Playlist
<p>On June 26, 1977, a vehicle drives into a river outside the Atikamekw community of Manawan in northern Québec. Two Whites survive the accident, but five Atikamekw lose their lives. The police conclude it was an accident, but for the victims' families, many questions remain unanswered.</p>
<p>In Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts, Ben Santhanaraj journeys to Sri Lanka to rekindle his relationship with Suzanne Hopper, an American NGO worker, after a long separation. But when Suzanne's boss demands she work during their vacation, their love is tested by a dilemma: desire versus duty. As Suzanne struggles with the responsibilities of her job, Ben tries everything to revive their intimacy, leading to candid conversations and chaotic twists as New Year’s Eve - and Ben’s departure - looms ahead.</p>
<p>Alienated by friends and family for her lack of ambition, 29-year-old Misha finds a dangerous acceptance in a bright 19-year-old athlete who mistakes her for a fellow student. Winner of Grand Jury Award for Breakouts, Slamdance 2024.</p>
<p>After the sudden deaths of her aging parents, Maria Gallucci returns to her childhood home on Cape Cod (Massachusetts). When Maria's estranged brother Nico (and his older girlfriend Sigrid) show up to help sort out the estate, tensions soon rise about how to best sell the decrepit house. While Maria and Sigrid forge an unexpected friendship, Nico's emotional volatility becomes increasingly unstable. Is it the effects of an old brain injury, the toll of revisiting past family traumas, or something related to the strange vibrating hum that only Maria seems to hear?</p>
<p>“Distancia” follows Juan, a devout, undocumented Mexican immigrant, when his wife suddenly dies and he experiences a crisis of faith.</p>
<p>An outcast. A golden boy. A girl trying to figure things out. An act of malice and a fickle game of cat and mouse. In an uncanny character study about the toxicity and disarray of modern teen culture, three young souls are driven to the edge over questions that have no answers.</p>
<p>After taking in an abandoned child, Teresa meets Antonio, and the two begin a journey on the roads. The share a past in common, which is the memories of a town submerged at the bottom of a dam. Life is a dream, but the future is uncertainty.</p>
<p>Sasha (a 30 year old orphan) and his girlfriend Laura are preparing to move from Russia to Spain. But there is a hidden problem: Sasha merely pretends to be a happy person. When he ultimately finds his mother, who gave him away as a newborn over 30 years ago, he comes to realize that he cannot carry on pretending as if everything was ok. He literally tries to go back in time in order to forgive the person who supposed be his mother.</p>
<p>Seven tales of transformation poetically reimagine Ovid's Metamorphoses and paint a picture of violence and catharsis, anchored in mythical landscapes.</p>
<p>The destruction of a Palestinian home by Israeli edict and the murder of a youth at the hands of an Israeli settler set the stage for even more shocks to come in writer/director <strong>Farah Nabulsi</strong>’s assured feature debut. <strong>Saleh Bakri</strong> is Basem, an amiable educator who tries to steer the deceased boy’s younger brother Adam (<strong>Muhammad Abed Elrahman</strong>) from seeking revenge. At the same time, Basem ignores his own advice, maintaining ties with the resistance and involving himself in a hostage situation. He tries to keep his activities secret from Adam and his British girlfriend Lisa (<strong>Imogen Poots</strong>) but it becomes harder to maintain his silence when Israeli troops show up at his door. Inspired by a real incident and set in 2014, <strong>The Teacher</strong> is a shattering work that feels as current as today’s headlines, and a drama made more devastating by Bakri’s soulful performance.</p>
<p>Back to his hood in the North Side of Marseille, South of France, Kaleem accepts a job in construction.<br /> He reconnects with his best friend Rachad who wants to hire him as manager in his new sport center.<br /> Kaleem is training hard Krump and meets a mysterious greek architect : Marie.</p>
<p>Lonely dudes in liminal spaces. Three guys working the graveyard shift around a deserted urban college campus try to make it through a long and lonely night on the job.</p>
<p>On the day of their green card interview, a young couple confronts a dangerous immigration process</p>
<p>In the grip of a mental breakdown, Kyra moves through New York City in one failed attempt to connect after another. A final, fruitless encounter on Coney Island leaves her distraught, broken and ready to fight her way forward - if she can.</p>
<p>When Raha, a 27-year-old Iranian-Canadian immigrant, finally decides to meet a man she has only seen in a photo after ten years of isolation, Iran undergoes a significant upheaval and revolution. She finds herself caught in a whirlwind of events and torn between her homeland, people, and her personal life in Canada. Shortly after the tragic death of Mahsa Gina Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian girl who was killed by the morality police for not wearing an appropriate hijab, sparking widespread protests, the news continuously reports on arrests, injuries, and casualties in the streets. The Iranian government's internet shutdown makes it incredibly challenging to communicate with her family in Iran. Alongside these challenges, she must prepare for her date with Dave at 6:00 p.m. Raha realizes that she lacks a suitable outfit for the occasion, and over the years, her self-confidence in her appearance has waned, even causing her to forget how to apply makeup properly. As time swiftly passes, her mental anxiety, combined with news from Iran, becomes a chaotic jumble of thoughts. With only a few hours left until her meeting, she desperately leaves home to find suitable clothes. Once again, she faces intense contradictions between where she lives and her motherland. This encounter with the harsh reality weighs heavily on her and becomes so exhausting that it shatters her mental turmoil, leaving her with no solution but to seek refuge in nature for tranquility.</p>
