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Golden Door Film Festival 2021

A lonely and elderly widower struggles to come to terms with the loss of his wife and the circumstances surrounding her death. When he visits her grave, he encounters a little girl who shows him the path to healing and fills him with hope.

Inspired by a true story, "Abigail" addresses the topics of grief, loss and the complicated topic of end-of-life decisions, and the unique challenges it poses on relationships and family dynamics.

Abigail

Adam Adamson is a homeless real estate agent. This is his promotional video.

Adam Adamson: Licensed Realtor

As Nazis separate children from their parents in the Warsaw Ghetto, a gang of women risks everything to smuggle their friend's three-month-old baby to safety. Inspired by true events. Starring Alia Shawkat (ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, SEARCH PARTY), Edin Gali (MAD MEN), Dorota Puzio, Rebeca Robles (BETTER THINGS), Erika Soto (VIDA), and Mark McCullough (LOGAN LUCKY).

ALINA

When Jack misreads Stephanie's flirting, he prepares for a romantic date.

Appetite

As the number of students on the autism spectrum attending college climbs, students and schools are trying to figure out how to manage the challenges. This first-of-its-kind documentary introduces us to five unique students who are figuring out how to make college work for them. Premiered at the Newport Beach Film Festival, and screened at SXSW EDU.

AUTISM GOES TO COLLEGE

After tripping over her dog and dying, a struggling actress wakes up in a virtual purgatory and waits for her mind to be downloaded into a new body.

Ava in the End

Summer down the shore. It's a typical day for Jake and his friends; they drink, smoke weed, play video games, and roast the weakest link in the room—the same things they've always done. But with an unclear future ahead and a past that feels all too distant, Jake begins to question what's next.

Beachcomber

A woman struggles between the expectations of her overbearing mother and a chance to explore the life she always wanted.

Becoming Bethany Rhodes

In order to find a place to stay overnight, Belle meets Karina through a dating app, but instead of a night fling, they find support and acceptance to overcome difficult moments in their lives.

Belle

A "technology drone" leads a revolt against the powers that be..

Big Hair Girls - Madonna

A queer geriatrics nurse learns one of life's hardest lessons when he falls in love with one of his elderly patients.

Bird of Paradise

Blood is Thicker follows Alice, a hardworking single mother, who gets horrible news late one night. Her son, Pat, has committed a crime and asks her to help him fix it. Fear begins to settle in as Alice must deal with her own morals and intuition to protect her son.

Blood Is Thicker

Margo, Dan, Jordan, and Lizzy visit grandmother Ruth for Passover. Later that night, Lizzy finds Ruth watching a midnight news story about Anne Frank’s death. Lizzy then confesses to have known a related secret for years and Ruth is left with some explaining to do.

The Book of Ruth

Left behind in the wake of the Civil War, the women have a battle of their own that is equally as desperate, challenging and bloody as the soldiers on the front lines.

Born Still

Follow Jok Abraham Thon's journey toward building a better South Sudan through his new school system, Promised Land Secondary School. Jok needs to structures to replace the hand built classrooms that are falling over. If those buildings fall, the dream fails.

Bullets to Books

A fashion model escapes to the desert and meets a mysterious stranger who finally brings the change she's been looking for.

Butterfly

Welcome to Action Park: A lawless amusement park in 1980s New Jersey that lay somewhere between Lord of the Flies and a Saw movie.

But rather than scaring patrons away, the park's dangerous reputation only served to lure them in. And decades later, the park's survivors look back at it with a mix of awe, nostalgia, and horror.

Class Action Park

“Colors” explores the bonds of a young family living in the Bronx. They are displaced after unforeseen circumstances takes the family to unexpected places. Despite the challenges facing them, they find joy, hope, and each other. The landscape of the Bronx is celebrated as a beautiful place. Eric Burton’s evocative movements and dance explore the emotions and the shifts we experience in life.

Colors - Black Pumas

He's the no nonsense cop who's going to kick crime in the ass. Then he's going to treat that ass for minor injuries and any abrasions it may have received.

COP-DOC

The story of a young boy's quest in proving his worth to his older brother.

The Cord

Living Proof Pictures is pleased to present the newest short film by writer/director Brandon C. Lay. Cueball staring Sarah Cugini and Jeremy Thompson.

Sara (Sarah Cugini) is a TikTok and Instagram model stuck at home during the pandemic with her layabout boyfriend Jer (Jeremy Thompson).

Cueball

An offbeat NYC dog walker fears that one of her clients—a dog—might be in danger. As the owner’s behavior towards the pet and and the dog walker worsens, she must decide whether to protect the dog or herself.

A Different Kind of Animal

‘Distemper’ tells the true story of pathologist and LGBT icon Louise Pearce as she works to find a cure for African Trypanosomiasis as it infects millions across the Belgian Congo.

Distemper

A Father and a Son each have a secret. When both secrets come to light in the span of an evening, the two men must decide how to move forward in an attempt to salvage their relationship.

Doesn't Fall Far

A romantic comedy that centers around Ryan (Richard Summers-Calvert) a son dealing with an internal battle regarding the inevitable loss of his Mother, and Sunny (Kate Lister) who is on the autistic spectrum; desperate to escape the suffocating life that is depicted for her by her overbearing parents. Both characters find themselves isolated, car-sharing to a funeral in Scottland. They have 3 days to get to know each other and subsequently feel comfortable in their own skin.

