SFFILM 2025

Chain Reactions (2024)

Alexandre O. Philippe

Fifty years after Tobe Hooper's THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE shocked the world and forever changed the face of global cinema and popular culture, CHAIN REACTIONS charts the film's profound impact and lasting influence on five great artists - Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King, and Karyn Kusama - through early memories, sensory experiences, and childhood trauma. By crafting a dynamic dialogue between contemporary footage and never-before-seen outtakes, and delving into personal impressions triggered by distinct dialogue formats (16mm, 35mm, VHS, digital), CHAIN REACTIONS goes to the heart of how a scruffy, no-budget independent film wormed its way into our collective nightmares and permanently altered the zeitgeist.

Love, Brooklyn

Rachael Abigail Holder

Three longtime Brooklynites navigate careers, love, loss, and friendship against the rapidly changing landscape of their beloved city.

Rent (2005)

Chris Columbus

Anthony Rapp, Idina Menzel, and Tony winner Wilson Jermaine Heredia are among the original Broadway cast that reunite for director Chris Columbus' vibrant adaptation of Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical. Inspired by Giacomo Puccini's opera La Bohème, HIV/AIDS replaces tuberculosis as the disease raging in New York's Alphabet City as 1989 draws to a close. Filmmaker Mark (Rapp) documents his and his friends' lives, poor bohemians all, as they share their dreams and heartaches. While performance artist Maureen (Menzel) makes shows illuminating the group's eviction fight with their former friend and landlord Benny (Taye Diggs), HIV-positive couples Angel (Heredia) and Collins (Jesse L. Martin) and Roger (Adam Pascal) and Mimi (Rosaria Dawson) struggle to maintain their health. Columbus reaps big dividends with striking cinematography and production design that vividly evoke the grit and glamour of the era, while the staging and choreography gloriously open the story from its stage-bound roots. There is also a local angle: While set in Manhattan, the film was largely shot in soundstages on Treasure Island and at other Bay Area locations. —Pam Grady

The Babadook

Jennifer Kent

"Do you want to die?!" 7-year-old Samuel asks his stressed-out single mother, Amelia. She wonders if his question is a threat or a warning. After dealing with Samuel's frantic tantrums his entire life, Amelia suspects that her son has begun directing his violent misbehavior toward her. However, after a dark and foreboding children's book called Mister Babadook mysteriously appears on Samuel's bookshelf, Amelia must decide if her son is truly deranged, or if there really is a bogeyman lurking in their darkened halls at night.
First-time feature director Jennifer Kent vividly captured the vicious turbulence of Samuel's shrill outbursts, generating a real sense of horror from his aggressive unruliness, all the while subtly hinting at the weary Amelia's own deeply troubled nature. The Babadook builds up tension and dread in this damaged family's home before deftly introducing the terrifying possibility that something even more ominous may be stalking the dysfunctional pair.

Outerlands (2025)

Elena Oxman

Cass is a newcomer to San Francisco, attempting to find their way in a big city. With rigorous discipline Cass starts to build a new life: renting a studio, saving for the future, and maintaining two gigs as a server and nanny. Reserved and cautious, Cass yearns for connection, so when vivacious Kalli comes barreling into their life, bursting with sex appeal and bravado, Cass quickly lets down their guard. When Kalli suddenly asks Cass to watch her daughter Ari, Cass reluctantly agrees to the unusual request. Days pass leaving Cass to absorb new responsibilities and unexpected financial obligations while providing a safe space for Ari. Angry and confused by her mother's absence, Ari's reaction triggers unwelcome memories for Cass. Despite their mutual frustrations, Cass and Ari form a unique bond even as their situation spirals out of control. Elena Oxman's tender debut, developed through SFFILM's Artist Development program, speaks to the Bay Area's vibrant and rich communities that can magically lead to new beginnings. With a cast of exciting emerging talents, including Asia Kate Dillon and Ridley Asha Bateman, as well as iconic queer comic Lea DeLaria, Oxman weaves together a passionate story of loss, discovery, and acceptance. —Jessie Fairbanks

Magic Farm (2025)

Amalia Ulman

A film crew working for an edgy media company travels to Argentina to profile a local musician, but their ineptitude leads them into the wrong country. As the crew collaborates with locals to fabricate a trend, unexpected connections blossom while a pervasive health crisis looms unacknowledged in the background.

Magma (2024)

Cyprien Vial

The struggles between scientists, community members, and local politicians spills over like the titular substance that threatens the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe in Cyprien Vial's dramatic thriller. When a team of scientists led by Katia (Marina Foïs) records the biggest magmatic surge in 50 years on the small island, a struggle ensues among politicians who want to evacuate, locals who can't afford to stop working or shut down their businesses, and the researchers themselves who are forced to admit the inexactitude of volcanology. Particularly torn is Katia's assistant Aimé (Théo Christine) who grew up on the island and is well aware of the frustrations stemming from the fact that the mostly Black populace is dictated to by white European officials. Vial keeps a keen eye on all three personal elements of the story while never losing sight of the island's grand volcano, known as La Soufrière, whose majestic power will always have the last word. —Rod Armstrong

małni—towards the ocean, towards the shore

Sky Hopinka

This film follows Sweetwater Sahme and Jordan Mercier's wanderings through each of their worlds as they wonder through and contemplate the afterlife, rebirth, and the place in-between. Spoken mostly in chinuk wawa, their stories are departures from the Chinookan origin of death myth, with its distant beginning and circular shape.

