Keepsake (2024)
8 minutes, digital, narrative
A young college student attempts to unravel the mysterious circumstances that surrounded the death of her sister ten years prior.
Flare (2023)
4:30 minutes, digital, experimental animation
Watercolor No. 2. Dancing, pulsing, pushing, pulling. Watercolor panels reject words and embrace the therapeutic effects of light, color, and rhythm. A continuation of the Murmur series.
Awards
Best Experimental Short, Denver Underground, November 2023
Finalist: Best Animated Film, Austin Micro Film Festival, July 2023
Best Art Film, Mannheim Arts and Film Festival, June 2023
Screenings
Denver Underground Film Festival, Denver, CO, November 2023
Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington, NC, November 2023
Centre Film Festival, Philipsburg, PA, October 2023
14th Stranglscope Experimental Audio, Video / Film and Performance International Film Festival, Florianópolis, Brazil, October 2023
XII Encuentro Para Cinefagos, San Cristobal, Táchira, Venezuela, October 2023
Austin Micro Film Festival, Austin, TX, July 2023
Experimental Brazil, Campos Dos Goytacazes, Rio De Janeiro, July 23
Mannheim Arts and Film Festival, Mannheim, Germany, June 2023
To Live and Die in the Shadows: Meditations on Ferns, Survival, and Horizontal Gene Transfer (2021)
6-minutes, 16mm and digital, experimental documentary
180 million years ago, through a chance horizontal gene transfer, ferns acquired a much needed light sensor (neochrome) that allowed them to modify and survive in low light environments. We should all be so lucky.
Awards
Juror’s Choice Award, Centre Film Festival, 2022
Best Environmental & Climate Short Mannheim Arts and Film Festival, 2022
Screenings
Cape Town International Animation Festival, Cape Town, South Africa, September 2023
Guttercast, Wilmington, NC, August 2023
Carrboro Film Festival, Carrboro, NC, November 2022
Centre Film Festival, Philipsburg, PA, October 2022
Beijing International Short Film Festival, Beijing, Beijing, October 2022
Savonlinna International Nature Film Festival, Savonlinna, Finland August 2022
Mannheim Arts and Film Festival, Mannheim, Germany, June 2022
Brooklyn Film Festival, Brooklyn, NY, June 2022
California Capital Documentary Film Festival, Sacramento, CA, June 2022
Long Leaf Film Festival, Raleigh, NC, June 2022
Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, Minneapolis, MN, May 2022
Uptilt Film Festival, Wilmington, NC, May 2022
Humboldt Film Festival, Arcata, CA, April 2022
Athens Film + Video Festival, Athens, OH, April 2022
Cameron Art Museum’s State of the Arts, Wilmington, NC, April 2022
Cosmic Rays, Chapel Hill, NC, April 2022
American Documentary And Animation Film Festival and Film Fund, Palm Springs, CA, March 2022
FLEX Fest, Tampa, FL, February 2022
Wild & Scenic Film Festival, Nevada, CA, January 2022
Central Florida Film Festival, Orlando, FL, January 2022
Blue Danube Film Festival, Vienna, Austria, January 2022
Festival Angaelica, Pasadena, California, December 2021
Denver Underground Film Festival, Denver, CO, November 2021
Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington, NC, November 2021
Toronto Women’s International Film Festival, Toronto, Canada, November 2021
Nature & Culture - Poetry Film Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark, November 2021
Hummingbird International Film Festival, Kolkata, West Bengal, November 2021
Green Mountain International Film Festival, Burlington, Vermont, October 2021
Antimatter [MediaArt], Victoria, British Columbia, October 2021
Charlotte Film Festival, Charlotte, NC, October 2021
Imagine Science Film Festival, New York City, NY, October 2021
Dallas Video Fest 33, Dallas, TX, October 2021
Amerta Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey, September 2021
Boden International Film Festival, Boden, Sweden, August 2021
Hallucinea Film Festival, Paris, France, August 2021
Invitationals
Port City Shorties, Wilmington, NC, April 2023
Cosmic Rays Touring Program, Fall 2022/Spring 23
Cameron Art Museum’s State of the Arts, Wilmington, NC,
Imagine Science New Wave Luminaries, streaming - membership platform
Labocine Body Festival, online, August 2022
Mills Folly Microcinema, Madison, WI, August 2022
Murmur (2021)
2-minutes, digital, experimental animation
Watercolor No. 1. Murmur: A faint sound typically signaling disease or damage. A rumor. Sometimes the heart betrays you.
