''Snowflake'' is a 2014 Italian short film written and directed by Italian director Francesco Roder and filmed in New York City. The short film stars American actresses

Ele Keats Ele Keats is an American television, film and stage actress, model, and jewelry designer. Keats's most notable roles were in the Disney musical drama film '' Newsies'', Garry Marshall's '' Frankie and Johnny'', the biographical survival drama '' ...

and

Tracy Middendorf Tracy Lynn Middendorf is an American television, movie, and stage actress. Middendorf's most notable roles were in the horror film ''Wes Craven's New Nightmare'', the MTV series '' Scream'', and the HBO series ''Boardwalk Empire''. She also appear ...

. After an advanced screening held during the ''National Week of Culture'' in Italy, it officially premiered at the Academy Awards qualifying

HollyShorts Film Festival The HollyShorts Film Festival is an annual Academy Awards-qualifying independent short film festival located in Hollywood, California. History Founded in 2005, the yearly festival programmes feature an eclectic mixture of short films of various ge ...

in August 2014 and later won two American Movie Awards in 2015.

Plot

Aurore (

) is dying and Claire (

) is at her side, waiting for the inevitable end to come. But Aurore has a final gift for her: a diary where she tells the story of their love. While the snowflakes fall outside the window in the darkness of their last night together, Claire will finally see their love story through the eyes of her beloved.

Cast

as Claire Konrad *

as Aurore Chase * Sara Lavner as Trish * Dayvin Turchiano as Jonathan *

Lorenzo Balducci Lorenzo Balducci (born 4 September 1982) is an Italian actor. He appeared in more than thirty films since 2001. Life and career Balducci was born in Rome, Italy. He began taking acting classes when he was 14 and in November 2001 he made his stag ...

as Patrick

Production

The short film was entirely shot in New York City in January 2013. Actress

got involved in the project in 2009 after reading the script and also served as an executive producer while

joined the cast two days before filming began. Supporting actors Dayvin Turchiano and

also participated in production in associate and executive roles, respectively. The post-production process was held in Los Angeles (color timing),

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, Madrid (editing) and Italy (music and sound design). Being an Italian production shot in the United States, the crew and the cast were equally divided between both nations. The first screening was held in the director's hometown

Sacile Sacile (; , Liventino: ; Western Friulian: ) is a (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Pordenone, in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is known as the "Garden of the " after the many palaces that were cons ...

, during the ''National Week of Culture'', before the LGBT movie ''

Fasten Your Seatbelts ''Fasten Your Seatbelts'' () is a 2014 Italian drama film written and directed by Ferzan Özpetek. For their performances in this film Kasia Smutniak and Paola Minaccioni won the Nastro d'Argento Awards for best actress and best supporting ac ...

Reception

The short film premiered in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

at the Academy Award Qualifying

. It later screened in more than twenty international festivals, including the Cinema Diverse – Palm Springs Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

), the Women's International Film & Arts Festival (

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

), the

High Falls Film Festival The High Falls Film Festival, founded in 2001, is a film festival that focuses on celebrating women in film. The festival is inspired by Rochester, New York's legacy in nitrate film and the women’s rights movement. High Falls Film Festival pres ...

(

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

) and the

Chéries-Chéris Chéries-Chéris (Festival du Film Lesbien, Gay, Bi, Trans & ++++ de Paris) is an annual international LGBT film festival held in Paris in October or November. Original titled "Festival of Gays and Lesbians of Paris", it was founded in 1994 by Y ...

– Festival du Film LGBT de Paris (

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

). The short film garnered considerable positive reviews from critics. Italian film magazine ''News Cinema'' described the film as «delicate and intense, with an extraordinary cast ..A little jem». The acting performances of the film were equally praised by Italian online magazine ''Mediacritica'', that wrote: «Ele Keats and Tracy Middendorf are superb ..The mise-en-scene is great and the direction is delicate and never malicious. ''Snowflake'' is a winner». According to ''Rogue Cinema'', the director was «able to create a very inspired view of a lesbian relationship without having to resort to obvious clichés or standard story arcs. The performances from both leads, Ele Keats and Tracy Middendorf are also lovingly crafted, each performance allowing the layers of their past to creep into their characters slowly, but surely. Well shot, with a very moody music score, ''Snowflake'' achieves great drama throughout». The jurors of the American Movie Awards praised the «exceptional merits» of the film and the