Rebuilding (2025)

Max Walker-Silverman

After a wildfire takes the family farm, a rancher seeks a way forward.

Snow Bear (2024)

Aaron Blaise

Aaron Blaise is a living legend in animation, capturing the beauty and complexities of the natural world in his work for more than 30 years. From the start of his career at Walt Disney Feature Animation, he brought to life iconic characters in films that include Beauty and the Beast (1991), The Lion King (1994), and Pocahontas (1995). He made his feature directorial debut with Brother Bear (2003), a film that displayed his special bond with animals and received a Best Animated Feature Oscar® nomination. For the last 12 years, he has shared his wisdom with the next generation of artists and storytellers at his renowned online art school, Creature Art Teacher. Snow Bear, a gorgeous 2D hand-drawn passion project that he created over three years almost entirely on his own, is Aaron's latest project. Along with screening the short, he will also offer a behind-the-scenes look at his filmmaking process, answer questions, and lead us in a drawing activity inspired by the film. —Keith Zwölfer

Dislocation Blues

Sky Hopinka

An incomplete and imperfect portrait of reflections from Standing Rock. Cleo Keahna recounts his experiences entering, being at, and leaving the camp and the difficulties and the reluctance in looking back with a clear and critical eye. Terry Running Wild describes what his camp is like, and what he hopes it will become.

Fainting Spells

Sky Hopinka

Told through recollections of youth, learning, lore, and departure, this is an imagined myth for the Xąwįska, or the Indian Pipe Plant - used by the Ho-Chunk to revive those who have fainted.

Just a Soul Responding

Sky Hopinka

This is a travelogue of sorts, as two friends whose lives intersect and diverge, look at the road and the vessels we use as means to traverse landscapes both contemporary and historical, and of the spirit and of the body. The title, inspired in part by Smokey Robinson's Just My Soul Responding, refers to the passive and active ways that movement guides and shapes the routes one follows and creates in roadways and waterways long established, yet sympathetic to paths of desire and paths of refusal. Through each channel are various attempts to reconcile who we are, who we want to be, as well as who and what was lost along the way. —Sky Hopinka

Kunįkaga Remember Red Banks, Kunįkaga Remembers the Welcoming Song

Sky Hopinka

The video traverses the history and the memory of a place shared by both the Hočąk and the settler. Red Banks, a pre-contact Hočąk village site near present day Green Bay, WI was also the site of Jean Nicolet's landing, who in 1634 was the first European in present day Wisconsin. Images and text are used to explore this space alongside my grandmother's recollections. Each serves as representations of personal and shared memory, as well as representations of practices and processes of remembrance, from the Hočąk creation story, to Jean Nicolet's landing, to the present.

When you’re lost in the rain

Sky Hopinka

In this video, drawing from Bob Dylan's song "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues," layers of experiences circling loss and longing are overlaid between images of landscapes and movement. In the song by Dylan, a stranger's listlessness and exhaustion are woven through and around Juarez, Mexico, and so too in this video are these stories woven around colonial discontent and uncertainty as they move through an uneasy negotiation with the strangeness of the American pioneer spirit.

Along Away (2025)

Betsy Tsai

Ellie's grief over the suicide of her estranged friend Johnny takes an uncomfortable turn when she runs into his parents. SFCM team includes Clark Evans (Principal Composer), Ian Kaneko (Lead Sound) and Zhuoran Zhang (Additional Music and Sound).

AMERICA, WE BEG YOUR PARDON

A.K. Sandhu

As Oakland students bring a powerful play to life, AMERICA, WE BEG YOUR PARDON documents their journey of embodying the children of Black Panther Party members—interweaving history, intergenerational conversations, and the prophetic poetry of Gil Scott-Heron to illuminate the often-overlooked role of women and children in liberation movements. SFCM team includes Jonathan Bingham (Principal Composer), Caroline Feitosa (Lead Sound) and Misc. Students (Orchestrators).

Camino (2025)

Florencia Manóvil

A mother and her teen daughter flow in and out of harmony on a road trip that charts an emotional turning point in their lives. SFCM team includes Ryan Camastral (Principal Composer, Rafe Axne (composer), Clark Evans (composer) and Theo Popov (Sound Crew).

The Fog (1980)

John Carpenter

When a low-lying fog creeps through a seaside town in Northern California, ghastly occurrences ensue in this mystifyingly atmospheric horror classic from John Carpenter.