Screenings
Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington, NC, November 2022
Panama Horror Film Festival, Panama City, Panama, February 2022
London Short Film Festival, London, England, January 2022
Melbourne International Underground Film Festival, Melbourne, Australia, October 2021
The Party (2021)
narrative, horror (Co-Writer, in development)
A woman discovers a malignant presence posing as the daughter of her two best friends, and must band together with a hodgepodge of guests at a birthday party to figure out how to get rid of her. (Co-Written with Tiffany Albright)
Awards
Semi-finalist, 2022 Vancouver International Women in Film Festival Screenplay Competition
Shoot the Duck (2018)
8-minute, narrative, digital
Mia has set her sight on winning her local skating rinks 8th Annual "Shoot the Duck" skate contest, but she must keep her cool under pressure or lose the competition before it even begins. With the help of her two best friends, and a strong belief in her own skills, she might just take home the grand prize (brand new skates!) and show everyone that strong girls really do skate fast.
Screenings
Maryland International Film Festival, Hagerstown, MD, August 2021
University Film and Video Association Film Festival, July 2021
Twin Rivers Media Festival, Asheville, NC, postponed TBA
Portland Film Festival, Portland, OR, October/November 2020
Philadelphia Ind. Film Festival, Philadelphia, PA, June 2020
Carrboro Film Festival, Carrboro, NC November 2019
Central Florida Film Festival, Orlando, FL, September 2019
Sidewalk Film Festival, Birmingham, AL, August 2019
CMS International Film Festival, Lucknow, India, April 2019
RiverRun Film Festival, Winston Salem, NC, April 2019
Cinema Sisters Film Festival, Wilmington, NC, March 2019
Omaha Film Festival, Omaha, NE, March 2019
Indie Grits Film Festival, Columbia, SC, March 2019
Dallas Video Fest 31, Dallas, TX, February, 2019
Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington, NC, November 2018
Baby Oil (2017)
12-minute, digital, narrative
Stranded without a car in the middle of nowhere North Carolina, a young mother digs in and rides out a severe storm while internally struggling with what to do next regarding her marriage and her life.
Screenings
Central Florida Film Festival, Orlando, FL, July 2018
Glass City Film Festival, Toledo, OH, May 2018
Longleaf Film Festival, Raleigh, NC, May 2018
Indie Grits Film Festival, Columbia, SC, April 2018
Chick Flicks Film Festival, Wilmington, NC, March 2018
NC Arts Fellows Gallery Exhibit at Cameron Art Museum, March-September 2018
Persephone’s Daughters Film Festival, St. Paul, MN, February 2018
James River Filmmaker’s Forum, Richmond, VA, February 2018
Miami Independent Monthly Film Festival, Miami, FL, November 2017
Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington, NC, November 2017
River’s Edge International Film Festival, Paducah, KY, November 2017
Massachusetts Independent Film Festival , Cambridge, MA, August 2017
It’s A Girl Thing (2012)
56-minute, digital, animation, documentary
“It’s a Girl Thing: Tween Queens and the Commodification of Girlhood” speaks with consumer critics, tween brand marketers, girls, moms, and educators to explore the seemingly benign cultural universe of hyper-commercialized girl culture to reveal the complex and contradictory messages directed at young girls. Historical research, playful reenactments, and found footage allow the film to look closely, and critically, at the tween market's evolution and the role of Disney and Nickelodeons’ tween queens (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Britney Spears, Hilary Duff, Miley Cryus, Miranda Cosgrove, Kiki Palmer, Selena Gomez, and more) in the market's explosion.
Teaser clip above. If you are interested in purchasing the full 56-minute feature documentary for educational viewing, please email shannonsilvafilms@gmail.com.