Drive Me to the End

Two young Chinese girls support each other all the time in Chicago and finds out their life change completely after a nightmare.

Dust in the Wind

EAT THE RAINBOW is a musical fable about an odd yet kind man named Bayani who moves into a conservative suburban neighborhood and disrupts the otherwise comfortable homogeny. He doesn’t look or act like anyone else which causes fear and panic and eventually a demand for him to leave the neighborhood. Cousin Wonderlette befriends Bayani and together they take on the opposition led by manipulative and unscrupulous realtor Lobelia Gerber.

Eat the Rainbow

In this short documentary, an exclusive interview with principal dancer Sarah Lane captures her reflection on the value of teaching, art, and, ultimately, what makes us human.

Elephant Knees

Two sisters are on a job to deliver packages to a town in the mountains. The young pup finds a chest of gold bars buried in the snow, only to find out that it was stolen by a bandit with a bounty on his head. The bandit chases the dogs down the mountain, only to end up captured. The dogs are fired from their jobs but end up winning reward money for catching the thief.

Embarko

Nicole is 12, black, and has lived all her life in the haunted apartment that Lily, white and pregnant, wants to buy for her new family. This taut, 2-character ghost story, set on the day they meet, explores the emotional depths of their rivalry and unlikely friendship, examines the silent costs of gentrification and asks the question: who really owns the spaces in which we live?

The Fall of a Sparrow

During a conversation with a retired college professor, a young man reflects on the relationship he had with his recently deceased father.

Falling

A man finds information about his wife's whereabouts after she has gone missing for 2 years.

Family Bond

A former journalist for the Chinese Communist Party (YIFEI WANG), living in exile in San Francisco, struggles to settle into life in America while working to heal her family’s wounds from their tragic past. She is seeking justice for the murder of her sister at the hands of the Chinese authorities. Rare undercover footage of a meeting with the director of the labor camp where Yifei’s sister was killed reveals shocking admissions of torture, slave labor, corruption, and a general disregard for human life pervading the camp system today. Exclusive interviews with former Chinese Communist Party officials provide a unique insight into the hidden world of terror that many Chinese citizens live without ever knowing that life can, and does, exist with freedom outside their world.

Finding Courage

2003. Cellphones now have phones on them. You can take a picture of something and send it to someone else. One man is about to be the first to send a picture of something of his to someone else. What could go wrong?

First

In the underbelly of Kentucky a young disabled girl’s world of structured harmony is kept afloat by her older brother, but at what cost?

FOR HOPE

Two American ex-spies have left their experiences during the cold war behind them. However, the fragile normality in life that they manage to establish is broken when one of the ex-spies seeks out the other more than 40 years later. Upon reuniting, old feelings resurface and a dark secret from their past is brought to light.

Forever Red

Meet Shelby, Jack and Jennifer ... three young organ transplant recipients who each received the gift of life. Learn about their courageous struggles and the incredible gratitude they have for their donors.

The story culminates at the Eisenhower Park Donor Rose Garden in East Meadow, NY, where guests such as Mets great Ed Kranepool and many others gather to share their riveting stories of hope and survival.

People die every day waiting for an organ transplant.

Please help us spread the word and dispel the myths. Organ donation is desperately needed to save lives right now!

This short film had two generous sponsors:

Long Island Transplant Recipients International Organization (LI TRIO) is a non-profit all volunteer organization committed to improving the quality of lives touched by the miracle of transplantation through education, support, advocacy, and organ donation & transplantation awareness. (https://www.litrio.org)

Hearts for Russ raises funds to benefit transplant and heart related causes. (http://heartsforruss.org)










Gifts of Life:  Profiles In Courage From The Transplant Community

A hard-up-single-mother and former boxer, is lured by the Irish mob into an underground boxing match where questions of right and wrong are challenged when the love of family is concerned.

Girl Boxer

GREETINGS FROM SARAJEVO is a story of vengeance and possibly of redemption. When Sofia, a survivor of the Bosinan genocide runs into one of the soldiers who destroyed her world she seeks retribution. A young woman, Hana, an assassin, is sent to make sure justice is served. When Hana reaches her target she discovers Stanislav, the monster she was raised to hate is just a sick, blind, old man. Whether Hana carries out the mission or frees herself from the bonds of the past is the the heart of Hana's journey.

Greetings From Sarajevo

Han is a concept of an emotion, variously described as some form of grief or resentment, among others, that has been said to be a characteristic of Korean culture.

While celebrating her late mother's life, a Korean Woman journeys through an internal whirlwind of longing and grief. There, she must find peace year after year.

Han

A microcosm of current events, Hawks Ridge is the story of a black, grieving ex-pastor who ponders whether to save the life of the white man who killed his wife.

Hawks Ridge

HighBread is a Serio-comedy about Jai who wants to open the first of its kind Pot bakery in Boston despite being an expelled international student from Boston University, having over-controlling, interfering and orthodox parents alongside an expired US visa.

The first episode is about Jai and how he overcomes the obstacle of always being controlled by his surroundings and finally makes a decision for himself which leads us to the franchise of the whole series.  

