46th Annual Atlanta Film Festival + Creative Conference Announces Complete Lineup
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ATLANTA, GA (March 28, 2022) — The Atlanta Film Festival + Creative Conference (ATLFF) announced the lineup of selected works from submissions today for the 46th annual event, which will take place Thursday, April 21 through Sunday, May 1, 2022. This year we had 7786 total film submissions. This included 152 total programmed films, including 27 Feature Films and 124 Short Films.
A forthcoming slate of Marquee screenings, including Opening and Closing Night presentations, will be revealed in the coming weeks. Five winning screenplays from the screenplay competition will also be announced at a later date.
The Atlanta Film Festival is the annual centerpiece of educational and enriching film programming that is provided year-round by its parent organization, the Atlanta Film Society (ATLFS). Now in its fifth decade, ATLFF is one of only a handful of film festivals worldwide that is Academy Award-qualifying in three or more categories.
NARRATIVE FEATURES
BREAKWATER
directed by Cem Demirer
Turkey/UK, 2022, Turkish, 101 minutes
Aslan, a young insecure fisherman who lives on a Turkish island, finds a valuable lobster cave while diving. Knowing this treasure will bring him wealth and the prestige that he has never had in his society, he decides to keep it a secret from his cousin and best friend Yilmaz until he can properly harvest the lobsters by himself. By not sharing the secret, Yilmaz's growing suspicion conjures a series of paranoid obsessions that thrust him into a downward spiral.
DO NOT HESITATE
directed by Shariff Korver
Netherlands/Greece, 2021, Dutch/English/Arabic, 90 minutes
After the sudden disappearance of their superior, three young Dutch soldiers are left to guard a military vehicle by themselves. As their situation and the scorching desert heat renders them increasingly disconnected from reality, an encounter with a local boy escalates into a fight that will mark their lives forever.
EVERY DAY IN KAIMUKĪ
directed by Alika Tengan
USA, 2022, English, 80min
A young man is determined to give his life meaning outside of Kaimukī, the small Hawaiian town where he grew up, even if it means leaving everything he's ever known and loved behind.
THE GAME
directed by Ana Lazarevic
Serbia/USA, 2021, Serbian/English/Arabic, 93 minutes
When STRAHINJA, a smuggler with poor parenting skills and a gambling addiction, becomes stranded with two refugee boys in the Balkan countryside, they must navigate backroads to find an illegal crossing into Western Europe. The boys’ insatiable gusto for life makes Strahinja aware of the walls he has built around his own.
HANDS THAT BIND
directed by Kyle Armstrong
Canada, 2022, English, 116 minutes
Having severed ties with his father, Andy's opportunity to farm as a landowner has been jeopardized. He devotes his life to working another man’s land, trying to establish new roots with his wife and children, and with the hope that the land might one day be his. But those hopes are destroyed when his boss's ungrateful son unexpectedly returns. As Andy struggles with providing for his family in a world that is increasingly unfamiliar, a darkness settles over the community and mysterious occurrences begin; cattle mutilations, drought, a missing teenager, paranoia, and unexplained lights in the sky.
HÉKATE
directed by Nadia Benedicto
Argentina, 2021, Spanish, 77 minutes
Following a horrific event, Helena and Kira argue on the side of the road. No destination in mind, no plan to follow. The journey unfolds kilometer by kilometer; a journey that soon becomes a ritual — a tribute to the goddess of witches and a ritual of passage towards the autonomy and maturity of her descendants.
LEARN TO SWIM
directed by Thyrone Tommy
Canada, 2021, English, 93 minutes
Haunted by a tragic loss, Dezi (Thomas Antony Olajide), a jazz musician, cuts off contact with everyone he knows. Time bends, and the lines between his stormy past and reclusive present are blurred, foiling his attempts at solitude and forcing him to face the truth of his past.
MILES FROM NOWHERE
directed by Jono Mitchell
USA, 2022, English, 76 minutes
Miles is dying. After a year of avoiding his two closest friends, he attempts to reestablish normalcy by gathering them together for their annual cabin trip. However, his plan to reveal his terminal cancer goes awry when Sammy and Victor come clean about secrets of their own. The past becomes the present and the future becomes uncertain as lies, pain, and pride threaten to erase the bonds of friendship entirely.
THE MURDER PODCAST
directed by William Bagley
USA, 2021, English, 91 minutes
Desperate to get more podcast listeners, Chad Thadwick decides he needs a new topic. After a murder in his hometown, the answer is clear: a true crime podcast! With the help of his best friend, Chad starts investigating, only to get wrapped up in a terrifying adventure full of supernatural threats!
NICO
directed by Eline Gehring
Germany, 2021, German/Persian/English, 79 minutes
The self-confident, life-affirming German-Persian Nico is brutally torn from her everyday life by a racially motivated attack. With the help of tough karate training, she tries to channel her anger, but she also loses touch with herself. When Nico meets the Macedonian Ronny, a connection develops between the two women that makes Nico question the path she has chosen.
PORTRAITS FROM A FIRE
directed by Trevor Mack
Canada, 2021, English/Tsilhqot'in, 93 minutes
A coming-of-age story that follows Tyler, an eccentric and lonely teenager who spends his days filmmaking, vlogging his Indigenous community, and hanging out with his grandparents. His father, Gord, is physically present but remains emotionally absent from Tyler’s life for reasons Tyler cannot understand. That is until he meets Aaron, a mysterious, charismatic, and influential figure who encourages Tyler to showcase his most personal film about his mother’s disappearance to the community, leading to a reckoning between past and future, life and death, and father and son.
QUICKENING
directed by Haya Waseem
Canada, 2021, English/Urdu, 90 minutes
Sheila, a Pakistani-Canadian teenager struggles to define her identity as she is pulled between her newfound social life at university and her family’s traditional values. After starting a secret relationship with her classmate, Sheila discovers that keeping these two worlds separate comes at a great cost.