Screenings / Conference Presentations
ISA XVIII World Congress of Sociology Conference, Yokohama, Japan, July 2014
77th Annual Southern Sociology Conference, Charlotte, NC, April 2014
Child and Teen Consumption Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland, April 2014
North American Conference of the Assoc. of Consumer Research, Chicago, IL, October 2013
Popular Culture Association in the South and American Culture Association in the South Conference, Savannah, GA, October 2013
S.U.R.G.E Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA April 2013
Southeastern Women’s Sociology Assoc. Conference, Greensboro, NC April 2013
Artivist Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA Nov 2012
Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington, NC Nov 2012
St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, St. Johns, NL, CA Oct 2012
LA Femme Film Festival, Beverly Hills, CA Oct 2012
Chicago International Social Change Film Festival, Chicago, IL Oct 2012
Docutah Film Festival, St. George, UT Sept 2012
Central Florida Film Festival, Orlando, FL Sept 2012
Philadelphia Independent Film Festival, Philadelphia, PA June 2012
Twin Rivers Film Festival, Asheville, NC May 2012
JumpaJumpa (2009)
4-minute, 16mm, digital, experimental
A musical love letter to the filmmaker’s first-born child after years of dealing with infertility. Shot on black and white, 16mm, hand-processed film, and vibrant, color, digital video JumpaJumpa's message sent is an ode to joy, "everything is well, because...now...you are here." 16mm.
Screenings
Praxis Film Festival, Goldsboro, NC Jan 2012
North Carolina Family Film Festival, Winton, NC July 2011
Humboldt Film Festival, Arcata, CA April 2010
Athens International Film + Video Fest, Athens, OH April 2010
29 Places I Once Called Home (2006)
20-minute, Super-8mm, 16mm, experimental, documentary
From motels and trailer parks along the east coast to a ranch house in suburban, small town Texas, this 20-minute, experimental documentary utilizes super 8mm and 16mm footage along with family interviews to explore the multi-layered connections between poverty, frequent relocation, substance abuse, family violence and memory instability. 16mm/Super 8mm.
Screenings
Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington, NC November 2007
Rural Route at Anthology Archives, New York, NY July 2007
Kozienalia 2007, Lublin, Poland May 2007
University of Tennessee School of Art, Knoxville, TN May 2007
Athens International Film + Video Fest, Athens, OH April 2007
Iowa City Documentary Festival, Iowa City, IA April 2007
Hearts and Minds Film Festival, Wilmington, DE March 2007
FLEX ’06: Florida Exp Film Festival, Gainesville, FL November 2006
International Diversity Film Market, Washington, DC September 2006
Dallas Video Festival, Dallas, TX August 2006
UFVA: Next Frame Film Fest, Los Angeles, CA August 2006
And Happiness Everywhere (2004)
7-minute, Super 8mm, experimental, documentary
An intimate, four-month, diary film in which the filmmaker faces her conflicting emotions about being a newly married, thirty-something woman trying to negotiate between being an artist, being a wife, and, potentially, becoming a mother. Super 8mm.
Screenings
Michigan Womyn’s Film Festival, Walhalla, MI August 2008
Women & Their Work Gallery, Austin, TX Aug – Sept, 2006
11 Media Arts Center, Seattle, WA October 2005
Yes, Yes Allegiance, Olympia, WA October 2005
Liberty Hall Comm. Center, Portland, OR October 2005
Long Haul Info Shop, Berkeley, CA October 2005
Artists’ Television Access, San Fracisco, CA October 2005
Girl Fest, Honolulu, HI Sept. 2005
Ms. Films Tour, Athens, GA June 2005
Hi Mom! 8, Chapel Hill, NC June 2005
Northern Lights Film Festival At Michigan Tech Univ., Houghton, MI March 2005
Cans Film Festival at William & Mary College, Williamsburg, VA March 2005
Women In the Dir. Chair, Chicago, IL March 2005
Ms. Films Film Festival, Durham, NC February 2005
Milwaukee International Festival, Milwaukee, WI October 2004
Bearded Child, Grand Rapids, MN August 2004
The Unbelievable Act of Totally Disappearing (2003)
5-minute, 16mm, experimental, documentary
Using animation, hand-manipulated film techniques, and original home movie footage from the day the director came home from the hospital, this film explores physical, temporal and emotional family distance in the age of technology. 16mm.
Screenings
Neuer Standort, Vienna, Austria November 2004
111Minna Gallery, San Francisco, CA September 2004
World Unity Festival, New York, NY September 2004
Axiom Theatre, Houston, TX September 2004
The Revival House, Westerly, RI September 2004
Chaos Studios Art Space, Colorado Springs, CO September 2004
Flicker Chapel Hill Unbelievable Act Chapel Hill, NC October 2003
Brooklyn Underground Film Festival, New York, NY October 2003
Flicker Austin, Austin, TX October 2003
Light Reading, Iowa City, IA September 2003