<p>In a small village of the Béjouï mountains, in North Algeria, Nouria meets Abdel, a French young man who lives and works in Algeria for months. After Abdel loses a bet against Nouria, they both ride their moped along the Mediterranean coast, expecting to get on the boat that will take them back to France.</p>
<p>A man, unsettled by his imminent life-changing decision, suspects his terrifying dream and his husband's daunting parallel encounter might be a signal from God to cancel a long awaited arrival.</p>
<p>A heartbroken cyclist rides across the US on a bike he stole from his ex.</p>
<p>When Shadi embarks on a secret adventure, he accidentally drags his proud Palestinian family into a trap where they only have two choices; either collaborate with the Israeli occupation, or be shamed and humiliated by their community.</p>
<p>Blood, money, and a second chance converge on a meek Drifter's life after he finds a corpse in a suit, complete with wallet and keys.</p>
<p>A drummer with a creative block visually takes the audience down his own memories into the heart of his emotional blockage.</p>
<p>Avinoam and Barak, father and son from Kibbutz near Gaza strip, are each facing another round of combat in their own way. While Avinoam insists on continuing his routine and his work in the field, Barak finds it difficult to close his eyes and continue as usual. One night, Barak reaches a boiling point and Avinoam is forced to absorb the flames.</p>
<p>As a bridge keeper makes his rounds, a mysterious sequence of events pushes him into an unexpected reality regarding the bridge in his care.</p>
<p>Matty drives cross country to track down his estranged father, bringing the only thing his dad left him: a treasured collection of Kenny Rogers cassette tapes. Things do not go as planned, and Matty must choose between remaining stuck in the past—and the anger that resides there—or struggling forward into something new.</p>
<p>Soheila is a mother who could lose the custody of her child. While stopping at a gas station, the woman loses sight of the child. What happens forces her to make a tough decision.</p>
<p>Guided by posthumous instructions to release her ex-wife’s ashes, a reclusive book publisher embarks on a Surrealist odyssey (a dérive) across New York City, experiencing a series of spontaneous connections along the way that challenge her to engage the world anew.</p>
<p>Ayman and Bilel are street peddlers who trick women abroad with Western Union scams. Bill is worried as Aymand is scamming the wrong sister. Despite his friend's warnings and a mysterious call to prayer from above, Ayman is going down a dead end road.</p>
<p>As teenager Zuo Tong accidentally discovers that his mother may be cheating, he puts her through a harsh mental trial. Amid this process, Zuo Tong gradually realizes that he's shattering another family with his actions.</p>
<p>An experimental case study on young love in the age of digital media: where technology meets the fragile world of flowers.</p>
<p>Helen and John are artists. They're also contract killers. And they hate the name Gary.</p>
<p>The cement pipe plant was shut down three days later because it could not meet production standards. Rome, Zhu Dan and Yu Guangsong will spend the last three days here, saying goodbye to familiar people, things and things...</p>
<p>Beth is getting married in 36 hours and her mother hasn't seen her dress. If this sounds low stakes, you aren't a fat woman with a mother who hates herself. Grab a piece of Danish and dig into this comedic tragedy about mothers, daughters, and who gets to be a bride.</p>
<p>A Native American man takes a Happy Thanksgiving wish from a bank teller so personally, his rage drives him to carry out a bizarre revenge plan.</p>
<p>I Already Went' is a bleak comedic satire set in a not-so-distant future, where our craving for convenience is at an all-time high.</p>
<p>Following a violent incident; Eissa a 17 years old African migrant in Egypt is in a quest against time to save his loved ones whatever it takes.</p>
<p>A woman struggles with the pressures of motherhood and uses a childish game at a local baby group to vent her fury, sparking an unexpected chain reaction.</p>
<p>Martha, an Indigenous woman works tirelessly in a laundromat loading machines and folding washing, ready for the collection of her boss. When a mysterious visitor arrives, Martha is reminded of the life she has left behind.</p>
<p>A young boy trying to cope with his parent's separation gains a new perspective of his father after discovering his affair with another man.</p>
<p>Though she's been confident and in control her whole life, a young Brooklyn woman has trouble healing from heartbreak which encourages her to explore the root of her problems instead of only the symptoms that manifest it.</p>
<p>An aging actress struggling with her career is offered an unexpected role.</p>
<p>When Margot unsuccessfully reenacts moves from her self defense class with her boyfriend, fear rears its ugly head. She imagines the worst about her best friend Cami’s one night stand. Together, the two women process their experiences with the intimacy that only female friendship has.</p>
<p>Through the lens of his video phone and the camera's around him, a young boy grows up in South Central LA, learning to live, love and grow through the most crucial moments in his life-- defining for us all how much life truly matters.</p>
<p>This morning, Marina has an appointment with Charlie to sell her a mattress. This evening, she will cancel her plane for Reunion. But they don't know that yet.</p>
<p>An unusual road trip takes a turn for the worse as two fearless women risk it all for what's right.</p>