SALMA’S HOME
directed by Hanadi Elyan
Jordan/USA, 2022, Arabic, 95 minutes
The story follows three women who are facing uncertain times after the death of the family's patriarch Bakri: Salma, Bakri’s ex wife, is a talented baker. Her daughter Farah is struggling with her own marriage. Lamia, Bakri's new wife, is a wannabe socialite and social media influencer. Together they navigate Bakri’s inheritance, finding out that the only way forward is to live together under one roof.
SHE AND I
directed by Gustavo Rosa de Moura
Brazil, 2021, Portuguese, 102 minutes
20 years ago, while giving birth to her daughter, Bia slipped into a coma. But that didn't stop her—even if just lying there, unconscious—from becoming part of her family's everyday life. Suddenly, however, Bia comes to. And while she's reacquainting herself with sight, speech, movement and the basics of human relationships, her now-adult daughter, her ex-husband and his new wife try to deal with the unexpected living presence of that strange but dearly loved woman.
SOUL OF A BEAST
directed by Lorenz Merz
Switzerland, 2021, Swiss-German/French/Japanese, 110 minutes
In a delirious summer rush, teenage father Gabriel falls in love with enigmatic Corey, the girlfriend of his best friend Joel. Overwhelmed with the decision of his life Gabriel is catapulted into the unforgiving wilderness of his heart, where imagination is more real than reality.
YOU RESEMBLE ME
directed by Dina Amer
USA/Egypt/France, 2021, French/Arabic, 91 minutes
Cultural and intergenerational trauma erupt in this story about two sisters on the outskirts of Paris. After the siblings are torn apart, the eldest, Hasna, struggles to find her identity, leading to a choice that shocks the world. Director Dina Amer takes on one of the darkest issues of our time and deconstructs it in an intimate story about family, love, sisterhood, and belonging.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
AFTER SHERMAN
directed by Jon-Sesrie Goff
USA, 2022, English, 88 minutes
A director’s exploration of coastal South Carolina as a site of pride and racial trauma through Gullah cultural retention and land preservation is interrupted by the shootings at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. AFTER SHERMAN is a story about inheritance and the tension that defines our collective American history.
THE BALCONY MOVIE
directed by Paweł Łoziński
Poland, 2021, Polish, 100 minutes
Can anyone be a movie hero? Can the world be locked in one film frame? Director Paweł Łoziński is watching people from his balcony as they are passing by: sad, thoughtful, glued to their phones, young and old. The filmmaker calls out to them, asks questions, and talks about how they deal with life. Standing there with his camera for over 2 years, he creates a space for dialogue, a lay confessional of sorts, where everyone can stop by and tell their story. Every story is unique, and life always surpasses imagination.
BOYCOTT
directed by Julia Bacha
USA, 2021, English, 73 minutes
When a news publisher in Arkansas, an attorney in Arizona, and a speech therapist in Texas are told they must choose between their jobs and their political beliefs, they launch legal battles that expose an attack on freedom of speech across 33 states in America. BOYCOTT traces the impact of state legislation designed to penalize individuals and companies that choose to boycott Israel due to its human rights record. A bracing look at the far-reaching implications of anti-boycott legislation becomes an inspiring tale of everyday Americans standing up to protect their rights in an age of shifting politics and threats to freedom of speech.
DAUGHTER OF A LOST BIRD
directed by Brooke Pepion Swaney
USA, 2021, English, 66 minutes
Right after the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 became the law of the land, Kendra Mylnechuk Potter was adopted into a white family and raised with no knowledge of her Native parentage. This beautiful and intimate film follows Kendra on her journey to find her birth mother April, also a Native adoptee, and to return to her Lummi homelands in Washington State. With a sensitive yet unflinching lens, director Brooke Swaney (Blackfeet/Salish) documents Kendra and April as they connect with relatives and navigate what it means to be Native, and to belong to a tribe from the outside looking in. Along the way, Kendra uncovers generations of emotional and spiritual beauty and pain and comes to the startling realization that she is a living legacy of U. S. assimilationist policy.
GABOR
directed by Joannie Lafrenière
Canada, 2021, French/English/Hungarian, 101 minutes
A quirky and tender portrait of Gabor Szilasi, the 93-year-old giant of Canadian contemporary photography, as seen through the eyes of his friend, photographer and director Joannie Lafrenière. GABOR tells the story of an immigrant fleeing Hungary and arriving in Canada by boat, creating for himself a rich life full of friends, family and an extraordinary career. Despite his age, Gabor maintains impressive health and lucidity, keeping a touch of madness, an enviable sense of humor, and a sharp take on his adopted society.
IN THE BONES
directed by Kelly Duane de la Vega, co-directed by Zandashé Brown & Jessica Anthony
USA, 2022, English, 95 minutes
A lyrical documentary that explores the personal and political by interweaving the lives of 12 characters living in Mississippi during a legislative session in which equal pay for equal work and abortion rights are being decided. Although set in three distinct regions of Mississippi, IN THE BONES is a much broader exploration of our culture, an unsettling portrayal of America that lingers, shining a light on the weight women live under in this country and also the resilience expressed in everyday acts of survival.
MAGALUF GHOST TOWN
directed by Miguel Angel Blanca
Spain, 2021, Spanish/English, 90 minutes
Strange things are happening in Magaluf, a small, peaceful town on the island of Mallorca that many have ventured to call the Balearic Twin Peaks. Overrun with tourists, its residents are torn between an everyday aura of doom and genuine holiday pleasure in a place that has become the European paradigm of low-cost tourism and insatiable nightly entertainment. MAGALUF GHOST TOWN is a choral portrait of a community trying to survive the grips of tourism, mixing documentary and fiction in a mysterious yet humorous look at its ensemble of residents.
MASTER OF LIGHT
directed by Rosa Ruth Boesten
USA/Netherlands, 2022, English, 85 minutes
George Anthony Morton is a classical painter who spent ten years in federal prison for dealing drugs. Since his release, he has worked to defy society's expectations and to tackle the white-dominant art world. Journeying back home from Atlanta to Kansas City, George works to heal broken relationships while painting family members in the style of the Dutch Old Masters. Every brushstroke dives deeper into George's soul as he shines a bright light on racial injustice and the intergenerational trauma it begets.
