July 11-13, 2025
America's most intoxicating blend of short cinema
In 2021, @themoviecrush was fortunate enough to have @redrubes14 serve as a juror to determine that year’s award for Best Documentary (Short). Yoruba, of course, is an exceptional documentarian, and her latest demands our attention given recent, er, events. All abominations have precedent. We urge you to watch AMERICAN COUP: WILMINGTON 1898 on your local PBS affiliate or online.
#americancoup #wilmington1898 #americanhistory #americasshame #bestdocumentary #documentary #wearenotgoingback
@gilperezabraham earned our #bestperformance award at @themoviecrush this summer. Now, you can see his breathtaking work in @ward.kamel’s searing drama of grief and acceptance on @vimeo and @shortoftheweek!
Repost from @ward.kamel
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Double trouble with our online release as both a Vimeo Staff Pick and a Short of the Week Selection (links in bio)! So very happy to finally share the film, and continuously grateful for the incredible team behind it and the journey we’ve taken so far! Now to make the feature :)
Starring @gilperezabraham Hana Chamoun @george.on.insta @moudsabra Ilham Malki
Written and Directed by me :)
Produced by: @adrianlausell @cameron_morton @elessarfilmsllc
Casting: @emilyruckercasting
Assoc. producer: @yaseminbilgenn
DP: @idileryurekli
PD: @sophia.uehara
AD: @catrinody
Costume Designer: @isabellaoevans
Art assistant: @kaitlynobryon
H/SFXMU: @labloiseart
1st AC: @benjyisdumb
2nd AC: @ratwitch699
Gaffer: @definitelyatget
KG: @stefannachmann
Swing: @samonsiripanichgon
Sound: @pat_zimmon
Script Supervisor: @sarahnocquet.mov
2nd AD: heloiselowenthal
CCO: @o.k.stoopid
Post-Production producer: @mister.sanman
Editor: @nathanyul
Color: @zakchalmers
Short films and Walla Walla are a match made in heaven just like @eatkarikari chili crisp, @beecherscheese ,and @rachels.bagels.and.burritos are! These are just a few of our LOVELY partners that help make the Movie Crush happen! All featured here in this fantastic bite:
#wallawalla #wallawallamoviecrush #wallawallamoviecrush2024 #wallawallhollaholla #crushingit #thecrush #themoviecrush #moviecrush #shortfilm #filmfestival #ottotheoctopus #crushfam4eva❤️ #wwmc8
Congrats to @themoviecrush 2023 award winner and #crushfam4eva❤️ member @this_panda_is_sad for selling out the opening week of her Broadway show, The Roommate, starring @pattilupone and @realmiafarrow. Can’t wait to see it in person later this month!
Just like The Movie Crush hopes to offer something for everyone, we want to extend that same courtesy to our drinks! Pathfinder offers a drink that raises the bar in quality and taste of non-alcoholic beverages. So make the switch to Pathfinder - and don't worry, you can still say "I did what?!? Wow i was soooooo crazy last night" without the headache and memory loss and usually follows a rambunctious film festival 🎥🎉
RIPE! is undeniable, irresistible, exceptional. @tusk_creative has crafted a short that captivates with its honest depiction of briefly confused crushing and the inevitability of true passion. RIPE! is gorgeously-hued, economically-scripted and compellingly-performed. (Hell, @rita.rofe deserves an Oscar for her work in the end credits alone!) Should be no surprise then that RIPE! earned this year’s Best Narrative Award at @themoviecrush. (It did as well at Summer Shorts and some fly-by-night festival, @tribeca.) Can’t wait to see more movies from @tusk_creative
#crushingit #wwmc8 #wallawallahollaholla #shortfilm #filmfestival #wallawalla #crushfam4eva❤️
The revered recipient for @themoviecrush’s annual Curator’s Choice Award is @raythedestroyer whose two shorts, THE STAGE and PLEASE PLAY THIS AT MY FUNERAL, wowed audiences and Warren. He adds: “in watching nearly 2,500 shorts per year, it is a godsend to experience surprise. Ray’s work in fiction and non-fiction further blurs the line between the two, reminding us that the Truths are always somewhere in between. His camerawork is fluid, intimate, brazen, compassionate, raw yet calculated. Ray’s shorts surprise in the best ways, promising more great work from him in the near future and providing a boost for the medium at large — the art is in its thoughtful reinvention.”
#crushingit #wwmc8 #wallawallahollaholla #shortfilm #shortnarrative #narrativeshortfilm #shortdocumentary #documentaryshort #filmfestival #wallawalla #crushfam4eva❤️
The Alex Sichel Memorial award was created to spotlight female-identifying storytellers focused on the deeply personal, often overshadowed moments that profoundly shape individuals’ lives. This award recognizes that this search for vulnerability is where some of the most artful truth resides.
This year’s winner at @themoviecrush is @daisyfriedman_ for her warm, poignant short, @asyouarefilm starring @briscalesse and @estefania.giraldo that underscores everyone is able to love fully, truly.
#crushingit #wwmc8 #wallawallahollaholla #shortfilm #filmfestival #wallawalla #crushfam4eva❤️
Every summer, Crush Executive Director and Co-founder @dragun_lady bestows the Beast of The Crush Award for best non-human performance. The competition was heated this year. In the end, Nancy recognized the work of Shelly the snail in the charming LOVEBUGS directed (and wrangled!) by @teddysmovies
Breaking barriers, Shelly becomes the first gastropod to win this honor.
