2023 Official Selections

2023 Dakota Film Festival Official Selections

The Prairie Ghost
23 minutes
Directed by Meseret Haddis

As he prepares for his son Samuel's funeral, North Dakota rancher Jake Carver has to navigate a visit from his son's girlfriend Lisa, who is struggling to let go. Feeling sorry for her, he lets Lisa stay with him as their grief ignites the tension between them.
Night Ride
15 minutes
Directed by Eirik Tveiten

It is a cold night in December. As Ebba waits for the tram, an unexpected turn of events transforms the ride home into something she was not expecting.
Night of the Living Dread
12 minutes
Directed by Ida Melum

When a power cut ruins Ruby's bedtime routine, she finds herself haunted by some unwanted guests. The only way for Ruby to get a peaceful night of sleep is to confront her visitors.
Ice Merchants
14 minutes
Directed by João Gonzalez

Every day, a father and his son jump with a parachute from their vertiginous cold house, attached to a cliff, to go to the village on the ground, far away where they sell the ice they produce daily.
Deloping
7 minutes
Directed by Jon Olav Stokke

On July 21st 1792, Mary and Emma settled their differences the only way they knew how: a duel to the death!
Cruise
7 minutes
Directed by Sam Rudykoff

We’ve all received scam phone calls, but what about the person making the calls? Cruise is a dark workplace satire about a hapless telemarketer trying mightily to give away a free cruise. And if he fails, there will be dire consequences.
Bainne (Milk)
18 minutes
Directed by Jack Reynor

In the last year of The Great Famine in Ireland, a stoic farmhand survives working for the local landlord. When he encounters a ghostly figure stealing milk his morality is questioned, and is beguiled on a journey of faith.
Written By
15 minutes
Directed by Callie Marie Bloem & Christopher J. Ewing

Kenzie, a 20-something Angeleno discovers during a totally boring and routine general check up that she is fictional. And even worse, that she was written by a dude. This revelation knocks Kenzie’s world catastrophically off axis as she begins to question everything.
Melons
15 minutes
Directed by Matt MacDonald

A jolly grocery store manager learns to stand up for himself after a misunderstanding brands him as public enemy #1.
The Ref
12 minutes
Directed by Peter Edlund

A referee struggles to maintain control over a 2nd grade basketball game.
Look for the Diamonds
13 minutes
Directed by James Slater

Joel Goldberg has four Kidneys, but none of them work. He has to go on dialysis everyday in order to survive, but he refuses to let his condition define him. Through a uniquely positive outlook on life, Look For The Diamonds shows Joel not just surviving, but living.
Kitman
3 minutes
Directed by Max Hofer

Curiosity kills when a world-renowned hitman faces his greatest adversary yet.
Bear
10 minutes
Directed by Nash Edgerton

Jack has a new girlfriend, but he is still up to his old tricks.
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