ONLY I CAN HEAR
directed by Itaru Matsui
Japan/USA, 2021, English/Japanese/ASL/JSL, 54 minutes
In the American Midwest, three hearing teenagers come of age in the vibrant, raucous Deaf community. Balancing both hearing and deaf societies, they often struggle to fit in either world but find connection, understanding, and community in a home between the two disparate spaces, amongst their peers who are also CODA — Children of Deaf Adults.
OUTTA THE MUCK
directed by Bhawin Suchak & Ira Mckinley
USA, 2022, English, 80 minutes
Family, football and history come to life in an intimate portrait of the Dean family, longtime residents of the historic town of Pahokee, Florida. As we take a journey back home, with filmmaker Ira McKinley, to the land of sugarcane, he reconnects with his niece Bridget and nephew Alvin and explores their shared family history that spans seven generations. Told through stories that transcend space and time, OUTTA THE MUCK presents an intimate portrait of a community that resists despair with love, remaining fiercely self-determined, while forging its own unique narrative of Black achievement.
PROGNOSIS – NOTES ON LIVING
directed by Debra Chasnoff & Kate Stilley Steiner
USA, 2021, English, 81 minutes
In perhaps her bravest act as a filmmaker, Academy Award-winning documentarian and LGBTQ+ activist Debra Chasnoff responded to her diagnosis of stage-4 cancer by turning the camera on herself, her wife, and her sons to chronicle the journey that lay ahead of them. With customary candor and humor, she took on the assignment out of necessity: not wishing to be defined only as patient or victim, she adopted a role she could play with certainty — that of the storyteller. What emerges is a raw, intimate portrait of shifting relationships and identities, a story about hanging onto the people you love, as you prepare to let them go. Completed according to her wishes by a circle of Bay Area peers and family, PROGNOSIS - NOTES ON LIVING is not only a film about illness. Clear-eyed and unsentimental, intimate and honest, it is the unforgettable, present-tense diary of a life fiercely lived, and a love worth fighting for.
RED LIPSTICK
directed by Shiva Sanjari
France/Iran, 2018, Persian, 42 minutes
Masoumeh, a single 34-year-old hairdresser and owner of a small beauty salon in Tehran, shares intimate conversations with her clients, often reflective of the beauty standards and patriarchal pressures present in their lives. An independent business woman in a rigid society, Masoumeh weighs her own high expectations against the prospects of marriage while working to carve a path of her own.
A WOMAN ON THE OUTSIDE
directed by Zara Katz & Lisa Riordan Seville
USA, 2022, English, 87 minutes
Growing up, Kristal watched nearly every man in her life disappear to prison. She channeled that struggle into keeping families connected, both as a social worker and with her van service that drives families to visit loved ones in far-off prisons. But when Kristal’s dad and brother return to Philly, her happiness meets the realization that release doesn't always mean freedom. Passionate, funny and resilient, Kristal remains determined to carve out a different future -- for herself and for her young nephew, Nyvae. Part observational documentary, part family album, A WOMAN ON THE OUTSIDE is a tender portrait of one family striving to love in the face of a system built to break them.
NARRATIVE SHORTS
THE AGENT
directed by Emily Frances Kaplan
USA, 2022, English, 12 minutes
A C-list talent agent moves through the world all but invisible, until he enters a pay-to-play audition room where actors looking for their big break mistakenly imbue him with a god-like power to change their lives.
ARTISTIC
directed by Nina Lee
USA, 2021, English, 12 minutes
Billie Thomas is a lonely teenage artist. Longing for a friend she finds one in an unlikely person.
BEAUTIFUL THEY
directed by Cloudy Rhodes
Australia, 2021, English, 11 minutes
Violet and Blue's youth collide in an early morning toke that leads to the ocean, where connection stirs. A tender, uplifting queer surf-romance about the nuance of gender and the refuge found in being truly seen.
THE BOND
directed by Jahmil Eady
USA, 2022, English, 18 minutes
An incarcerated pregnant woman goes into labor and fights to stay connected to her baby.
BURY YOUR FISH
directed by Emma Josephson
USA, 2022, English, 15 minutes
An isolated young woman desperate to rediscover purpose in her life begins taking directions from the cryptic Morse code messages of a mysterious light flashing a few blocks away.
CHAMP
directed by Hannah Peterson
USA, 2022, English, 9 minutes
After basketball practice one night, Genevieve reveals a dark secret to her teammates about their coach. Wielding her strategy and grit off the court, Genevieve works together with her teammates to find a way to retaliate.
CHICKEN
directed by Rana Roy
USA/UAE, 2022, English/Hindi/Arabic, 16 minutes
Awkward and surreal absurdity engulfs a Las Vegas motel room after two misfits, who flew the coop from Saudi Arabia and eloped behind their multi cultural and religious families backs, realize how little they actually know each other.
CLEARING HOUSE
directed by Andy Long
USA, 2022, English, 10 minutes
A con man realizes that it’s not quite business as usual, when he meets an elderly lady that causes him to second-guess his motives.
COCHE BOMBA
directed by Kantú Lentz
USA, 2021, English, 11 minutes
Rosa loves aliens and hates everything else, including her annoying little sister. When a car bomb detonates, Rosa must bring her sister to safety by convincing her that aliens have arrived.
A DEER LOST IN THE WOODS
directed by Camilo Diaz
USA, 2021, English, 15 minutes
Francis can't have sex. His therapist doesn't know why. He doesn't know why. In trying to understand, Francis embarks on a fever dream that leads to more confusion.
DON’T GO WHERE I CAN’T FIND YOU
directed by Rioghnach Ni Ghrioghair
Ireland, 2021, English, 20 minutes
A haunted composer's mind spirals into chaos when she attempts to use music to connect with the ghost of her dead lover.
