Utah Arts Festival 2025 Feature Profile: 19 Utah films grace the 22nd edition of Fear No Film

EDITOR’S NOTE: For preview coverage of the 49th Utah Arts Festival, which runs June 19-22, The Utah Review is presenting individual or group profiles of artists, performers, entertainers and some newcomers to the event. Visitors will also see the first significant change of the last 15 years in the festival map. There are several new features this year: Voodoo Productions’ street theater will include roaming graffiti stilt walkers, contortionists and living master works of art. Salt Lake Acting Company will appear for the first time at the festival, offering a sample from its upcoming summer show, The Secret Lives of the Real Wives in the Salt Lake Hive. Urban Arts is offering its largest live graffiti mural installation, while a row of several other artists will be demonstrating their creative process in real time. For kids, as admission for those 12 and under will be free, there will be plenty of make-and-take art options in Frozen Spaces in the Art Yard. The City Library auditorium will be the home to the 22nd edition of the international Fear No Film program, with the strongest slate of narrative short films in the event’s history. Of course, dance, who wears the empress jewels in performing arts, will be represented by Repertory Dance Theatre, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, Echoing Spirit Dancers and, of course, the ever-popular 1520 Arts, at The Round. For tickets and more information, see the Utah Arts Festival website.

Pushing Limitations.

For the 22nd edition of Fear No Film at the Utah Arts Festival, Utah has the largest and most distinguished representation it has ever had on the curated film slate, with 19 of the total of 78 films either directed by a Utahn or filmed in the Beehive State. The assortment comprises eight narrative shorts, six documentary shorts and five shorts for kids. Two-time Fear No Film jury award winner Luis Fernando Puente returns with a new short. By far, this year’s group of eight narratives is the strongest that has ever been at the festival.

The Utah Review screened all 19 Utah short films. Note, their screening times are found in the centerpiece overview.

Among the 16 Utah films is the outstanding debut of JUST A PILL AWAY by Frederick Shih, from Taiwan who recently graduated from Brigham Young University. The school is well known for its outstanding animation program but its capacity for narrative filmmaking is producing solid results. The story centers around an actor, dismayed by an unbroken string of unsuccessful auditions. who wonders if taking a new drug that guarantees a permanent and perfect smile is worth the effort. She even seeks the counsel of her acting mentor. Shih excels at elucidating the theme about the risks of compromising one’s standards in making a choice that really is poorer than what appears on the surface. 

Dusk.

A delightfully crafted story about non-conforming gender identity, DUSK comes from an Ecuadorian-American filmmaker based in Utah: Kohl Avalos Bybee, who came from Mesa, Arizona and now lives in Salt Lake City. Trying to find the right outfit for an upcoming dance, Dusk has sewn the perfect clothing to express their identity. 

A Utah film, THANKSGIVING, partly inspired by the premise of Harold Ramis’ Groundhog Day film (1993) finds Jason trying to find his way out of a time loop, as he arrives for Thanksgiving dinner with relatives, an experience that he hopes to be over and done with as quickly as possible. Directed by Austin J. Lawrence, who recently graduated from Brigham Young University’s media arts program, the story works in its readily recognizable representation of quirky Utah family vibes. 

Thanksgiving.

Fans of Forrest Gump and Con Air will enjoy Brandie Lee McDonald’s parody mashup of those films in CONVICTS & CHOCOLATE, a Utah short that had its premiere at last year’s  Carbon Shortcuts Film Festival in Helper, Utah, which was part of the centennial celebration of the Utah film industry. The film’s historical connections are notable.  The director’s father had worked on the production set of Con Air and during a visit to Paramount Studios, the director and her husband sat on the bench used in Forrest Gump. Incidentally, the film was shot on the actual Con Air plane, now at the historic Wendover Airfield. 

Standing out for its magnificent cinematography in Utah scenery, FROM WAY UP HERE, directed by Celeste Chaney, is likely positioned to be a Fear No Film audience favorite. The story revolves around two women who decide to bolt from a wake and the atmosphere of grief and head to the mountains for some adventure. The ending is beautifully handled and touching. Note that the production crew includes Oscar Ignacio Jiménez, one of  Utah’s most widely sought cinematographers.He worked on three short films that are in this year’s Fear No Film slate. 

