WINNERS: May 2025 ROMANCE/RELATIONSHIPS Festival

Showcase of the best ROMANCE/RELATIONSHIP FILMS in the world today.

Audience Awards:
Best Short Film: TALK TO ME LIKE THE RAIN
Best Direction: SHE LOVES HER JOHN
Best Performances: TRAINGAZIING
Best Romantic Film: THE ABIDING
Best Music Video: JP Cenzo – What You Want
Best Story: SUN POISONING

JP Cenzo – What You Want (It’s Not Me) Official Story Video, 4min,. USA
Directed by Paul Cenzoprano
JP Cenzo band music story video, the birth, life and death of a relationship.

https://www.instagram.com/jpcenzo/

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-jp-cenzo-what-you-want

The Abiding, 11min., USA
Directed by Ally May
A lonely woman reminieces about the three great loves of her life while she decides if trying again is a risk worth taking.

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-the-abiding-film

She Loves Her John, 7min., USA
Directed by Ivan Alejandro Rivero
“She Loves Her John” is a story about redemption, the feelings that arise after betrayal, and the thoughts of moving forward.

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-she-loves-her-john-film

TRAINGAZING, 14min,. USA
Directed by Alexia Howard
A serendipitous meeting on a train leads to an electrifying conversation between two passengers. However, with one having an imminent departure looming, their budding romance faces uncertainty.

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-traingazing-film

Talk to Me Like the Rain, 15min., USA
Directed by Eloise Lola Gordon, Rose Trimboli
This is a story about the lies we tell in the name of love. In this adaptation of Tennesse Williams’ one-act “Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Lie Here and Listen”, a couple grapples with opening up about their deepest desires while knowing that the truth of what they both want would hurt the other more than anything. This short film explores how people lie to themselves and each other in order to not feel the pain that the truth sometimes brings with it. In relationships, whether we minimize the gravity of a situation or deny ourselves the extent of our desires, it’s simpler to avoid honesty and stay in comfortable cycles than to face the unknown that comes with picking up and moving on.

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-talk-to-me-like-the-rain-film

Sun Poisoning, 13min,. Canada
Directed by Chelsea Hana Williams
Sun Poisoning is a coming-of-age short film that follows Ellie and Neil – a young couple who begin to realize that the foundation of their lifelong relationship is not as steadfast as they once thought. Coming to terms with losing what was once an anchor point of certainty, they embark on a poignant journey as they navigate towards unfamiliar roads.

https://www.instagram.com/sunpoisoning.shortfilm/

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-sun-poisoning-film