EL EXTRAÑO EN LA CASA RIVERA
directed by Esteban Bailey
USA (Puerto Rico), 2022, Spanish, 11 minutes
In the aftermath of a hurricane that has ravaged Puerto Rico, a strange creature inhabits the backyard of struggling mother Aida, and her daughter, Aidita.
EMPTY NESTERS
directed by Devon Solwold
USA, 2021, English, 15 minutes
A young expecting couple comes to terms with their relationship and their loss.
GLITTER AIN’T GOLD
directed by Christian Nolan Jones
USA, 2022, English, 14 minutes
A sixth grader takes a trip with his best friend to the flea market in order to buy his first fake chain.
HEARTLESS
directed by Haukur Björgvinsson
Iceland, 2021, Icelandic, 15 minutes
Young couple Anna and Gunnar are deeply in love but they live in a society where people are assigned a new spouse by lottery every seven years. As their final day together approaches, they grapple with the nightmare of being torn apart and facing life with another partner.
HOOK UP
directed by Laura Nagy
Australia, 2020, English, 15 minutes
When a double date with two older men turns ugly, Lucy must fight to protect her best-friend and recognises deeper feelings she has for her.
KISS CHASE
directed by Ebele Tate
UK, 2021, English, 14 minutes
When eleven year old Nadine is left out in a game of kiss chase, she realizes image is currency and her value is low. On a quest to feminize herself, she finds herself in an unexpected situation she is not prepared for.
LADYLIKE!
directed by Camila Florez
USA, 2021, English, 8 minutes
Jenn, a Chinese-American teenager longing for the teenage life of parties and boys depicted in American media, attempts to explore her sexuality while living in her conservative Asian home.
LEASING SPACE
directed by Giovanni Tortorici
USA, 2022, English, 10 minutes
A couple navigates their commitment to their relationship when they adopt a star together.
LEYLAK
directed by Scott Aharoni & Dennis Latos
USA, 2021, Turkish/English, 17 minutes
In present day Queens, New York, a Turkish gravedigger is unable to face a shattering truth, and risks losing the dearest connection left in his life.
MAN OR TREE
directed by Varun Raman & Tom Hancock
UK, 2021, English, 4 minutes
In the wilderness, a tree begins to question whether it may actually be a man tripping on hallucinogens.
MOLES
directed by Vanja Victor Kabir Tognola
Switzerland, 2021, Italian, 15 minutes
Unable to afford a fancy holiday, a family pretends to be in the Bahamas by hiding at home and posting fake pictures on social media. Inebriated by likes, the parents forget their son's needs.
MOSHARI
directed by Nuhash Humayun
Bangladesh, 2022, Bengali, 21 minutes
After the world is overrun with bloodthirsty creatures, two sisters survive together, spending their nights inside the only known protection - the moshari (mosquito net). However, their strained relationship might be as much of a threat as the dangers outside.
NEST
directed by James Hunter
Australia, 2021, English, 9 minutes
An isolated father haunted by his child's cries of hunger takes up work as a timber feller only to be stopped by a mysterious alarm coming from deep in the woods.
OUR OWN LAND
directed by Simon Helloco
France, 2021, French, 23 minutes
Two brothers, left on their own, live in complete freedom. They only forbid themselves to enter the first floor of the house.
POOR GLENNA
directed by Jean-Paul DiSciscio
USA, 2021, English, 17 minutes
When her mutant son develops a taste for human flesh, a timid mother must find a victim to satisfy his ravenous appetite.
POST-CITRUS
directed by Madison Hatfield
USA, 2022, English, 11 minutes
The fat bassist of an otherwise thin girl punk band must stand up for herself when her friend and bandleader suggests wearing orange peels as bikini cups during their album cover shoot.
RAYA
directed by Sepide Berenji
Iran, 2020 Persian, 14 minutes
After a teacher displeases them, Raya and her friends secretly retaliate. In the fallout from the prank and with an impending eviction at home, Raya weighs the morality of her choices and if there's a path forward that could also make the world a better place.
ROY
directed by Tom Berkeley & Ross White
UK, 2021, English, 16 minutes
When a reclusive widower accidentally calls an adult hotline worker, an unlikely friendship is born.
SHARK
directed by Nash Edgerton
Australia, 2021, English, 14 minutes
Completing the trilogy of wickedly dark comedy shorts that began with Spider and Bear, Nash Edgerton's onscreen alter ego, Jack, finally finds a perfect match in Rose Byrne as Sofie, a woman who loves pranks just as much as he does. Alas, the couple’s quest to outdo each other may lead to the most outrageous calamity of all.
SHE KEEPS ME
directed by Erica Orofino
Canada, 2022, English/Italian, 16 minutes
The strained relationship between two sisters reaches a dangerous climax in this exploration of family ties, mental illness, and self sacrifice.
SPAGHETTER GETTER
directed by Jared Lapidus
USA, 2022, English, 8 minutes
The man-in-infomercials-who-can't-do-anything-right discovers he is trapped in a prison of his own uselessness.
SUPERFAN
directed by Karina Lomelin Ripper & Marc Ripper
USA, 2021, English/Spanish, 15 minutes
A tween celebrity obsession pushes the boundaries of friendship during an ill-fated sleepover.
SUSHI NOH
directed by Jayden Rathsam Hua
Australia, 2021, English, 18 minutes
Trapped in the care of her lonely uncle, a young girl’s nightmares about a bizarre kitchen appliance manifest into reality.
SWIPE
directed by Anthony Sneed
USA, 2021, English, 5 minutes
A delinquent teenage boy draws the shortest straw and must commit a petty theft.
THE SYED FAMILY XMAS EVE GAME NIGHT
directed by Fawzia Mirza
USA, 2021, English, 11 minutes
All cards are on the table when a queer Pakistani Muslim woman brings her Puerto Rican partner home for the first time on the family's annual game night.
THEREFORE, SOCRATES IS MORTAL
directed by Alexandre Isabelle
Canada, 2021, French, 12 minutes
Facing the climate crisis, Louise, a philosophy teacher, turns words into action.
