Brooklyn Film Festival 2025

Alice-Heart is an aimless college student residing in Philadelphia. She aspires to be a famous writer but drops out of school in her last semester of senior year on a whim. Immediately cut off from her disappointed Filipino mother and dumped by her studious boyfriend, she finds that she has to pay bills on her own for the first time. Distraught, she takes solace in her neighbor Tony, a self-sufficient freelance photographer. Tony encourages her to pursue her passions and hold onto her friendships. With this in mind, Alice-Heart navigates the beginnings of adulthood and combats "adult baby" allegations along the way.

Jasmin Gordon's poignant and impeccably crafted feature film debut rattles our perceptions of motherhood and moral integrity with its intimate and complex portrait of a sort of woman who is rarely depicted.

In March 2020, an Argentine woman flees New York with her Peruvian husband for his family's empty beach house outside of Lima, whereupon an unplanned pregnancy precipitates the destruction of her marriage. In the present, she rips the moments of this narrative from their context, and reconstructs her story to reckon with her profound feeling of loneliness and the experience of time in which it has trapped her.

On the brink of their thirties, five longtime friends reunite for a farewell getaway, but their idyllic retreat turns sour when they lose their beloved dogs in the woods.

Kosovo 1990: After a series of unfortunate events, Era and her family are forced to move from Pristina to the village of her grandmother. She will need to leave behind her friends, her boyfriend, and her life as she knows it and at the same time comply with the village rules. As she tries to adapt to her new reality the dynamics in her life change, redefining her relationship with her parents, her youth, and her future.

A collection of short stories showcasing the wide variety of evil behaviour human beings are capable of.

After seeing a strange object floating in the sky, Lucy comes home to a surprise birthday party with all of her favorite people. She's overjoyed, but when asked about her day, she realizes she can't remember anything about it. Her loved ones assure her it's nothing to worry about, but as more unsettling things occur that only she seems to notice, they keep telling her to relax... enjoy the party... there's nothing to worry about... we'll take care of you...

Some foreign minors take refuge on the farm of a caring lady. They are looking for a home but get involved in the story of a broken family. The situation escalates when the lady mysteriously disappears. A family investigation suspects the young migrants, who are hiding something out of fear and ignorance of their rights. During a traditional initiation ceremony, secrets come to light.

Between stealing bicycles and breaking into cars, Denny's only social outlet is spending time with his mother who loves reading correspondence from their Japanese family overseas. Denny's loneliness pushes him to sign up for a penpal service from a classified-ad. He begins writing letters to a woman named Tess, whom he develops feelings for, but lies to about his nonexistent wealth and success. Unbeknownst to Denny, the penpal service is a scheme Tess and her real-life boyfriend, Maury, run to take advantage of the lonely. Tess and Maury find themselves in financial trouble of their own and decide to travel to Denny to take him for all he's worth. Upon arrival they find that things aren't what they seemed in Denny's letters.

Isaac, a neurotic tree-hugger, builds a god-like supercomputer in order to save the natural world. But, when the machine comes to life and his existence begins to crumble, Isaac is forced to choose between destiny and the person he loves most.

DANI (18) lives on the fragile edge of lower-middle class America. In many ways, her life is like that of her peers: she works a fast-food job, debates whether to open letters from her dad who's in prison, and takes care of her brother while her mom sleeps between shifts. What sets her apart is a one-way ticket out: an academic scholarship to a state school, in another town, far away. But her escape is precarious, and—in a single afternoon—it shatters.

On a clear and frigid Christmas Eve in 1998, in a small, forgotten city, a solitary taxi driver on the graveyard shift breathlessly awaits the sight of the International Space Station. As the hours count down, a parade of offbeat misfits derail his plans, propelling the story to its exhilarating climax. In this poetic, hilarious and often absurd tale, complete strangers discover unexpected unity and a newfound understanding of their place among the stars.

THIS WILL NEVER WORK is about a Black family coming together to have an intervention for Amanda's drinking problem. They've hired a therapist named Trevor (a white man, not that it matters), written emotional letters, and now they sit and wait for Amanda to arrive. But when she does, Trevor realizes that the family hasn't exactly been honest with him. "I think I should leave," he says. But listening isn't this family's strong suit, and they've already prepared for battle. The intervention turns into a whodunnit of all the family's drama and trauma. As we flash back and forth from contested family memories to the claustrophobic intervention room, we'll piece together the mysteries that haunt this family.