They Live (1988)

John Carpenter

Infamous for its extended, bone-crunching fistfight scene between "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Keith David, John Carpenter's 1988 cult favorite is also an ingenious satire of neoliberal politics that holds particular resonance in our second go-round of Trumpism. When drifter John Nada (Piper) dons a pair of sunglasses he's found, he discovers the true faces of many of the country's elites—they're skull-faced aliens manipulating people to consume and conform to the status quo—and sees it as his mission to convince the real people to believe him and resist! Like The Matrix, which blew millions of minds a little over a decade later and also features some iconic sunglasses, They Live questions the fundamentals of reality and is even more direct in its criticism of mass media and capitalist consumption. Carpenter fans also won't want to miss the Festival's special outdoors screening of his eerie 1980 film The Fog. —Rod Armstrong

I Dreamed His Name

Ángela Carabalí

Through powerful and poetic storytelling, I Dreamed His Name follows director Ángela Carabalí and her sister Juliana as they traverse Colombia's Indigenous farmlands to investigate the disappearance of their father. Thirty years ago, the Afro-Latino farmer became a victim of the violence enveloping the country during a period of civil unrest. Now, as Ángela and Juliana probe their missing parent's story, they encounter others who lost family members in similar circumstances. Gorgeous and intimate cinematography further illuminates the tenderness in each frame of Ángela Carabalí's moving documentary debut, a chronicle not only of loss but also of the love the sisters have for their family and for one another. —Kristal Sotomayor

Cutting Through Rocks (اوزاک یوللار)

Sara Khaki Mohammad Reza Eyni

As the first elected councilwoman of her Iranian village, Sara Shahverdi aims to break long-held patriarchal traditions by training teenage girls to ride motorcycles and stopping child marriages. When accusations arise questioning Sara's intentions to empower the girls, her identity is put in turmoil.

Blue Road - The Edna O'Brien Story

Sinéad O'Shea

Emerging from rural Ireland, Edna O'Brien broke multiple taboos with her sexually provocative literature and equally adventurous love life. Here, she opens up about her past with additional perspectives offered by Gabriel Byrne, Walter Mosely, and others.

Rafaat einy ll sama (The Brink of Dreams)

Nada Riyadh Ayman El Amir

In a remote conservative village in the South of Egypt, a group of disenfranchised Coptic girls rebel by forming an all-female street theater troupe. They dream of becoming actresses, dancers and singers, challenging their families and the villagers with their provocative performances. Shot across four years, this coming-of-age story focuses on those girls, as they transition from childhood to womanhood.

Endless Cookie

Seth Scriver Peter Scriver

Exploring the complex bond between two half brothers — one Indigenous, one white — traveling from the present in isolated Shamattawa to bustling 1980s Toronto.

How Deep Is Your Love

Eleanor Mortimer

How Deep is Your Love, follows intrepid biologists exploring the mysterious deep sea, where 70% of our planet lies hidden. As they uncover mesmerizing creatures and ecosystems thriving in darkness, a looming threat emerges: the prospect of deep-sea mining in this untouched wilderness. This film weaves wonder with urgency, challenging us to balance the drive for resources with the intrinsic value of an ecosystem. As we journey through this breathtaking realm, we are left to ponder how deep is our love.

How to Build a Library

Maia Lekow Christopher King

Two intrepid Nairobi women decide to transform what used to be a whites-only library until 1958 into a vibrant cultural hub. Along the way, they must navigate local politics, raise millions for the rebuild, and confront the lingering ghosts of Kenya's colonial past.

Only on Earth (2025)

Robin Petré

A visually stunning journey into southern Galicia, one of the most wildfire-prone zones in Europe, where humans and animals alike are struggling to cope with the hottest, driest summer on record.

Sudan, remember us

Hind Meddeb

In spring 2019, filmmaker Hind Meddeb captures a jubilant moment of defiance among young Sudanese activists in Khartoum after the overthrow of a long dictatorship, and then chronicles the military crackdown that followed.

Strichka chasu (Timestamp)

Kateryna Gornostai

Despite the war, school life continues in Ukraine, with pupils and teachers striving to continue learning even under constant threat. The film is a mosaic of the everyday lives of teachers and students from different corners of Ukraine.

The Wolves Always Come at Night

Gabrielle Brady

After a devastating storm wrought by climate change forces them from their home in the Mongolian countryside to the city, a young couple are forced to adapt to a new way of life in this breathtaking and heartbreaking hybrid film.

BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions

Kahlil Joseph

Preeminent West African curator and scholar Funmilayo Akechukwu's magnum opus, , leads her to the heart of the Atlantic Ocean, drawing a journalist into a journey that shatters her understanding of consciousness and time.

The Chaplain and the Doctor

Jessica Zitter

At Highland Hospital, Oakland's level-one trauma center, chaplains and doctors rarely work closely together but in this involving documentary, 80-year-old African American chaplain Betty Clark and white Jewish physician Jessica Zitter are exceptions to that generality. Longtime colleagues in the hospital's Palliative Care unit, the two women forge a deep bond through their shared commitment to compassionate end-of-life care. Trained in medical science and interventions, Dr. Zitter learns from Chaplain Clark's wisdom and perspective, and begins to see the emotional and spiritual aspects of healing. The film explores the systemic barriers that prevent holistic patient care, particularly for communities of color, as well as the personal transformations both women undergo. When Chaplain Clark faces her own health struggles, Dr. Zitter steps in, seeing firsthand the challenges Black patients endure. The Chaplain and the Doctor is a moving testament to care beyond medicine, where healing honors both body and spirit. —Amir George

Come See Me in the Good Light

Ryan White

Two poets, one incurable cancer diagnosis. Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley go on an unexpectedly funny and poignant journey through love, life, and mortality.

The Dating Game (2025)

Violet Du Feng

In a country where eligible men greatly outnumber women, three serial bachelors join an intensive seven-day dating camp led by one of China's most sought-after dating coaches, in what may be their last-ditch effort to find love.

Deaf President Now!

