Our 2025 season featured 19 films, 17 Official Selections and
(for the first time) two Honorable Mentions!
Awards video at the bottom of the page
Producer: Maria Sol Aranda
Director: Elcio Cabral Melo Screenwriter: Elcio Cabral Melo Cast: João Paulo Saragossa Country: Brazil Synopsis: This is a movie about a filmmaker who doesn't have money to submit his film to festivals. Any resemblance to reality is on purpose. Really, I don't have money. Watch my movie. 
Producer: Noah Pardo
Director: Nick Zweig Screenwriter: Nick Zweig Cast: Marianna Hersko, Ben Bishop, Richard Micheals, Nick Zweig Country: United States Synopsis: Dumped out into a desert, an oblivious duck plunges headlong into a quest for bread, or something more. I am Duck is about feeling lost. My goal for this film was to capture a feeling, the events and "character arcs" are less important than how the film makes you feel. Everyone has a bread they are looking for, everyone has an owl they annoy relentlessly, and everyone has a Gull. Everyone is Duck. 
Producer: Anton Maxwell Burek, Xander Black, Sonia Victoria Werner
Director: Anton Maxwell Burek Screenwriter: Anton Maxwell Burek Cast: Saffron Rose Cooper, The Trickster Bruises Country: United States Synopsis: A woman stands alone in an empty room, the weight of her thoughts growing heavier with each passing minute. At first, it's just the silence that surrounds her, but soon her mind begins to play tricks. As her thoughts spiral out of control, the room seems to trap her. Forcing her to face the terrors within her own mind. 
Producer: Peam Patrathiranond, Keala Queja
Director: Peam Patrathiranond Screenwriter: Peam Patrathiranond, Andrew Favaloro Cast: Shealyn Peer, Leigh LeFevre Country: United States Synopsis: While scrolling through an online dating app, Gina finds herself stuck in a Groundhog Day-style time loop. 
Producer: Felix Meinhardt
Director: Anastasiia Kukharieva Screenwriter: Anastasiia Kukharieva, Dmytro Balashov Cast: Dmytro Balashov, Eva Fadeeva, Volodymyr Melnykov, Jurij Rosstalnyj, Oleksandr Palamarchuk Country: Ukraine Synopsis: “His Theater” tells the intimate story of a small independent theatre that became a second home for a few devoted actors. At its heart stood the Master — a mentor who strived to raise not just performers, but conscious, educated, and deeply human individuals. “If I don’t teach you to be actors, I’ll teach you to be people,” he often said. When the Master unexpectedly passes away, his student Dmytro takes it upon himself to keep the theatre alive and complete the final play his mentor never finished. But holding on to ideals proves harder than it seems: the troupe begins to fall apart, his girlfriend Eva grows distant, and the lure of mainstream success tests his loyalty to the stage. Left alone on the eve of the premiere, Dmytro must confront the true meaning of art, sacrifice, and what it really means to carry someone’s legacy. 
Director: Syd Adams, Briana Santiago, Deana Chefchis, Julia Moses, Makenzie Willett Screenwriter: Syd Adams, Syd Adams Cast: Adam DeGrandis Country: United States Synopsis: Off Track is the story of uncertainty when beginning your journey through life in a world full of possibilities. Our young protagonist must overcome their internal fears and leave their starting point. |
Producer: Keaton Morris-Stan, Julia Maggiola, Squeaky Wheel Entertainment
Director: Anna Russell Screenwriter: Keaton Morris-Stan Cast: Julia Maggiola, Keaton Morris-Stan, Kerry Malloy, Emma Kassel Country: United States Synopsis: Rachel takes her niece to a conference where she hopes to exact revenge upon the man responsible for her sister’s death. But her plans are thwarted when a mysterious woman offers her a different path. Rachel must choose between her madness and a methodical means to an end. 
Producer: Eva Fulco
Director: Eva Fulco Screenwriter: Eva Fulco, Kasra Shirdel Cast: Eva Fulco, Kasra Shirdel Country: New Zealand Synopsis: A short comedy about what it's like to spend a day (and night!) with anxiety. 
Producer: Hassan Aslani
Screenwriter: Ali Fard Director: Ali Fard Cast: Amir Shams, Fatemeh Sadeghi, Nima Ghasemi Country: Iran Synopsis: A woman in her 40s, who has confessed to the murder of her brother-in-law, returns to the scene of the crime with the investigation team to reconstruct the murder. In the courtyard of their home, she reenacts the killing in front of her son. After the reenactment is complete, and at the request of the investigator, the boy recounts the events differently—offering another version of what happened. 