<p>When professional sound recordist Lourdes is hired at the last minute on an interview for a popular Mexican TV show, she finds the crew unwelcoming, the snacks sparse, and the vibe sour. The interview subject also happens to be a media tycoon in the middle of a sexual assault scandal. Lourdes tries her best to be professional, but she soon bears witness to a series of ugly truths about the man whose voice she's charged with capturing, as well as the entire landscape of her profession.</p>
<p>SCOOP ME UP finds a musician, alone on a cranberry bog, in desperate pursuit of creative inspiration. Then he spots something odd in the middle of a dirt road: a bent spoon. He takes the spoon back to his makeshift recording studio and fixes it.<br /> <br /> The songwriter’s act of cutlerian kindness sparks an increasingly surreal, mysterious, and thrilling journey that just might reward his efforts in ways never before seen or imagined.</p>
<p>Amir is a student who is humiliated by the school administrator because of the situation he is in. This incident leads to his transformation...</p>
<p>The stubborn man Deng is obsessed with the woman Hong Hong; Hong Hong is obsessed with the master; the master is obsessed with his own magic; the "spell" reflects the three of them...</p>
<p>A young woman is plagued by regrets and desires after colliding with a crush on a busy New York street.</p>
<p>"We Have Notes" centers around the making of one pivotal scene in a Joan of Arc movie. We watch the scene evolve: the cast, the plot, and the underlying themes.</p>
<p>Sophie(24) wants to have a cat with her boyfriend Jack(27), only to find he's not ready for it, or anything else.</p>
<p>Finally receiving a day-off after being recently dumped, young and anxious assistant Willow is ordered to aid the elusive husband of her high-powered boss with an unusual task.</p>
<p>Mirna and Magdiel are an ordinary family living under extraordinary circumstances. After fleeing violence in Honduras, joining the infamous migrant caravan, and enduring months in a US detention center, they are sponsored by a synagogue in Seattle, who lend them an empty beachfront mansion while they wait for their asylum verdict. Over three years, this young family navigates countless moments–both life-altering and mundane–where grief, memory, and joy collide</p>
<p>Emily Nestor from West Virginia is on a mission. She wants to prove that the death of Jaleyah Davis was not an accident, but murder. To achieve this, she has started a podcast, Mile Marker 181, in which she explores theories about the case, particularly those of the victim’s mother.</p> <p>The podcast quickly becomes a success and makes Nestor a local celebrity. But what if she were to discover that Davis’ death was in fact an accident after all? Wouldn’t she lose both her audience and her newly acquired status? Citizen Sleuth takes a critical look at the phenomenon of the true-crime podcast, in which amateur investigators take the place of experts and make money from the suffering of others.</p> <p>But the film is more than just a warning. Director Chris Kasick also places Emily Nestor in the spotlight because she is a fascinating figure: a smart young woman from a disadvantaged region who, thanks to her project, makes seemingly unattainable dreams come true.</p>
<p>Dogs Are People Too explores the four-legged civil rights movement sweeping across America. Dogs may soon be considered 'non-human persons', changing the human-dog bond forever.</p>
<p>A six-year-old Rohingya boy named Hossain comes of age in the world's largest refugee camp as the crisis around him grows increasingly dangerous.</p>
<p>A coming-of-age film about three best friends from Eindhoven, the Netherlands: Alex Sophie, Emma and Robbie. Three emo kids aged 15 and 16, going through the main developmental stage of life, on their way to adulthood. The camera intimately shows their boldness and strength, but also the vulnerability of the teenagers.<br /> <br /> Filmmaker Martijn van de Griendt captures them during the summer of their high school graduation. He paints a loving portrait of young people dealing with insecurities, loneliness, friendship and love.</p>
<p>The mysterious country of Tuva located at the source of the Yenisei River. It’s a real Wild East. Huge open range mixed with mountains and dense taiga create a feeling of vastness to this land.<br /> <br /> Through the silence of the mountains and valleys a strange singing can be heard from the distance. It sounds hypnotic. It is impossible to make out the words, but despite this, the meaning of the song is clear to everyone. This is the Huun-Huur-Tu band - the main holder of traditional Tuvan music today. They traveled around the world dozens of times: they were offered a comfortable life in Europe, work in Hollywood, and the patronage of Arab sheikhs. But they don't need all this. <br /> <br /> After years of touring and traveling, the band decided to go on a trip to their native land in order to once again make sure that all the roots were growing properly and the tradition kept evolving.</p>
<p>After the untimely death of Pakistani-born oncologist Hassan Amjad, his daughter Ayne seeks a definitive solution to her father's unresolved dream of helping Minden, a former coal-company town polluted with carcinogenic PCBs. No stranger to audacious goals, Ayne hatches a plan to relocate Minden's 250 residents to a plot of land purchased in the wake of her father's passing.<br /> <br /> When Ayne encounters resistance from the community, she takes her plans statewide, landing a high-profile role as WV's State Health Officer in the early months of the pandemic. Ayne's star rises as she spearheads a much-lauded vaccine rollout, but the demands of her new position make it all but impossible to pursue her goal of moving Minden and her personal dream of raising a family of her own.<br /> <br /> In a last-ditch effort to finish her father's work, Ayne dispatches her personal lawyer to launch a class-action lawsuit against industry titans, the proceeds from which may serve as Minden's best hope of financing relocation. With personal and professional obligations mounting, Ayne must decide how much she is willing to sacrifice to make good on her late father's mandate to help others at all costs.</p>
