The 47th Atlanta Film Festival + Creative Conference (ATLFF) taking place Thursday, April 20 through Sunday, April 30, 2023, revealed the full lineup, headlined by the Opening Night presentation of Polite Society. Starring Priya Kansara and Ritu Arya, the film follows a martial artist-in-training who enlists her friends to help save her older sister from her impending marriage in the name of independence and sisterhood.
“We are thrilled to return for our 47th annual festival with both an in-person and virtual format, allowing our films and content to be more accessible than ever,” said Christopher Escobar, Executive Director of the Atlanta Film Festival. “This year’s lineup is once again full of unique programming from a variety of diverse voices from the local Atlanta community and around the world. We can’t wait to welcome audiences back this April.”
Some highlights of the Marquee programming from celebrated filmmakers and Hollywood studios include narrative features “This World Is Not My Own,” a documentary film that traces the lifespan of artist Nellie Mae Rowe through motion capture technology to replicate human expressions and movement performed by Uzo Aduba, “It’s Only Life After All,” a documentary that follows the lives and careers of one of the most iconic folk-rock bands in America, the Indigo Girls, and “The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster,” starring Laya DeLeon Hayes and Chad Coleman, is poignant story of grief and hope, in which a teenage anti-hero goes on a desperate quest to cure death.
2023 ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL LINEUP
OPENING NIGHT PRESENTATION
Polite Society
directed by Nida Manzoor
United Kingdom // 2023 // English // 103 min
Ria Khan believes that she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting her friends’ help, she attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists, in the name of independence and sisterhood.
Narrative Feature, #Marquee
CLOSING NIGHT PRESENTATION
*TBA
MARQUEE SCREENINGS
Divinity
directed by Eddie Alcazar
United States // 2023 // English // 88 min
Executive produced by Steven Soderbergh and starring Stephen Dorff, DIVINITY is set in an otherworldly human existence, where the creation of a ground-breaking immortality serum named “Divinity” is wreaking havoc. Jaxxon Pierce, the creator’s son (Dorff), now controls and manufactures his father’s once-benevolent dream, and society on the barren planet has been entirely perverted by the supremacy of the drug. When two mysterious brothers arrive with a plan to abduct Pierce with the help of a seductive woman named Nikita, they will all be set hurtling toward true immortality.
Narrative Feature, #Marquee
Final Cut
directed by Michel Hazanavicius
France // 2022 // French // 111 min
Final Cut follows a director (Duris) making a live, single-take, low-budget zombie movie in which the cast and crew, one by one, actually turn into zombies. More blood-soaked high farce than horror, the film revels in its affectionate embrace of goofy genre fun. Academy Award-winning director Michael Hazanavicius (THE ARTIST) pulls off the improbable, a French-language remake of Shin’ichirô Ueda’s cult hit One Cut of the Dead that milks the film’s hilarious and meta-to-the-max premise for all it’s worth, while also crafting a sly love letter to the art of filmmaking.
Narrative Feature, #Marquee
Little Brother
directed by Sheridan O’Donnell
United States // 2023 // English // 94 min
Jake and his brother Pete pile into a busted-up van, headed from Albuquerque to Seattle. Pete has just attempted suicide for the umpteenth time and his concerned parents have recruited Jake to drive Pete home for a family intervention. The brothers are at once uneasy friends and sworn rivals; they’re not just oil and water, they’re fire and gasoline. And now they’ve got 1,400 miles to go and nowhere to hide.
Narrative Feature, #Marquee
Master Gardener
directed by Paul Schrader
United States // 2022 // English // 107 min
Narvel Roth is the meticulous horticulturist of Gracewood Gardens, a beautiful estate owned by wealthy dowager Mrs. Haverhill. When she orders Roth to take on her troubled great-niece Maya as his apprentice, his life is thrown into chaos and dark secrets from his past emerge. A new film by master writer & director Paul Schrader (FIRST REFORMED, TAXI DRIVER).