From Way Up Here.

Two-time Fear No Film award winner Luis Fernando Puente returns this year with a strong candidate that will be contending for jury honors: I HID MY HEART INSIDE MY HEAD. Much of this Utah filmmaker’s work arises from a personal connection to narrative and epiphany. This story is about impending grief and whether or not one’s faith can truly rise to the challenge of finding answers and solace in such circumstances. Aaron, a Mormon, is witnessing his gravely ill wife’s final decline. On one hand, hos wife, Veronica, turns to quantum healing in order to accept her inevitable demise. Meanwhile, Aaron hopes that his fellow congregants who arrive at their home to offer a blessing of healing, in the hope that his beloved’s decline can be reversed. As usual, the production values are impeccable. In his director’s statement, Puente writes, “The pull away from organized religion has left a spiritual void, many look to fill in various ways. After a global pandemic, in which death was ever knocking at everyone’s door, and people self isolated through quarantine, existential matters became a topic of conversation. It was a period of time in which we looked at ourselves, questioned our identity as humans, as a society, and learned to collectively come to terms with how fragile life is.” Puente’s creative premises are consistently translated to the cinematic screen with full and satisfying effect and this latest film demonstrates that capacity.

An outstanding Utah short with excellent acting, cinematography and story elements across the board, THE ANGEL, directed by Barrett and Jessica Burgin, is, to quote the filmmakers, a “Mormon pioneer folk horror story.” Set in the early 1880s in the red rock region of when Utah was still just a U.S. territory, the story centers on two plural wives who have received an angelic vision and instructions to act upon making their faith true and pure. This film includes cinematography by Oscar Ignacio Jiménez, who also is involved with two other projects that are on this year’s Fear No Film slate. This short is a proof of concept for the filmmakers’ award-winning screenplay THIRD WIFE,  which already has sparked interest among investors, distributors and others, including having been spotlighted by the Sundance Institute. As the Burgins note in their director’s statement, “It wrestles with certainty, spiritual deception, and the complex power dynamics fundamental to our heritage.”

Perhaps one of the most impressive films to win the annual SLC 48-Hour Filmmaking Competition, THE DESTROYING ANGEL, directed by award-winning local filmmaker Derek Romrell, is about two friends whose ties are about to crumble when one of them has assumed God-like powers of indestructibility.  Made on a budget of just $600, the short could be a scene for a possible longer cinematic treatment.

A Utah documentary, A LIFE OF INTENT: GROWING DESERT ROOTS, directed by Caroline Boyd, was filmed in southern Utah and centers on Shelly, who suffered a traumatic brain injury when she was 19, and later turned to nature photography as a creative outlet to help her heal. It is one of the festival’s most uplifting offerings this year. 

A Life of Intent: Growing Roots.

Another Utah documentary story, DEAR PELICAN, directed by John Meier, chronicles The Dear Pelican Project, coordinated by Making Waves for Great Salt Lake, which is supported by Friends of Great Salt Lake, and the Great Salt Lake Collaborative. The impetus for the project arose recently when the usual thousands of American White Pelicans did not return in 2023 to nest on Gunnison Island. The reason was that record low lake levels meant that the pelicans could not safely nest there for fear of being exposed to predators. In 2024, only about one-tenth of the usual population of pelicans returned to Gunnison Island and most were seen trying to build their nests on Hat Island. The film is one of two documentary shorts this year by Leicester Productions, which is based locally.

Also made in Utah, PUSHING LIMITATIONS, directed by James Coca, a Bolivian native who graduated from Utah Valley University, is about Alan Salazar, a Mexico City native who is not a U.S. citizen but nevertheless perseveres to live his artistic dreams as a choreographer.

Landspeed Liz.