The series is about bringing diverse cultures together to create a comedy that breaks stereotypes about different societies in both India and the United States with some sweet and savory pot induced, baked goods from both the Indian and American heritage on the streets of the educational hub of the world, Boston.

HighBread - C'est La Weed

Davis Harwell (Peter Jacobson) is a meticulous man whose life has grown comfortably dull. But when he nods off at the wheel and wakes up a full hour later with no memory of what happened to him, he is presented with a tantalizing mystery. Why does he have visions of a lighthouse, a row of cottages, and a beautiful woman (Shannyn Sossamon) he's never met before? Davis sets out to find the answer, but what he discovers is far more disturbing than he bargains for.

The Hour After Westerly

“THE HUNT” IS A PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER THAT AIMS TO POINT THE ATTENTION AND TO PROVOKE THE AUDIENCE ON AN IMPORTANT SOCIAL PHENOMENON / CRIME THAT IS IN INCREASE AND OFTEN HITS WOMEN AS TARGETS: COERCIVE CONTROL.

The Hunt

In 1969, a small-town girl from Bergen, NJ auditioned and was cast as a singer and dancer on the "Dean Martin Show." Off to Hollywood she went! As one of the Golddiggers, she was invited to entertain American Troops with the USO and "Bob Hope Christmas Show" in wartime Vietnam. Michelle DellaFave tells us her story.

I Am Number: USO

Through use of visceral imagery, emotional score and powerful repurposing of a forgotten John F. Kennedy presidential speech recording, a timeless theme emerges. "In Your Hands" begs viewers to look inward and rediscover our connection with the natural world, specifically the ocean. The message is a comforting reminder of our origin, but also our responsibility to honor it.

Narration courtesy of the Presidential Library under public domain.

In Your Hands

After the worst day of his life, Greg meets Jenny on a park bench where they engage in a little game of "Who had the worst day?"

I've Got You Beat

A lonely gay man falls in love with an artificially intelligent car over the course of a road trip.

Jeff Drives You

Celeste and Robert meet at a speed dating event. A lonely widow yearning for connection and a lover of art in search of perfection.

The Keeper

Life to the Lees is a short film which focuses on one day in the life of Alex, a successful queer advertising saleswoman, who is in the midst of a ​crisis in her personal life. Alex's story is told through a series of phone calls which reveal her strengths but later when she Skypes her daughter we realize why she is living out of a hotel and what brought her to this moment.

Life to the Lees

Phyllis, a middle-aged white divorcee, lives alone and works from home. After a grave medical diagnosis sends her into a depressive tail-spin, she is relieved by an accidental encounter with Em, a young Black delivery worker. the two women seem to bond quickly – sometimes it’s easier to open up to a stranger. But as they reveal more of themselves, conflicts arise.

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A paranoid woman struggles with an overactive imagination waiting in her hotel room with a locked briefcase.

Locked In

Loneliness explores a moment in the life of an older middle-aged woman who, on her way home from the grocery store, stumbles on a sign that reads: Woman Wanted. The sign, it turns out, is an advertisement for a wife and the woman is uncommonly struck by it. After much deliberation, she returns back to the sign to get the phone number that is posted, and the rest of the story revolves around her encounter with the man she meets as a result of the phone call.

Loneliness

Innovative New Jersey artist, Ricardo Roig, races against time to create a four-story mural honoring the 20th-anniversary of Michael Chang's unexpected 1989 French Open victory.

Making Michael Chang

Aidan was once the talk of Hollywood. But fame is fickle, and thanks to a mix of bad luck and bad behavior, he now finds himself stuck in a hole, playing the lead role in his little brother's directorial film debut in which his character is literally trapped in a hole in the ground. Ill-equipped and in vain he struggles to escape a twisted family power dynamic and a complex sibling rivalry turned on its head.

Marsha!

Two old friends embark on a mission in an abandoned warehouse. They follow the clues that lead them to discover secrets about each other... as they prepare to meet... THE MESSENGER.

The Messenger

When the whole world is hypnotized by an unexplained celestial event, a young boy must face his fear of the unknown in order to keep his brother and best friend from turning to the other side.

Midnight Marathon

This comedy-adventure follows Carla, a stripper, who discovers she has the power to resurrect the dead. When news of her powers hits the news, local religious zealots try to bring her down. This is a superhero tale about accepting that modern day miracles can happen in unexpected places.

The Miracle Twerker

Winter, 1920. As a brutal blizzard strikes, a farmer's wife finds a World War I veteran collapsed on her doorstep. She hauls him inside and as he regains his strength, their growing bond unearths secrets each would rather keep hidden.

The Mouse and the Lion

This is a music video for the track "Crazy" by J-Key. J-Key wakes up in a mysterious warehouse with a head injury and no idea how he got there. He travels through long corridors and desolate, empty spaces, seeking an exit, but finding no escape. Along the way, he discovers he's being followed by ghosts from his past.

Music Video for "Crazy" by J-Key



Based on real events, real people, and real things they actually said, MY DINNER WITH WERNER is a wildly bizarre and wacky story about a 1987 dinner date with a murder plot as the main dish.

