Utah Filmmaker Showcase

Utah Filmmaker Showcase: Historical Drama Local Shorts

July 22, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Location: Utah Film Center
Free

The Artist Foundry presents a special evening of local short narrative films set in the past but whose themes reach into the present.

Gun for Hire
Directed by Brexten Bezzant
Kit Bartlett, a green boy from the east, wants to settle some disputed land in the newly inhabited western territories.

That Hideous Place
Directed by Weber Griffiths
On the war-torn fields of 1918 France a young American soldier from small town Utah finds himself trapped in a muddy and dark shell hole, forced to spend the night with a haunting dead body.

Combat Fatigue
Directed by Tim Ballard
Separated behind enemy lines during World War II, a young American paratrooper battles enemy forces and his own war-scarred psyche to find his way back to safety.

Lone Mountain
Directed by Tanner Browning
A miner while returning to his homestead finds himself trapped in a mysterious time loop at an abandoned campsite. As each cycle deepens, he uncovers buried truths from his past—and the key to breaking free.

A moderated discussion and Q&A with filmmakers to follow after the screening. Read more about the filmmakers and our moderator below.

Alex Vejar

Moderator Bio:

Alex Vejar is a cinephile, journalist, and musician from Los Angeles. His passion for storytelling began with songwriting and led him to a career in sports writing that eventually brought him to Utah in 2018. He started his film programming journey with the Utah Queer Film Festival in 2022. He currently runs the Fear No Film Festival and is an Associate Programmer of Comedy for the Salute Your Shorts Film Festival. He’s also worked on the programming committee of the Utah Film Center’s Artist Foundry, and screened for several other festivals, including Sundance.

Brexten Bezzant

Brexten Bezzant is a UVU student studying screenwriting for film. He is passionate about storytelling, expression, and community.

Tanner Browning

Tanner is an award winning filmmaker who just started his directing debut with the Montana epic “Lone Mountain” and decided along with his brother to shoot his project on film. Tanner along with his brother are advocates for the format and want to bring traditional filmmaking back into our modern day.

Tim Ballard

Tim Ballard is a filmmaker, director, editor/VFX artist, and actor, with a passion for telling authentic human stories through film. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Media Arts from Brigham Young University and further developed his craft during a film-focused study abroad program in London. Tim creates, acts in, and directs short films that often explore adventure, personal connection, and difficult topics. His love of travel inspired a short documentary chronicling his experience climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Tim hopes to develop a feature film in the near future while continuing to spotlight compelling stories from diverse voices around the world. In addition to his narrative work, Tim creates comedy content online, blending performance, music, and unconventional humor.

Weber Griffiths

A Salt Lake City native with deep Utah roots, Weber Griffiths is a director, cinematographer, and writer whose award-winning short films have premiered at festivals around the world. He’s currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Film Production at the University of Utah, while also teaching and working professionally. Rooted in his family’s generations-long Utah heritage, Weber’s work is driven by a commitment to sincere personal storytelling and the craft of visual expression.

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