FILMS

MOTHER’S SKIN

SHORT  – DRAMA/FANTASY DRAMA, 20 MINUTES, 2022

A neglected six-year-old girl struggles to cope with her mother’s depression, uncovering a secret from her mother’s past.

PRODUCERS: LEAH JOHNSTON, JASON BUXTON

WRITER/DIRECTOR/EDITOR:  LEAH JOHNSTON

STARRING: BRIAR MOSHER, RHIANNON MORGAN, JOEL THOMAS HYNES

Awards:

Winner: Best Short – Atlantic International Film Festival 
Winner: Joan Orenstein Award for Outstanding Performance – Briar Ainslie – Atlantic International Film Festival 
Winner: Outstanding Performance by an Actor – Briar Ainslie – ACTRA Awards 
Nominee: WIFT-AT Best Director Award
Nominee: Best Short – Screen Nova Scotia Awards

Festivals: Shanghai International Film Festival – Finalist: Golden Goblet Competition (China), Olhar de Cinema – Curitiba International Film Festival (Brazil),  Cinema on the Bayou (US premiere), Thessaloniki International Shorts Film Festival (Greece),  Festival Internacional de Curtas de Verín (Spain), Atlantic International Film Festival (Winner – Best Short, Best Performance by a Leading Actress),  Vancouver International Film Festival, Festival du Nouveau Cinema, Silver Wave Film Festival, Charlottetown Film Festival, Vancouver International Women in Film Festival, Festival Filministes, Nickel Film Festival

Website: www.leahjohnston.com/mothers-skin

INGRID AND THE BLACK HOLE

SHORT  – SCI-FY/FANTASY DRAMA, 6 MINUTES, 2016

Two children discover a black hole and imagine what it would be like to travel through time.

PRODUCERS: LEAH JOHNSTON, WALTER FORSYTH

WRITER/DIRECTOR:  LEAH JOHNSTON

STARRING: MOLLY DUNSWORTH, HANS PETTERSON,  JORDAN POOLE, MIA PERRY,  RENA KOSSATZ, JOSH MACDONALD

Awards:

Winner: Best Canadian Short- Edmonton International Film Festival
Winner: Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Technical Achievement- Vancouver Island Short Film Fest
Winner: Best Canadian Short- Silver Wave Film Festival
Winner: Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Molly Dunsworth as “Ingrid”- ACTRA Maritimes
Winner: Best Actor Jordan Poole as “Young Conrad”- Young Performer Awards
Winner: $35,000 WIFT/Bravofact Pitch prize
Nominee: Best Short Subject- Yorkton Golden Sheaf Awards

Broadcasts: CBC Reflections 2017, CBC Reel East Coast, Air Canada- Not Short on Talent 2017

Festivals: Cannes Film Festival -Telefilm’s Not Short on Talent, Fantasia International Film Festival, CBC Short Film Gala- Atlantic Film Festival, Edmonton International Film Festival, Festival de Cinema de la Ville Quebec, Yorkton Film Festival, National Arts Centre of Canada, Charlottetown Film Festival, St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, Showcase Truro Film Festival, Parrsboro Film Festival, Silver Wave Film Festival, Blood in the Snow Film Festival, Little Terrors Festival-Monthly Screening Series, Vancouver Island Short Film Festival, Reel to Real Int’l Film Festival for Youth, Toxic Nova Cinema Screening Series, ShorTS International Film Festival, Reel Shorts Film Festival, Halifax Independent Film Festival, Female Eye Film Festival.

Website: www.ingridandtheblackhole.com

MY YOUNGER OLDER SISTER

SHORT  –  DRAMA, 17 MINUTES, 2015

A young woman enters a crisis on the eve of her 19th birthday as she realizes she is about to out-age her older sister who died at 18.

PRODUCERS: LEAH JOHNSTON, JESS BROWN

WRITER/DIRECTOR:  LEAH JOHNSTON

STARRING: SHELLEY THOMPSON, LEAH JOHNSTON, KATHERINE JOHNSTON, JEREMIE SAUNDERS, ALEXIS MILLIGAN

Awards: 

Winner: 2014 Linda Joy Award. Awarded funding from Nova Scotia Arts Council.
Winner: Platinum Remi Award- Worldfest Houston
Nominee: Best Canadian Short- Silver Wave Film Festival
Nominee: Best Actress- ACTRA Maritimes awards

Broadcasts: CBC Reel Coast Program- 2016

Festivals: Shorts International Film Festival- Maremetraggio, Atlantic Film Festival, Worldfest Houston, Silver Wave Film Festival, Spotlight Gala: Showcase Truro Film Festival, Parrsboro Film Festival, NSI Online Film Festival

Website: www.myyoungeroldersister.com