About the Event

Take this year’s theme, “The Power of Play,” to 24 frames per second at the Canal Convergence Mini Film Fest! Themes of water and light will also be explored in this block of short films that include live-action, animation, drama, and comedy.

The 2023 Canal Convergence Mini Film Festival was curated by film programmer Ernie Quiroz, a Phoenix native with more than a decade’s experience in programming films for museums, theaters, and film societies. Quiroz has programmed for prominent film festivals like Sundance, Telluride, and SXSW, in addition to the Phoenix Film Festival.

The Loneliest Stoplight 

Runtime: 6 minutes 

Starring the voice of Patton Oswalt, The Loneliest Spotlight follows the life and times of a neglected stoplight. 

Directed by Bill Plypmton 

Snowstorm 

Runtime: 5 minutes 

Snowstorm is a meditative glimpse of seagulls and bufflehead ducks navigating a snowstorm. 

Directed by David Busse 

Koyaanisqatsi (excerpt)

Runtime: 5 minutes 

Day turns to night, and lights streak across busy interstates in this excerpt from the 1983 documentary.

Directed by Godfrey Reggio

Break Any Spell 

Runtime: 13 minutes 

When April sets off to battle in the world of live-action-roleplaying, her mother’s early-onset Alzheimer’s reaches a breaking point. 

Directed by Anton Jøsef 

A Trip to the Moon 

Runtime: 12 minutes 

A Trip to the Moon follows a boy as he escapes the trials and tribulations of poverty by traveling to the moon with the help of his mother (and the power of storytelling). 

Directed by Julian Barahona 

Pete! 

Runtime: 7 minutes 

Pete! Is an animated true story about gender identity, Little League Baseball, the people who inspire change by trying to be themselves, and the superheroes who allow that change to happen. 

Directed by Bret Parker

Fetch 

Runtime: 19 minutes 

Fetch is a heart-on-its-sleeve animated dramedy about a dog and his human, working together as the only maintenance crew aboard a colossal space station. They fill their days cleaning vents, rewiring fuses, and throwing well-worn tennis balls down dimly lit corridors in games of fetch. 

Directed by Sam Gill