THIS IS OUR HOME
directed by A.K. Espada
USA, 2021, English, 13 minutes
When their apartment’s rat infestation escalates, a bleeding-heart vegan and her antagonistic roommate find themselves at odds over inhumane methods of extermination.
TITAN
directed by Valéry Carnoy
Belgium/France, 2021, French, 19 minutes
Driven by his new friend Malik, Nathan prepares himself for a strange ritual to join a teens gang.
TRAINING WHEELS
directed by Alison Rich
USA, 2022, English, 15 minutes
Enid, a socially inept woman who has never been in a romantic relationship, panics when she meets John and realizes he’s her person. She decides the safest, most logical thing to do is to prepare for their date by practicing a relationship with a man rented from a questionable website called Casanovas.
TRYING
directed by Jason Park
USA, 2022, English, 17 minutes
Inside a cheap motel room, Danny plans to take his own life…it’s quite hard.
WHILE MORTALS SLEEP
directed by Alex Fofonoff
USA, 2022, English, 14 minutes
When a cold case novelist’s career implodes, she seeks refuge at her friend’s remote vacation home. Upon arrival, she encounters a strange couple who claim to be the caretakers. As tensions build, a dark secret begins to emerge.
WOLFDOG
directed by Nick Snow
USA, 2022, English, 11 minutes
Two women cross paths along a rural road on a night that changes both of their lives.
A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE
directed by Gauri Adelkar
USA, 2022, Hindu/English, 17 minutes
Ismat, an undocumented single mother, and a diligent worker at a garment shop in Queens finds herself at a crossroad of self-interest and morality after she secretly witnesses something at work.
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
ALMEDA
directed by Paul Hairston
USA, 2022, English/Spanish, 14 minutes
On September 8th, 2020 the Almeda Fire tore through Southern Oregon and burned more than 2,800 structures. Many belonged to tightly knit immigrant mobile home communities, some generations old.
BABUSHKA
directed by Kristina Wagenbauer
Canada/Switzerland/Russia, 2021, Russian/English, 26 minutes
A Canadian director visits her grandmother in Russia after 25 years of separation. Traveling through family memories and those of a country, this roller coaster of emotions invites us into an intimate space for reconciliation.
THE BEAUTIFUL CONFUSION
directed by Luis G. Santos
USA, 2021, English, 5 minutes
Director Luis G. Santos observes American photographer Gioncarlo Valentine at work as he discusses the many trials and tribulations that affect successful Black artists in this generation.
CHILLY & MILLY
directed by William D. Caballero
USA, 2022, English, 9 minutes
11 years after filming a documentary about his family, director William D. Caballero returns home to revisit scenes with his parents, exploring his father's chronic health problems, as a diabetic with kidney failure, and his mother's role as his eternal caretaker.
CHUU CHUU
directed by Mackie Mallison
USA, 2022, Japanese/English, 15 minutes
A filmmaker takes a mental tangent into a child-like dimension where he can speak his family’s language and get back the time he lost with his grandmother when he was a child — something she was never able to do with her lost family.
DEERWOODS DEATHTRAP
directed by James P. Gannon
USA, 2022, English, 9 minutes
50 years ago Jack and Betty were hit by a train and survived. This is their story.
EVERY SUNDAY
directed by Keti Papadema
Cyprus, 2021, English/Tagalog, 24 minutes
A group of Filipino domestic workers in Cyprus prepare for a beauty pageant organized by their community, while a case of a serial killer targeting foreign female workers comes to the surface.
F1-100
directed by Emory Chao Johnson
USA/Malaysia, 2021, English, 13 minutes
Video, illustration, and animation are interwoven in this transnational meditation through time and space of an international art student carrying a heavy burden.
THE GAME GOD(S)
directed by Adrian L. Burrell
USA, 2022, English, 19 minutes
The Goddess of the Crossroads pushes us between the then and the now, exploring spiritual undercurrents moving through black market economies and tracing them back to the original sin at the heart of the American Dream.
A HOMECOMING I’LL REMEMBER
directed by Jasmine Rene' McCaskill
USA, 2021, English, 17 minutes
There’s no telling what can happen when you meet with your memory. Zoe Hinds and Pamela McKelvy remember their groundbreaking crownings that span nearly 30 years apart and recount their journeys through the institutions at which they paved the way.
LAST DAYS OF AUGUST
directed by Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck & Robert Machoian
USA, 2022, English, 13 minutes
Does a town still exist if nearly everyone has died or left? Using the photobook aesthetic, filmmakers Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Machoian explore some nearly abandoned prairie towns of Nebraska and meditate on the blurred lines between still photography and cinema.
MEET THE TEAM TAKING J-SETTING FROM UNDERGROUND CLUBS TO THE MAIN STAGE
directed by Frederick Taylor
USA, 2020, English, 5 minutes
J-Sette dancers bring big energy to the floor, and the Dance Champz of Atlanta take this underground LGBTQ+ art form to the next level.
NUISANCE BEAR
directed by Jack Weisman & Gabriela Osio Vanden
Canada, 2021, English, 14 minutes
An unconventional and visually stunning study of the polar bears who draw tourists to Churchill, Manitoba.
OBJECTS OF HEARTBREAK
directed by Grace Kim
USA, 2021, English, 8 minutes
A mixed-media, experimental documentary reflecting on the objects leftover from failed relationships, as retold by Brooklyn residents.
REBYRTH
directed by Cydney Tucker
USA, 2021, English, 6 minutes
An Atlanta-based Doula works to save the lives of Black mothers as they journey from their pregnancies into motherhood.
THE SENTENCE OF MICHAEL THOMPSON
directed by Kyle Thrash & Haley Elizabeth Anderson
USA, 2022, English, 25 minutes
Michael Thompson is the longest serving non-violent offender in the history of Michigan after being arrested for selling three pounds of marijuana to a close friend turned police informant. After twenty-five years, three appeals and two denied applications for clemency, the tables have finally turned and it seems like Michael finally has a chance at freedom.
