Seventh Annual French Riviera Film Festival Announces 2025 Finalist Shorts

Scheduled from May 16-17, 2025, the seventh annual French Riviera Film Festival (FRFF), celebrating short film and short-form content from around the globe, is pleased to unveil the finalist shorts of the 2024 competition, the announcement was made today by festival co-founder Nicole Goesseringer Muj.

First launched in 2019, FRFF recognizes and celebrates short-form content created for film, television, web and all digital platforms. Scheduled during the time period of the Festival de Cannes, FRFF invites filmmakers from around the globe to participate in the two-day event that includes screenings, eighth annual Global Entertainment Showcase (to be announced shortly), VIP receptions, and closing gala awards ceremony.

“Our boutique short film festival becomes more successful each and every year,” comments Ms. Muj. “We’re thrilled that filmmakers are embracing AI, which is reflected in the many submissions we have received for this edition in that category. We look forward to showcasing the works by such talented filmmakers from around the globe once again this year in Cannes.”

The FRFF 2025 finalist and special mention films in the award categories of  AI (Artificial Intelligence), Micro Short, Student, Animation, Sci-Fi Horror, Comedy, Documentary, Music Video, and Drama are:

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)

Bound By The Brush

Director: Mark Wachholz

Country: Germany

Dominant

Director: Nik Kleverov 

Country:  United States

hAIrmony

Director: Javier Ideami

Country: Spain

Market

Director: Ilyou Kim

Country: Republic of Korea

Project 2029

Director: James Jones

Country: United States

Return to Emerald City

Director: Gina Yoon Jin Kim

Country: Republic of Korea

Roadkill

Director: Daniel Max Bonventre, Ian McLees

Country: United States

The Butterfly Dream

Director: Suhyeon Scholastica Jin, Aria Suhyun Kim

Country: Republic of Korea

Unblind

Director: Mark Wachholz

Country: Germany

WWJD SportsTalk Radio

Director: Carl Burcham 

Country:  United States

MICRO SHORT

Break The Silence

Director: Dax Phelan 

Country: United States

Déjà Rêvé

Director: Paris Mumpower

Country: United States

Mi Fuego

Director: Quentin Feynie

Country: France

Picking A Guitar

Director: Eddie Brannigan, Felipe Candido de Brito

Country: Ireland

Rage

Director: Rah Bharath Rajagopal

Country: India

The Last Word

Director: Eric Camus Dulac 

Country: France

Will We Always Have Paris?

Director:  Rona Soffer

Country: Israel

Young People    

Director: Brooke Westphal

Country: United States

SPECIAL MENTION (*screening online only)

Proof of Life

Director: Brooke Westphal

Country: United States

Self-Care in Seconds

Director: Curtis Johnson

Country: United States

STUDENT

Chase Jupiter

Director: Linjie Huang

Country: United States

A Mother Goes To The Beach

Director: Pedro Hasrouny

Country: Portugal

Lacoste, Lastly

Director: Will Susor

Country: United States

ANIMATION

Mombomb, part 1

Director: Patricia Beckmann Wells

Country: United States

The Adventures of Ohee

Director: Matthew Mason

Country: United States

To Bend The Ear of The Outer World

Director: John Elefante

Country: United Kingdom

SCI-FI/HORROR

FINALISTS

IDA

Director: Javier Ideami

Country: Spain

Night Terror

Director: Dana Fradkin

Country: Canada

Swipe

Director: Patia Prouty

Country: United States

COMEDY

FINALISTS

1..2…3

Directors: Quentin FEYNIE, Caroline THOMAS

Country: France

Chinese Laundry

Director: Dan Aid

Country: United States

Hello JOJO

Director: Jeremy Alexandre Condamine

Country: France

How Do You Expect Me to Live if I Don't Kill?

