Welcome to our fourth annual festival based in Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania.
Route 22 Filmworks is a collaborative film production group located in the Lehigh Valley, PA, meeting monthly to review current and upcoming projects, network and share a passion for all things filmmaking. The group began in 2017 with three co-founders and has grown to include over 600 members. Our short independent films can be viewed on YouTube and other area film festivals, as well as our Facebook page. If you always wanted to be part of the film industry or just have an interest in film and live in or near the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, this is the place to be!
What makes our festival one of a kind is the primary focus on local talent. All local short films (under 20 minutes) must be submitted by a filmmaker who lives or has filmed within 50 miles of The Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. They must have been created within the last five years.
All-Access Ticket ($25) entitles you to attend any or all of the 4 blocks and the awards ceremony.
Separate Schedule Blocks are $10 each. Includes entry to Awards at 9PM
Festival Schedule
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“Dreams To Believe In” – Directed by Ethan Baron. A Hopeless Romantic has a dream to find the love of his life. He decides to go on a pursuit to find the one meant for him. (Runtime: 9:47)
“The Last Stop” – Directed by Lacey Buswell. At an empty bus stop on a summer afternoon, Jeremy runs headfirst into the past he’s desperate to escape. (Runtime: 6:52)
“The Great Beyond” – Directed by Kaden Velasquez. Drew, a skeptic, visits a medium named Kaelen to question a payment request after a séance. Kaelen starts to reveal personal details about Drew’s life that he shouldn’t know, bringing up the pain of the past. (Runtime: 8:47)
“Murphy” – Directed by Rich Drees. When he oversleeps, Murphy finds an array of obstacles in his way as he races to an important rendezvous. (Runtime: 7:15)
“Running Rampant” – Directed by Alex Paul. After spotting her old high school friends, a hopeful young woman misreads their cold dismissal and spirals into a surreal mental breakdown, haunted by laughter and echos of being unwanted. (Runtime: 8:07)
“Pickup In Bethlehem” – Directed by Louise Devery. Limo driver can’t do the run. (Runtime: 1:14)
“Shaping the Spark” – Directed by Katie Dotts. A documentary about an artist who works with metal to create unique designs. (Runtime: 5:48)
“Dread The Light” – Directed by Eric Olmeda. Haunted house with a light fixture sending warnings from the other side. (Runtime: 6:05)
“Crossroads” – Directed by Emily Fortney. While walking through the city, a young woman crosses paths with someone from her past and their exchange stirs reflections on change and moving forward. (Runtime: 4:34)
“Key{stone} Lime{stone}” – Directed by Anne Ciecko. Histories and memories of industry (especially cement manufacturing in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania), domestic labor, immigration, and family are entwined in a merging of narrative poetry, stop motion animation (melding mineral and organic materials), and documentary-style video footage. (Runtime: 4:00)
“One Minute Later” – Directed by Jordan Silver. After a botched heist at a local donut shop, two amateur robbers find themselves in a total nightmare when they lose the keys to their getaway car. Forced to ditch the ride, they take off on a frantic, breathless sprint through suburban backyards and public parks to evade the law. (Runtime: 3:01)
“A Daily Struggle” – Directed by Kyle John Schaeffer. A man moves to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music, but he finds it more difficult than expected. (Runtime: 3:40)
“Date Night” – Directed by Joseph Biello. After a rough day, Rosy and Sy try to make a nice night for themselves until they’re faced with the question if their love is worth the struggle. (Runtime: 5:00
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“Memory Lane” – Directed by Tristan Banninger. A young woman revisits a relationship. (Runtime: 11:43)
“A Conversation at the End of the World” – Directed by Joey Tangradi. An argument between two sisters is interrupted by the end of the world. (Runtime: 9:28)
“GIVE/BACK” – Directed by Zackary Wilcox. After a bank heist gone wrong, Adler and her partner Mike have to decide how to best deal with the aftermath. It’s time for them to face the consequences from the organization that hired them. (Runtime: 9:20)
“A Corncob Figurine” – Directed by Darien Rayner Reimold. Thomas Shultz was a man of true creativity, a grandfather who made things others would never dream of, Corncob Figurines. Darien Reimold shares a brief summary of his late grandfathers creative works and explores how they and his grandfather had a major influence on his own creativity. (Runtime: 4:23)
“Wasting Time” – Directed by Ciana Y. Bergey. Charlie, a man stuck in a cycle, meets a girl who shows him a different type of love. (Runtime: 13:00)
“Lamentations” – Directed by Jacob Donahue. A woman is held hostage by her worst fear, and must confront the worst parts of herself. (Runtime: 8:16)