A graffiti artist and the singer of a punk band, meet in an atmosphere of profound social crisis and discontent. Their idealistic and revolutionary minds seek a more just world, and they are willing to fight for it. Music and street art unite them and serve as their weapons. Naive and innocent, they are unaware of the power of impunity and injustice until they fall victims to police brutality. He is left battered and unconscious, while she is abducted, awakening the unimaginable rage of those who have nothing left to lose. When justice is absent, revenge becomes an act of faith.

This is the story of Aagje, Toon and their son Rick (42). Rick suffers from psychotic episodes, depression and severe headaches. We follow their journey in the last six weeks leading up to the death of Rick. A journey proving that letting someone so close to us go, is the most extreme expression of love.

A 17-year-old girl struggles with an emotionally distant mother as her life takes a tragic turn. The mother joins a mystic ceremony to face her grief and the lost bond with her daughter.

Hanging around his older brother's friends for the first time, 15-year-old Angus must face the harsh realities of manhood.

Rocked out of her insular existence by the bite marks and bristles of a used toothbrush, Balston must make a choice between her safe, superficial existence and accepting who she really is.

Athletes Alyssa and Alex agree to go on a "cheat meal" date only to lose control of their urges by the end of the night.

The story follows Frank, a lonely man, desperate to genuinely bond with women on the dating apps, who's surprising way of connecting is only ever met with negative reactions. As his app addiction deepens, his ability to truly be seen diminishes...that is until he meet's someone offline, who seems to share his unusual pursuit.

A fateful meeting between two opposing groups of dudes.

A millennial woman falls apart while her friends desperately try to find a place for brunch.

By A Hair is a story about missed connections and the unpredictable hand of fate. Inez and Sean, two city dwellers navigating the mess of modern dating, find themselves on the verge of meeting over and over but just missing each other every time. As their daily lives unfold against the backdrop of Brooklyn, the film explores how timing, chance, and choice shape their chances of finding each other and love.

Jojo, a clumsy and bumbling young gay squatter, sets out to repair a washing machine in order to satisfy Lucien, whom he desires. He roams Brussels in a frantic quest, ready to take any risk to achieve his goals.

When a small part becomes a big problem. A gregarious actor forces his friends to throw a viewing party to watch his first co-star but when he learns his two lines were cut, he has to reverse course and stop them from watching.

Troubled by his stutter, a young performer will do whatever it takes to deflect responsibility for his voice, even if it means renouncing his dream.

A disabled teenager forms an unlikely relationship with a troubled young man on the streets of New York City.

An absurdist sci-fi with comedic overtones, Daisy is Gone follows an anthrophobic Chinese poet, Meng, as he tries to return a cloned Goldfish, which he believes to be a botched imposter of his lost pet and best friend.

In 1970s Los Angeles, rebellious queer teen MARGARET gets thrown out of yet another foster placement and finds herself in the company of a mysterious social worker who's tasked with finding her a new home before the break of dawn. At odds and forced to travel the city together, Margaret realizes that running may not be her only option.

A mother surprises her kids with a trip to the place she wants to be buried. When they get there, the kids disagree with her decision.

After the death of his best friend, we follow Dustin on a grief-fuelled bender for one. Amidst the chaos, he accidentally mixes her ashes with a fat slug of cocaine, and to his utter confusion, Ashleigh appears. Realising the more ashes he combines with the ever-growing quantity of substances, the more vivid she becomes… and the longer she stays. Dusty goes to great, messed-up lengths to keep her memory alive.

An office worker tries to save her co-worker's life over zoom.

When Benji's long-term boyfriend, Sam, dies suddenly in a freak hot dog cart accident, Benji finds himself vacillating between grief-stricken catatonia and manic horniness. His fixation on glory holes in particular leads him to Ari, an unconventional therapist, who guides Benji on a psychedelic journey through his own queer consciousness via the glory hole in his mind. Benji navigates shame, fear, piles of hot dogs, and a series of queer supervillains, on the road to understanding himself and his sexuality outside the context of his relationship with Sam.

G.O.A.T. is a 9-minute tragicomic road trip about unprocessed trauma, miscommunication, and... a goat. Set in rural Netherlands, the film explores the aftermath of a stillbirth through absurdity and tenderness, as a couple's bottled-up grief finds an unexpected release on their way to a bizarre goat-themed festival.

