LONDON — 'Merge', the indie short film anthology featuring performances from Mandeep Dhillon ('After Life', 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker') and Joe Dempsie ('Game of Thrones', 'Skins'), has climbed to the Top 7 on Prime Video in the United Kingdom — an uncommon milestone for an independent project made up of short films.
Following years of industry conversations about the challenges of monetizing short films, Cine Circle’s model offers a practical solution: transforming shorts into feature-length anthologies ready for mainstream distribution. Cine Circle distributes the films across mainstream platforms and markets them across its channels, aiming to create sustainable income streams for filmmakers while giving audiences access to original, high-quality independent cinema.
“Our goal is to make independent filmmaking sustainable,” said ZB Siwek, founder of Cine Circle. “Hundreds of incredible shorts premiere at festivals every year and then disappear. With 'Merge', we’ve proven that short films can live on — reaching global audiences and earning revenue alongside major releases.”
'Merge' is a sci-fi anthology about humanity’s collision with technology. Featuring six acclaimed stories that have collectively won more than 50 festival awards worldwide, each segment presents a different facet of our relationship with technology — from a digital afterlife to neural augmentation — offering a grounded, character-driven approach rarely seen in indie sci-fi.
About Cine Circle: Cine Circle is a London-based film organisation dedicated to empowering independent filmmakers through funding, distribution and career opportunities. Alongside its industry events and training programs, it operates a unique anthology distribution model that helps short filmmakers reach global audiences and earn revenue through non-exclusive licensing deals.
