Cautionary Tales (Award Winning Short Film)

"A bizarre incident as a young boy left Aaron with an unusual facial disfigurement that has plagued him all his life. Isolated and vulnerable, Aaron seeks comfort in the friendship and understanding of an unexpected group of outcasts"

AWARDS
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BEST FILM 'Liechtenstein Short Film Festival' Liechtenstein
BEST SCRIPT 'Maniatic Int'l Film Festival' Spain
SPECIAL MENTION 'Manchester Film Festival' UK

2017
-
Official Selection 'Short Shorts Film Festival' Japan- Oscar®
Official Selection 'Flickerfest' Australia - Oscar®
Official Selection 'Foyle Film Festival' Northern Ireland - Oscar®
Official Selection 'LA Short Film Festival' USA - Oscar®
Official Selection 'Edinburgh Film Festival' UK
Official Selection 'San Diego Film Festival' USA
Official Selection 'Bolton Film Festival' UK
Official Selection 'Fancine Film Festival' Spain
Official Selection 'Fantastisk Film Festival' Sweden
Official Selection 'This Is England Film Festival' France
Official Selection 'Kino Fest' Romania
Official Selection 'Orlando Film Festival' USA
Official Selection 'Lusca Fantastic Film Fest' USA
Official Selection 'Kerry Film Festival' Ireland
Official Selection 'Kinsale Sharks' Ireland
Official Selection 'Chiddingly Chillerama' UK
Official Selection 'Catacumba Film Festival' Spain
Official Selection 'Colchester Film Festival' UK
Official Selection 'Hollywood North Film Festival' Canada
Official Selection 'Winchester Short Film Festival' UK
Official Selection 'Soria International Film Festival' Spain
Official Selection 'San Sebastian Fantasy Film Festival' Spain
Official Selection 'Red Rock Film Festival' USA 2017
Official Selection 'Weyauwega Int'l Film Festival' USA
Official Selection 'Make It Short Film Festival' UK
Official Selection 'Duhok Int'l Film Festival' Iraqi
Official Selection 'White Whale Film Festival' USA
Official Selection 'NEO International Film Festival' USA

2018
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Official Selection 'Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival' USA
Official Selection 'Four Seasons Film Festival' UK
Official Selection 'Artfools Int'l Film Festival' Greece

CREDITS
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WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY
Us

PRODUCTION COMPANY
Academy Films

PRODUCER
Medb Riordan

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Lizie Gower & Simon Cooper

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Sebastian Winterø

PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Francesca Di Mottola

CASTING
Hammond Cox Casting

EDITOR
Sam Rice-Edwards

EDIT HOUSE
Assembly Rooms

MUSIC BY
Half Moon Run

SOUND STUDIO
Wave Studios

SOUND DESIGNER
Jonny Platt

COSTUME DESIGNER
Rebecca Hale

HEAD OF PROSTHETICS
Matthew Smith

GRADE
Jason Wallis

POST PRODUCTION
Electric Theatre

DESIGN & ART DIRECTION
Fieldwork Facility

ILLUSTRATOR
Giulia Ghigni

CAST
-
AARON
Ross Hatt

MARK
Anthony Barton

JENNY
Abigail Davies

TERESA
Michele Whitehead

NORMAN
Andrew Murton

SARAH
Laura Evelyn

STEVE
Selom Awadzi

KID ON BUS
Lucas Salem

GALE
Skye Bennett

[Nyoronette]

"It's at times like this that I really wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young."
"Why? What did she tell you?"
"I don't know. I didn't listen."

[YouTubeallowedmynametobestolen]

I cannot remember ever seeing a movie or video in which the "Aha" moment comes during the closing credits.
Brilliant.

[lyn]

okay wow i was so confused why sarah called herself veronica like..for what purpose? turns out shes ''the girl who told too many lies''. AMAZING

[YouTubeallowedmynametobestolen]

FIRST THOUGHT: Wallace of Wallace and Gromit makes faces like that.

[BelFinnova]

Idk about you guys, but at the ending when they're just staring at eachother, that made me so happy.

[TylerCassidyMusic]

Well if this wasn’t the sweetest thing ever

[silverstategarage]

The pain on Alan's face was palpable. How do you make a character pull on your heart so much in so little time?? Well done!

[josephfrancoya]

I've scrolled past this SO many times thinking it was going to be a claymation video lol

[JesseDanLee]

If you just hang in there long enough you'll meet someone else with your special kind of damage - that's all any of us can really hope for.

[cedarmay]

Things told to us as children follow us into adult hood. Even though you can’t physically see them they’re always there.

[A.M.D.S.]

Just in case someone here needs to know: the song is Everybody Wants, by Half Moon Run

[igkgigoh]

The blind guy stroking his cane... I *see* what you did there.

[jim]

Should've had someone with square eyes from sitting too close to the TV.

[kjell]

So this is why my vision has been going blurry lately.

[agee]

i would just like to add, in the uk we always left the crust so our mothers would tell us that they would make our hair curly if we ate them, like in a positive way.

[dyrim]

This is a perfectly-acted short film. That moment when he looked at the person beside him after seeing the girl, that moment when he was looking for a validation of how beautiful the moment is. Perfectly crafted

[chinookvalley]

Why am I crying so hard? This was absolutely wonderful. I've been scarred, and I'm not alone. Thanks for being here, with me.

[ralphschraven]

I like how the artists don't mind helping us out of the dark and giving us a clear picture of the concept in the film. I'm not too familiar with all these children's tales and got that they probably all personified one tale but didn't quite understand how. Then the credits rolled. Terrific!

[MikeBoothFilm]

This is really great - such a wonderfully simple concept charmingly made. Aaron is great, says so much with his eyes. Makeup was beautiful, too. Congrats.

[debrabertelli]

I remember all these from when I was a child. This short is on my top 10. It's perfect. When she walked in the room, I got chills and a smile from ear-to-ear and a tear in my eye. Its got everything.