My Dinner With Werner

Among the first to be hit by the AIDS epidemic in the 1980’s, Sean Strub’s political ambitions took a backseat as he struggled to survive. Now 60, he is running for mayor of a conservative town in Pennsylvania. How will this liberal, openly gay ex-New Yorker and founder of POZ, a magazine for people with HIV, fare in a rural community that voted for Donald Trump? My Friend, The Mayor follows his two-month campaign through to its nail-biting finish. The documentary, filmed by Sean’s friend and former Dutch TV-correspondent Max Westerman, is an inspiring and hopeful portrayal of small-town democracy in the age of Trump. The election of a controversial president has energized voters at the local level, with many getting involved in surprisingly bipartisan ways.

My Friend, The Mayor; Small-town Politics in the Age of Trump

“The One and Only Jewish Miss America” is the surprising story of Bess Myerson, the talented beauty queen from the Bronx, and how she won the world’s most famous beauty pageant 75 years ago, at the tail end of World War II. The film follows Bess, the middle daughter of poor Russian immigrants, from her childhood in a one-bedroom Jewish housing project apartment through the suspense-filled pageant. Impressed by the college-educated musician, the judges chose her in spite of anonymous threatening phone calls and sponsor disapproval of a Jewish pageant winner. On her 1945 Miss America tour, Bess faced antisemitism and closed doors at race-restricted venues which did not allow Jews. It is also a story of courage as her disappointment turned to determination, leading Bess Myerson to start her own tour to teach tolerance at high schools and colleges around the country -- a tour which launched her lifelong passion for justice.

The One and Only Jewish Miss America

The film chronicles a night of violence and the 36 hours that follow in a city in Pennsylvania.

The Other Side of Night

In 1973, the host of The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson, made a joke that toilet paper was going out of stock. By the next day, stores across the country were completely sold out.

This is the story of the first day of the toilet paper crisis.

Out of Stock

An eccentric Italian father and his son set out to start their own pasta sauce company. But can they cut it in the merciless world of New York gourmet?

Pastalight

After learning he has an abnormally small brain, John is prescribed a gun to kill himself. Unfortunately, he learns a gunshot to the head is not quite sufficient for his affliction.

Peanut

Directed by Jersey City filmmaker, John Bernardo, A PELOTON OF ONE is a documentary about surviving Childhood Sexual Abuse.
Sexually abused at 12 by a priest in his NJ parish, Dave Ohlmuller conducts a solo bicycle ride from Chicago to NY to inspire other Survivors to come forward and tell their own stories.

A Peloton of One

A celebratory night between friends ends in discoveries that no one was prepared to face, and each of them end up questioning what it means to be perfect.

Perfect

Tensions rise in the RiverPoints Community Playroom, as thirteen diverse Garden Club members slog through a never-ending bi-annual meeting run by the self-appointed leader Wang Fang. Interspersed between the meeting and its sudden unexpected turn are interviews with the gossipy New Age couple, the Frenchman and his alcoholic wife, the Old timers, the Millennial newcomers, and others.

Plot

When an internationally acclaimed poet from Belarus with a frozen waffle obsession encounters a Honduran immigrant, a secret from the poet’s past threatens to engulf both men.

Praise and Blame

In a period-positive world, late bloomer Margot wakes up one morning to learn that her best friend Karli has gotten her first period. This makes Margot the last of her friend group to not have her period yet, and she is not happy about it. She decides to fake her period in order to use the special, lavish period bathroom with her friends at school.

Premenstrual Margot

Girls love princesses, and Bree is no exception. As a struggling but positive actress, she started her own children’s birthday party company, living out her fantasies of being of princess. When Jess, a very practical and feminist writer, is assigned to do a story on female role models, she follows Bree to parties to see if princesses are still ideal heroes for little girls.

#PrincessProblems

A Jewish Holocaust Survivor agrees to be interviewed by an African-American doing research for her grad thesis on REPARATIONS. He cannot grasp any similarity between restitution for descendants of slaves versus those he's received from Germany. As her questions unearth his secrets the bond between them deepens.

Reparations

Down and out private-eye Jimmy Baz reluctantly takes on a case to find a missing college student when the dead bodies of Muslim men start turning up leading him to believe he is now searching for a serial killer.

Respite

A veteran cop on the verge of retirement is tasked with training a bold rookie officer. His plans of coasting through his last week are shattered when he is visited by the victim of one of his earliest cases.

Retirement

A young actress enters a cat-and-mouse game with a famous producer when a breakfast meeting at his hotel takes an unexpected turn.

Room Service

No one can break your heart unless for a time they’ve held it in their hands. Once someone truly loves you - even if it ends badly - they’re your family. Forever.

Showing Up

A drifting narrative of love and inclusiveness in four scenes. The story of five women who come together when one suffers a heart attack. Jonice get's picked up from work by a stranger. Mackenzie relaxes with her girlfriend after a long day. Becs contends with her social anxiety at a party. Abigail proclaims her love for Bernadette in front of her friends.

Simple as That

“The Simple Path” follows the decision making of Nevaeh, an elder care nurse who struggles emotionally when one of her long-term elderly female patients, Helen, no longer has the financial ability to support the costs associated with the care facility for which she works.

In an impromptu act, Nevaeh makes the decision to move Helen home with her to provide ongoing care with the help of her younger brother, Aman, who just returned home after a 4-year stint working as an oversees Peace Corp Volunteer.

Although the subject matter of “The Simple Path” is distressing in the realistic challenges for many elderly, the story finds emotional balance in the random acts of kindness that certain humans are willing to provide to those in need.

