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Brendan Quinn, whose role in Netflix’s “One Day” landed him a best supporting nod at the National Film Awards UK, has joined the ensemble cast of “Scene House,” a dark comedy penned and directed by Annabella Fazio.

Quinn stars alongside Netflix alum Safiyya Ingar (“The Witcher”), Nell Williams (“Blinded by the Light”), Denzel Baidoo (“Last Swim”), Selina Jones (“Raised by Wolves”), Aaron Teoh (“Wicked”) and Ivy Freeman-Attwood (“Two Neighbors”).

Looking at societal obsession with celebrity culture, the short film is set in a dystopian future where actors inhabit an enclosed area called The Scene House – an unsettling hybrid of a theme park and museum. Here, observers pay to enter and, for an additional cost, interact with the actors. One of these Actors, played by Jones, begins to question their existence in The Scene House as the boundaries blur between performance and reality.

“Scene House” is executive produced by Sarah Carter,...

"There's so much beauty in this world, and I've been stuck like in the middle of nowhere." Have you ever been stuck at a red light... forever? That's the exact premise behind this outstanding short film Red Light, from filmmaker Sam Benenati (known for his other short Emily). His new solo-performance short film is an impressive performance piece and clever idea that doesn't run longer than 10 minutes. The film stars Jen Tullock as a woman sitting in her car endlessly stuck at a red light, having an emotional breakdown while waiting for it to turn green. If it ever will. Everything in this short works in harmony so nicely - the 4:3 framing and the glowing red cinematography, and a lovely score by Ali Helnwein throughout. Most of all Tullock's performance as the real spectacular centerpiece. There's so much nuance packed into this short offering us all a chance to...

Magnolia Pictures has picked up North American rights to “Stray,” a documentary about the stray dogs of Istanbul, from London-based doc distributor Dogwoof.

Marking Elizabeth Lo’s directorial debut, the film takes a canine’s-eye-view of the streets of Istanbul, and follows three dogs — Zeytin, Nazar and Kartel — as they roam free, offering a unique take on the Turkish city and its inhabitants. The dogs’ lives ultimately intersect when they bond with a group of young Syrians who share the streets with them.

Originally slated to bow in April at the postponed Tribeca Film Festival, Variety critic Tomris Laffly describes “Stray” as conveying “the wholesomeness of humans’ four-legged best friends, but also the soulful voice of an exciting new filmmaker with immense moral queries on her mind.”

The doc joins a small but mighty group of films to set their sights on the stray animals of Istanbul. Ceyda Torun’s...

Love, lust, and social distance. Squeegee is a comedy short made by La-based filmmaker Morgan Krantz. A high-powered female executive has an erotic rendezvous with a high-rise window-washer on opposite sides of her office window. Inspired by Krantz's chance meeting with an actual Scottish window washer who he then cast in the film as, uh, himself. "Funny and poignant, Squeegee is an apt portrait of intimacy in the time of social distancing." This stars Amy Rutherford and Blair McKenzie. Featuring a superb score by Emmy-winning composer Ali Helnwein. This short is hilarious!! You'll laugh and giggle and blush. The performances themselves are what make it so good, the quirky mannerisms from each of them. And the old timey romantic score tops it off in just the perfect way. Another must watch short. Thanks to Adam for the tip on this short. Brief description from YouTube: "A high-powered female executive...

Dogs have been an object of fascination for cinema since its early days, a phenomenon only intensified by the moving images of the social media age. Despite decades of competition, however, “Stray” stands out for inhabiting their point of view. Elizabeth Lo’s gorgeous, absorbing snapshot of several stray dogs on the streets of Istanbul spends most of its concise 72 minutes hovering at the height of its subjects, as the camera hangs alongside them, adopting a mystical and even envious tone to their rough-and-tumble routines. , but “Stray” has almost as much to say about the people who come across the homeless creatures at its center.

The most obvious precedent for Lo’s approach is “Kedi,” Ceyda Torun’s 2016 breakout hit about cats roaming the same city streets. However, while Torun fixated on the carefree individualism of the feline spirit, “Stray” doubles down on the wandering nature of man’s best...