Nick Snyder

The Forbidden Zone is a stop-motion short film about Dumont, a botanist, who has quarantined in an abandoned train station. The world has become saturated by a toxic fog that destroys all life forms and replaces oxygen with poison. He spends his days fighting to survive, as his resources quickly dwindle. On a night when all seems lost, a nymph crashes outside Dumont’s bunker. In a sudden act of bravery, he dons his final tank of oxygen and leaves the safety of the station. Gathering the wounded Nymph in his arms, Dumont risks his life to return the glowing creature to the peak of the red mountain. In his quest to save his new charge, Dumont risks his life and, in doing so, discovers hope beyond the fog.

San Diego-based, Grammy-award-winning rock band Switchfoot gave four local teen filmmakers behind-the-scenes access to their 10th annual Bro-Am surf contest and concert, which has raised more than a million dollars for San Diego underprivileged teens. The Canyon Crest Academy student filmmakers who created this documentary attend the same public school district where members of Switchfoot grew up and developed their love for music, surf, and beach culture. A production of the school program CCA-TV and Envision Cinema, this short film focuses on the band members' desire to give back to the community that invested in them when they were teens.

On a remote Oregon farm, a couple grieving from a miscarriage finds hope in a mysterious flower. But as it heals her, the flower takes root in him. Nurture is a dialogue-free folk-horror fable about love, grief, and the consequences of taking too much from nature.