<p>THE MOVIE MAN introduces us to colorful entrepreneur Keith Stata and his bizarre multiplex set deep in the forest of small-town Ontario, Canada. After 40 years in business, Keith is forced to confront his current limitations, dwindling health, and a global pandemic. The future of his quixotic cinema becomes more and more uncertain as the film unfolds.</p>
<p>"Preconceived" tells the stories of Maleeha and Maria, two women who, while navigating unplanned pregnancies, inadvertently found themselves at facilities discouraging them from abortions. The film is a window into these enigmatic centers that some call “pregnancy resource centers” and others call “fake clinics.” Shedding light on how many of these centers are a part of a movement striving to make abortion unthinkable and illegal, the documentary explores the complex role of deception, finances, faith, and privacy. Amid a shifting legal landscape, "Preconceived" underscores the significance of understanding the resources available to pregnant people.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;">SMALL TOWN UNIVERSE explores life in Green Bank, West Virginia, a remote town defined by the National Radio Quiet Zone, where wireless technology restrictions help preserve the work of the Green Bank Telescope. Standing at 485 feet tall, this world-class instrument allows scientists to investigate the mysteries of the universe and search for extraterrestrial life. Beyond its scientific mission, the telescope serves as the town’s economic and cultural backbone, providing jobs, inspiring curiosity, and attracting those seeking refuge from an overly connected world.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;">The film follows four residents whose lives are deeply intertwined with the telescope's presence: a young woman aspiring to a career in astrophysics, a retired engineer reflecting on his legacy, a longtime resident connected to Green Bank’s history, and a newcomer embracing the town’s off-the-grid lifestyle. As federal funding for the telescope hangs in the balance, each of their lives becomes inextricably linked to the telescope's future.</p>
<p>A self-isolated young human known as "James" delves into the hidden world of microscopic organisms, forging a tender connection with these nearly invisible creatures and developing a massive online following, as he seeks to understand his own place in the cosmos and accept the scars of his past.<br /> <br /> “A Body Called Life” is a film made in collaboration with James, with a screenplay adapted from the verbatim Instagram posts of James, and starring James as James. It is an experiment in storytelling, about a life spent observing other little lives, with a charming score by Dan Deacon.</p>
<p>After witnessing a fatal car accident in 2004, Mischa Jakupcak experienced an acute psychotic episode. She was admitted to the Mermaid Ward, a psychiatric hospital in London. She discovered and reframed her world anew through photos she took with disposable cameras which she smuggled into and out of the psych ward. This two minute short tells her story of trauma and healing through the creation of art.</p>
<p>The stories of three quilters reveal an intimate portrait of rural women in the American West. Featuring Brenda Bailey, Sara Buscaglia, and Susan "Traditional Woman" Hudson.</p>
<p>Two sisters discuss their incredibly creative and complex father and ruminate on the challenge of rendering someone who no longer exists in a complete image when the whole of them gets drowned in the highlights.</p>
<p>A broken-hearted filmmaker finds meaning as he documents punk band Show Me The Body record their latest album.</p>
<p>"Dear Watsonville" is a mixed-media documentary offering an intimate glimpse into the lives of the manong generation, the first generation of Filipino migrants to arrive en masse to the U.S., as seen through the eyes of their children. It unfolds in three distinct vignettes, each focusing on the migration stories and day-to-day experiences of three Filipino families. The film distinguishes itself with its experimental use of community-sourced oral histories, archival images, and hand-drawn illustrations. Together, these elements weave a moving narrative about resilience, placemaking, and childhood.</p>
<p>A look into the life of musician Nancy Whang, a founding member of the iconic band LCD Soundsystem.</p>
<p>Jewel Streets introduces viewers to a neighborhood in New York City that is perpetually flooded with toxic water, exposing them to daily health and safety hazards. With the help of local activists, its residents - desperate for action after decades of city negligence - urgently press city officials to improve the area’s infrastructure and their quality of life once and for all.</p>
<p>A daughter, oceans away from her Palestinian mother, craves a slice of home. Guided by her mother's voice & the grandmothers and aunties that came before her, she recreates her family's eggplant 'fatteh' in her own Brooklyn kitchen. A celebration of diaspora culture, recipes with the power to connect, and the intimate memories that only food carries.</p>
<p>In the summer, the "Grands Shows Mécaniques" organized by the Bastien family are in full swing on the hot asphalt by the mediterranean sea. François Jr & Elliott Bastien, young stuntmen aged 9 and 11, are growing up in this world of crumpled metal and adrenalin. Every night, when the mechanical monsters driven by their fathers arrive, the phrase "Do you want some more?" rings out.</p>
<p>With a cult-like following at the New York Times, Christopher Gray throws his family for a posthumous loop when he requests his body be defleshed and his skeleton preserved for permanent display—not before a last family road trip along the way.</p>
<p>Upon turning fifty years old, Karyna, a transgender immigrant, is determined to fulfill her lifelong dream of celebrating her Quinceañera in Phoenix, Arizona.</p>
