QefdJNgPrENPh06SpVDKS6WIslqiFrH3wgYLGtivIjs

2025 BlueCat Quarterfinalists

We are proud to announce the 2025 BlueCat Quarterfinalists for features and shorts!

Congratulations to our Quarterfinalists and thank you to everyone who submitted!

Semifinalists will be announced on March 11th, 2025.

 

THE QUARTERFINALISTS

 

FEATURES

158 features out of 1,862 submissions 

112 In The Shade by Brandon Soderberg

A Band of Wolves by Reynaldo Leal

A Better Future by Roger Hart

A Christmas Tale by Giovanni D’Amaro

A Hue Of Darkness by Ludrik Hooi

A Noble Path by Stephen Barber

A Seeping Wound by Darryl Wimberley

A Visit From My Teenage Self by The Mad Hapa

After What Happened at the Library by Kyle Casey Chu & Roisin Isner

Afterbirth by Rob Napoletani

Among the Green Mounds by Scott Keen

Artifice by Jason Yearout

Assistants by Nick Giedris

Astronomy Walkers by Reno Anastasio

Baby Rattler by Scott Corbett

Back Door to Heaven by Ronald L. Ecker

Bauble by Scot Kleinman

Blackness of Space, Whiteness of Bones by Melissa L. White

Bloomsday by Josie Maynard

Blue Bunny Ears by Yan Jia-Wen

Bowl 145 to Stay Alive by Terry Lynam

Brilliant by Madeleine Lowinger

Brother by Justin Rossbacher

Call of the Void by Rebecca Moretti

Can’t Buy Me Love by Dan McNeil & Jasmine Aziz

Cancelled by Bronwyn King

Children of Violence by Mark S DiPaola

Clay by Phil Blake

Cold Hard Cash by Tom Silva

Confessions of a Lab Rat by Erin McMullen & Roy McMullen

Counterpoint by Arden Earnest

Crab by Abi Perpall

Daddy Issues by Shannon Hardy & Ariel Sayegh

Danger! Love by Jonathan Irwin

Dark Sunset by Richard Ehrenreich

Demons by Shiva Ramanathan

Derek Monsoon and the Magical Mist by Michael L. Williams

E.L.Fin by Joseph Allen Costa

Earthly Delights by Evan Goodrich

Ebony Scrooge by Sandra J. Scott

Ergo Sum by Anthony Harris

Eye of the Storm by Richard H. Opper

Faithful Wife and Hooker by John Connell

Fatebenefratelli by Rogerio Boo

Finding Solace by Michael Mendershausen

Flathead by Iain Anderson

Free Loader by Colton Patrick Walter

Freehand by Julie Pearson Little Thunder

Gavalovski by Max Loria

Ghosting by Einar Thor

Ghosts of Sitka by Matt Donlan & Matthew Sawczyn

Gloom and Boom! by Omid Niliaram

Go To Hell by Benjamin Font & Emanuel Borria

God’s Acre by Marcus Rinehart

Going Out of Business by Lee LaMarche

Granny The Pirate by Deirdre Brennan

Gypsum by Tom Sime

Hart Crane by David Kaneen

Hollywoodland Noir by Lowell Thomas

Homecoming King by Leah Yip

How To Have Sex On Antidepressants by Mrittika Sarin

Hushville by Jeff Ellis

I’m Begging You to Date Me by Fiona Kida

In A Full Moon’s Fortnight by Caroline Rovello

Indication of Interest by Daniel Smith

Ingénue by Elâ Sophia

Jacked: The Last Strike by Pablo Briz

K-Town Blues by Kyung-Ja Lee

Kanawha by Robert Dean Palmer

Kill No Birds by Jeff Batori

Larry’s Magnum Opus by Shelly Lipkin

Last Chance Saloon by Paul Allen

Let’s Talk Tacheles by Matt Danciger & Tracy Scharf

Lighthouse Keepers by Matthew Lashua