The Simple Path

An old couple living in the American desert.
A beer.
A Joint.
And mosquitoes...

SKITOZ

Ocean, a gay man with an extraordinary sense of smell has a fleeting acquaintance with a man who smells perfect to him and falls obsessively in love by recreating the scents. However, he starts to doubt his talent when he finds out the person who carries the scent is different from his imagination.

Smells Right

A rough-hewn Mennonite witnesses a meteor rip apart the skies on his farm, leaving behind a smoking crater filled with glowing corn husks. A lesbian couple unknowingly distributes the corn to un-suspecting Brooklynites through their food truck. An FDA agent with FBI dreams tries to track down a mysterious pod he’s only seen on Instagram. A woman in the midst of a late-20’s crisis is cleaning toilets when she starts noticing her co-workers changing.

Each of them has a key to the puzzle.

But can they figure out a way to stop an alien invasion before it’s too late? Or will they, too, succumb to the pods’ alluring glow? And how will they tell the difference between a Snatcher and a regular Brooklyn weirdo?

Snatchers

When a power outage threatens Landry Family Furniture’s final “Going Out of Business” sale, Martha, the matriarch, attempts to reconnect the power and her fractured family.

Sofa Queen

Alex Levi is a woman who has suffered through many stages of life. After losing generations of family in the holocaust, several years later she tragically becomes a widow. This loss & grief has caused her to question life. When suddenly she becomes victim to racist vandalism against her Jewish heritage. Fed up with it all, she decides to take matters into her own hands. Things then quickly become critical for everyone involved.

Something Evil Becomes Us

These are the stories of some of those who contributed greatly and for whatever reason aren’t exactly front-of-mind in our collective consciousness.
SORRY WE MISSED YOU.

SORRY WE MISSED YOU

In 19th century England, a suppressed woman struggles silently from the likes of her husband, the patriarchy, and corrupt institutions. When thrust into a life-threatening situation, she must choose to endure the pain or claim her freedom.

Strip Clara

Esther once traveled the stars in a spaceship with her best friend Jordan. When they crash on a mysterious planet, a dark being is awakened: the incarnation of Esther’s anxieties. Now, in high school and on the verge of losing her co-pilot, she must confront that darkness to win back control of her life.

Suburban Supernova

Test Film

Test Film

He has trained some of the most well-known NFL Athletes in recent history (Joe Flacco, Patrick Peterson, Darnell Savage), but few know his powerful life story. Overcoming unbelievable tragedy, heartbreak, and testing, this is the journey of an underdog from Jersey, his family, and a world-class sports facility, TEST Football Academy.

TESTED

After attending their friends' perfect wedding, Christine is forced to consider the future of her own relationship when her hopeless romantic boyfriend Alex proposes. When Christine is unable to say yes, Alex makes it worse by giving her an ultimatum: either get engaged or break up right now.

They Won't Last

Zoe, a burnt-out DJ at a small karaoke dive bar in Brooklyn, is shocked to discover the newest song added to the bars karaoke queue is one performed by Nevin, a childhood friend of hers. As customers pour into Karaoke Night to sing the latest hit, Zoe reflects on her friendship with Nevin, where we learn the song was inspired by an old inside joke theirs.

This Is What I Look Like Naked

Two traumatic events structure the 'Girl's' high school year: a Lock Down and a family secret. She is shocked yet manages to recover and to understand the importance and value of family and the complexity of truth.

Truth is Stranger Than Fiction, A Coming of Age, Selfie Film

A man tells the story of his autistic uncle, who gardened to cope with his depression.

The Uncle and the Garden

As the bassist of the three-piece punk-rock band, DUH, Judy dreams of quitting her job and touring full time. But when the band finds themselves on their first tour with a man-eating hillbilly for a roadie the "gig life" is filled with nightmares and half-eaten bodies.

Uncle Peckerhead

Two sisters, Annabel and May, whisk away to have the best summer ever at their beach house until one drunken night lands Annabel in an unsafe situation that alters the dynamic of their relationship.

Unsafe

A writer reminisces over his failed relationship with an actress, as he currently writes a play about what could have been.

Until We Are

Comedy Series Pilot: On the brink of financial ruin and about to lose his life's work, Dr. Fritz must use all of his brilliance to battle an evil insurance company to save his practice. Pushed to commit medical fraud, he will have to decide between his medical integrity and his practice while patients and his staff all hang in the balance. A satirical comedy for our times.

Upcode

In the not too distant future, we follow LEAH, 36, and her daughter, ARIEL, 7, as they race against the clock to immigrate across the U.S./Mexican border before sunrise. As officers close in, the direction they run becomes less and less clear.

US MX

After being pulled from a drug induced trance in a trap house, Cynthia, a former hit woman, finds herself on a bloody path to revenge. Though revenge may not always be what it seems.

Violent Nights

On the night of his wife's funeral, a widower finds an old record of the song that was playing when they first met. He plays the song and his wife's ghost returns to him for a brief moment causing him to question everything he believes in...

When We Dance

Did you know the next President of the United States could be decided by drawing names from a hat? Win, Lose or Draw Straws is a feature length documentary exposing one particular oddity of the US election system. The increasing existence of and wildly varied ways of determining elections that end in perfect ties. Told by the people who experienced the emotional highs and lows of a political campaign that was determined by a random game of chance and exposing the way random luck affects our lives from local races all the way to the White House.