In gentrifying Queens, NYC, two terminally ill Vietnam vet best friends face their own mortality and the changing world around them in hilariously transgressive ways.

Two half-siblings, Chris & Jamie, meet for the first time. Both adults now, they must determine if blood is really thicker than water and if a connection can be found in the aftermath of their isolated childhoods.

Two long-distance lovers search for a way forward (or backward) when the bedrock of their twenty-year relationship cracks. A midwestern rumination on loving across space and time.

Mara is a disillusioned actor dealing with the terror of time. When she's thrown into a classroom of kids rehearsing a Disneyfied version of Chekhov's THREE SISTERS — her favorite play about existential longing -- she swan dives into her own crisis of aging, nostalgia, and the loss of childhood dreams.

Hired at a pig slaughterhouse through a social reintegration program, an ex-convict desperately tries to find another job while repressing his inner violence.

A well meaning, sexually exploratory, paraplegic man in a wheelchair meets an open minded girl. Together they discover the awkwardness that comes with casual dating, particularly ones that begin in a sex shop.

In the heat of a Flushing summer, Korean immigrants Samuel Kim, and his teenage daughter, Squid, hustle as street vendors to stay afloat. Behind on rent and out of options, Samuel hatches a plan: buy a cheap puppy, pass it off as purebred, and sell it to the rich.

Yang is a middle-aged, undocumented immigrant from China who lives in the greater Los Angeles area. In the era of "mass deportation," Yang now has to face his deepest fear and shame.

Two of the world's most brilliant creative directors pitch Pepsi executives on a new ad campaign.

After years of living alone, Rhoda takes in a lodger, but the change unsettles the equilibrium of her home.

At 2 a.m. on a quiet subway platform, an elderly woman waits alone after missing her train. Her solitude is interrupted when a lively young boy bounds up the stairs and spots a girl on the opposite platform. Without speaking, they start a playful game of rock-paper-scissors, their laughter filling the empty station. But as the girl's train arrives, their connection is cut short. She waves from the window, and he waves back, smiling. The elderly woman, watching from afar, is reminded that even the briefest encounters can create lasting memories of joy and shared humanity..

Sauna Day invites you into the world of Southern Estonian men who go to the dark-intimate space of a smoke sauna after a hard day's work. Beneath their tough exteriors lies a desire for connection, veiled in secrecy.

A cheeky dismantling of spy tropes and a love letter to Cambodia, THE SENTRY follows a suave Western agent who thinks he's about to make another routine kill. But some stories refuse to be footnotes - and this particular guard isn't finished talking. A genre-bending tale about the extraordinary lives we're trained to overlook.

At a doctor's appointment to have a rusty nail removed from his foot, a deteriorating, beleaguered fitness guru has an emotional meltdown over the defilements of love.

On a bus late at night, two women's paths collide, revealing unexpected echoes in their individual struggles to reclaim their bodies. Exploring the nuances of motherhood and sexual assault, Soft Animal questions how we find our way back to ourselves in the aftermath.

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A middle-aged American tourist finds herself alone in Mexico City. When she encounters a group of young Americans, she jumps at the opportunity for a little adventure.

In Ancient Nazareth in the year Zero, a pregnant teenage girl (MARY) and her gay best friend (JOSEPH) must hatch a plan to save their lives when they discover they might get stoned to death for their sexual "sins". Their plan? They'll convince everyone that GOD made Mary pregnant... with the new Messiah.

When Ali comes back from America with love bites on his neck his mother, Gül, is terrified. This new found love will push their family through a change they might not be ready for: wedding bells. 'Three Kisses' portrays three intimate moments that reveal those left out of their love story.

In the heat of young love, a Chinese-American 17-year-old traverses her rural town in post-Roe America in search of the morning after pill.

Desperate for a cigarette after her sister forces her to quit smoking, failed actress Nour spirals through a lavish birthday party thrown against her will, teetering on the edge of sanity as she hunts for a cigarette to calm her nerves.

Hannah struggles with an urgent need while trying to get to her audition on time.

Kyle compliments his friend Ryan: "You look great, dude." This innocuous statement turns what should have been a normal hang into a comically tense negotiation of masculinity and mental health. Amidst all the discourse and progress on straight male vulnerability, You Look Great asks: why do positivity and encouragement STILL feel taboo?