LOL by Bart Norman & Alina Norman

Love and Led Zeppelin by Michael Gonzalez

Magnastic by John Cappello

Make Me a Movie! by Mary McDermott

Malka, Then And Now by Sandhya Hermon

Masters and Servants by John Enright

Miles in Between by Austin Mills

Neverland by Cody Beavers

Night Music by Lukas Huffman

Not Now!! by Leon Mintz

On a Hill by Meghan Reilly

Once in a While Sometimes by Arthur X. Jones

Other Savages by Stephen J. MacNeil

PaidUp by Holly Williams

Poems of Yore by Quanah Jay Hicks

Power Passports by Iolanda Tursi

Pyramid Point by Chris Cassingham

Remains by Mathew David Hart & Gilad Barak & Boaz Salomon

Restoration by Don Bapst & Braden Brickner

Richard Spong by Terry Luke Podnar

RTE 01 by Nathan Allen & Bryant Griffin

Run Renegade by Mary Ann Rotondi

Saeed by Ivan Mooh Mooh

Safe Words by Daniel Clements

Samurai Trucker Jerry by Sean Inamine

Sandy Gray by Teddy Cecil

Santa Fe by Brandon Shypkowski

Semblance by Scott Hoops

Semi-Divine Creature by Brandon M. Lunzman & Mitchell Kenneth Perera

Sila by Mashael Alqahtani

Silent Night – Un Holy Night by Lowell Thomas

Skin Deep by Dave Holton

Slug Fest by Mao Natori

Snatched & Held by Joseph Helms

South Wind Come by Ernestina Juarez

Stream of Terror by Scott Tomorelli

Study in Crimson by Tim Labor

Sündenbock by Rankin Fithian

Swiped by James Berg

#TBT by Billy Kirland

Tee Tee Boy by Steven Kreager

The Almighty Warriors by Robert Boyle

The Anchorite by Howard East

The Blood of Gold by Jeffrey K. Said

The Blue Bench by Virginia Shepherd

The Breakout Kids by James Kennedy Cole

The Bully Squad by Perrin Spychala

The Cellmate Vanishes by Jim Griffin

The Climber by Scott Timmins

The Collection by James Henry

The Cool Marathoner by Sanju Jacob

The Daring Escape Of El Ingeniosa Hidalgo Miguel Cervantes de Saavedra by Miguel Peed

The Dark Flame by Andrew Charles Bird

The Embassy by Christopher Datta

The Eye of Berwick by Joe Bright

The Good Detective by Christopher Cosby

The Good Life by Elâ Sophia

The Irresistible Vincent Chang by Andrew W. Chan

The Last Cowboy by Rickey Larke

The Last Guardian of Anshan by Vladimir Vassilenko

The Last Life of Auddie Lynne by David Miller

The Legend of Saint Nicholas by Jeff Haber

The Life I’ve Made by Patrick Hayes

The Mask of the Dragonfly by Kai David

The Murder of Wynstan Daly by Jessica Xu

The Omega Cross by Zephyr Quintain

The Player King by Matt Doherty & Mike Peebler

The Prince of Belmont by Logan Custer

The Quiet Ones by Max Whitney

The Scrapper by Leon Mintz

The Seer by Matthew Karges

The Shuck by John Patrick Hayden & Shawn Fisher

The Thread & The Veil by Garret Walsh

The Way You Earn It by Cole Smith

The Wedding by Mashael Alqahtani

Three On A Match by Goldie Jones

Three Souls by Roger Hart

Too Horrible To Mention by Rob Gruen

Unsettled by Chuck O’Neil

Valley Glen by Erin Sopapunta

What’s Past is Prologue by Courtney Froemming

Without Roots by Melanie Hope Lang

Yahoo Boy by Wendy J. Bednarz

Zigman by Paul Casar

 