SOME KIND OF INTIMACY
directed by Toby Bull
UK/France, 2021, English, 6 minutes
A filmmaker tries to communicate with the sheep living where his parents are buried.
THERE’S NO END
directed by Mattias Evangelista
USA, 2022, English, 20 minutes
In the wake of personal tragedy, an iconic indie-rock musician moves to the remote San Juan Islands to raise his only daughter.
WINN
directed by Joseph East & Erica Tanamachi
USA, 2022, English, 17 minutes
A formerly incarcerated woman turned activist fights to legally end the shackling of incarcerated pregnant people in Georgia.
YOU CAN’T STOP SPIRIT
directed by Vashni Korin
USA, 2021, English, 16 minutes
For a community of Black women, dressing up as baby dolls is a Mardi Gras tradition and a celebration of freedom.
ANIMATED SHORTS
BIGFOOT TOOK MY PHOTO!
directed by Sasha Espinosa
USA, 2021, English, 6 minutes
Johanna has photographic proof that Bigfoot is real! That is, until Bigfoot himself steals it.
CRUMBS OF LIFE
directed by Katarzyna Miechowicz
Poland, 2020, No Dialogue, 7 minutes
The absurd adventures of three people inhabiting a small town by the sea - Una, who is experiencing peculiar anxiety about her own foot; G., cursed by a plump pony; and a mysterious Faceless Man.
DESPOT
directed by Nicholas D'Agostino
USA, 2021, English, 3 minutes
DESPOT tracks a disastrous day in the life of a world leader, peeling back the cartoonish veneer of a classic strong-arm dictator to reveal the true horrors beneath.
FALL OF THE IBIS KING
directed by Mikai Geronimo & Josh O’Caoimh
Ireland, 2021, English, 10 minutes
The antagonist of a dark opera becomes increasingly unsettled following the unlikely return of the former lead actor.
THE FARMER AND THE LIGHTNING STORM
directed by Danielle Browne
USA/Colombia, 2021, English, 5 minutes
Burdened by frustration and fear, the Goddess of Lightning suppresses her abilities. Can a nearby Farmer help Lightning regain confidence in her powers, and by extension, in herself?
HOPPER’S DAY
directed by Jingqi Zhang
USA, 2021, No Dialogue, 5 minutes
A cricket wants to achieve its dream in an abandoned quarry.
LAIKA & NEMO
directed by Jan Gadermann & Sebastian Gadow
Germany, 2022, No Dialogue, 15 minutes
Nemo looks different. Nobody else wears a diving suit and such a huge helmet. But then he meets Laika, an astronaut.
LOCAL MIDDLE SCHOOLER
directed by Sanjna Bharadwaj
USA, 2022, English, 11 minutes
A girl with magic eyelashes is exploited for them by her school, her community, and eventually the government. She battles the weight of the world with the weight of being a middle schooler.
MOTHER
directed by Subarna D
India, 2021, No Dialogue, 5 minutes
A woman faced with the prospect of becoming the next village circumciser realizes that she can't conform to the customs of her community when she is asked to circumcise her daughter and recounts her own harrowing experience.
MUSICA QUARANTENA
co-created by Lilian T. Mehrel & Danielle Rhoda
UK/USA, 2022, No Dialogue, 4 minutes
A little girl’s love for her bedridden Papa inspires a town in lockdown to make music from their balconies.
MY EX BOYFRIEND
directed by Cissi Efraimsson
Sweden/USA, 2021, English, 3 minutes
Two lovers face a dilemma when one undergoes a strange transformation and begins leaking water.
MY FAT ARSE AND I
directed by Yelyzaveta Pysmak
Poland, 2020, Polish, 10 minutes
After dieting to the point of extreme thinness, a girl is given a royal invitation to a kingdom by the Angel of United Bitches of Slimbuttlandia– but are the Skinny Buttangels as lovely and harmless as they appear?
MY GRANDMOTHER IS AN EGG
directed by Wu-Ching Chang
Taiwan/UK, 2021, Mandarin, 9 minutes
Guided by family interviews, the filmmaker explores her grandmother's life as a T'ung-yang-hsi, or "future daughter-in-law", while reflecting on women's oppression and the struggle for freedom.
MY PET VENUS
directed by Ariel Paxton
USA, 2020, English, 3 minutes
A little girl buys a Venus Fly Trap that she doesn't know how to care for.
NEW TRICKS
directed by Matt Corsillo
USA, 2021, English, 2 minutes
After accidentally hitting a dog with her car, a woman attempts to take the animal to the vet, but is impeded by its gruesome transformation.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DREAD
directed by Ida Melum
UK, 2021, English, 11 minutes
When a power outage ruins Ruby's bedtime routine, she finds herself haunted by some unwanted guests.
THE OCEAN DUCK
directed by Huda Razzak
USA, 2021, English, 7 minutes
A woman visits her ailing grandmother in a hospital during a flood, as an ancient tale comes to life.
PEOPLE PERSON
directed by Rymalena
USA, 2021, English, 15 minutes
Desperate to escape her reality, a young woman discovers a program that immerses her in her own subconscious through a myriad of virtual personas.
PIVOT
directed by Ana Gusson
Canada, 2021, English, 7 minutes
Growing up isn’t easy, and it’s no exception for 12-year-old Ashley whose well-meaning Mom has her own ideas about who Ashley should be. Finding herself in an impossible situation, Ashley must decide whether to wear a gaudy dress she hates or find the courage to stand up for herself and fight the inner monster that is holding her back.
SPROUT
directed by Nayt Cochran
USA, 2021, No Dialogue, 6 minutes
When a prize-winning plant causes self-doubt, a kind-hearted gardener nurtures a botanical-child’s individuality.
A TINY TALE
directed by Sylvain Cuvillier, Chloé Bourdic, Théophile Coursimault, Noémie Halberstam, Maÿlis Mosny & Zijing Ye
France, 2020, No Dialogue, 8 minutes
An abandoned dog meets a young astronaut wannabe and a professional cyclist who keeps on trying to beat her highest score.
