Switchboard Shorts
July’s Featured Short: Penny
With unique access to a Bay Ridge psychic’s phone sessions, “Penny” reveals one woman's path of self-discovery to share her gifts with others.
Penny can be reached for sessions at 917.796.8205.
Credits:
DIRECTED BY Nina Sacharow & Brian Taylor
PRODUCED BY Nina Sacharow & Brian Taylor
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Cyrus Duff
PRODUCTION SOUND Philip Kim
EDITED BY Nina Sacharow
OFFLINE EDITORIAL SERVICES BY Cabin Edit
MUSIC & SOUND MIX BY Andrea Kristinsdottir
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Celia Aniskovich & Jason Anderson
ART BY Ken Rothermich
ANIMATION BY Vincent Reynaud
COLOR BY Kevin Ratigan
POST PRODUCTION BY Blacksmith
POSTER BY Kim Caicedo
About Nina Sacharow:
Nina Sacharow is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker and editor specializing in commercials and films across the documentary & narrative space. She earned a D&AD Graphite Pencil for Best Editing as well as accolades from The One Show, Cannes Lions, and the Webby Awards for the COVID-era “Never Lost” film for Facebook, which has over 400 million views. As an editor, Nina’s film work has premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, SXSW, and the Sundance New Frontier Program, as well as being featured on Director's Library, Nowness, Short of the Week, and Vimeo Staff Pick. She is repped globally by Cabin Edit.
About Brian Taylor:
Brian Taylor is a non-fiction veteran who has spent the past 15 years working on documentary projects for VICE, Netflix, ABC News, and more. Recently, he was the Series Producer for VICE TV's Sex Before the Internet and Co-EP of CourtTV’s Interview With A Killer.
Partners in life and art, this is Nina and Brian’s first film together.
Explore The Archive
A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching explores the hidden lives of New York City’s pigeons and our complicated relationship with them. Often dismissed as “flying rats,” pigeons are deeply tied to the city’s history — resilient survivalists shaped almost entirely by human intervention. Adapted from Rosemary Mosco’s book of the same name, the film moves through rooftop coops, parks and city streets, bringing together a mosaic of New York voices that are affectionate, skeptical and indifferent. Shot on 16mm and Super 8, the film reconsiders one of the city’s most overlooked residents and invites us to look again. To soften our gaze, and recognize that coexistence, even with the most familiar or misunderstood neighbors, is an act of choice.
After posting a satirical video featuring a donkey as Venezuela’s president, two Andean firefighters were imprisoned. While locals remain silent about the incident, rumors swirl about the donkey’s mysterious fate in this mountain town.
Them and I, is a slice-of-life documentary centered around the trials and tribulations of female celebrity tribute artists. With the glitz and glamour of LA-based Madonna (Mindy Milburn), Gwen Stefani (Andrea Esperanza Martinez), and Amy Winehouse (Frankie Jordan), the film explores the question of what it means to find personal identity through the embodiment of another.
A woman finds peace during the pandemic in her solitary routine as the innkeeper of an historic Bay Area lighthouse. As her time on the island draws to an end and a return to the world she left behind beckons, life on the island raises larger questions about the nature of our relationship to time, loss, work, and home.
A humorous, melancholic portrait of a former mobster reflecting on love and loss after serving 32 years in prison.
When a local man with autism known as the town hero faces eviction, the community comes together when he needs saving.
A haunted mechanic muses on his experiences as an immigrant in rural America as he resurrects cars.
A fabulous, queer, Muslim beauty entrepreneur competes in a Shark Tank-like contest after suffering an untimely allergic reaction.
82-year-old artist Freeman Vines hand-carves exquisite guitars in search of an elusive sound, some from the wood of a tree linked to the lynching of a young Black man in a small eastern North Carolina town.
A world renowned figure maker honors his late brother, Stephen, whose unrecognized talent and tragic loss profoundly shaped his own artistic path. As he creates a tribute figure of Stephen, the film explores their deep bond, the impact of creativity, and how art can preserve the memory of those we’ve lost.
When her grandfather loses his voice to cancer, filmmaker Gabriella Canal captures the personal journey before and after his procedure, revealing a portrait of grief and resilience as her family's patriarch loses what once defined him.
An avid animal lover and activist, Gina takes us through a day in her life on Skid Row, where she lives with her rescue Pit Bull and foster animals. She tells us about the transformative nature of her relationship with her dog, Muneca, and why she thinks Pit Bulls are the most misunderstood breed.
David Again tells the story of David Dennis, his road to recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, and his lifelong friendship with actor Jon Cryer. It is a story about redemption, the power of friendship, and the promise that it is never too late to ask for help. Official Selection of Tribeca Festival 2024 and Special Jury Mention at Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2024. Winner of Best Documentary Short at Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival 2024, Bushwick Film Festival 2024, Beloit International Film Festival 2024 and the Programmer's Choice Award at Salute Your Shorts Film Festival 2024.