SHORTS

116 shorts out of 785 submissions

A Good Friday by Vilsoni Hereniko

A-Frame by Marcus Baker

Ælectrona by Max Henry

Allentown by Yusuf Gad

Angry Eggs by Seth Chambers

Audition from Hell by Cassidy Schiltz

Becca by Neil Wishman

Becoming Myself Again by Norma Abrunzo

Behind the Mask by Catherine Andre

Beluga by Alexander Gustaveson

Better Now by Cindy Yang

Beyond Avalon by Edward A. Ybarra

Bird Watchers by Mia Judy

Birthday by Anuj Nijhawan & Tess Bliven

Blow by Sandra Mayer

Brooms’ Sunday by Edoardo Carboni & Chiara Zago

Bucket of Cheese by Brian Schroeder

Care Taker by Maggie Brennan

Chicken Skin by Julia Kupiec

Chinatown by Lorelai Jo-hsuan Lin

Clatterbridge by Patrick Crellin & Bethany White

Come On, Eileen by Chris Kivlahan

Congratulations! by Robin Chen

Cucuy by Erick Torres

Dead Frogs by Shannon J. Bae

December 32nd by Brenna Kwon

Devil’s Instrument by Frederik Ehrhardt

Diwata by Shea Formanes

Dogged by January Wiryawan

Drops of Dissonance by Christopher Shenkman

Em Evol by Vy Nguyen

Evil for Evil by Leah Saint Marie

Fatal System Error by Martin Molpeceres

Fired by Rubik Roy

Freedom Falls by Deanne Devine

Genus by Andrew W. Chan

Ghost Spots by Carmen Mickelson

Her Wings Unfolded by Cindy Yang

Hummer by Chloe Kekovic

I Have No Words by Shelly Paino

I Swear to God by Hunter Davis

I Want You To Have Richard by Molly Stark-Ragsdale

It’s Open by Doug Maguire

Joe Nales and The Case of the Two Jacks by Chris Churilla

Karina by Carmen Mickelson

Keepsake by tracy l Morris

Knives in the Blood by Brandon Prieto

Last Call by Nicole Collins

Leak by Amanda Jerido-Katz

Liz by Lauren Nicola

Lyre by Jason Gregory Tatas

Magic by Louise C Galizia

Maneater by Diana Cambronero

Mar by Xochitl Rios-Ellis

Mark of the Ghoul by Rhituparna

Masters by Abigail Gordon

Meaning by Michelle Hickey

Mermaid by Pierre Langenegger

Middle West by Anjali Bakhru

Mile Marker 106 by Gordon M. Cowan

Mine To Keep by Alia Zeid

Mom and Dad by Cambria Denim

Mom, I’d Like to Funeral by Chase Pierce

My Lady Garden by Sally Llewellyn

Namesake by Agatha Chapman-Poole

Never Force A Fish To Walk! by Deepanshu Chauhan

New Mutiny by Carly Roland & Alani Longwe

Night of the Disco Dead by Lauren Coggiola

No Excuses by John F. Martin

Noise by Ruth Jiang

Old But Not Cold by Desi Lyon

One Way or Another by Kate Kelly

Only If You Want To by Aaron Misthal

Pendulum by Amy Fredericks

Pop Screen by Meg Steedle & Zach Bandler

Prints Charming by Allie Nelson

Project Claudia by Dana Carrabon & Darcy Smith

RE by Wendy Bird Womack

Red Knot by Alex Lim

Santoku by Alexandra Lee

Scars That Define Us by Edward Worthy

Seed by Sara Roberts

Sheigets by Joey Schweitzer

Shoo-In by Auden Lincoln-Vogel

Some Stars Don’t Set by Klaus Brauer

SOS by Joseph Earp & Wade Shotter

Stationary by Kathryn Robinson

Stripes by Jeffrey Gerein & Bren MacDonald

The Balloon by Scott Younger

The Beach Of Stones by William Armstrong

The Bloody History of Chop Suey by Waley Wang

The Brave Ones by Josh Mann

The Country They Call Life by Grace Sims

The Dinner Party by Jeanine Barone

The Family I Never Have by Jiming Sun Lindal

The Fate of Teddy Pendernaps by Todd Deus

The Great White Hope by Lloyd Tunstill

The Guilty and The Innocent by Leonardo Pirzio-Biroli

The Hatred by Lela Cermin

The Holiday by Joanna Glembin

The Kids by Aaron Scharon & Elijah Thompson & Max McCrary

The Last Day of July by Xueni Yang

The Scream of the Butterfly by Anjini Taneja Azhar & Ariya Akhavan

The Suicide of Thomas Mary McKee by Kevin Fitzpatrick

The Undisputed Champion of the World by John Morrison

The Wash by Philippe Thuery

This Also is Vanity by David Harper

Thornwood by Nicolo Roni

Tidbit by Henry Leroy-Salta & Alexander Tol

Twin Town by Shan Christopher Ogilvie

Two of Us by Riley H. Shen

Unexpecting by Kenneth McClintock

Unknown Face by Jen Heck

Washing the Body by Peter Andrews

Worthy of Life by Allison Norlian & Judith Rubin

Zero Emissions by Andrew Gallagher