Nyle DiMarco Davis Guggenheim

During eight tumultuous days in 1988 at the world's only Deaf university, four students must find a way to lead an angry mob — and change the course of history.

FOLKTALES (2025)

Heidi Ewing Rachel Grady

On the precipice of adulthood, teenagers converge at a traditional folk high school in Arctic Norway. Dropped at the edge of the world, they must rely on only themselves, one another, and a loyal pack of sled dogs as they all grow in unexpected directions.

In Waves And War

Bonni Cohen Jon Shenk

Highly decorated Navy SEAL Marcus Capone struggles with PTSD after returning from Afghanistan. His wife finds hope in psychedelic therapy. They embark on providing access to this treatment for other veterans battling mental health issues.

Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore

Shoshannah Stern

In 1987, Marlee Matlin became the first Deaf actor to win an Academy Award and was thrust into the spotlight at 21 years old. Reflecting on her life in her primary language of American Sign Language, Marlee explores the complexities of what it means to be a trailblazer.

SALLY (2025)

Cristina Costantini

Sally Ride became the first American woman to blast off into space, but beneath her unflappable composure was a secret. Sally's life partner, Tam O'Shaughnessy, reveals their hidden romance and the sacrifices that accompanied their 27 years together.

Seeds (2025)

Brittany Shyne

An exploration of Black generational farmers in the American South reveals the fragility of legacy and the significance of owning land.

The Tallest Dwarf (2025)

Julie Forrest Wyman

Julie Wyman seeks her place in the Little People community as dwarf identity evolves. Uncovering family rumors of "partial dwarfism," she joins dwarf artists to challenge and address the rise of height-altering pharmaceuticals.

Vivien’s Wild Ride

Vivien Hillgrove

When she begins losing her sight, legendary film editor Vivien Hillgrove (The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Henry & June) turns to the medium she knows best, film, to craft this intimate and unconventional memoir. Reflecting on her groundbreaking career, Hillgrove revisits the evolution of Bay Area filmmaking, from experimental art films to major theatrical features and documentaries. As she navigates this transition, the documentary explores her encounters with renowned directors, mentors, and activists, as well as the deeply personal losses that have shaped her life. Balancing creative reinvention with vulnerability, Hillgrove's journey becomes a detective story of self-discovery, aided by her longtime partner Karen Brocco, who helps uncover hidden parts of her past. Set against the dual landscapes of fast-paced filmmaking and the sanctuary of their farm, Vivien's Wild Ride is a poignant exploration of resilience, artistry, and what it means to truly see both in cinema and in life. —Amir George

A Quiet Storm (2024)

Benjamin Nicolas

Maïto, a teenage Krump dancer in Japan, navigates a complicated and deeply emotional family life along with the pressures of being a young prodigy.

Voices from the Abyss

Irving Serrano Victor Rejón

Why do they jump despite the danger? A diverse group of cliff divers in Mexico poetically relate the thrill of taking that leap into the water.

40 Acres (2024)

R.T. Thorne

In a post-apocalyptic future where food is scarce, the last descendants of a Black family of farmers who settled in Canada after the American Civil War must protect their homestead from an organized militia hell-bent on taking their land.

Harvest (2024)

Athina Rachel Tsangari

Follows the villager's reaction to three newcomers, who become scapegoats in a time of economic turmoil.

Horizonte (2024)

César Augusto Acevedo

A mother and her long-lost son journey through war-torn Colombia seeking redemption and discovering that only great sacrifices can heal their souls and mend their fractured past.

Hiver à Sokcho (Winter in Sokcho)

Koya Kamura

In this debut from filmmaker Koya Kamura, a young woman struggling to claim her identity and independence has her routine disrupted when a French artist checks into the small guesthouse in snowy Sokcho where she works.

3670 (2025)

Joonho Park

Cheol-jun experiences life in two halves. As a North Korean defector living in Seoul, he is part of a small group who have followed a similar path. He has become close friends with many, but he conceals the fact that he is gay from them. Contending with feelings of isolation and longing for deeper connection, Cheol-jun summons the courage to explore Seoul's vibrant gay community. Finally, able to let his guard down, his life begins to blossom. But keeping his two worlds apart becomes increasingly unsustainable, and Cheol-jun finds himself in a precarious position that threatens the delicate relationships that he holds dear. In this auspicious and achingly tender debut, director Joonho Park perceptively navigates two of South Korea's most marginalized communities with a deep level of nuance, specificity, and compassion towards those yearning for acceptance and understanding. —Jordan Klein

All That’s Left of You (اللي باقي منك)

Cherien Dabis

After a Palestinian teen confronts Israeli soldiers at a West Bank protest, his mother recounts the series of events that led him to that fateful moment, starting with his grandfather's forced displacement.

Beloved Tropic

Ana Endara

In Panama City, the delicate connection between a pregnant Colombian immigrant with status issues and a well-to-do matriarch with dementia propels documentarian Ana Endara's accomplished narrative feature debut.

