The MPI Original short film Shoot, Shovel, and Shut Up, written and directed by MPI filmmaker Trần Hoàng Calvin, has won Best Short Film at the Black Bear Film Festival. Since its founding in 2000, the festival has grown into one of Pennsylvania’s most respected cultural events, celebrated for championing independent voices and drawing filmmakers and audiences from across the region.

The film tells the story of the Clifford family, who hope to start a new life by selling their dilapidated farm. But when the discovery of an endangered bird on the property threatens to collapse the sale, their son Andy must decide whether to make the bird’s presence known—or to shoot, shovel, and shut up.

First developed in the 2021 MPI Short Film Lab and later produced through the Production Lab as an MPI Original, the project’s festival success highlights its journey from script to screen.

Catch a glimpse of the film in the trailer below.