Producer: Danilo Stanimirović, Ikonija Jeftić
Director: Danilo Stanimirović Screenwriter: Danilo Stanimirović, Irena Parezanović Cast: Sergej Totić, Jovana Stević, Ivan Tomić Country: Serbia, Switzerland Synopsis: Miša is a silent little boy who lives in a Serbian immigrant neighbourhood in Zurich. One day he finds an abandoned kitten and puts it in his backpack. At home, his parents’ marriage is falling apart, a situation that weighs increasingly heavy on him. Dad is happy to see the kitten, but Mom wants it out of the house. After a rough family fight, Miša hides it under the stairs and tries to force another street cat to act as its mother. At school, his teacher meets with his parents, when Miša finally speaks up honestly in fluent German – which his mother does not understand. Kitten is now very sick and Miša decides to get rid of it in order to save the family. He wonders whether to put the creature out of its misery while it approaches its dying breath. For the first time in life, Miša makes his own decision - not to kill the kitten. Now, he is ready to start first human friendship with a silent Swiss girl who is sitting next to him. 
Producer: Kai Helenius
Director: Kai Helenius Screenwriter: Kai Helenius Cast: Emmett Rector, Georgia Kate Haege, Keith Kirkwood Country: United States Synopsis: A young trans man is forced to confront his manipulative mother over a cold Thanksgiving dinner. 
Producer: Masters Film Major
Director: Jeremy Li Screenwriter: Jeremy Li Cast: Jeremy Li Country: United States Synopsis: This film questions the nature of life after death by asking: Can Oscar, help himself, break an eternal curse? |
Producer: Josep Pi
Director: Sergi Marti Maltas Screenwriter: Sergi Marti Maltas Cast: Abel Folk, Paula Jornet Country: Spain Synopsis: Ramon Riera is taking a well-deserved bath when his cell phone suddenly rings. On the other side of the line is Clara, a girl who insistently tries to sell him a life insurance. 
Producer: Catriona Trina Baker
Director: Catriona Trina Baker Screenwriter: Catriona Trina Baker Lead Animator: Aimee Ham Cast: Catriona Trina Baker Country: United States Synopsis: Ball Lightning follows the story of Gusta, a refugee who fled the personal and social effects of Soviet run East Germany after the end of WWII and immigrated to the United States in the 1960s. The story is told through the eyes of the surrogate daughter that she raised after she was forced to give away her own infant daughter as the iron curtain rose. Gusta serves as an example of survival, kindness and the fortitude of human resilience. The film is dedicated to her lost daughter, Esther, a reminder that the children separated from families because of war are never forgotten by those who love them. 
Director: Annetta Marion
Screenwriter: Gabrielle Fox Cast: Michael Raymond Fox, Sean Weil Country: United States Synopsis: Two slightly lovable, mediocre white theatre producers (think Archie Bunker and Meathead!), try to revive their festival and save the theatre from financial ruin in a post pandemic world. 
Producer: D'Angelo Guevara
Director: D'Angelo Guevara Screenwriter: D'Angelo Guevara Cast: Tommy Saxa, Gem Silva Country: United States Synopsis: Boy finds himself meeting a woman, Alison, who’s just as broken as he is. Experience how the feeling of falling in love can temper a young boy’s anger. 
Producer: Jamil Batiz, Tyler Vernon, Aaron Diaz
Cast: Jamil Batiz, Tyler Vernon, Aaron Diaz Country: United States Synopsis: Dress Down day at school presents a world of possibilities. And pressure. 
Happy Trans Girl Like Me Producer: Fran Sisco Director: Fran Sisco Screenwriter: Fran Sisco Cast: Fran Sisco, Kelly Sisco, Clover Welsh, Ryan Wolowski Country: United States Synopsis: "Happy Trans Girl Like Me" is the original song about the joys of being a fully-expressed transgender female, brought to life with clips of Fran Sisco, her daughter and friends at various venues (including at the famous San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy in New York City. The song is fun as are the scenes. The lyrics are subtitled in English and Italian (and one verse in French), as an extra appeal for Italian communities (Fran Sisco's 4 grandparents are from Calabria in Italy) and the hearing-impaired communities (Fran's younger brother was hearing impaired, yet still loved music and dancing.) The subtitles enhance not impede the enjoyment of the song. Liberty Speaks
Producer: Theatre Revolution Director: Lucia Bellini Screenwriter: Gabrielle Fox Cast: Issa Best Country: United States Synopsis: On a quiet Pandemic Sunday from Times Square. Liberty Speaks. |
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2025 Awards Video |