The Best Mother in the World

Anna Muylaert

Filmmaker Anna Muylaert (The Second Mother, Festival 2015) is known for her empathetic portraits of Brazilian women working hard to provide for their families and improve their own personal circumstances. In her latest film, trash collector Gal (Shirley Cruz) flees an abusive relationship and takes to the streets with her two kids and the pushcart that is her livelihood. Pretending they are on a grand adventure in the streets of São Paulo rather than confront her children with the reality of being homeless, Gal attempts to bring a spirit of playfulness to a dire situation. Muylaert brings her characteristic compassion to the fore, heightened by Cruz's textured performance that blends the levity of the family splashing around in a public fountain with the pathos of a middle-aged woman facing a difficult path ahead. Actor-musician Seu Jorge is similarly memorable as the brutish Leandro.—Rod Armstrong

The Botanist (2025)

Jing Yi

The wind bellows and glides across golden blades of grass in the sun-drenched valleys of Xinjiang, on the northern border between Kazakhstan and China. Arsin is a young Kazakh boy with a deep passion for the flora and fauna around him, giving keen attention to plants and all of their beguiling details. When he meets Meiyu, a spirited Han Chinese girl, she evokes the same feelings of enchantment that he experiences with the botanical beauty that surrounds him. What unfolds between Arsin and Meiyu is a magical-realist fantasy that speaks volumes about our ephemeral and ethereal ties to our wondrous world. In his directorial debut, Jing Yi engages a cast of non-actors and a real-world setting to produce a spellbinding representation of a forgotten land and its people, whose deep connection with nature offers meaningful lessons to live by. —Jordan Klein

Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears)

Rohan Parashuram Kanawade

Anand, a 30-something city dweller compelled to spend a 10-day mourning period for his father in the rugged countryside of western India, tenderly bonds with a local farmer struggling to stay unmarried. As the mourning ends, forcing his return, Anand must decide the fate of his relationship born under duress.

Cloud (2024)

Kurosawa Kiyoshi

Ryosuke Yoshii (Masaki Suda) is an ordinary person, who supports himself by reselling things on the internet. He carelessly earns grudges by people around him and, in the end, he is dragged into a desperate struggle that risks his life.

El Diablo Fuma (y guarda las cabezas de los cerillos quemados en la misma caja) (The Devil Smokes (and Saves the Burnt Matches in the Same Box))

Ernesto Martínez Bucio

The fears of five stoic young siblings abandoned by their parents mix with those of their schizophrenic grandmother who now looks after them, blurring and gradually dissolving the boundary between reality and imagination.

Les Fantômes (Ghost Trail)

Jonathan Millet

Hamid, is part of a secret group pursuing the Syrian regime's fugitive leaders. His mission takes him to France, on the trail of his former torturer whom he must confront. Based on true events.

Happyend

Neo Sora

A near-future Tokyo awaits destruction as the city is rocked by a series of foreshocks that predict a larger, more disastrous quake on the horizon. With the anxiety looming over them, a group of teenage best friends and musicians get into typical teenager trouble that tests the strength of their relationships.

Medovyi misiats (Honeymoon)

Zhanna Ozirna

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Los Hiperbóreos (The Hyperboreans)

Cristóbal León Joaquín Cociña

Experience that transforms the M100 GAV into a large film set for a feature film, where audiences will be able to witness the filming and participate in unexpected ways.

Ink Wash

Sarra Tsorakidis

The debut from director Sarra Tsorakidis follows a painter approaching her 40th birthday and reeling from a breakup. A difficult professional job offers crucial insights into her personal life, a reminder that the only way out of the woods is going through them.

Julie zwijgt (Julie Keeps Quiet)

Leonardo Van Dijl

As the star player at an elite tennis academy, Julie's life revolves around the game she loves. When her coach falls under investigation and is suddenly suspended, all of the club's players are encouraged to speak up. But Julie decides to keep quiet…

The Last First Time (2025)

Rafael Ruiz Espejo

A teenager from a small Mexican town experiences firsts in love and sex during a trip away from home in writer/director Rafael Ruiz Espejo's erotically charged first feature. At a college entrance exam in Guadalajara, Eduardo (Alejandro Quintana) meets city kid Mario (Carlos E. López Cervantes) and falls fast for the more sophisticated youth. Through the afternoon and a wild partying evening, Eduardo's initial shyness gives way to wild abandon as he explores his sexuality. Quintana is excellent as a youngster taking his initial steps in the adult world in this cinematic coming-of-age story. The Last First Time is filled with angst and wonder as Eduardo finds himself through his drunken day in a new city. —Kristal Sotomayor

Manas (2024)

Marianna Brennand

The film centers on 13-year-old Marcielle, nicknamed Tielle, who resides with her family in a riverside community on Marajó Island in the Amazon rainforest. As she matures, Tielle becomes increasingly aware of the systemic exploitation and abuse affecting the women in her community, including her own family. Determined to protect her younger sister and alter their predetermined paths, she bravely confronts the oppressive structures that govern their lives.

Olivia & Las Nubes (Olivia & the Clouds)

Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat

Olivia and The Clouds explores love's complexities through a Rashomon effect. Olivia, haunted by a past love, hides it under her bed. She trades flowers with this ghost in exchange for comforting rain clouds.

Llueve sobre Babel (Rains Over Babel)

Gala del Sol

A group of misfits converges at Babel, a legendary dive bar that doubles as purgatory, where La Flaca — the city's Grim Reaper — presides. Here, souls gamble years of their lives with her, daring to outwit Death herself.

Les Enfants rouges (Red Path)

Lotfi Achour

A dreamlike journey into the wounded psyche of a young shepherd, Achraf, and his ability to overcome the traumatic death of his cousin.