American teen Neelu feels like a fish out of water amidst preparations for her sister's wedding in Delhi until she forges a brief and unexpected connection with Zeyb, a quiet sari store clerk who moonlights as an internet drag queen.

CYCLE investigates what happens in the silence between viral cases of police brutality, exposing the system that allows it to repeat. Centering the 2019 Juneteenth Day killing of Ty'rese West—a Black teenager killed by police in a small Wisconsin suburb—the film unearths the quiet unraveling that happens behind closed doors—through courtrooms, sworn depositions, and years of unanswered questions—when a family seeks truth with no headlines to back them.

Forty years ago, Rafael Larraenza risked everything to cross from Mexico to the US. After building a successful career, a twist of fate drew him back to the border. For 25 years, Rafael has tirelessly searched deserts and mountains to rescue lost immigrants and recover remains, becoming a hero in Latin American communities. Despite needing a double hip replacement, Rafael continues his mission, knowing every moment counts for those lost at the border. When Indira, a mother from El Salvador, asks for help finding her son Rodrigo, Rafael risks his life again, driven on by sheer determination, even as the years and terrain take their toll.

Harkness, an enigmatic musician disguised in an alien-looking cloak and visor, is on a mission to launch an artistic revolution against the commodification of music that gluts the masses and starves the artists. While surviving on a waiter's salary, Harkness transformed his mother's basement into a state-of-the-art studio and spent years weaving together unique instrumental arrangements. Convinced that his music can "cure the world's broken heart", at 56, Harkness has only his 87-year-old mother's unshakable faith to rely on as he gambles all his meager savings on his last chance to break into stardom.

Welcome to the curious world of The AllWays Lounge in New Orleans, The Big Easy's world-renowned capital of drag and burlesque. Witness the magic of the cabaret's brilliant cast of characters as they meet with triumph and disaster to keep their doors from closing forever during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Young non-binary trans photographer Laurence Philomène has emerged as one of the most original and inspiring voices of their generation and an LGBTQ+ community icon. Exploring the artist's intimate world and creative process, LARRY (they/them) paints a luminous and engaging portrait of the complex, often misunderstood multiplicity of trans and non-binary identities and experiences.

An unexpected pregnancy leads an Indian immigrant mother to help her adopted twin daughters reconnect with their struggling White birth mother and estranged Native American father, forcing her to confront class divides and challenging her daughters' sense of identity and belonging.

ROADS OF FIRE examines the global migrant crisis through the lens of the $35 Billion migrant smuggling trade, tracking a smuggler as he transports a family of Venezuelan refugees to the mouth of the cartel controlled Darién Gap; a young mother fighting for asylum in New York City; and volunteers on the frontlines of an escalating humanitarian emergency.

She Cried That Day is the story of a sister's love and the spirit, strength and will of Indigenous Women refusing to let their loved ones remain invisible in the eyes of the justice system.

Four young girls take their first steps guiding anglers on the banks of Laxá in Aðaldalur, Iceland´s biggest salmon river. The river banks hold their family history and the girls are the 7th generation of guides. As the summer unfolds, they grow in confidence and skills while also making mistakes. At the same time nature is facing challenges, and so is their future.

Sometimes, finding your tribe requires a bit of magic. For attendees of a live action role-playing (LARP) camp in upstate New York, the deeply accepting environment has given neurodivergent, queer, and self-proclaimed "nerdy" teenagers the space for self-discovery that they have never found anywhere else. As the campers immerse themselves in this imaginative world, they discover inner strength, heal from traumas, and emerge as heroes, both in the fantasy realm and in real life. From directors Carina Mia Wong and Alex Simmons, WE CAN BE HEROES celebrates the fleeting, but profoundly formative moments that make up the most intense years of adolescence, with a little help from foam swords.

For her whole life, Judith suspected she was secretly adopted, but was always too afraid to ask her mother. With the help of a few actresses, we gave Judith the chance to re-create this important conversation.

As summer draws to a close, fate pulls a young man to a small island in the Pacific Northwest.

A retired 70-year-old, affectionately known as "Buzz," finds ways to distract himself from the persistent noise in his ears.

The extraordinary story of Eshete, a refugee who escaped war in Ethiopia as a young man and is now a devoted caretaker of a feral cat colony in New York City. Eshete has become the heart of a close-knit community while living on the streets. Together with neighbours who help feed the cats and look out for him, Eshete's story reveals a moving portrait of grassroots community care.