Win, Lose or Draw Straws

After the unexpected death of her brother, Beth Reeves seeks solace in her family’s New England cottage. What seems at first like a quiet retreat quickly proves deceptive and dangerous.

Windblown challenges the classic adage, “find what you love and let it kill you”. And proves that grief... is a bitch.

Windblown

A visual documentary about the value of home movies through the eyes of those who filmed their valuable memories.

Yesteryear
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10th Annual Golden Door Film Festival 2021

When dealing in the 'business' of human trafficking, what do the heartless misogynist's behind this evil practice get up too? We follow Mikey, as he meets the kingpin of an underground criminal enterprise, Tzar, for a game of poker with him and his goons. It's all fun and games until the girls get brought in, then things get really fiery.

4 QUEENS

Attention.Bow.Begin. focuses on Grandmaster Dong Keun park, a living legend from South Korea who currently lives and trains out of New Jersey. Grandmaster Park is one of the founders of TaeKwonDo, a martial art practiced by over 50M people around the world. Today, it is one of only two martial arts contested in the Olympics (along with Judo).
In an effort to elude foreign government officials, Grandmaster Park's parents escaped to the northern hills, dropping their son off at a Buddhist Monastery along the way, knowing that they could not properly look after their 8 year old while on the run. For the next decade, he learned ancient hand to hand fighting techniques, the tenets of which he used to form his special brand of TaeKwonDo that he used to dominate national and international martial arts. To this day, he remains the only undefeated TaeKwonDo champion with over 200 wins to his credit.
With South Korea finally free from foreign rule in the 1950s, the government constructed a variety of strategies to introduce itself to the world. One the strategies was bringing its national martial art, TaeKwonDo, to the masses. Grandmaster Park was integral to that strategy. After leading South Korea to an epic win in an international competition against rival Japan in 1965, Grandmaster Park was asked to go to America to help the superpower learn both the physical and spiritual beauty of their martial art. In the 1970s and 1980s Grandmaster Park helped to open a series of Dojangs in the New York/New Jersey area and in Florida. Grandmaster Park was so successful that, in 1992, he was asked to coach the USA TaeKwonDo Olympic team that competed in Barcelona, Spain, and won the gold medal. Amazingly, at the age of 80, he continues to train "future champions" from his home Dojang in Jersey City, NJ, as well as self-defense programs he teaches at both West Point and the Naval Academy.
Besides chronicling this incredible immigrant success story, we also wanted to do our part in highlighting the beauty of an Asian story. With the rise in Asian Hate crime happening in 2021, we are hoping to humanize Asian culture with this inspiring piece. And ideally get enough exposure via this Film Festival run to convert this short film into a full documentary feature.

Attention.Bow.Begin.

Gamal is a new immigrant who washes dishes at a diner in suburban New Jersey. Fritzie is a retired teacher and a new widow grieving the sudden loss of her husband. Both are lonely people experiencing uncharted emotional territory. Despite differences in age, race, religion and class, Gamal and Frieda forge an unlikely relationship that explores our universal need for connection and laughter.

Baladi (My Country)

Kyle lives alone, struggles in social interactions and getting through each day, which doesn't go unnoticed. He attempts to make a small difference to his routine, but each time it appears more and more challenging. He cannot separate himself from his headphones and his over-reliance on them quickly becomes apparent to others, causing a strain on
and new and old relationships.

Between the Headphones

An Afro-Surrealist story about a giant woman and a tiny man who through the power of touch, experience an unexpected transformation.

Big Touch

Living Proof Pictures is proud to present this Juvenalian satire centering on two Gingers-- one a recent widow and the other her mother-in-law as they struggle with recent loss. As we careen through this lucid nightmare with them, we are faced with the bizarre, darkly comedic and terrifying realization that sometimes our most true selves aren't always our best selves.

Bitter Taste of Ginger

Infamous New York City talent agent, Yvette Slosch (LINDA LAVIN), is determined to make a star out of her newest client, jazz violinist, Aaron Weinstein (HIMSELF). She refuses to let Aaron's lack of name recognition, jazz's dwindling fan base, or the 2020 global pandemic get in her way. As the pandemic rages, Yvette's schemes to keep Aaron's career afloat become increasingly convoluted, testing her abilities as an agent and her friendship with Aaron.

Call Me Back: The Uncommon Wisdom of Yvette Slosch

After a single car accident claims life of her baby sister, Sophia yearns for a mother now broken by grief and trauma. Her father, too, absorbed in his wife’s pain and his own, cannot give Sophia the support she craves. As Sophia’s mother begins to recover, Sophia feels left behind, and soothes herself in a world of fantasy.

Come Find Me

Due to being bullied at school, a 13-year-old boy skips the class and flees the city to find his single father, a baseball coach in a small country town.

Cornered Rat

A newly divorced attorney on the verge of coming out meets a flirtatious rocker in a record store, and together, they try for a second chance at love.

Couple of Guys - Episode 1 - The Meet Up

An eccentric photographer, an incompetent florist, a tactless and unreliable groom — as Ramsey’s perfect plans begin to go awry on the day of her wedding, her world seems to be coming apart... literally.