Baksho Bondi (Shadowbox)

Tanushree Das Saumyananda Sahi

Maya discovers that her husband – an ex-soldier who is suffering from PTSD - is the prime suspect in a murder investigation. She and her teenage son are forced to go to extremes to keep the family together.

Sharp Corner

Jason Buxton

After a car crashes into his front yard, a family man develops an unhealthy obsession with being ready for the next accident. And the next.

L’Histoire de Souleymane (Souleymane's Story)

Boris Lojkine

A Paris food delivery cyclist and asylum seeker named Souleymane has two days to prepare his story for a make-or-break interview to secure legal residency.

Sukkwan Island

Vladimir de Fontenay

On the remote Sukkwan Island, 13-year-old Roy agrees to spend a formative year of adventure with his father deep in the Norwegian fjords. What starts as a chance to reconnect descends into a test of survival as they face the harsh realities of their environment and confront their unresolved turmoil.

That Summer in Paris (2025)

Valentine Cadic

Thirty-year-old Blandine travels from Normandy to Paris to reconnect with her half-sister Julie and see her idol, a female swimmer, compete in the Olympics. But nothing goes quite according to plan in this constantly surprising and touching debut. Blandine could be described by some as awkward, but director and co-screenwriter Valentine Cadic demonstrates in a variety of significant ways that the young woman is comfortable in her skin. Turned away from the anticipated swim event due to an overly large backpack, and offered a not very warm welcome from Julie, she instead finds understanding and human contact from a friendly electrician and has moments of bonding with her niece Alma. Cadic is up to something subversive with this warm and empathetic character portrait—instead of presenting Blandine as a sad-sack type, the filmmaker creates a three-dimensional woman who comes to realize the strength she has within and the deep pleasure of her own company. —Rod Armstrong

Triumph (2024)

Petar Valchanov Kristina Grozeva

Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov's Triumph — combined with their previous films The Lesson (TIFF '14) and Glory (2016) — forms a trilogy inspired by sensationalist news stories from their Bulgarian homeland that prove once and for all that truth is stranger than fiction.

Viet and Nam

Truong Minh Quy

In the underground coal mines, Nam and Viet, young miners, face danger and darkness. One prepares to leave for a new life, but they must find Nam's father's remains, a soldier lost in a faraway forest, retracing the past through memories.

Where the Wind Comes From

Amel Guellaty

Alyssa, a rebellious 19-year-old girl, and her friend Mehdi, an introverted 23-year-old man, use their imagination to escape their unpromising reality. When they discover a contest in the south of Tunisia that may allow them to flee, they undertake a road trip regardless of the obstacles in their way.

Xoftex

Noaz Deshe

Xoftex is a Greek refugee camp, where Syrian and Palestinian asylum seekers anxiously wait for news of their refugee status. To pass the time between interviews with the immigration office, Nasser and his friends film satirical sketches and make preparations for a zombie horror flick. Except that the reality of the camp could be taken for a horror scenario itself. The tension between its inhabitants gains momentum and every conflict removes one more brick from the wall which divides reality from dream – or, indeed, nightmare. Fragments of real life, humour, and the unimaginable suffering of people risking their lives to escape their own country, merge into an explosive, at times, surreal spectacle which invites the viewers to immerse themselves in the story and the lives of immigrants in a way they will never have experienced before.

The Dutchman (2025)

Andre Gaines

Clay, a successful but troubled black businessman, attends therapy sessions with his wife, Kaya, in an attempt to salvage their marriage. But their mysterious therapist is not all that he seems, and begins to unexpectedly appear to Clay outside of their sessions. On a New York subway train, Clay encounters Lula, a seductive but sinister white stranger who slowly begins to unravel his life. Clay must discover the truth behind this encounter to get back to his wife, heal his fractured soul, and survive the night. In this modern adaptation of the 1964 Obie Award winning play, The Dutchman brings a contemporary edge to the original, exploring themes of race and identity in America.

Isle Child (2024)

Thomas Percy Kim

Si Miller (Ethan Hwang, Riceboy Sleeps) leads an idyllic life as a teenager in Concord, Massachusetts, reveling in the camaraderie of his baseball teammates and blessed with the unyielding support of his loving parents (Samantha Mathis, Sam Robards). His self-assured personality comes crashing down when he receives a phone call from an adoption agency, informing him of his South Korean birth mother's illness. The news complicates Si's perfectly constructed self-image, thrusting him into a complex space between his Korean heritage and his American identity. In his absorbing feature debut, Thomas Percy Kim perceptively and compassionately examines the challenging feelings of otherness that manifest from Si's precarious circumstances, along with the universal desire to belong. Gorgeous cinematography captures Hwang's stunning performance and paints a breathtakingly beautiful portrait of Si's search for his place in the world. —Jordan Klein

Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo)

Joel Alfonso Vargas

Rico's summer is a mix of chasing girls and hustling homemade cocktails out of a cooler on Orchard Beach, the Bronx. But when Destiny, his teenage girlfriend, crashes at his place with his family, it's only a matter of time before his carefree days come spiraling down.