A short documentary about coyotes in New York City, this poetic film explores our relationship to wildlife in urban environments.

This intimate portrait of an Atlanta abortion clinic offers an unflinching look into the daily realities of both providing and accessing reproductive healthcare in a climate of intense hostility. At the heart of the film is Tracy—the clinic's head of security, whose day begins before dawn—and her unwavering commitment to the staff and patients' safety. The film highlights the precarious journeys many women undertake, traveling for hours from states where abortion access is either restricted or nonexistent. A woman of faith who begins each day with prayer, Tracy's commitment to these women's right to choose is absolute. She fiercely protects their access to safe and dignified care, shielding them from the relentless harassment of the protesters outside. With an unadorned, process-oriented approach, The Devil Is Busy functions on multiple levels: as an immersive slice of life, a testament to the resilience of those providing care, and a stark indictment of women's increasingly limited access to abortion in the United States.

An immersive portrait of acclaimed street photographer Richard Sandler as he revisits his life's work, reflecting on his legacy documenting the streets of New York and what it means to be an analogue artist in a digital world.

Documented in the Cotswolds in England, a fairytale life turns into a nightmare as a traumatic event at an air display festival haunts the minds of the Wingwalkers and the airplane pilot involved. Through daily scenes, the rare dynamic between the three shows how much they rely on each other to mentally overcome their disaster and continue performing the skill that brings them the most joy.

What if Sisyphus loved pushing that rock up the hill? If You Believe In Me is a shambolic portrait of bee rescuer Dael, a charming micro celebrity who can't help but make things as difficult as possible for himself. We watch as he scatters himself across Southern California, saving bees, educating, and making a name for himself at Venice beach, the Hollywood sign, and everywhere in between and around.

An examination of businesses that prey on the poor.

In the heart of Detroit, a city with a rich history and a tapestry of diverse communities, "Land of Lost Toys" follows the interconnected lives of its residents, brought together by a shared passion to combat the city's vast stray dog epidemic. This mosaic of characters carry their own burdens and dreams, navigating the challenges of life in Detroit. With conflicted views on the breeding, spaying and neutering this group of characters discuss the saddening results of disposability culture, lack of municipal support and overall care for "humans' best friend". Following our lead character James, we get a unique look into the world of dog fostering and rescuing as he navigates his own internal hardships and the emotional support dogs bring to him.

In his affectionate diasporic family narrative, Mackie Mallison immerses the viewer in the intimate memories and imagination of four women in his Japanese-American family. Collage-like CG meshes with oral history, and poetry accents 16mm footage of the local bingo hall and staged sequences in an Asian grocery store, where everyday anxieties of shopping, paying the bills, and flying are ruptured by dreams of financial freedom and homecoming.

A filmmaker journeys back to the significant places of his Kentucky upbringing to preserve the memories they still hold.

After losing her sister, Elaine discovers a surprising new companion in a chicken named Flapper. Now, with a flock of chooks and a mission to change how people see them, she's become a local legend, The Mother of Chooks.

In an emotional awakening, she leaves her building and the elevator behind for the first time in 19 years. Shot on 35mm film, this film investigates the innate power struggle she experiences between freedom and obligation.

This is a short film exploring the role salt has played throughout filmmaker, Alice Ward's life. From her mother noticing her skin was unusually salty at birth which led to a diagnosis of Cystic Fibrosis to Alice becoming the first woman in Ireland to start shooting in the water to capture surfing from a female perspective.

In the days leading up to her late best friend's birthday and death anniversary, a young woman teeters between celebration and sorrow, reflecting on how early loss shaped her very understanding of the world. Through a powerful hybrid of fiction and documentary, this project contrasts romanticized portrayals of grief with the raw, evolving reality of mourning.

Jose, a Mexican in his mid-50's dedicates his life to taking care of his 90 year old mother with late stage Alzheimer's

Talking Drum explores the healing power of drumming through the lens of three diverse community leaders and their mission to cultivate a sense of belonging using the universal language of rhythm.

Along the shores of the Great Salt Lake, a scientist's twilight run is upended when her dog plunges through rare lake ice, catalyzing a desperate series of choices. After an improbable rescue, she questions whether she always makes rational decisions. Told from two perspectives, the film explores how we assess risks, make decisions, and the role of chance.