<p>A daughter attempts to confront her immigrant dad about the ways he's failed as a father. In the process, she sees his pain for the first time.</p>
<p>What does being in treatment do to our chronically ill bodies? The Norwegian government has been sending patients with rheumatism to treatment in Montenegro since 1976. This films follows a group of patients, zooming in on their experience from Institute Dr. Institut?"Dr. Simo Miloševic"?Igalo in 2023, and the programme, and the buildings where treatment is taking place, are facing challenges.</p>
<p>What initially appears to us to be a fragmentation of most personal conversations unravels into an inventory of three women about their restrictive environment, invisible abuse and ingrained thought patterns. Citing the familiar mechanisms of an era thought to be past, we see various images of masculinity shot on 16mm, which simultaneously refer to the immediate commonplaceness of the reports.</p>
<p>The Punchline explores the life of Josh-Redd Sanchez and his pursuit of becoming a standup comic in New York City. Josh's story is framed by the dramatic backdrop of Southern Brooklyn where he makes his home on a 1979 Seafarer sailboat.</p>
<p>In 1969, Switzerland's image of perfection was undermined by a clumsy television operator who mistakenly deleted the official commentary of the Apollo 11 Mission. Journalists Marco Blaser and Eugenio Bigatto will return to the studio of forty years earlier to correct the mistake. But it won't be that simple.</p>
<p>In this documentary, a comedian's break-up leads her to a surprising journey with a community of LARPers.</p>
<p>"Shotplayer" is an impressionistic journey into the mind of Wilfred Rose, one of New York City's most notorious pickpockets. As he returns to the subway for the first time in many years he reflects on a life of crime in a society that has left many of its citizens behind. "Shotplayer" asks, when is it ok to push back against that society? What does it mean to live as a criminal? What does it mean to live one’s life on an invisible plane? To live at all?</p>
<p>Rex, a gifted marble sculptor, lives in a small mountain town in Colorado on a property littered with half-finished headstones, a faithful dog, and a family of scrap metal minions.<br /> <br /> It's hard to fully know Rex, a man who chooses to live life on the fringes of society. It's here, in the outskirts, that he revels in a life that defies convention.<br /> <br /> In this Documentary Short, we journey into the enigmatic world of Rex, a self-made sculptor who engages in philosophical musings about mortality — verbalizing his abandonment of fear to his headstones. Despite his eccentricities, Rex is forced to continually reconnect with the outside world to scrap together a living by delivering his meticulously crafted commissions.<br /> <br /> Amidst a backdrop of scattered beer cans and awe-inspiring marble sculptures, 'Stone Dead' invites viewers to delve deep into a sequestered artist's unconventional existence. This thought-provoking short film navigates the intriguing intersection of life and death, weaving a compelling narrative that challenges our perceptions of what it means to be near the end.</p>
<p>In the aftermath of a car accident that changes her life in a single moment, Erena struggles with survivor's guilt and depression. Seeking solace, she turns to the water which holds a deep connection to childhood memories of time shared with her father. Through submerging herself in the ocean, she feels an emotional connection and comfort that helps her process her loss. She shares this healing power through underwater portrait sessions with veterans, cancer and trauma survivors. Honouring her father's generous spirit in this way provides her with the path forward.</p>
<p>Victor's Command, The Yamato on Patrol in Central Park explores the passion of lifelong model maker Victor Cotte. Victor's main effort over the last forty years has been work on his beloved Yamato. In making this film I have tried to underscore his unparalleled love for this boat. We hear dramatic music that might not be out of place in a Michael Mann movie. We see 3D graphics sequences that might be at home in Metal Gear Solid or Evangelion.<br /> <br /> This bold treatment helps us feel as excited as Victor does about his decades long bond with his exceptional boat. Victor derives satisfaction in life from his unique bond with the Yamato. In exploring Victor's passion the film asks, what do you do to derive meaning from all of this chaos?</p>
<p>Having fled the Liberian civil war, renowned self-taught artist Johnson Weree is seeking asylum in the Netherlands where he lives undocumented and without a fixed address. Haunted by the horrors of his past, he draws bright-coloured otherworldly portraits, whilst longing for a brighter future.</p>
<p>A lifetime passes through a couple as they sit on the deck of a ferry, holding each other in the sea breeze.</p>
<p>It's the anniversary of Moley becoming the keeper of Manny, and Dotty, with a little help from her Uncle Mishmosh, goes back in time to see what she had missed before she came to MoleTown. But when she gets stuck in the past with nobody recognising her, Dotty must go to her uncle for help in order to bring her back to present-day MoleTown without interfering with the past.</p>
<p>A romantic comedy about a pair of robots who learn that love isn't easy even if you can download it directly into your CPU.</p>
<p>As a child in Vietnam, Thao's mother often rescued ants from bowls of sugar water. Years later they would return the favour. Boat People is an animated documentary that uses a striking metaphor to trace one family's flight across the turbulent waters of history.</p>
<p>Chroma Wheel explores the personal journey of art creation and the various emotions that come with it. The story follows a protagonist who experiences creative blocks in a bizarre world, where emotions transition from confusion to excitement and ultimately find harmony.</p>
