not a criticism of the content or the production, but an example of being able to do a lot with a little, taking a story and telling it how they wanted to be telling it.

Reversion

Written and directed by David Orlowitz, this is another in a series of short films he’s been releasing over the years. His films have been growing in scope and creativity, not to mention surrealistic attitudes, and Reversion is the latest example of being able to tell a full story succinctly. His five most recent short films have all been shot on 16mm film, which adds a visual layer of texture to his films, and also a degree of difficulty that comes with working with film not limited to, but definitely including thing such as ensuring the equipment operates properly, having enough film, etc.

While I think the added degree of difficulty of shooting with film is admirable, and certainly does affect the look and feel of the Shorts, I would be equally impressed by the work regardless of whether it was shot analog or digital. This is not to say that I am left feeling like the short film is lacking by choosing to go the 16 mm route, or detract from that as an option for filmmakers.

That’s AI

Not to relitigate the discussion surrounding generative AI and all of it’s flaws (of which there are many, and I still don’t know that I can personally be convinced of AI’s usefulness as a tool to create, outside of the possible assistance that it can offer to simplify some of the more tedious tasks in the editing process), this short film by a group calling themselves Maximise is wonderfully energetic in the storytelling, with every sentence and action drawing the story forward.

This is another short film that is a great example of telling a story succinctly. One of the differences between this Short and Reversion is that this was shot on an ARRI Alexa 35, which means it was shot digitally. I’m not going to ask you to pixel peep and do an A/B comparison between the two Shorts, because the differences will be both obvious and minute.

Maximise has three short films on their YouTube page at the time of writing, all of them subtly or overtly speaking to the proliferation of social media and our attachments to the digitial world. That’s AI is my favourite of the three, as it’s the most subtle (all things being relative) of the three shorts, however there is something to appreciate in their other shorts as well.

GENER8ION- STORM I & II

On April 24th, Gener8ion released their latest music video for their newest EP, titled Storm. Featuring Swedish rapper Yung Lean on the two tracks, Gener8ion continues their music-making journey, having evolved from their previous pseudonym, Surkin, that they produced music under.

The music video, directed by Romain Gavras, who has directed their previous two music videos released over the last eleven years, all featuring a mysterious and dystopian future of 2034, is an interesting montage of life in a Lord Of The Fliesesque all boys boarding school in Leeds. The main character, Yung Lean himself, is a sort of bully who rules the school, with everyone looking to him for guidance and how to react. This music video feels more like a short film set to music rather than a straightforward music video, and I do not mean that to detract either from the concept of a music video or the excellence of this as a short film.

A film that recently came out in limited release after doing the festival circuit is Wasteman, a film about life inside a British prison and the terror of existing within those walls, both with regards to the imprisonment itself, and the people our leads are surrounded by. This video has elements that seem to allude to the school having a sort of prison hierarchy among the inmates as the students, as notably there are no adults present for this video, whether in the capacity of faculty or otherwise.

With interesting vignettes for the first half of the video, featuring the goings-on of a day in the life of the school, at 4:17 the second track of the EP begins, and is a masterclass of “simple” choreography and composition that is extraordinary. The contrast of motion and stillness side by side is both jarring and calming at the same time, and if you find yourself focusing either on Yung Lean at the center, or anyone surrounding him who is in motion, it’s an excellent example of proper planning and execution of a concept.

This was also shot in 16 mm film, if you’re keeping score!

Watch other Gener8ions music videos here and here to see the world that they’ve been creating.

A lesson that I think can be taken away from these (or any) short films is that these are examples of being able to tell a story precisely and concisely. Reversion shows us the journey of the main character’s diagnosis until unfortunate and inevitable conclusion of his condition in a very short time, leaving us with questions and wanting more, while at the same time, this is a complete story.

That’s AI feels like a “slice of life” story wherein we are joining the two men on the bench observing life around them. Do they meet there every day? Are they friends? Relatives? Is AI a constant topic of discussion between them? We don’t know, and this Short doesn’t give those answers and probably never will. But we’re still thinking about it.

Storm feels like a cold look at what ultimately comes through as an intense sort of camaraderie that can exist in places like where it is set, however with all of the things that they don’t show us, are we to believe that in 2034 there’s no more structure and youth have taken over all aspects of society? Gener8ions music videos seem to suggest there is at the very least an emphasis and focus on youth in the future. What is happening and what will be happening outside of the aspects of the world that we’ve seen so far have yet to be revealed, if ever revealed.

My feeling about a short film is that it doesn’t need to give you every answer (not that a feature is required to either, although it has more room and opportunity to), and because you’re left with questions, they stay with you longer, leaving a lasting impact that ideally inspires ideas and thoughts about stories you want to tell in the future.

Also bear in mind that this is just one person’s opinion. You may have completely different criteria for what you look for from a short film, and that is ok too!

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The Developing Story is a free monthly newsletter that I produce with the goal of connecting people in the Peterborough and area who have a shared interest in the creative arts with regards to film and photography, as well as other outlets.

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- Adam Martignetti

May 2026