A bar joke goes awry, unraveling into a surreal tale that explores the acceptance of self, others, and queer identity.

Animated by OSCAR® winning animator Matias Liebrecht, 47 is a completely hand-made, animated stop-motion film created not just for, but by the Down syndrome community. The film is a heartwarming tale of resilience, acceptance, and inclusion.

After a mysterious girl shows up at Gray's doorstep holding the corpse of a bird that had just cracked her window, an impromptu bird funeral changes the way Gray views herself and her lesbian identity.

During a late night at the office, two co-workers stumble upon a mysterious drink that gives them supernatural abilities beyond their control.

In need of some retail therapy? Welcome to Brim Broome Boulevard! When a child wanders through a set of mysterious doors, they embark on a journey of self-discovery where fear and fashion intertwine.

Christopher and the Bug is a heartwarming short film about a reclusive owl whose peaceful solitude is disrupted when a tiny bug unknowingly moves into his home. Determined to get rid of the uninvited guest, the owl embarks on a series of comical yet misguided attempts to reclaim his space. However, as their paths intertwine, he discovers the transformative power of friendship, empathy, and inclusion. This charming tale, designed to resonate with audiences of all ages, reminds us to embrace differences and find connection in unexpected places.

Based on a true story, "The Death of James" tells the unique journey of two young friends grappling with mortality as they are confronted with the impending loss of a cherished pet ferret. Humorous, awkward, and deeply heartbreaking, the film takes an unflinching look at death, loss, euthanasia, and the uncertainties that may or may not follow, viewed through the eyes of two characters navigating these challenges for the first time.

Dolores is a 7-year-old girl who just wants to play, runs away from a fire demon and accidentally falls into a grave. There she meets two sinister corn husk skulls who want Dolores to stay with them and a curious armadillo who tries to get her out at all costs.

A dog's toothache brings them on an unexpected journey, experiencing the uncertainty and disorientation that comes with being snatched from your bed and taken to places unknown.

A young adult comes home to organize his father's belongings and inadvertently finds his childhood VR goggles, which open up memories of the past. In his early childhood, his father died unexpectedly, leaving him without closure. Through the VR goggles, he discovers that he may have a second chance to say goodbye to his father.

In the animated short film Henrietta Finds a Nest, a young chick named Henrietta embarks on a heartwarming journey from neglect at a factory farm to friendship with a little girl. With tender moments, gentle humor, and a timeless message of connection, this seven-minute tale invites audiences of all ages to embrace the magic of friendship and the power of compassion.

After thoroughly researching the History, I realized that it all boils down to superficiality.

18-year-old Anna trustfully follows her beating heart, opening the door to her first romantic relationship – with a clingy couch. As that relationship comes to an end, followed by several other dramatic breakups, Anna and her heart grapple with the intense heartache that failed love has caused them.

Humantises are masters of deception. But can they hide from change? When one Humantis unexpectedly goes through a physical transformation, it struggles to adapt and grow into its new self.

Hurikán rushes to save his favorite beer stand from closure by fetching a new keg to impress the bartender he has a crush on. In a wild Prague district, he faces robbers, cops, and his own thirst.

Dove, a gender-shifting warrior, uses their Indigenous medicine, Inkwo, to protect their community from an unearthed swarm of terrifying creatures.

Joko is a young man, supporting his entire family from his tanker job. On the second anniversary of his employment, Joko and his fellow workers are surprised by a meeting with unspecified foreign delegates who order...him to carry himself on his back. At first, Joko rebels against this humiliating practice, but he relents under peer pressure and the desire to earn a good salary. The delegates begin to increasingly dominate the boy. Red blisters appear on Joko's back, and one of the wearers can't get away from his back. Every subsequent delegate who touches Joko sticks to him.

No more lettuce, no more artichokes… no more broccoli! This is the future that Kid President envisions as he rolls out his most daring policy yet: a ban on all vegetables. In this 2D animated mockumentary, viewers get an inside look as Kid President attempts to strongarm his policy past his rag-tag administration and an alarmed White House press corps. Can Kid President make his vegetable-free dream a reality?

After his birthday party, Nono waves goodbye to his friends. He's left with a strange emptiness as things start to feel not quite right. A darkly whimsical coming-of-age tale about the fears and unspoken burdens we carry as we grow up.

