Stories flow in the Style by Toyota 9FilmFest

Rivers run through the finalist entries in this weekend's 9FilmFest, the third annual Thailand-based contest in which filmmakers from all over the world submit original short films of no more than nine minutes.

The shorts will be screened at 7pm on Sunday at Bangkok's Paragon Cineplex, with the top-prize winner driving away in a new Toyota Vios.

For each year's contest, the 9FilmFest has a unique "9 signature item", and this year it's "waterway", with all the films including rivers, canals or some type of flowing liquid.

Here's a look at this year's nine finalists:

• The Guardians, directed by Disspong Sampattavanich – A canal village's resident "crazy man" is determined to teach himself to swim in hopes of connecting with the soul of his late son. 
• Distortion, directed by Thana Chairatanasil – Despite his father's warnings about hanging out down by the river, a boy falls in with the wrong crowd, opening a doorway to a doomed life.
• Teppanyaki Kamikazi, directed by Raymond Lewin – The Great Penguino, an out-of-work street magician, finds a job working in a Japanese restaurant, where distractions lead to disaster.
• Bangkruai Pradesh, directed by Rattha and Pathara Buranadilok – Footage from the Flood of 2011, recovered from the memory card of a flood-damaged camera, is used in this documentary in which a young man recounts his experience in the disaster.
• The Great River, directed by Steve Rouse – A father gives his young son a toy boat, but the family lives in a canal community and is surrounded by dangerous polluted water. So the boy has to dig his own canal to play with the boat.
• Clueless?, directed by Byron Bishop – A farmer and his wife discover a man, apparently dead, in a rice paddy. They go to the police station, where an overzealous detective treats them as suspects. Watch for an appearance by actor Bishop's supermodel wife Cindy Bishop.
• Lie, directed by Narongchai Parthumsuwan – A pudgy, balding middle-aged man poses as a young pop star, attracting a high-school girl. And she wants to meet.
• The Cream, directed by Naruphon Punphairoj and Satit Ngerntong – A man hopes a tube of face cream will make him handsome. 
• Clock Blocked, directed by Robert Peters – A time-obsessed man has found the perfect woman – she's punctual – except for today.

In addition to the movies, the 9FilmFest has many other activities. Events get underway at 3.30pm on Saturday in the Paragon Cineplex Infinicity Hall with an international dance workshop hosted by choreographer Eddie Baytos. That's followed at 5.30 by a Dj music set and then a magic show at 6.30 with Tommy Tucker and Teppanaki Kamikaze star Dr Penguino.

Sunday opens at 5 with a world music concert by Eddie Baytos and his all-star band, the Nines.
Thanks to support by Technicolor, valuable post-production services were provided to make the films presentable on the big screen, with the finalists unspooling at 7pm.

Picking the prize-winners will be a jury that includes actor Ananda Everingham, film critics Kong Rithdee and John Anderson, directors Tanwarin Sukkhapisit, Prachya Pinkaew, Areeya Chumsai and Adam Yukol and concert promoter Yuthana "Ted" Boonorm.