Dearly Beloved

The first music video ever produced entirely in isolation; “Diamonds” is a spirited account of life brought to a stand-still across the globe, at the very beginning of the 2020 Pandemic.

Diamonds

Lily Cruz, a DACA recipient, travels on a medical volunteer mission and upon returning to the USA a TSA agent isn’t so welcoming.

Dreamer

A new dress for a family wedding causes a crisis for teenage Lexi. The frilly outfit sends her into a panic and becomes the catalyst for confronting her true identity. A heartfelt story about courage, self awareness, and the power of family.

Dress

A marriage desperately chasing the resolution of a never-ending argument receive a spark of hope from an unconventional counselor.

Drifting

A dying gangster is confronted by two mysterious figures, bringing to question his life's choices and the loss of the only "good" thing he ever had.

"An entertaining ride that is filled with good humour, suspense and drama." ~ Jason Knight, UK FIlm Review

Dual Action

Hank is forced to confront reality when a sudden loss strikes. Linda, Hank’s wife, learns her son has died from an overdose, and tells Hank she will divorce him if he drives her to her son. Patricia, Hanks lover, wants to support him during this hard time. All three set out on this journey with clear intentions, but each discovers lost truths about themselves.

Every Night and Every Day

FLESH & BONE is a narrative short set to music about a man with many hobbies who lives contentedly alone until one day he looks out the window and longs for more. The story is set to "The Robot Song" by Tony-nominated composer, Joe Iconis.

Flesh & Bone

Frankie, a non-binary trans person, crashes their ex-partner’s men-only 12 step meeting, determined to be heard... no matter the cost.

Frankie

A Group of Friends decide to go on a ghost tour around Halloween. But then the tour guide takes them somewhere truly scary.

Ghost Tour

A woman craving connection during Covid, reaches out to her ex-girlfriend. When she's invited over, they awkwardly navigate whether or not they’re willing to drop their masks to reignite their romance.

Girl Night Stand: Chapter Two

Margie is excited to lay down her new area rug when she realizes they sent her the wrong one. Her frustration turns to confusion though when a piece of trash that touches the rug turns into a potted plant. Margie experiments and soon realizes that the rug can turn more than garbage into something beautiful.

Harmonia Solid

Hells Kitchen captures a moment in time, New York City, 1978, and explores the power struggle inside New York's crime families. When mobsters and business associates start vanishing or turning up dead, Jimmy' The Don' Gallo tasks his enforcer and underboss Johnny Santorelli to find who's responsible.

As Johnny, who perfected debauchery and gluttony for the mafia, starts making inquiries and accusations, the carnage begins to pile up. But as shipments continue to go missing, paranoia starts to get the better of Jimmy.

Hells Kitchen blurs the line between fiction and fact and plays on the purported connection certain celebrities, politicians, and corporate power brokers had with the mob and with each other. Hells Kitchen, a film that might have some truth to it.

Hells Kitchen

Whatever became of the kids you went to high school with? And while you were with them in high school, what were they really thinking, feeling, and doing? What stories were they not telling to even their best friends?

This is a documentary about the high school class of 1969 from Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Interviewed on the occasion of their 50th anniversary class reunion, they tell stories about themselves, their friends, dating, parents, and teachers. As in time travel, we are at the same time in their present at age 68, and at just 18 years old, recalling laughter and tears from high school that are still part of them today. This may be the ultimate baby-boomer documentary.

Their stories are, by turns, funny, sad, surprising, and moving. Ultimately, these are stories about resilience of the human spirit in the face of challenges on the journey from childhood to adulthood.

Everyone who has been through high school will find some part of themselves in these stories: victory and defeat, love and loss, and growth.

"High School: 50 Years On"

How Much We Feel takes an intimate look at an interracial relationship over the course of its first year, as told through slices of their life. This short examines how the couple grows together and struggles with subtle, modern racial issues they encounter along the way.

How Much We Feel

Frank Duffy searches for his missing wife who has relapsed on heroin and disappeared. Day and night, he combs the crime-riddled streets, the crack houses. He even seeks advice from a voodoo lady who tells him his wife is being devoured by 'hungry ghosts', spirits who crave and eat away at the living. As Frank's obsession drives him closer to the edge, he risks surrendering his own sobriety and leaving his young son abandoned. Set in the drug infested badlands of Philadelphia, “Hungry Ghosts” shines a light on the city’s opioid crisis while exploring a family torn apart by addiction.

Hungry Ghosts

A man recounts a trip to his late wife's childhood home as they prepare for the future.

I'll Meet You There

INTERROBANG is a comedy anthology series about the intersection of love, sex, and anxiety. Each episode follows a couple after sex and answers the question: “Am I lovable even if…?”

Interrobang

After deciding to drive home in a drunken stupor, a reeling alcoholic must navigate the tragic consequences of his actions under the scrutiny of his callous, careerist brother.

Into the Honeycomb

A young emcee discovers his passion for music in the 1990's, and he remains dedicated to his craft even though some of his friends take separate paths.

Jahan Nostra feat. Tahmell & Reks "Dedication"

A paranoid, stay-at-home husband grows suspicious of his next door neighbor

The Killer Across the Street

A spiritual journey to the past where a troubled young man experiences first hand the struggles his ancestors endured, challenging him to change his ways and better his community... instead of destroy it.