Operation Taco Gary’s (2024)

Michael Kvamme

Something strange is afoot at Taco Gary's. At least that's what conspiracy oddball Danny (San Francisco native Simon Rex, Red Rocket) believes, claiming the fast food chain has far more going on behind the counter than the creation of delicious tacos. Determined to rescue his brother Luke (Dustin Milligan, Schitt's Creek) from a coming global cataclysm, Danny joins him on what is ostensibly a road trip to Luke's new job in Ottawa. But as Danny's stories get wilder and each stop between Taco Gary's outposts gets more absurd, Luke is forced to consider if Danny is just off his meds or is there something to his older sibling's outlandish claims? American Pie's Jason Biggs adds a hilarious comic turn as himself in this wacky blend of screwball comedy, action, and sci-fi that also stars Brenda Song (The Last Showgirl) and Doug Jones (The Shape of Water). —Pam Grady

Ricky (2024)

Rashad Frett

Newly released after being locked up in his teens, 30-year-old Ricky navigates the challenging realities of life post-incarceration, and the complexity of gaining independence for the first time as an adult.

Across the Waters

Viv Li

Sandstorm blows, waters scarce. In a remote mining town without any radiosignals, a quirky teenage girl gets curious about a passing truck driver.

I Lay for You to Sleep (2024)

Ali Al Hajri

As grieving women tenderly wash his body, Ali's soul drifts through visions of loved ones, unraveling revelations that reshape his understanding of life, loss, and the passage between worlds.

Ordinary Life (2025)

Yoriko Mizushiri

A meditation on time and perception, Ordinary Life explores the tension between repetition and change, as human consciousness drifts through past and future while the body remains anchored in the present.

Vox Humana (2024)

Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan

In a near-future world, strangers' lives intertwine as they grapple with technology's impact on relationships and identity, exploring profound questions of human connection amidst alienation.

After What Happened at the Library

Syra McCarthy

After a terrifying, real-life encounter, a drag queen grapples with overwhelming public attention, struggling to reclaim their identity and peace in the aftermath of the unsettling event.

Mau Por Um Momento (Bad For A Moment)

Daniel Soares

The owner of a new architecture studio and his team join an irreverent and unusual team-building activity. The event goes wrong, and the architect is confronted with the harsh reality of the housing crisis in the social housing neighborhood undergoing gentrification. This is the national premiere of the film that earned Daniel Soares an honorable mention in the official short film selection at Cannes.

Dawn Every Day

Amir Youssef

In the 1950s, the cosmopolitan society in Egypt was disrupted by the conflict between nationalists and colonial powers, affecting citizens and residents with foreign affiliations, including Europeans, Syro-Lebanese and Egyptian Jews. Amidst this turmoil, 8-year-old Nabil navigates through new social norms that he cannot comprehend, impacting his next-door best friend, Mireille, in post-nationalized Egypt. This story is inspired by real people and true events.

Nine Days in August

Ella Knorz

After she discovers she is pregnant,18-year-old Lea navigates the complex bureaucracy of having an abortion.

Memories of Zhi (2024)

Mingxin Li

After accidentally killing a boy, 16-year-old orphan Zhi seeks refuge in a Buddhist monastery, unknowingly forming a bond with the victim's mother, leading to a tense journey of deception, fate, and redemption.

Retirement Plan (2024)

John Kelly

Upon retirement, a man reflects on the joys, opportunities, monotony, and loneliness of his new life stage and contemplates on what comes next in this poetic Irish animated film.

A Brighter Summer Day For The Lady Avengers (2025)

Birdy Wei-Ting Hung

An experimental narrative film about the sexual awakening of Ming, a 15-year-old girl, at an adult film screening in 1980s Taiwan. Her sexual maturation merges with the spectacular reveries onscreen.

How Was Your Weekend?

Cam Banfield

It's Monday morning in corporate America. Everyone's asking you "how was your weekend?" and you're telling them "good, how about yours? But what if you didn't have a good weekend... and that created a tear in the work/life balance that keeps your office running? Because with everyone back to work in person, you're with your Office Family more than your Real Family. You turn on "work mode" every morning, and sometimes it's hard to turn it back off. "How Was Your Weekend?" is about the relationship we share with work, with each other, what we bring home with us, and what we take back to the office — the surreal horror that comes from personal spilling into the workplace.

MANGO (2025)

Joan Iyiola

Zadie wants nothing more than to take her career to new heights, but persistent pain threatens to bring her to darker places.

Stomach Bug (2024)

Matty Crawford

Feeling invisible and adjusting to life alone, a father faces a disturbing physical unravelling when he discovers something growing inside him.

Bloomed In The Water

Joanne Mony Park

When school picture day gets lost in translation between Korean-American single mom Min and her kindergartener son Noah, Min tries to course-correct with the ragtag help of her assimilated sisters, a sharp new outfit for Noah, and an ocean's worth of determination to give him better.

Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites

Chheangkea

During her chaotic family's Qingming visit, dead Grandma Nai sneaks away from her peaceful afterlife after overhearing that her Queer grandson is about to get engaged to a woman.

Hermanos (Brothers)

Miguel Pérez Castelazo

Siblings who spend their days arguing over trivial matters find themselves at a breaking point where their brotherhood is put to the test.

The Mud Under My Window

Violette Delvoye

Emma has two moms. On a rainy Sunday morning, she longs to be with the absent one she idealizes but must come to terms with the frictions she experiences with her other mother at home.