<p>"The Gramophone" is an animated short and joyful non-dialogue children's musical being part of the "Clawlolo" series for children that originated from the imagination of twin brothers from Hungary six years ago when they were just 10 years old.</p>
<p>On a bridge over the river Liffey a young man stands on the edge of life and death. Startled by a talking seagull he drops his phone into the water below. A passing meteor shower rekindles his wonder and helps to put his problems into perspective.</p>
<p>The Dog Ate My Homework' is a charming stop-motion short that sends you surfing through the digital whirlpool of the internet. When a charismatic canine gatecrashes 12-year-old Charlie's screen, it's a laugh-out-loud reminder of the power of focus. As the lines blur between online adventures and offline duties, it's a colorful call to not forget life beyond the screen.<br /> <br /> * please note the screener is in its original french version but I can provide a version dubbed in english if preferred</p>
<p>A woman's life has been turned upside down ever since she noticed those strange floating strings in her sight.</p>
<p>FLOCKY is an animated allegory navigating pregnancy, exploring the connection between a mother and her unborn child. Set in a melancholic and enchanting world, the film beautifully captures the essence of love, and the poignant nature of loss.</p>
<p>Told through the eyes of a child with an overflowing imagination, HARVEY is a poetic, luminous look at bereavement and coping with the loss of a parent.</p>
<p>An inspirational modern fairy tale. Should Molly, a fiercely talented artist, pursue her creative passion or work a soul-sucking factory job? She can't decide until she meets a mysterious liquid spirit who takes her on an exhilarating journey of self-discovery and helps make the choice easy.</p>
<p>Toni grows oranges. He loves them, they are his treasure. Until one day, strange cargo ships dock in the valley. Cargos loaded with... GREEN oranges!</p>
<p>When the children go to sleep at night and the parents are away, it's the knightlights and teddy bears who keep the monsters at bay.</p>
<p>In Bogota, a bird-girl leaves behind the family home, her domineering mother and faithful dog to go and explore her sexuality.</p>
<p>Floating on a pink cloud as a couple is easy. It is much more difficult to cope with everyday life and the future together - an amusing relationship drama.</p>
<p>Mary, a 65-year-old housewife who lives in her house with her beloved 70-year-old husband, Robert, and their lazy cat. Mary tries her best to be the perfect wife, before an incident happens revealing an unexpected sad truth that deeply affected Mary and changed her life forever.</p>
<p>Ready to quit her dreams of becoming a celebrated accordionist after busking day after day for an isolating swamp metropolis that isn't listening, young Mira finally gets a taste of recognition one evening when she meets Lore; a charismatic and successful performer who takes an interest in Mira's talents.<br /> <br /> Giving into her charm and status, Mira finds herself playing hostess to the mysterious and talented singer as Lore's self-serving behaviors make her increasingly more uncomfortable in her own home. Mira's desire for recognition from this elevated musician leaves her blinded to Lore's hidden intentions until her apartment begins changing around her and her anxieties start to spiral out of her control. Her inability to confront and remove the ever-dangerous Lore proves to have monstrous consequences once Lore shows her true sinister nature; that she is not the musical ally that she initially presents to Mira but a water demon who needs to scavenge and carve out a place for herself by taking advantage of others.<br /> <br /> After Mira tries to escape, Lore cruelly adheres her to her beloved accordion, encasing her arms to the instrument's keys and sewing her lungs into to the accordion bellows. She must keep playing the instrument in order to breathe. Mira, entrapped by this demonic entity, is left with her home and sense of self forever changed.</p>
<p>A meditation on personal and collective grief through looping animations on a turntable.</p>
<p>Don't believe in yourself Mr. Rabbit, believe in Science!</p>
<p>A young fly gets trapped in the fly trap in the stop-motion studio only to have the existential realization that it spent its entire life chasing after the wrong thing.</p>
<p>When Gary is fired from his job giving out free samples and replaced by a robot, he feels like the world is ending - and it turns out he's right.</p>
<p>Steven Wang's "The Star-Catcher" paints an immersive picture of a freezing tundra that's hostile to life itself. The story follows Ori, a young boy who witnesses this fact firsthand. Despite his resolve to make things better, he is not immune to the effects of the tundra and must summon the courage to act before it's too late.<br /> <br /> Symbolizing feelings of detachment and fear through the setting, "The Star-Catcher" communicates its themes of empathy, resolve, and free-will through a surreal goal: catch the sun to save the tundra.<br /> <br /> Set to an original, orchestral score that takes viewers into the spirit of Ori, the highs and lows of the music are deeply intertwined with the rises and falls of the story. "The Star-Catcher" gets to become a dark representation of a world without warmth, but it always maintains a certain hope; a hope we all must have in order to keep our own worlds from freezing over.</p>
<p>A short animated documentary exploring the immigration experience through the eyes of a little Israeli girl learning how to swim with clothes on in the Netherlands.</p>
