The Nightmare, a short film directed by Aurora's Jeff M. Breyer, has been announced as a Top 10 finalist in the Chiller Channel-Universal Studios Hollywood Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights Scary Good Short Film Contest. A panel of four judges, including Saw VI director Kevin Greutert, picked the 10 finalists, and the general public gets to vote on the winner. The director of the top film gets an all-expense-paid trip to the opening night of Universal Studios' Hollywood Horror Nights. More than 100 films were submitted, and Breyer said he had to rush to finish his film about a nightmare in which a guy imagines himself doing an endless stream of dishes. "Everyone you see in there is me, from the guy washing the dishes to the guy in the bed to the clown," he says. "I just want to bring originality back to filmmaking and hopefully entertain people. I do love horror, and this was the perfect opportunity for me to explore some of my dark thoughts." A hardwood-floor installer by day, Breyer has been making short films for the past three years. Check out his website, vizualcandi.com. Go to halloweenhorrornights.com/chiller to cast a vote.
The inaugural Pie Fight Film Festival takes place September 18-20 at the Karaoke Station (153 E. Aurora Rd., Northfield, 330.468.0450, the karaokestation.com). The festival will feature five different competitions and three free workshops. While most of the competitions are comedy-oriented, the 48-hour video-making challenge and the music-video competition are not. "We have about 30 films of various lengths we'll be showing," says organizer John Varga, an attorney who specializes in entertainment law. "We have one from Spain called The Gynecologist, which is a 22-minute short. So we can call ourselves an international festival. We're also trying to get some stand-up comedians to perform in between shows. We want as much of the local crowd involved as we can. It should be a fun weekend." Admission is free. Go to piefightfilmfest.com for more information.
The Struggle for Existence is a new documentary film about the very different Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the Creation Museum in Cincinnati. The film, which includes extensive interviews with members from each institution, has a special free screening at 7 p.m. Thursday, September 17, at Case Western Reserve University's Strosacker Auditorium (2125 Adelbert Rd., 216.368.2463). Go to films.cwru.edu for more info.
