CINELATION | Movie Reviews by Christopher Beaubien
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Siren
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SIREN (2020)

“SIREN” Electronic Press Kit (EPK)

Award-Winning Horror/Thriller Film (16 Minutes)

Driving on a highway late at night, distracted driver April (Dalit Holzman) and her combative lover Brooke (Erin Morgan) are pulled over for speeding by two sinister police officers (Eryka Alanna and Madison Isolina). During a strange and increasingly frightening interrogation, the two women find themselves under the power of a supernatural force that changes everything they ever knew about themselves… and each other.


DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Sex and death are the two main subjects that obsess artists and storytellers; however, I would propose that a close third is mind control. Having made “Socket” (2016), a dark satire that explores social expectations and body horror, my new short film “Siren” tackles the horrors of brainwashing. In this new age that favours information and literal-mindedness over dreams and aesthetics, my intent was to make a visually striking horror movie where its victims are trapped in a nightmarish realm.

In a state of highway hypnosis, the movie begins with traffic lights illuminating and obstructing the screen like thought balloons, while a driver’s internal voice overlaps into a subconscious stream of heartbreak, desperation and rage. When the police lights strike and the streetlights vanish, the first of many questions is whether the natural world has disappeared, or if we’re going deeper into the driver’s psychosis past the point of no return. For the driver and her willful lover, the real horror is how vulnerable and susceptible they are to madness.


FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS

Written and directed by Christopher Beaubien, “Siren” has been featured in 85 festivals all around the world including the Hard:Line International Film Festival in Germany, which prizes “unusual storytelling methods (and) an exotic visual language… that could be important in the future of the genre.”

SIREN has also earned 16 award wins and 24 nominations.

PEEPHOLE filmfest
Winner for Best Horror Short Film

Vancouver Independent Film Festival
Winner for Best Thriller Short Award for the Spring 2022

Snow Leopard International Film Festival
Winner for Best Horror Short Award
Nominated for Best Color Editing (Christopher Beaubien and Benjamin Dawson) and Best Sound Design (Noah Meyer)

The South African Independent Film Festival
Winner for the Best Experimental Film

The Strange Days Horror Fest
Winner for Best International Short Film Award for September 2023

The Rio Grind Film Festival
Winner for Best Cinematography (Benjamin Dawson)

Montreal Requiem Fear Fest
Winner for Best Actress (Dalit Holzman)
Nominated for Best Canadian Short Film

HORROR-RAMA 2022 International Short Film Festival
Winner for Best Actress – Scream Queen (Erin Morgan)

Demonic Brilliance Film Festival
Winner for Best Visual Effects (Christopher Beaubien)
Runner Up for Best Cinematography (Benjamin Dawson)

Fantasy Day Film Festival
Winner for Technical Achievement

Mad Monster Party Film Festival
Winner for Best Sound Design (Noah Meyer)

Tuesday of Horror
Nominated for Best Horror Short Film and Best Editing (Christopher Beaubien)

GenreBlast Film Fest
Nominated for Best Cinematography (Benjamin Dawson)

L’Hospitalet de Llobregat International Film Festival
Nominated for the Best International Film, Best Director (Christopher Beaubien), Best Cinematography (Benjamin Dawson) and Best Actress (Dalit Holzman)

Shockfest Film Festival
Winner for Best One-Sheet Movie Poster
Nominated for Best Cinematography (Benjamin Dawson) and Best Director’s Reel

Mumbai International Cult Film Festival
Outstanding Achievement Awards:
Best Thriller Short and Best Cinematography (Benjamin Dawson)
Nominated for Best Editor and Best Sound Design (Noah Meyer)

Haunted House FearFest
Semi-Finalist for Best Movie Under 20 Minutes

Vancouver Movie Awards
Semi-Finalist for Best Short Horror

Sofia International Film Festival
Nominated for Best Thriller

Milwaukee Twisted Dreams Film Festival
Nominated for Best Ensemble, Best Actress (Erin Morgan), Best Supporting Actress (Madison Isolina) and Best Cinematography (Benjamin Dawson)

Houston Horror Film Festival
Nominated for Best Cinematography (Benjamin Dawson)

Underground Indie Film Festival
Winner for the Most Creative Film Award

Genre Celebration Festival
Nominated for Best Horror Short and Best Cinematography (Benjamin Dawson)

The 5th Annual Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival
Nominated for Best Lesbian Short Film

Oregon Scream Week Horror Film Festival
Nominated for the Best International Film Award

HARD:LINE International Film Festival
Splat!FilmFest – International Fantastic Film Festival
A Night of Horror Film Festival
HorrorHound Film Festival Spring
Portland Horror Film Festival
Idaho Horror Film Festival
Visioni Notturne – Horror Film Festival
Russian International Horror Film Awards
Cineworks: Independent Filmmakers Society
South Carolina Underground Film Festival
NOX FILM FEST Salto International Horror and Fantasy Film Fest
FIXION Fest, Fantastic & Horror Film Festival
Apulia Horror International Film Festival
Cinemafantastique 5
The Dark Hedges International Horror Film Festival
Dead in Decatur Presents: The Art of Fear
Dead Northern Horror Film Festival
New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival
Haunted House FearFest
CELLUDROID Sci-Fi Film Festival
HorrorHound Film Festival Spring

Something Wicked Film Festival
Trí Rivers Film Festival
New West Film Fest
FOGFEST – Newfoundland & Labrador’s Horrror Film Festival

Secret Treaties – Strange Political Bedfellows
FKM, Fantastic Film Festival of A Coruña
Happenstance Horror Fest
Obscura Filmfestival
Siding Festival of Film
Makizhmithran International Film Festival

Rock And Metal International Film Festival
CRASH – International Fantastic Film Festival
Dante Sunset Film Fest
Ufology and Paranormal Phenomena International Film Festival

The Sick ‘n’ Wrong Film Festival
Chaos Film Fest
Pumpkin Fantasy Film Festival
Bizarrya Short Film Festival
Hallucinea Film Festival
Purgatory Film Festival
Videoscream International Film Festival
antikyno
Blood Moon International Horror Festival
TopShot International Film Festival
Paradise Film Festival
FlickFair
Genre Star
Glasgow Horror Festival
LA Underground Film Forum (Honorable Mention)
The Fear Faire Film Festival (Finalist)
Boobs and Blood International Film Festival (Finalist)
Hollywood Horrorfest (Finalist)
Boden International Film Festival (Finalist)
Nasty Frames Independent Film Festival (Finalist)
Shiver International Film Festival (Finalist)
Blow-up Film Festival (Semi-Finalist)
Vancouver Independent MovieMaker Awards (Semi-Finalist)
Horror Unleashed (Semi-Finalist)
JellyFEST – Season 6 (Semi-Finalist)
The Optical Theatre Horror Film Festival (Semi-Finalist)


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