<p>The stop motion animation music video for the song 'Tell Me Where To Go' was made using a multi plane camera, and shot in a home studio (Studio Nightjar 2023) onboard a boat in London between 2021 and 2023.<br /> <br /> The song 'Tell Me Where To Go' is taken from the forthcoming debut solo album ('Different Flowers', out in 2024) of musician/independent artist Peter Beatty. The music video was written and produced by Peter and brings together his music and his visual art for the first time. The animation is directed by Peter Beatty and Joseph Boyle.<br /> <br /> The song, inspired by 'a boat trip from a few years ago', is a joyous tribute to adventure, self-exploration and seeking direction. It explores the theme of 'the journey' and the transformational role it plays in our lives and in ourselves. The stop-motion music video takes these themes further and reinterprets the song as 'an animated epic'. It follows the story of an astronomer who pursues a beguiling light he discovers in the sky. He undertakes an incredible voyage onboard a boat, and in his pursuit is lead to places never seen before - it is a journey that spans time and space and transforms both himself and his view of the universe forever.<br /> <br /> 'Tell Me Where To Go' was shot entirely on the boat where Peter lives in central London, UK. The project began in 2021 during the pandemic.<br /> <br /> Peter explains: 'I have long been interested in using a multi plane camera and traditional stop-motion animation as a way to bring my art to life. I wanted the song and video to feel as joyous, immersive, and sensory as possible' continues Peter, 'as if you have been carried higher and higher on a wonderful intoxicating voyage. Neither Joseph nor I had made a stop motion before, and exploring the capabilities of the multi plane as first-timers was a joyful journey in itself. My hope is that this is reflected in the video - and also that as soon as people finish the journey they will want to do it again'.</p>
<p>Set in Shiraz, Iran, this thrilling and poignant tale follows a resilient 10-year-old street urchin grappling with daily hardships. His father's life hangs in the balance, relying on him to secure life-saving medicine. Amidst the struggle, an extraordinary bond forms between the young protagonist and a stray dog, altering their lives forever. Together, they find solace, hope, and transformation amidst challenging circumstances.</p>
<p>"When the Sun Explodes" is a 5-song EP and animated mini-series by Very Nice Person. The story starts in Malibu, California, when the sun suddenly explodes and takes the main characters, Davis & Skyler, on a quest to bring it back and restore balance on Earth. They travel through different dimensions, gaining powers and meeting guides to help them along the way. Dialogue is shown through speech bubbles, and there are no voices in the series, just music. Plants communicate in a unique hieroglyphic language. Each episode reflects the lyrics and energies of the songs. Stems of the tracks are used to create interludes that provide insight into the mission. The series takes an imaginative approach in exploring an animated world dominated by industrialization, highlighting the consequences of overlooking nature and the negative impact it has on society. This project merges music and animation to highlight the EP and present an engaging story in a unique and creative way.</p>
<p>A young soul named Lu ventures into a world of shadows reflecting a weakened state of humanity. There Lu struggles to find grounding in memories of a familiar universe governed by kindness. Despair is crushing. The escape is behind the mirror.</p>
<p>"20" is a captivating film that explores the enchanting world of lucid dreams, unraveling tales of hope, love, and despair amidst serene landscapes where shadows dance gracefully. Against the backdrop of insomnia, the film seamlessly blends a sleepless night's story with a multilingual poem.<br /> <br /> As the mind rebels against the ticking clock, dreams find refuge in the beauty of languages, creating a space where time loses control. The sleepless mind transforms into a canvas for lucid dreams, taking viewers on a journey through vivid visions and a whirlwind of emotions.<br /> <br /> At its core, the narrative features a goldfish navigating inked oceans in a dream, accompanied by a lingering melody that echoes a silent love's profound ache.<br /> <br /> The film's story delves into the depths where darkness weaves intricate patterns, and midnight inks spread like leaves. "20" invites audiences on a cinematic journey, encouraging reflection on subconscious mysteries. Here, the boundaries between hope and despair, love and loss, flow like the midnight sea, elusive as the specters gracefully dancing in quiet realms where shadows come to life.</p>
<p>A full life, I suppose is a filmic portrait of the time shared between the filmmaker and his mother, Androulla, combining new 16mm material shot during his recurring visits to Cyprus with Super 8mm footage shot by his father in the 1970s to chronicle the evolution of bodies and the desires that mark a life. Attempting to balance between observation and construction, the film captures dailiness and domesticity while transfiguring Androulla's body and inhabited space through close-ups, double exposures and time-lapses. As segments of conversations between filmmaker and mother about her life wander mostly sync-free over the images, encounters with light and darkness in the nooks and furnishings of her otherwise ordinary dwelling arouse a sense of unreality.</p>
<p>Blossom of Choice is an experimental short film as an offering of change of perception and healing through self-reflection and presence and as a reminder of the way of life and nature: constant change. The main character encounters a transformative path when the person in front of her becomes the mirror to herself, which leads to confrontation and unfolding the stiff roots she has fed all along: the resigned realities of self-concept, ego, identification, categorization, discursive thinking, etc. This path she leads herself into is where the self meets its being state—the awakened state of consciousness, the essence, beyond the limitations of self-concept and ego—and transcends and liberates itself from its constraints and stiff roots that weren't able to loosen and change.</p>