Lineage

A lonely Prince, drowning in melancholy, invites a Sculptor to his court to create a piece of art just for him. As the Sculptor spends his days chiselling away on a block of marble, the Prince too discovers a new side of himself, for a brief moment forgetting the world of solitude that surrounds him.

The Lonely Prince

Based on the novel by Jersey City author, Daniel Ali, who also wrote and produced the film, Love and the Game is the story of Adriano de Souza, a young, Afro-Brazilian street hustler torn between a lucrative but violent world and Paz Montenegro, the woman he’s loved his entire life. When fate reunites the two of them after years apart, even though Paz is now married to another man, neither can resist the attraction and soon they put it all on the line for love. "But the Game don't stop," and AD is running out of time fast. The two lovers wrestle with their own pain and secret coping mechanisms as they struggle to balance life with betrayal and deception. Love and the Game exposes the truths of fast-life allure and the American lust for material gain, but also offers a unique and timely perspective of the conflicted, inner humanity of many of those who get caught up but whose voices are often muted.

Love and the Game

Helen and RenĂŠ, former lovers, have not seen each other in a year. Their past, present and future collide when they meet again on a balmy day in Brooklyn. Will their memories and expectations reignite their love?

Lullaby to Love

Dalton is boxer passionate about his sport, after years of nearing success but never attaining it he receives the opportunity of a lifetime. But against his fiancee's wishes he risks everything for the chance to live out his dream as a fighter. What will come of this opportunity? Will it strengthen or destroy his relationship? His life?

The Main Event

Ballet dancer realizing a tough reality after an accident.

MINOR CHORDS

Jane lands a date with a boy-- a typical high school romance. But come date night, Jane receives a mysterious handwritten note in a fortune cookie...

Miss Fortune

Riley is a quiet 11 year old girl living with her mother and older sister. She has a hard time adjusting to middle school, and after school, she comes home where she and her older sister are neglected by their mother. Riley is trying to get by each day, but she constantly finds herself in situations that most children her age aren’t faced with. One day, when Riley is in school, she is confronted by the Division of Youth and Family Services. She learns that she, her sister, and her mother are required to undergo counseling in an attempt to repair their dysfunctional family dynamic. The storyline of My Castle follows Riley as she realizes the power of her voice.

My Castle

A student recounts his time in a school club involving a group of social awkward kids who take interest in martial arts and ninjas. As two members of the club conflict over trivial manners, the entire club falls into disarray. With the help of raw eggs, the club completely falls apart and the members of the club go their separate ways.

The Ninja Club

Three elderly New Jersey men search for the world's greatest Hot Texas Weiner, but along the way, discover what has happened to their hometown, Paterson, New Jersey.

It’s a short but poignant journey that any parent, child, hot dog aficionado or lover of humanity will never forget.

One All The Way

ONWARD, arise with love is a message of hurt, grit, and hope. The music video depicts the struggle in the life of a young black woman and captures racially-fueled harm inflicted on her brother, with whom she shares a close relationship. The video highlights moments in her life that cause her undue pain and are the product of the color of her skin versus her talent, intelligence, grace, and strength. It is a story of resilience and overcoming. It is a story of forward movement against all odds and inspires continued work for racial equality, equity, and justice.

Onward, arise with love

A distant desert planet. Amy wakes up in a shabby old storage room. Her only goal is to leave this planet behind, unfortunately, changes of plans are needed when a security guard catches sight of her.

Orion

Maeve, an unknown female music producer in Boston, struggles to earn the respect of a famous client with a big secret.

Punch Me In

Quarterback Ryan McDermott took a hard hit last season, knocking him out for the remainder of the year. As the upcoming season approaches, Ryan strives to get back in the game, but his haunting memories won’t make that easy.

Running Interference

A therapist who employs unusual methods treats a patient who is undergoing an existential crisis. In hopes of providing his patient a sense of purpose, the therapist takes him to a support group, only to encounter a woman who challenges his fundamental beliefs, and finds himself entangled in the same issues as his patient.

SHRINKER

Different day, same routine: we all know the never-ending story of laundry. In this silent short film that hearkens back to the Hollywood heyday of the early 20th Century, Megan and Alex struggle with the mundane task that is laundry-- especially when they learn a baby is on the way...

Spin Cycle

A day in the life of Martin, a homeless man attempting to keep his individuality despite being dehumanized by everyday society. 

Superstar

Nik is the top agent in the NSA's secretive Telepathic-Operations Division. She is also a deaf woman struggling with the recent and tragic death of her daughter, Rachel. Her pain and her gift collide when her handler, Chris, confronts her about Nik going off the reservation and connecting with the minds of unsanctioned targets.

Voices

The Weight of Perfection is the deep exploration of elite-level gymnast Ellen and her harrowing journey as she falls into an eating disorder when the pressures from her coach, family, and herself begin to create a web of psychological damage.

The Weight of Perfection

A little girl draws images of an idealized reality to escape her troubled childhood and broken family. As an adult, she must face her absentee father after her mother’s death in the hopes of resolving the psychological problems he’s caused; ones which threaten to hurt her new family.

What Tiger Wishes

Two sisters pontificate on the lives they could have led while observing the current guest staying in their family's vacation home in upstate New York.

When This All Ends
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