Narrative Feature, #Marquee
Medusa Deluxe
directed by Thomas Hardiman
United Kingdom // 2022 // English // 101 min
MEDUSA DELUXE is a murder mystery set in a competitive hairdressing competition. Extravagance and excess collide, as the death of one of their own sows seeds of division in a community whose passion for hair verges on obsession.
Narrative Feature, #Marquee
Party Girl
directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer
United States // 1995 // English // 94 min
Plazadrome is a monthly film screening partnership between the Plaza Theatre and Videodrome, Atlanta’s last video store, where Videodrome employees bring store favorites and cinematic curiosities to the big screen. This month’s selection is the Atlanta premiere screening of a brand-new restoration of PARTY GIRL, director Daisey von Scherler Mayer’s 1995 Manhattan cult comedy starring the sublime Parker Posey. Co-hosted by Fun City Editions, who commissioned and oversaw the restoration, this event will feature a Q&A with Fun City founder Jonathan Hertzberg and Millie De Chirico, local film programmer, writer, historian, and host of the weekly film podcast I Saw What You Did.
Narrative Feature
Passages
directed by Ira Sachs
France // 2023 // English, French // 91 min
In contemporary Paris, German filmmaker Tomas (Franz Rogowski, A HIDDEN LIFE, I WAS AT HOME, BUT…) embraces his sexuality through a torrid love affair with a young woman named Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos, MANDIBLES, BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR), an impulse that blurs the lines which define his relationship with his husband, Martin (Ben Whishaw, THE LOBSTER, WOMEN TALKING). When Martin begins an extramarital affair of his own, he successfully gains back his husband’s attention while simultaneously unearthing Tomas’ jealousy. Grappling with contradicting emotions, Tomas must either embrace the confines of his marriage or come to terms with the relationship having run its course. A new film by indie mainstay Ira Sachs (LITTLE MEN, KEEP THE LIGHTS ON)
Narrative Feature, #Marquee
Polite Society
directed by Nida Manzoor
United Kingdom // 2023 // English // 103 min
Ria Khan believes that she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting her friends’ help, she attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists, in the name of independence and sisterhood.
Narrative Feature, #Marquee
Sanctuary
directed by Zachary Wigon
United States // 2022 // English // 96 min
Confined to a claustrophobic hotel room, the heir to a hotel empire (Christopher Abbott, POSSESSOR, GIRLS) and the dominatrix who has primed him for success (Margaret Qualley, ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD) become locked in a battle of wits and wills as he tries to end his relationship with her.
Narrative Feature, #Marquee
Scarlet
directed by Pietro Marcello
France, Italy, Germany, Russia // 2022 // French // 100 min
Pietro Marcello, one of contemporary cinema’s most versatile talents, follows his dramatic breakthrough Martin Eden with an enchanting period fable based on a beloved 1923 novel by Russian writer Alexander Grin. Beginning as the tale of a sensitive brute (Räphael Terry) who returns home from World War I to his rural French village to discover his wife has died and that he must take care of their baby daughter, Juliette, the film blossoms into a pastoral portrait of Juliette as a young woman (Juliette Jouan) reckoning with a local witch’s prophecy for her future and falling for the modern man (Louis Garrel) who literally drops from the sky. In his first film made in France, Marcello proves again he is as comfortable in the realm of folklore as he is in creative nonfiction, delicately interweaving realist drama, ethereal romance, and musical flights of fancy.\
Narrative Feature, #Marquee
Showing Up
directed by Kelly Reichardt
United States // 2022 // English // 108 min
A sculptor preparing to open a new show must balance her creative life with the daily dramas of family and friends, in Kelly Reichardt’s vibrant and captivatingly funny portrait of art and craft. Stars Academy Award nominee Hong Chau (THE WHALE, THE MENU), André “André 3000” Benjamin of Outkast, and five-time Academy Award nominee Michelle Williams.