This story is about a girl named Denise who is battling her insecurities in a fun and whimsical way. She eventually overcomes them and learns to love her true authentic self without listening to the judgment of others and their opinions.

The Pinto Variety Hour is the pilot episode for a half hour animated adult comedy featuring Pinto, a recovering rageaholic bean who hosts a surreal variety show. As Pinto juggles eccentric guests, like a time-traveling beret inventor, and navigates his tumultuous relationship with his show's sponsor, the mysterious Big Powerful Nobody, he also deals with everyday family dynamics. Balancing his quirky work life with his role as a father to teenagers Lucy and Max and husband to Flo, Pinto's world is a whimsical mix of surreal comedy and heartfelt moments in the charming town of Hazelwood.

A young girl must take part in a dangerous task in order to complete her doll collection in this miniature fairytale.

A Native American kid scrambles to charge his dying video game console at a bustling intertribal powwow.

"Little" longs to be scary like the other skeletons, but with his tiny roar none of the kids even notice him jumping out at them. Despite his best efforts he's not allowed to join the Scary Skeletons Club and is left all alone... that is until his unscareable human friend Lily decides to help.

The polluted ocean forced mermaids to reveal their existence as non- mythological creatures and seek help on land. We follow their daily life in a pool named Sea Angels, a Sea World-like theme park for humans. Sea Angels is a stop motion animation mockumentary by Swedish artist Cissi Efraimsson.

Stoned for Christmas is a multimedia whirlwind and a love letter to weed. This short film follows the adventures of one cannabis courier delivering at Christmastime. Built like a blunt rotation, Stoned for Christmas cycles through a weed courier's night of deliveries with each vignette in a different style of animation. The result is a delightfully surrealist trip, one that represents the chaos of NYC, the ups and downs of a high, and the unique unpredictability of navigating the world while trans.

A projectionist is drawn by moonlight into the depths of self destruction.

One day, the police bring a young boy to a quiet monastery. The boy, named Emile, is said to have been found alone in an abandoned castle. Emile insists he lived in the castle with a vampire named Charlie and wants to return there. Concerned about Emile's mental state, the police ask Sister Angela to interview him.

This short animation follows a nine-year-old girl from a religious Middle Eastern family. In a conversation with her brother, who prides himself on his masculine power, she realizes her new jurisprudential duties as she reaches the age of 'religious puberty.' These duties include preparing for marriage and wearing the obligatory hijab.

A man is waiting for test results. He expects the worst but at the same time hopes for the best. Distressed and afraid he spends a week in a limbo of his own creation, neither here nor there, dreading the things that haven't happened yet.

Frustrated that her father shared her writing without her permission, pre-teen Stella runs into the woods to get rid of her stories. Instead, her stories come to life and envelop her whole. She must come to terms with her relationship with her father and her self-esteem to make it home.

"Mask" was screened as a short in the "Ciné Pluto" Halloween Program at Hauser & Wirth, NYC, October 31, 2024.

5-cent American Flag takes a forensic approach to the conspiracy-fueled events of JFK's assassination, creating an abstract cryptopolitical thriller that begs the question: which flags are we flying? More than 4,800 unique 5-cent American postage stamps from 1963 anxiously flutter across the screen, each bearing unique cancellation marks and slogans that become coded messages. The stamps were animated frame by frame over the distorted airwaves from a Gray Audograph recording of Dallas Police Department Presidential Motorcade communications on November 22, 1963, used by the FBI for acoustic gunshot analysis to determine the position of the shooter and the amount of gunshots. When words are absent on the soundtrack, custom-created rubber stamps applied to clear leader form black-inked cancellation marks that become enigmatic air waves, and red-inked U.S. flags are stamped and folded into the reel after the fatal gunshot(s) is heard on the tape, transforming into pareidolic bloodstain patterns that flood the screen.

British photographer Jack Davison's oeuvre effortlessly embraces digital, analogue, black and white and colour photography. His works depict the human figure, architecture, animals, objects, landscapes and townscapes; yet his subject is always photography itself.

An epistolary look into the daily ecology of Coney Island by one of it's many residents.

Shot on long-expired and mishandled 16mm film, a truck of similar age and decrepitude is inspected, tested, and sold. Though both seller and buyer may be honest and fair, it is a law of this life that nothing may go as planned.

Imagine you've just rented a horror movie from Blockbuster Video in 1992...