#crushingit #wwmc8 #gastropodcast #wallawallahollaholla #wallawalla #shortfilm #filmfestival #crushfam4eva❤️
Congrats to #crushfam4eva❤️ members — @amybenchfilm, @pjraval and @rileshoops — on being awarded grants from the @sundanceorg for their documentary features either in development or postproduction. Can’t wait to watch them all on the big screen.
#crushingit #wallawallahollaholla #documentary #movies
In short order and convincing fashion, @gilperezabraham cycles through the stages of #grief in @ward.kamel’s heart-rending IF I DIE IN AMERICA. Gil’s exploration of the Kubler-Ross dynamic is a study in subtle, graceful acting; he trusts the audience to best witness to the sharing of his character’s soul. No surprise then that he is the winner of this year’s Best Performance Award at @themoviecrush.
#crushingit #wwmc8 #wallawallahollaholla #bestperformance #acting #masterclass #wallawalla #shortfilm #filmfestival #crushfam4eva❤️
@julia1sabella is this year’s winner for the Best Screenplay Award at @themoviecrush. FOLLOWERS, her sardonic peek at influencers and those they influence lets us laugh at their discomfiting dynamic. Social media is an odd, prickly ecosystem and we are all complicit in its malformation.
FOLLOWERS is aided by its sharp cast, featuring #JoeyAlly @jimmycthatsme @taylormisiak and @_billoneill
Congrats, Julia! We are excited to have you serve as a juror next year and, we hope, lure you to #wallawalla (July 11-13, 2025).
#crushingit #wwmc8 #wallawallahollaholla #bestscreenplay #shortscreenplay #shortfilm #socialmedia #influencer #filmfestival #crushfam4eva❤️
INCIDENT is a must-see, for white audiences in particular. Bill Morrison won @themoviecrush’s Best Documentary Award for his searing indictment of police misconduct (aka murder) in this stunning assembly of surveillance footage, body cams and more. The officers’ own words are more damning than any editorial.
The short does include heartbreaking images of Black pain that may be retraumatizing for some audiences and revelatory for others.
#policebrutality #shortdocumentary #documentaryshort #documentary #shortfilm #filmfestival
We are so excited to (officially) post our 2024 Walla Walla Movie Crush winners!!! Starting off with our winner in Best Animation: TENNIS, ORANGES by @seanpecknold !!! Congratulations Sean! Thank you for making (and submitting) such a beautiful film!
#wallawalla #wallawallamoviecrush #wallawallamoviecrush2024 #wallawallhollaholla #crushingit #thecrush #themoviecrush #moviecrush #shortfilm #filmfestival #ottotheoctopus #crushfam4eva❤️ #wwmc8
another moment from our FVC Gallery meetup! @seanpecknold , our winner for Best Animation for TENNIS, ORANGES, talks about his co-starring rabbits!
#wallawalla #wallawallamoviecrush #wallawallamoviecrush2024 #wallawallhollaholla #crushingit #thecrush #themoviecrush #moviecrush #shortfilm #filmfestival #ottotheoctopus #crushfam4eva❤️ #wwmc8
We found so much connection in @fvcgallery ! (shoe wear related and other kinds!)
#wallawalla #wallawallamoviecrush #wallawallamoviecrush2024 #wallawallhollaholla #crushingit #thecrush #themoviecrush #moviecrush #shortfilm #filmfestival #ottotheoctopus #crushfam4eva❤️#wwmc8
and now a word from (some of) our sponsors.....
#wallawalla #wallawallamoviecrush #wallawallamoviecrush2024 #wallawallhollaholla #crushingit #thecrush #themoviecrush #moviecrush #shortfilm #filmfestival #ottotheoctopus #crushfam4eva❤️#wwmc8
you heard it here first folks! #goodbagels #hardtofind #thisisforrachel
#wallawalla #wallawallamoviecrush #wallawallamoviecrush2024 #wallawallhollaholla #crushingit #thecrush #themoviecrush #moviecrush #shortfilm #filmfestival #ottotheoctopus #crushfam4eva❤️#wwmc8
Sunday, July 7, 2024:
Block 17 is...
"ARTISTS, PERFORMING"
THE STAGE (d. Ray Smiling)
CURATING ANNE'S INSTAGRAM (d. Aaron Bourget)
PERSONAL MYTHOLOGIES (d. Susan O'Brien)
FRANCESCA (d. Chester Vincent Toye)
VOICES (d. Mac Premo)
MOMO (d. Mike Schwartz)
OUT OF TUNE (d. Portlynn Tagavi)
#wallawalla #wallawallamoviecrush #wallawallamoviecrush2024 #wallawallhollaholla #crushingit #thecrush #themoviecrush #moviecrush #shortfilm #filmfestival #ottotheoctopus #crushfam4eva❤️#wwmc8
Sunday, July 7, 2024:
Block 16 is...
"DADDY ISSUES"
DAD BOD (d. Daniel Flahiff)
PLAY THIS AT MY FUNERAL (d. Ray Smiling)
ALL TIED UP (d. Blake Bogosian, Matt Klug)
NINE BALL (d. Matthew Dillon Cohen)
CHA CHA CHARLIE (d. Matt Bieler)
THE RED BIKE (d. Toben Bech)
#wallawalla #wallawallamoviecrush #wallawallamoviecrush2024 #wallawallhollaholla #crushingit #thecrush #themoviecrush #moviecrush #shortfilm #filmfestival #ottotheoctopus #crushfam4eva❤️#wwmc8
COVID-19 safety Notice
The Movie Crush and the Gesa Power House Theatre are currently operating at full capacity, but will continue to follow the most recent guidance from the state and county Departments of Health. More information is available online or by calling the box office at 509-529-6500.