An informative film about a fascinating piece of Utah arts history, EMPRESS, directed by Steven R. Ford, is about a theater in Magna, Utah that has survived for more than 107 years and has been revitalized since it was damaged during a 2020 earthquake. Historically, the Empress Theatre is one of the oldest and best preserved commercial buildings in Magna, and it is the oldest theater in the community. It is one of the most encouraging tales of historical preservation in Utah.

Filmed in Utah, LANDSPEED LIZ, directed by Allison Swank, is about a female rookie driver realizing the chance to take a race car to 300 miles per hour on the Bonneville Flats. The director is based in Brooklyn but last summer was attending the Bonneville Speed Week of events with her parents and then caught notice of a woman her age talk about the feat she was about to undertake. “Intrigued, I introduced myself, and she graciously allowed me to start filming her rookie driving passes in the Iron Dinosaur with nothing more than my iPhone,” Swank wrote in her director’s statement, adding that later she connected with Lorenzo Pace, a New York cinematographer, to document the event. “What started as a spontaneous encounter turned into the serendipitous and experimental journey that became this film!”

The Pho King.

The second Utah short film by Leicester Productions on this year’s festival slate, THE PHO KING,  directed  by Jeovanni Xoumphonphackdy,  is an astute, snappy testament to how multicultural community bonds can be nourished and cultivated by something like a good bowl of phở. The smart, tight film, which runs a little under seven minutes, captures the genuine persona, humor and backstory of  Brandon ‘Pho King’ Luong (‘the noodle whisperer’) whose social media visibility revved into high gear when he plumbed the depths of the  available phở offerings in three Utah counties. With a hat tip to scientific methodology, he documented the progress of his research project — more than 60 bowls of phở in 45 restaurants. Using a refractometer to assess the broth’s quality, Luong create the ‘Pho Quantitative Yumminess Unit’ as his measure. Nevertheless, he didn’t let that overwhelm the objective to make phở as accessible and non-intimidating to his growing numbers of followers. The result was The Pho King SLC Graph, a four-quadrant format inspired by one that avid sports fans create to determine the best (or personal favorite) basketball players in the game. 

NAVAJO HIGHWAYS: “TAKING IT BACK HOME”, directed by Pete Sands, is the first episode in a new series featuring puppets and live action, designed to teach and inspire Navajo Nation children to learn about their culture and the Diné language. Set in the fictional town of Mitten Creek on the Utah portion of the Navajo Nation, the principal character is Sadie, a young Navajo who has grown up in the city, and is spending her summer on the Navajo reservation to learn about the culture and language. Designed for Navajo children from Pre-K to third grade, the show ”centers around her learning these different things [and] the audience doesn’t really understand so they learn along with Sadie the audience learns along with her, following her journey,” Sands said, in an interview published in the Moab Times-Independent. In 2017, the number of fluent Navajo language speakers was estimated to be around 170,000, less than half of the tribe’s population, according to the Navajo Times. Sands added that those children who are not Navajo hopefully will enjoy the show to learn more about the history and culture of Indigenous people. NAVAJO HIGHWAYS: ‘HORSEY TIME’ is the fourth episode in this children’s series targeting Navajo Nation children. The show is distributed by FNX (First Nations Experience).

From Utah, THE SOCKENING comes from the youngest director this year to be featured at Fear No Film: Sophia Linzie McDonald. The short is witty and well executed: what happens when someone decides to wear the same socks day after day. McDonald already has an award-winning short on her portfolio: The Sister Sister Jinx, which has taken several honors including Best Picture (for her age category) at Tumbleweeds, the kids’ film festival sponsored by the Utah Film Center.

From Lehi, Utah, HOMEROOM, directed by Brandon Orton, is a charming and smart take on the kid’s timeless challenge of solving a word problem for his math homework. Spencer, 11, loves being a detective and solving the problem is accomplished by following a trail of clues in his bedroom, which include a Polaroid snapshot and a locked box that can be opened only when he has completed the homework problem. 

A Spy Hop Production short in Utah, UNBEARABLE, directed by Kitzia Rodriguez and written by Aria Gunter, is a cute story about what happens when a teddy bear is lost about what to do when its owner has moved on to their next phase in life.

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