THE VISIT
directed by Morrie Tan
Singapore, 2021, English/Mandarin, 9 minutes
Month after month, Ting visits her father in prison where they are only able to connect through a glass panel in a windowless cell. Despite these trying conditions, Ting is determined not to let anything come between their kinship.
EXPERIMENTAL SHORTS
BAD DREAM
directed by Camilo Diaz
USA, 2021, English, 5 minutes
Bad Dream is a visual representation of the black zeitgeist processing the violence of white supremacy. Impressionistic yet visceral in nature, Bad Dream is not only a representation of this experience, but a confrontation that forces viewers to consider their role in the racial structure of America.
ETERNITY ON A LOOP
directed by Isabela Costa
Brazil/USA, 2021, Portuguese, 12 minutes
An employee of God takes a break from heaven’s bureaucracy and spends some time on Earth.
ETHEREAL
directed by Isabelle Kanapé
Canada, 2019, Innu-Aimun/English/French, 3 minutes
A man spreads rumors about a local elder. To be forgiven, he will be put to the test. Ka tatishtipatakanit (Ethereal) is a poetic lesson about respect.
EYES AND HORNS
directed by Chaerin Im
Germany/South Korea/USA, 2021, No Dialogue, 6 minutes
Exploration of masculinity begins with the Minotaur, a mythical creature Picasso used to portray himself in his etching print series. The Minotaur goes through a violent struggle between being male and female. Finally, lines blur and boundaries of sexes disappear.
FREE NOIR PAPILLON
directed by Lev Omelchenko
USA, 2022, English, 11 minutes
A mother explores her relationship to her pregnancy through dance, as she deals with her fear and hope about bringing a Black baby boy into the world in 2020.
GLADIOLUS
directed by Azadeh Navai
Iran/USA, 2022, Farsi, 5 minutes
An ode to a flower that once enjoyed prominence in Iranian culture, Gladiolus tells the story of its ubiquitous role in life’s important ceremonies and how it became a victim of its own popularity.
HOW TO BEHAVE AT A PARTY
directed by Allison Radomski
USA, 2021, English, 2 minutes
Do you feel weird around other people? Are you anxious at social gatherings? Do you often find yourself trying to seem like a normal, happy person, and then coming up short? Look no further, friend. Even though I’ve never, ever had those problems in my whole life, "How to Behave at a Party" is here to help.
IN THE FUTURE
directed by Kelly Gallagher
USA, 2021, English, 4 minutes
Knowing that another world is possible, individuals young and old share their hopes and dreams for the future.
KILL TIME
directed by Benjamin Rinehardt
USA, 2021, English, 8 minutes
An exploration of various realms, places which could be parking lots and alleyways, bars and hotels, as well as personal places such as our bedrooms and even our minds. Using painting, animation and mixed media it strives to look at and understand time and its strange elusive qualities.
LÁCRIMAS
directed by Jeremy Moss
USA, 2021, English, 14 minutes
The plants, they shine at night. A melodrama of wavering moths, sparrows, cicadas, shadows, streams, and towering trees. A dizzying and displacing garden in a lower-key. Joan, don’t despair, tear down that tree. Paul, keep running, just flee. Burt, you ignorant f*** - it’s not your adding machine. Montgomery, stop knocking and leave.
MAY WE KNOW OUR OWN STRENGTH
directed by Jih-E Peng
USA, 2022, No Dialogue, 6 minutes
An abstract, hybrid narrative document centered around artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya’s similarly-titled piece exploring collective healing after sexual assault within AAPI communities, created tragically in the wake of the Atlanta spa shootings. In the spirit of the installation itself, this film recreates the process of trauma, the hurdles of healing, and the strength that can be found in sharing and community.
PANDROG
directed by Jard Lerebours
USA, 2021, English, 1 minute
A poetic treatise on masculinity and the trappings of gender. Two lovers seek freedom away from Babylon.
WHISPER, RUSTLE
directed by Maureen Zent
USA, 2021, No Dialogue, 5 minutes
Order gives way to chaos. Chaos becomes ferment. Ferment spurs fecundity. 'Whisper, Rustle' depicts this cycle with natural and stylized elements drawn primarily from the poems and prose of W. B. Yeats. Stop motion animated objects include sand, pebbles, flower petals, oak bark, leaves, gravel, sponges, seeds, egg shells, a rotting log.
EPISODIC
BRIDESMAN
directed by Julian Buchan
USA, 2022, English, 57 minutes
Bridesman follows Terry, a self-obsessed gay man, as he is forced to fulfill his bridesmaid duties for his unhinged best friend, despite his disdain for the construct of marriage and a secret romantic history with the groom. When Terry threatens to upstage the control freak Maid of honor, secrets are made public, parties are ruined and every relationship is pushed to its breaking point.
CHIQUI
directed by Carlos Cardona
USA, 2022, Spanish/English , 30 minutes
It's 1987. Chiqui and Carlos immigrate from Colombia to New Jersey to find a better life for themselves and their unborn son. Upon their arrival, they quickly realize that the American dream is not as easy to achieve as they thought.
I AM: JALAIAH
directed by Kayla Johnson
USA, 2021, English, 38 minutes
Jalaiah Harmon created one of the most viral dances of all time — the Renegade — at just 14 years old, yet she hardly reaped the fruits of her labor. But who is Jalaiah beyond this global dance phenomenon?
SOMETHING UNDONE
directed by Nicole Dorsey
Canada, 2021, English, 10 minutes
When a Foley artist goes home to settle her late mother's estate, she discovers a dark family secret and becomes obsessed with finding the truth.
METTA DA FEIN
directed by Carlo Beer, Urs Berlinger
Switzerland, 2020, Rhaeto-Romanic, 22 minutes
In the most beautiful village in the world, every day seems the same - until peace is shattered by a series of mysterious animal killings.