's ''Women's International Film & Arts Festival'' program described it as a «meticulously crafted, excellent narrative short film». ''Talent TV'' wrote that it was «a beautifully shot and reflective sad story» and jurors at the ''ShorTS International Film Festival'' described it as a «sentimental vertigo»

Festivals

After a sneak screening at the San Antonio QFest in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, the short film officially debuted on August 19, 2014 at the 10th Annual

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, Los Angeles * San Antonio QFest,

* Filmfest Homochrom,

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, Germany * Cinema Diverse – Palm Springs Gay & Lesbian Film Festival,

K3 Film Festival Villach (; ; ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia (state), Carinthia. It is an important Junction (traffic), traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , th ...

FVG,

Udine, Italy Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Regional decentralization entity of Udine. As of 20 ...

* San Pedro International Film Festival,

San Pedro, Los Angeles San Pedro ( ; ) is a neighborhood located within the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los ...

* Rumschpringe International Short Film Festival,

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster ( ) is a city in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 58,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, eighth-most populous ci ...

* Chéries-Chéris – Festival du Film LGBT de Paris, Paris * Grace Film Festival, San Francisco * Los Angeles CineFest Los Angeles * Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards, Los Angeles * Women's International Film & Arts Festival, Miami * Mix Mexico International Film Festival,

* Maremetraggio ShorTs International Film Festival,

Trieste, Italy Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the regional decentralization entity of Trieste. Trieste is located at the head ...

* Macon Film Festival,

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

* La Corte dei Corti,

* Lancaster International Short Film Festival,

(special screening) * Outwest Film Festival,

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

* Feminist and Queer International Film Festival,

Bucharest, Romania Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

* Muestra de Cine desde Diversas Trincheras,

* Dyke Drama Film Festival,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

* Home Festival,

Treviso, Italy Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

* Twisted Love Short Film Festival,

(special screening) * Cinemambulante,

Friuli-Venezia Giulia Friuli-Venezia Giulia () is one of the 20 regions of Italy and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The regional capital is Trieste on the Gulf of Trieste, a bay of the Adriatic Sea. Friuli-Venezia Giulia has an area of and a ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

(special screening)

Awards and nominations

The short film won a total of 17 international film awards. * Best Shorts Competition,

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

''Award of Excellence, Best LGBT Short Film'' * Accolade Competition

''Award of Excellence, Best Leading Actress (

)'' * Filmfest Homochrom,

, Germany ''Audience Award, Best Lesbian Short Film'' * Cinema Diverse – Palm Springs Gay & Lesbian Film Festival,

''Festival Favorite, Best LGBT Short Film'' * Rumschpringe International Short Film Festival,

''Jury Award, Best Drama'' * Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards,

''Jury Award, Best Cinematography (Lyn Moncrief)'' * Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards,

''Best Drama Nomination, Best Actress Nomination (

), Best Supporting Actress (

)'' * San Francisco Awards,

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, ''Jury Award, Best LGBTQ Film'' * International Independent Film Awards IIFA

''Diamond Award – Best Actress in a Leading Role (

)'' * International Independent Film Awards IIFA

''Diamond Award – Best Actress in a Supporting Role (

)'' * International Independent Film Awards IIFA

''Platinum Award – Best Narrative Short'' * International Independent Film Awards IIFA

''Platinum Award – Best Cinematography (Lyn Moncrief)'' * IndieFEST Film Awards,

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

''Award of Excellence – Best Short Film'' * IndieFEST Film Awards,

''Award of Excellence – Best Leading Actress (

)'' * IndieFEST Film Awards,

''Award of Excellence – Best Supporting Actress (

)''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Snowflake 2014 drama films 2014 LGBTQ-related films 2014 films 2014 short films Films shot in New York (state) Italian drama films Italian LGBTQ-related films Italian drama short films 2010s LGBTQ-related drama films 2010s English-language films English-language drama short films