<p>As a tree muses on their role in the Order of Things, this being (which humans normally think of as immobile) reveals the speed, agility, and finesse integral to their experience of the world. Adapted from a short story written by Ursula LeGuin, this decidedly inhuman filmic narrative uses the overlapping cyan and scarlet of anaglyph stereoscopic 3D imaging to speculate how a tree (which responds more acutely to light waves in the red and blue portions of the spectrum) might perceive the world visually. Though 3D stereoscopy is used in this film, it is intended to be viewed without 3D glasses.</p>
<p>This is a passage through life. Through the writing of these two characters, through dance, through the need to bring one's body to life and express a feeling, an emotion, and to free oneself to move forward, turn a page and make a beautiful memory. While keeping the image alive, grainy and true.</p>
<p>On his daily walk, Henry is visited by a woman who is long gone. Coasting the edge of portraiture and dance film, this short is about the season of visitation, when the sun creeps low and we hold our dead in mind.</p>
<p>If the eyes are the window to the soul, Immaculate Generations no. 1 presents its viewer with a singular look into thousands of souls. Equal parts Carl Sagan and William Blake, this flicker film is composed of tens of thousands of individual retinal photographs from public scientific databases. Its flickering landscapes evoke the violence of the big bang and balance somewhere between threat and seduction, like the paintings of J.M.W. Turner. Animated between 12 and 24 frames per second, they make for a dazzling rush into the maelstrom of life as we perceive it.</p>
<p>In this visual essay strung along a clothesline, a narrator named Lavender tells the story of her mother, Jeanne, a Rwandese immigrant filled with hope.</p>
<p>LFM comments on the distortions in the image of women and the food cycle in the pulse of the Berlin metropolis: The female protagonist is transformed from a suburbanite in a big-city photo studio into a mythical warrior exuding primal energy for an avant-garde photo session. The film details the power and resources of the fashion world to shape the very real image of women. LFM culminates in a surprising juxtaposition of worlds as the protagonist hunts for sustenance on the obscure frontiers of society.</p>
<p>A tonal shift occurs inside the world of an American sitcom resulting in the disruption of the show's rhythm. As it evolves, a looming presence of banality casts a shadow on the show's bright lights and bubbly personalities. Moments of vulnerability and honesty begin to seep into a world filled with shallow conflicts and punchlines.</p>
<p>A reflection on the medical condition of menorrhagia and shame surrounding it.</p>
<p>A rainy morning in Rio de Janeiro; film as a membrane, a memory veil, imprinted by the body and the environment. The title is a reference to the performative cloaks/capes of the late Brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica, made of various materials including fabric, paper, and plastic. This handmade film is made with reclaimed pigments and physical processes including contact printing, scratching, peeling, spraying, and staining.</p>
<p>Film made from the memories of dead people, from hours of 16mm home movies discarded by families at estate sales... and all of it in radiant Kodachrome color. Score by 2024 Grammy Award winner Carla Patullo. Artist driven first feature.</p>
<p>While visiting their estranged grandfather in a rural trailer park, a teenager searches for their father's ethos amid socioeconomic, environmental, racial, and gendered binaries.</p>
<p>Against a backdrop of the beaches of 1940s South Africa, Questioning the Existence of Alec is a voyage shared by friends from adolescence to adulthood. Roger Horn masterfully uses 8mm found footage, stop motion and additional in-camera effects, taking us on a chimerical journey that blurs the lines between past and present. “It's as if you were never here.”</p>
<p>Reanimations is a daytime talkshow featuring the great scientist turned host Sage McMichael. In this exhilarating program, Sage asks the question: Must death be the end? His answer? REANIMATIONS – using the latest in real-time graphics and artificial intelligence, Sage brings your loved ones BACK. TO. HIGH-DEFINITION. LIFE!</p>
<p>SO IT IS explores the uptick in traditional Catholicism among young, white Americans.</p>
<p>Heartbroken, Madeline goes out on the town ruminating on the cyclical nature of love. She passes from one thrill to another looking for answers. Relationships come and go but memories are forever.</p>
<p>Lying in total darkness, two young immortals discuss whether it is time to create the World once again. A cosmogonic screwball comedy.</p>
<p>A visual exploration of the internal thoughts of a tightrope walker with his daughter on his shoulders based on the historical person of Josef Eisemann, who later fell to his death in post-war Vienna, Austria.</p>
<p>A Venezuelan government official is sent to Switzerland to work on a project, strangely descending into sickness as unsettling events unfold back home.</p>
<p>Desirée Tolchin is a Brooklyn based filmmaker. Her work explores the cyclical banality of the human condition through fictional and non-fictional lenses. Her body of work is a collection of intimate experiences portrayed through slow cinema, distant memories, and wandering narratives. The result being, an honest portrayal of the struggles within the fleeting present moments of the everyday.</p>
<p>"who were you in new york" proposes a dive into memories and wishful thinking through Sofia's journey in a trip that allows her to imagine who her mother was when in New York.</p>
<p>Baby Girl spends his days with Cookie and Banana in a soccer fans' club. The discovery of a box full of firecrackers leads them to a stunt, behind which lies an order from upstairs: organized crime to which the three teenagers' families are linked. Yet this event creates the chance of a showdown between Baby Girl and Cookie, divided by a conflict that traces back to their parents' strife.</p>