Desync
2025 NOMINEE - BEST STUDENT FILM
2023
Canada
12 mins
English, Tagalog
Short Film Competition
| Minerva Navasca | |
| Asa Kazerani | |
| Jadyn Nasato (Ana), Jennifer Villaverde (Celine), Angelica Alejandro (Joyce), Tatiana Ashton (Francesca) |
Ana, a young Filipina filmmaker, shoots a re-enactment of a fight she once had with her mother – a fight brought on by mutual refusals to communicate. Spurred on by the obsessive need for perfection, Ana “fixes” the fight by rewriting every veiled insult into a chance for forgiveness. As her perfect story diverges further from the reality of what happened, she begins to realise what her mom has been trying to say all along.
About the Director
Minerva Navasca is a Filipina-Canadian filmmaker exploring narratives of cultural dysphoria and girlhood with intimate specificity. Stating, “I want to make films about subjects that make me uncomfortable,” Minerva delves into perspectives steeped in anxiety and internalized shame, using the medium to interrogate the socio-political roots of these beliefs.
Reviews
REEL TALK: MINERVA NAVASCA – The Produced, by Thanh Lieu
Review: Desync – film 613, by Zach Chabot
BINISAYA 2024: Mga Salida Para Sa Atoa – Sinegang.ph, by Linus Masandag
Canadian Film Fest 2024: Six More Shorts – The Asian Cut, by Jericho Tadeo
Short Film Review: Desync (2023) by Minerva Navasca – Asian Movie Pulse, by Panos Kotzathanasis
‘Desync’ short film sa isang kolehiyo sa Canada, sentro sa relasyon ng mga first at second generation Filipino Canadians – OMNI Television, by Theresa Barrera
Photos (Click on Photo to View)
Awards
2023 Canadian Cinema Editors Awards (Canada) – Student Merit Award
2023 Reelworld Film Festival (Canada) – Outstanding Short Film Producer
2024 Alpavirama International Youth Film Festival (India) – Silver Comma (International Fiction) and Merit: Best Edit (Fiction)
2024 Canadian Society of Cinematographers Awards (Canada) – Winner, Student Cinematography
2024 Cordillera Film Festival – Best Student Film
2024 Durham Region International Film Festival (Canada) – Best Student Film
2024 FascinAsian Film Festival (Canada) – Best Performance in a Short (Jadyn Nasato)
2024 Forest City Film Festival (Canada) – Best Narrative Short
2024 Micheaux Film Festival – Outstanding Student Project
2024 Ottawa Canadian Film Festival (Canada) – Jury Prize
2024 Singapore Youth Film Festival (Singapore) – Best Editing & Best Screenplay (Open Youth)
2024 TIFF Next Wave (Canada) – Best Writing
2024 Vancouver Asian Film Festival (Canada) – Best Director for a Canadian Short