My Brother, My Brother

Saad Dnewar Abdelrahman Dnewar

Perceiving life as something shared by two. Through a split (dual) narrative, identical twins Omar and Wesam, recount their shared memories: from their time in the womb of their mother to the moment they are tragically separated. Written and directed by twin brothers, Saad and Abdelrahman Dnewar, My Brother, My Brother, combines 2D animation with live-action cinematography to chronicle a deeply affectionate and tender narrative about existing without the other.

Saint Andrews (2025)

Erin Ramirez

A Chinese Jamaican teenager falls in love with a young Jamaican boy but the relationship is tested when her Chinese immigrant parents disapprove of the relationship.

Sola (2023)

Lana Barić

Karla returns home for her estranged father's funeral, experiencing awkward and uncomfortable interactions with her mom and ex-girlfriend as she confronts her past.

Camp Widow (2025)

Laura Green Anna Moot-Levin

Camp Widow is a gathering for widowed people by widowed people. Over the course of three days, attendees speak candidly about death, forge connections with others over shared experiences of loss, and find ways to navigate the tricky waters of grief. Founded by Michele Neff Hernandez, who suddenly became a widow at age 35, the camp offers a way to both recognize tremendous loss, while at the same time celebrating continued life. The film follows an ensemble of campers who are weary of platitudes about grief, and speak to one another from a place of radical honesty that is by turns heartbreaking and darkly hilarious, embracing irreverent humor as a cathartic means of self-expression.

Clara's Fruit (2024)

Morgan Mathews

A principal lovingly reflects on the 90-year legacy of his great-grandmother, Sister Clara Muhammad, who founded the first Muslim private school system in the country.

Firefighter Goats (2024)

Phoebe Dobey George McCann

Consuming shrubs that could otherwise become fuel for a devastating wildfire, a herd of goats feast on Orinda, California's dry vegetation.

The Hemingway (2024)

Evan Mathis Patrick Sean O'Brien

The Hemingway is a visually striking short film that explores the complexities of living with ALS. As Patrick struggles with daily tasks, the narrative voice in his head offers insights into the peculiarities of life during his most intimate moments. Unexpected twists reveal the intricacies of relationships in the silent world of ALS. The film masterfully balances life's beauty, dark humor, and poignant revelation, offering a touching exploration of the human experience through life, death, and shit. Directed by Patrick Sean O'Brien and Evan Mathis, and edited by Doug Pray.

Waska: The Forest Is My Family (2025)

Nina Gualinga Boloh Miranda Elizabeth Swanson

Nina Gualinga of the Kichwa People of Sarayaku, investigates the ongoing environmental destruction and cultural appropriation of her Indigenous land in the Amazon.

A Menina Com Os Olhos Ocupados (The Girl With The Occupied Eyes)

André Carrilho

Once upon a time there was a little girl who was always distracted. With her eyes fixed on her phone, she couldn't notice the world around or who wanted to play with her.

Hoofs On Skates

Ignas Meilunas

Piglet and Cow are having a blast ice-skating on a frozen lake, when suddenly a strange beast cracks the ice beneath them!

Livestreams with GrandmaPuzzles

Emily Sheskin

Senior citizen and jigsaw puzzle expert Adele finds a sense of community through an online network of enthusiastic fans and learns you're never too old to rediscover your passions.

On a Sunday at Eleven

Alicia K. Harris

A young Black girl navigates exclusion in her white-dominant ballet class, reclaiming her beauty, identity, and power in an ethereal and unapologetic celebration of Blackness.

Lore (2019)

Sky Hopinka

Images of friends and landscapes are cut, fragmented, and reassembled on an overhead projector as hands guide their shape and construction in this film stemming from Hollis Frampton's "Nostalgia". The voice tells a story about a not too distant past, a not too distant ruin, with traces of nostalgia articulated in terms of lore; knowledge and memory passed down and shared not from wistful loss, but as a pastiche of rumination, reproduction, and creation.

Swimming with Butterflies (2024)

Karl Stelter

After missing the bronze by 1/100ths of a second at the 2016 Paralympics, swimmer Lizzi Smith shares the inspiring story of how changing her self-perception allowed her to reclaim the pool.

Tule (2024)

Jocelyn Garcia

In Clear Lake, California, a young Pomo girl shares the cultural importance of the Tule plant and the urgency of indigenous stewards to return it to its natural glory.

As You Are (2024)

Daria Strachan

After she is confronted at church and misunderstood by her dad, a queer Black teen searches for self-acceptance and belonging in community.

The Brave Ones (2025)

Mahdiyeh Abbaszadeh

A caring forester puts his own life in danger when he saves a Persian leopard after a poacher wounds the endangered cat in this culturally rich stop-motion short.

Painting Resistance (2024)

Dylan Clarke Aesha Gluck Liam Renaud

San Francisco muralist Chris Gazeleh shares his family's story and his vibrant art that promotes awareness of the history and struggle of Palestinian people.

Reach For Me (2025)

Hazel Baileh Klein Wolff

A daughter reconciles the kaleidoscopic layers of complex emotions passed down from her mom, healing the past and present.

Why Can't We Just Be Ghosts?

Patrick Jang

After a teen ghost confesses his depression to his human best friend, the two search for a path toward acceptance and happiness in this thought-provoking satire.