IF/Then Shorts is Headed Home

More exciting news from our IF/Then Shorts team! We've narrowed down the applications and these 6 shorts telling stories of the American Northeast have been selected to compete at the upcoming DOC NYC. And we're raising the stakes! Not only will one project win up to $20,000, but Sim NY will provide a Festival Finishing Package for this year's IF/Then American Northeast pitch competition winner and POV (American Documentary) will additionally provide a $1,000 cash prize + mentorship to a second project.

Want to watch the pitches live? Head to the IFC Center on Monday, November 12th from 10:30 am - 12:30 pm. The winner will be announced later that evening. 

Here are the projects in competition...

Director: Alex Mallis
A playful and investigative short doc following the semi-legal fleet of minibus drivers that race up and down Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, providing commuters a familiar alternative to the subway for only $2 per ride.

Directors: Kira Dane, Katelyn Rebelo
Influenced by centuries-old post-abortion rituals of Japanese Buddhism, a half Japanese New Yorker re-evaluates the controversial drawing of 'the line' in abortion ethics, when she becomes pregnant herself

Director: Cheryl Hess *TFI ALUM PROJECT*
A Philadelphia food competition turns ugly when a rumor spreads that the vegan entry has won first prize: sometimes a meatball is not just a meatball.

Director: Lance Edmands Producer: Kyle Martin
THE SEEKER is the story of an excommunicated Amish woodworker who lives off the grid in rural Maine. This contemplative, verite portrait follows this fierce individualist as he struggles with spirituality, poverty, and life as an outcast from his strict, insular community.

Director: Eva von Schweinitz
"The Space between the Letters" is a lyrical documentary that explores the perspective of adults who struggle with literacy in the United States. Interweaving reality and imagination, it exposes the obstacles encountered in a world dominated by written language and suggests possibilities for valuing alternative means of expression.

FOLÍA
Director: Luther Clement Producer: Ashley Brandon *TFI ALUMNI PROJECT*
Capturing the tension and joy of creating art, FOLÍA is an impressionistic portrait of Lucía Caruso, Argentinian pianist and composer. Accompanied by the sweeping sounds of her music, the film also explores the gender dynamics of the music industry within the microcosm of Lucía's highly productive musical collaboration with her husband.