Belgian artist Brecht Vanhoutte closes his eyes and sees. Busy Brussels men in suits, dancing silhouettes, strange plants, visions of blurred and dreamlike aesthetics, unreal universes. Dealing with his mental health, he reveals his inner world with an experimental journey using AI and textures that evoke times gone by, pages of an undated personal diary written with cadences of digital flow where the real and the fantastic rhyme.

Minimalist frontiers proliferate from acquisition. Larping utopia, shedding skins, forging new luxury amidst shards of past lives. Embracing shadows, sculpting stagnant futures in the flicker of ancient flames.

A once-close bond now tinged with emotional distance.

Duckwrth presents a 1940s noir-style silent film that serves as a visual metaphor for the relationships in his life.

Parker & Hill's latest collaboration, High Street Repeat, is an experimental, archive-delving collage film originally made as an artists' commission for the UK's Migration Museum. The film uses a range of animation techniques and archive materials to explore the story of migration and enterprise, told through the changing face of Britain's high street. But what makes this film extraordinarily fresh and entertaining, is the playful combination of stop motion with digital techniques and manipulation of photographic cut-outs, creating a continuous transition between the past and present - it has a strong rhythmic quality too, while the filmmakers avoided paper cuts in the process!

A woman fights to stay awake, to avoid battling the terrifying realm of sleep paralysis but as she risks everything to break free will she be released from the grip of her nocturnal tormentor?

This is a 2 channel installation consisting of two separate films made by painting directly onto 35mm film and working with various chemical solvents. The two films are projected side by side and slightly out of sync, creating a type of 'visual stereo' as they make random juxtapositions. The soundtrack being slightly out of sync creates an echo, so as the audience moves around the installation the sound changes, creating an aural sense of the space.

Using watercolor animation technique, "I dream about Colorful Earth" brings to life the director's dreams and memories of Earth.

Obsessed with forgiveness, filmmaker Abigail Holland builds a self portrait through men and objects they left behind.

Living In the shadows of an engineering marvel of the twentieth century is a place where the old New York still exists. A haunted waterfront where people go to be alone in a city that increasingly watches your every step. A place where you can make a call on an analog payphone while you watch massive ships pass through the misty channel.

A suburban mailbox has an existential breakdown.

Beginning in ghostly abstraction and accumulating texture by texture into a droning meditative trance, Monument deepens to a visual and sonic intensity, mixing Super 8 film with video footage to create a complicated, multilayered encounter with the tension of protest and reclamation. A vivid and energetic durational experience of collective resistance and celebration.
Super 8 footage of the decaying monuments of Presidents Park (Croaker, VA) are layered with video footage captured on Monument Avenue (Richmond, VA) during the Covid-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests of 2020. Themes of registration and re-calibration are explored through form and content and the distinct features of the media employed.

Whether it be doing yoga with ants, printing with plants, observing the quantum physics of cats, or considering the travel of an apple: not all teachers are human in a bustling Spanish farmhouse. While instances of interspecies care are enacted beneath the cool stone arches of this rambling structure, the ecological niches (or roles) of various beings shift along with their unexpected environmental relationships. In a heavily altered landscape composed of serrated mountains and meticulously-maintained olive groves, human intervention is readily apparent; however, sometimes trees bear knowledge in addition to green fruits, and humans shape and are shaped by their environment in equal measure.

For as long as he could remember, The Nightwalker journeyed The Void.

Peach is an imaginary teenage character. She does her make up to the rhythm of a poem addressed to her, voicing her thoughts. Thoughts of sex, intimacy, violence and compassion.

An impossibly-cool underground party turns ugly after a fight spills out into the alley. As the bass thumps relentlessly, ravers pour out of the warehouse. They dance, fight, kiss, smoke, scream, consume, and eventually disappear into the night.

A child's failure leads to a deeper understanding, maybe

In the hustle of New York City, Rocco feels small, lonely and alienated. He harbors a big heart and an even bigger dream of finding true love. Will he ever find it? Wandering the maze of the big city, he discovers the importance of being true to oneself and the beauty of fleeting moments.

A film about the female gaze and self-acceptance. In spring 2023, a physical illness forced me to re-examine my relationship with my body. Scars, spots, skin, hair, and my unflattering voice, everything belongs to my body.

A wandering horse leads to a wandering mind through the extraterrestrial beauty of New Mexico.