MUSIC VIDEOS
AMBER MARK - 'COMPETITION'
directed by Cara Stricker, Amber Mark
USA/UK, 2021, English/German, 4 minutes
‘Competition’ comes from a state of always comparing yourself to others and how ruthless that competitive nature can be towards yourself and towards others. The film is a reminder of how much stronger we are together.
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT - ‘VIBE’
directed by Tony Reames
USA, 2021, English, 5 minutes
Georgia's own Arrested Development is back for the final album and this is the lead single and video, "VIBE".
BABY TATE - ‘PEDI’
directed by Norton
USA, 2021, English, 3 minutes
F*** the high road, embrace the petty. In her video for "Pedi", Baby Tate literally pops into awkward situations to deliver an unhealthy dose of "karma".
BLANC’
directed by Wenkai Wang
USA, 2021, English, 3 minutes
A couple went through emotional turbulence as if they lived in two different time zones during lockdown.
COUNT IT ALL
directed by Joshua Cleveland
USA, 2021, English, 7 minutes
A dream-like journey into the consciousness of a black woman as she navigates identity under the mental and emotional harms surrounding institutional violence and Alienation within the American system.
DON LIFTED - ‘GOLDEN (THE WAIT) FT. MADAMEFRAANKIE’
directed by Joshua Cannon & Nubia Yasin
USA, 2021, English, 5 minutes
“This visual is everything I saw in my head as I wrote the song. It’s confident, it's extra, it's decadent; it’s a fantastical version of how I see myself every time I sing those lyrics.”
DTG - 'I GET HAPPY WHEN I THINK OF YOU’
directed by Pong Tulyathan
USA, 2021, English, 2 minutes
An intoxicated and controlling man who is trying to show love in something that is not there anymore physically in human form, but is there to him mentally.
FLORENT VOLLANT - ‘NENANTUAPMANAN’
directed by Isabelle Longnus
Canada, 2021, Innu, 4 minutes
Florant Vollant, an Innu singer songwriter goes on a quest in honour of his ancestors during which he performs a ritual.
HANA VU - ‘KEEPER’
directed by Maegan Houang
USA, 2021, English, 3 minutes
No one notices when Hana Vu erupts into a cathartic breakdown at a family event.
MICHAEL MYERZ - ‘DON’T GIVE UP’
directed by Kevin Daniel Lonano
USA, 2022, English, 3 minutes
Michael Myerz is locked in the fight for his life against the reigning Monster Boxer champion, the Moxer!
MIPSTERZ - ‘ALHAMDU | MUSLIM FUTURISM’
directed by Abbas Rattani
USA, 2021, English/Arabic, 5 minutes
“ALHAMDU | MUSLIM FUTURISM” is a musically-driven vision of Muslim joy as resistance and liberation—an imaginative future where Muslims exist boldly.
NAOMI ALLIGATOR - ‘CONCESSION STAND GIRL’
directed by Corrinne James
USA, 2021, English, 2 minutes
A frog morphs through a colorful animated world, transforming into a variety of characters and landscapes.
OBOROZUKI
directed by Joseph Ros
Cuba, 2021, Spanish/Japan/Yoruba, 5 minutes
Katsushika Hokusai’s tentacular “Dream of the fisherman’s wife” and Afro Cuban drums are the protagonists of a syncretic ritual; music and dance lead this interesting cultural intermixing music video.
PEACH PURÉE DE PÊCHES
directed by Stephanie Burbano
Canada, 2021, French/English, 3 minutes
Band stand fever dream with goddess Elle Barbara serenading you through the new/old sexual politic.
ROCHELLE BLOOM - ‘STORIES I CREATE IN MY HEAD’
directed by Derek Evans
USA, 2021, English, 4 minutes
The video is stark and unsettling, as is the video’s emotional narrative about the struggles of family life, what defines success and living up to the expectations of others.
SOMEONE - ‘STRANGE WORLD’
directed by David Spearing
UK, 2021, English, 4 minutes
Stuck indoors during lockdown, a young woman uses her imagination to evoke magic and playfulness in the world around her, translated in a moving, modern dance.
SYD - ‘FAST CAR’
directed by Ethan Nelson and Graham Epstein
USA, 2021, English, 5 minutes
Syd (of The Internet) and her girlfriend, Ariana Simone, try their very best to film a steamy sex tape in the hills of Malibu. What starts as a seemingly impossible task ends in utter sonic bliss.
VIRTUAL REALITY
CHILD OF EMPIRE
directed by Sparsh Ahuja, Erfan Saadati
UK, 2022, English, 17 minutes
An animated virtual reality (VR) docu-drama experience which immerses viewers in one of the largest forced migrations in human history: the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan.
GREENWOOD AVENUE: A VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE
directed by Tarik Jackson, Talibah L. Newman, Spade Robinson
USA, 2021, English, 20 minutes
"Greenwood Avenue: A Virtual Reality Experience" brings us into the 1920’s world of a 14-year-old Black girl experiencing first love & devastating loss in America’s Black Wall Street.
HYDROCOSMOS
directed by Milad Tangshir
Italy, 2021, No Dialogue, 19 minutes
An immersive experience which recounts the arrival of water and the emergence of conscious life on a remote corner of the universe. It’s an abstract tale, told through a symphony of performative bodies, images, sounds, lights and shadows.
MONTEGELATO
directed by Davide Rapp
Italy, 2021, Italian, 28 minutes
A montage film in VR, the first of its kind. Hundreds of cinematic sequences define a three-dimensional collage of the Monte Gelato waterfalls (Rome, Italy) as they have been filmed in more than 180 productions including films, TV series and commercials. From peplum to western, from comedy to thriller, from science-fiction to erotica: sounds and videos expand in an immersive landscape that transports the Falls in time and space.
VIRTUALLY THERE
directed by Leon Oldstrong
UK, 2021, English, 23 minutes
Imagine seeing a tragic incident from many different angles – stepping into the shoes of everyone affected? Virtually There allows viewers to experience the effects on the people behind the statistics in an immersive 360-degree film that aims to build an emotional understanding of the devastating impact of knife crime amongst young people.