Thunderstruck

Madrona Marsh

Shot in long, contemplative takes, Madrona Marsh lingers on the last remaining vernal freshwater wetland in Los Angeles’s South Bay. Amid Torrance’s dense urban sprawl, the film observes the marsh as an unlikely oasis—home to birds, fish, insects, reptiles, and moments of quiet human presence. Influenced by the rhythms of slow cinema’s great masters, Devereaux shapes stillness and habitat into a meditative portrait of fragile ecology and the persistence of life within an urban environment.

Echo

A reframing of the classic tale of Narcissus, the director draws on snippets of conversation with a trusted friend to muse on gender and identity. Just as shimmers are difficult to grasp as knowable entities, so does the concept of a gendered self feel unknowable except through reflection. Is it Narcissus that Echo truly longs for, or simply the Knowing he possesses when gazing upon himself?

Between You and You All

A chronicle of the lives of a couple and the gradual dissolution of their relationship.

Rift

Daniela (24) is a ghost in pain. Her life ended suddenly and painfully, leaving her friend and roommate, Mónica (22) alone in their shared apartment in Santiago, Chile. Daniela feels her frustration grow within her, as she fears that her time in limbo will never end.

Minari

A Korean American family moves to an Arkansas farm in search of its own American dream. Amidst the challenges of this new life in the strange and rugged Ozarks, they discover the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.

Dantes Traum von der Hölle

An attempt to bring texts from Dante's "Divine Comedy" to life. Nine episodes from the Inferno with a concluding episode from the Purgatorio.

Bestia

Man is constantly confronted by the one eyed beast. When peeking through the hole in his box, he discovers a truth that transforms his life. Every time the beast observes him and the darkness approaches his box, he becomes an embarrassed being.

Days Are Numbered

Christine Vachon’s story of a man haunted by the grotesque memory of having stepped on a dead animal's carcass is an artistic tour de force starring Michael Sean Edwards (the voice of Richard Carpenter in Todd Haynes’ Superstar) and a young Steve Buscemi.

Wei Baba

A woman introduces her Chinese dad to her American Jewish boyfriend and manipulates their language barrier to keep everyone happy.

Sorry for the Inconvenience

In Los Angeles Chinatown, a lonely teenager tries to help her parents keep their seafood restaurant afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quando Antares nos encontrar

The We Should Game

Fame driven Ken Dean becomes the subject of a documentary when he attempts to start a pornography company. Following the failure of the company, Ken uses his father's religious music to start a Christian rock band but finds himself trapped in a gay conversion cult.

It's A Dream, I'm Sleeping

Experimental animation made entirely with tinfoil. This film depicts a dream-state imagination of bodies moving and people passing.

To All the Boys: Always and Forever

Senior year of high school takes center stage as Lara Jean returns from a family trip to Korea and considers her college plans — with and without Peter.

Bunnylovr

A drifting Chinese American cam girl struggles to navigate an increasingly toxic relationship with one of her clients while rekindling her relationship with her dying estranged father.

Eu devia ter ouvido o Gerson

Just another love story. The difference is Gerson.

Remastered Brutality

Alinur, a student filmmaker, tries to make a film about the apocalypse for his capstone project. The movie itself happens to be about a mercenary named M who inadvertently causes an apocalypse. As he tries to “create” the destruction of this supposed apocalypse through utilizing technical gimmicks that he has enforced onto the production of the film, this supposed effort also creeps in as a force that starts to “destroy” him, piece by piece. The outcome of it tests the sincerity of not only the film itself but also of the performative efforts that Alinur has made as a filmmaker—even this test might not be as sincere as it seems.

Absolutely No Sexual Favors

Filmmaker and new media artist Tong Xie’s debut short probes the unease, confusion, and obsession experienced by the body as it crosses the urban physiognomy. Set amidst the shadowy loneliness of Paris at night, Absolutely No Sexual Favors je pense à toi 吾想汝顯 depicts the psychological and corporeal marginality of queer identity and desire through perpetually displaced figures.

She Island

In the heart of the Caribbean, a mother and daughter confront a malevolent curse erasing identities of all the island's women, propelling them on a daring quest to reclaim their rich cultural heritage and triumph over the encroaching darkness.

Confirmation

Concerns a young boy's mystical experiences during his Confirmation. As the ceremony unfolds, figures from religion and mythology appear and impress on him the need to become a soldier of Christ.