“Hephaestus and Aphrodite” – Directed by Daniel R. Allen. In the Ancient Greek myths from old antiquity, many songs were sung of Hephaestus and Aphrodite. Their fraught marriage, full of jealousy and wrath, spurred each other Into lies and betrayal. But the muse’s whisper of another tale. An unexpected love, between the hurt and the lost finding solace in each other. This re-imagining takes a new spin on one of most unexplored relationships in all of Greek Mythology, delving into the untold romance of Hephaestus and Aphrodite. Being the god of craftsmanship and artisans, Hephaestus embodies passion for one’s work. This is a form of love, and one not often associated with Aphrodite. But it is a connection they share. This is the story of the unexplored connection. (Runtime: 8:07)
“On Censorship” – Directed by Haven Skye Simmons. A look at a world where censorship has reached heightened severity. (Runtime: 5:42)
“Lez Be Honest” – Directed by Abigail Espinal. Chaos unfolds after a teen and her girlfriend plan to come out to her gay moms over dinner. (Runtime: 8:40)
“Sticks and Stones” – Directed by Kennedy Price. Malakah Williams, a creative and quietly resilient 16-year-old with a passion for sewing, hides behind her headphones and oversized clothes to cope with the relentless teasing she endures at school. (Runtime: 7:00)
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“Monolith” – Directed by Brennan Tomas Haley. In a near-apocalyptic future, a son discovers the unsettling truth about his father’s creation and embarks on a reckless mission against his mother to reconnect with him in his catatonic state. (Runtime: 11:17)
“Buch” – Directed by Vernard James. A young woman prepares to make a statement about the loss of her boyfriend. (Runtime: 8:46)
“Friends & Lovers” – Directed by Michael Sheridan. An anthology about relationships ending, changing and being forgotten. (Runtime: 9:34)
“Heather Fell” – Directed by Brandon C. Lay. A heavily mediated, unhoused fortune teller is offered her clients house to conduct her readings. (Runtime: 11:00)
“Martini” – Directed by Matthew Trezza. On the last day of filming for an amateur film, a group of filmmakers go through their own personal conflicts to obtain the Martini shot. (Runtime: 11:12)
“8The Cereal Killer” – Directed by EH Light & Anh Huynh. Four robots try to solve who amongst themselves killed their cereal. (Runtime: 6:47)
“Subject 26” – Directed by Dylan S. Baker. A young woman trapped in a black-box testing room is forced to endure escalating psychological trials until the experiment turns disturbingly personal. (Runtime: 9:37)
“Sip” – Directed by Rachel Chelsea Foster. After finding herself living in a reality far different than the one she once imagined, a young woman reflects on her journey to motherhood and grieves the life she lost along the way. (Runtime: 15:58)
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“The Other End of the Hallway” – Directed by Scott Lentz. A grieving father, shattered and isolated withdraws into a house that no longer is a home. The walls close in. Sleep disappears. Then, he hears it… A sound from the other end of the hallway. (Runtime: 10:42)
“Survive Her” – Directed by Joshua Nelson. Trapped in an abusive relationship, Pamela leans on her closest friends and sister for support—but what begins as concern quickly spirals into something far more dangerous. As fear, loyalty, and desperation collide, the group is forced to confront just how far they’re willing to go to protect one of their own. (Runtime: 15:00)
“Super Savers” – Directed by Soleil Jackson. Cut Thru Productions presents… Super Savers. When three burglars target a rare cereal-box collectible, three kids turn a grocery store into the ultimate battleground. (Runtime: 11:05)
“BlackOut” – Directed by Daniel Piazza. A young professor is stalked by theatrical killer with an oversized headmask. (Runtime: 13:10)
“Note to Self” – Directed by Ron Scott Jr. A reminder that bad decisions catch up to you. (Runtime: 1:36)
“Dinner is Sheared (a Lyle Wolfenberg cartoon)” – Directed by Eli Michael Copperman. Lyle Wolfenberg is excited to invite his parents over to his girlfriend’s house for a family dinner, but he has to learn a shocking revelation about himself beforehand. (Runtime: 4:38)
“Between The Lines” – Directed by Sarah “Soup” Campbell. A woman’s favorite book leads to her worst nightmare. (Runtime: 4:15)
“Flesh & Blood” – Directed by Connor Brost. A school-shooting survivor is compelled to confront his attacker in prison, testing the limits of both his trauma and his capacity to forgive. (Runtime: 10:07)
“The Tooth Fairy” – Directed by Trey Lyford. Chuck lives by her own code, rarely killing, but leaving her attackers toothless and helpless as she barters teeth for supplies, scraping to survive one day at a time against an onslaught of hopelessness and the burden of her own humanity. (Runtime: 13:32)
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Best in Show
Best Screenplay
Best Student Film
Best Local Film
Best Performance
Audience choice- each block