Director: Hassan Hamza

Country: France

DOCUMENTARY

FINALISTS

Cooking Up A Legacy

Directors: Josef Azam, Melissa Reis

Country: Canada

Deer Bell

Director: Edit Jakab

Country: Hungary

Twisted Fate

Directors: Mike Horelick, Jon Carnoy

Country: United States

Before 1619: She Took Justice

Director: Bobby John Field

Country: United States

MUSIC VIDEO

FINALISTS

A Little Displaced

Directors: Alex Knapp, Thomas Essig

Country: United States

À Volonté

Director: Shaun Rylee

Country: France

Ayshe – Call It Home

Director: Cansu Boğuşlu

Country: Turkey

Crescent Heights

Director: Yiannis Margetousakis

Country: Greece

Rebel

Director: Medi eM

Country: United States

DRAMA

At The Table

Director: Ivan Veljača

Country: Croatia

Bitter Mash

Director: Hadrien Kurzenne

Country: France

Casa Susanna

Director:  Pauline Bernard-Vernay

Country: France

My Paws Are Soft, My Bones Are Heav

Director: Garry Christian

Country: Indonesia

Sally, Get The Potatoes

Director: Danicah Waldo

Country: United States

The Monte Carlo

Director: Jamie Lockhart

Country: United States

The Paradise Road

Director: Lisa Marie Tedesco

Country: United States

SPECIAL MENTION (*screening online only)

The Castle of Four Doors

Director: Christopher Lamb

Country: United States

At the official opening reception and closing awards ceremony, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Audience, Rising Star and Industry Excellence awards will also be presented (more details to follow). FRFF festival attendees and participants include filmmakers, industry executives, celebrities, media and influencers.

Additionally, a special Out of Competition screening of iconic Swedish band The Hives’ new music video Enough Is Enough, will screen on day two of the festival. The song is the first single from the band’s latest album The Hives Forever Forever The Hives, co-produced by Pelle Gunnerfeldt and Mike D of the Beastie Boys.

Festival screenings are free to attend and will be held live over two days from 10 am to 3 pm at the Eden Hotel & Spa (133 rue d’Antibes), with special ‘by invitation only’ receptions and awards events planned after each day’s screenings at the Bel-Air Fine Art Gallery and Eden Hotel & Spa.

The festival finalists and special mention films will also screen online beginning May 16th and 17th on Entertainment Oxygen’s eoFlix platform.

Event partners include Eden Hotel and Spa, Bel-Air Fine Art, Entertainment Oxygen, Cardinal du Four, The Good Gin, VOGA Prosecco, Hive₂O, filmfestivals.com, Indie Entertainment Media, and Just Cinema Magazine.  Gift bag partners include Calessia Jewelry, Glass Veil by Oksana, Hive₂O, Velvet Eyewear, and others.

FRFF’s Advisory Board includes Michael Benoraya, founder, International Film Trust; Joan Burney Keatings, chief executive,  Cinemagic; Bruno Chatelin, COO, filmfestivals.com (also on festival jury), Emmy Award-winning actor Vincent De Paul; Larry Namer, president/CEO,  Metan Global Entertainment Group, Ana B. Remos, vice president, editorial director & founder, azureazure.com (also on festival jury), Dr. Laura Wilhelm, founder/principal, LauraWil Intercultural (also on festival jury), and Daphna Edwards Ziman, president, Cinémoi USA.  Jury members include Rehna Azim, awards editor, Movie Marker; Lena Basse, journalist, Golden Globes; Claude Brickell, filmmaker, screenwriter and educator; Anna Marie de la Fuente; Giovanni Menicocci, Mauxa/Daily Bloid; James Prestige, publisher, Close-Up Culture; entertainment attorney Tshombe Sampson; Eileen Tasca, managing director, Alien Films & Task Films; and Sue Vicory, founder, Heartland Films and womendocumentaryfilmmakers.com.

French Riviera Film Festival Founders  Gotham Chandna of Cloud 21 PR International and Nicole Goesseringer Muj of Kultura PR International, and partner Kate Elfatah (founder, HoM Consulting) have produced numerous industry special events, including the annual “Global Entertainment Showcase” during the Cannes Film Festival and Marché du Film, the annual “Production Without Borders” event during AFM, the annual Indie Entertainment Showcase in Park City, Utah, and “A Salute to Akira Kurosawa” with China’s Jinke Entertainment in Cannes. The companies have co-produced events and worked with top entertainment and technology brands, including Cinando, Creative Coalition, Davines North America, E! Entertainment Television, ECU Film Festival, Eurocinema, Euromed, FlixSnip, Maverick Entertainment, Metan Global Entertainment Group, Oculus, Sony Interactive, Vesilind, 8K Miles Media Group, FanVestor, plus many others.

Photos/Videos Courtesy of FRFF.  (Poster: Official Artwork created with AI)