Narrative Feature, #Marquee
The Cow Who Sang a Song Into The Future
directed by Francisca Alegria
Chile // 2022 // Spanish // 98 min
A choir of creatures introduces a world delicately constructed by fantasy, mystery, and magical realism in Francisca Alegría’s poignant and stunning debut feature. It begins in a river in the south of Chile where fish are dying due to pollution from a nearby factory. Amid their floating bodies, long-deceased Magdalena (Mia Maestro, Frida, The Motorcycle Diaries) bubbles up to the surface gasping for air, bringing with her old wounds and a wave of family secrets. This shocking return sends her widowed husband into turmoil and prompts their daughter Cecilia to return home to the family’s dairy farm with her own children. Magdalena’s presence reverberates among her family, instigating fits of laughter and despair in equal measure with all but Cecilia’s eldest child, who finds much-needed comfort in their grandmother’s love and unconditional understanding during a time of transition. A lyrical rumination on family, nature, renewal, and resurrection, The Cow Who Sang A Song Into The Future is an ambitious proposal for acceptance and healing, suggesting that the dead return when they are most needed.
Narrative Feature, #Marquee
Being Mary Tyler Moore
directed by James Adolphus
United States // 2023 // English // 119 min
With unprecedented access to Mary Tyler Moore’s vast archive, Being Mary Tyler Moore chronicles the screen icon whose storied career spanned sixty years. Weaving Moore’s personal narrative with the beats of her professional accomplishments, the film highlights her groundbreaking roles and the indelible impact she had on generations of women who came after her.
Documentary Feature, #Marquee
Judy Blume Forever
directed by Davina Pardo, Leah Wolchok
United States // 2023 // English // 97 min
Judy Blume and the generations of readers who have sparked to her work. It will examine her impact on pop culture and the occasional controversies over her frankness about puberty and sex.
Marquee, #Documentary Feature
Kokomo City
directed by D. Smith
United States // 2023 // English // 73 min
A raw depiction of the lives of four black trans sex workers as they confront the dichotomy between the black community and themselves.
Documentary Feature, #Marquee
My Last Nerve
directed by Adam LaBrie
USA // 2023 // English // 90 min
Fueled by his fathers torturous disease, a son stakes his scientific career on a new cure that could change how we treat pain.
Documentary Feature, #Marquee
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
directed by Davis Guggenheim
United States // 2023 // English // 95 min
Incorporating documentary, archival and scripted elements, STILL recounts Michael J. Fox’s extraordinary story in his own words — the improbable tale of an undersized kid from a Canadian army base who rose to the heights of stardom in 1980s Hollywood. The account of Fox’s public life, full of nostalgic thrills and cinematic gloss, unspools alongside his never-before-seen private journey, including the years that followed his diagnosis, at 29, with Parkinson’s disease. Intimate and honest, and produced with unprecedented access to Fox and his family, STILL chronicles Fox’s personal and professional triumphs and travails, and explores what happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease.
Documentary Feature, #Marquee
NARRATIVE FEATURES
Everybody Wants To Be Loved
directed by Katharina Woll
Germany // 2022 // German // 80 min
On a blistering summer day, psychotherapist Ina notices something is wrong. But she doesn’t have time to worry about it: Patients are waiting at the practice, her daughter is threatening to move in with her father, her boyfriend wants to emigrate to Finland, and her self-centered mother is celebrating her 70th birthday. Ina tries to please everyone, until suddenly everything changes.
Narrative Feature, #In Competition, #New Mavericks
Hello Dankness
directed by Soda Jerk
Australia // 2022 // English // 70 min
Comprised entirely of hundreds of film samples, HELLO DANKNESS bears witness to the psychotropic spectacle of American politics from 2016 to 2021, and the mythologies and lore that took root around it. Taking form as a suburban stoner musical, the film follows a neighborhood through these years as consensus reality disintegrates into conspiracy and other contagions.
In Competition, #Narrative Feature
Hundreds of Beavers
directed by Mike Cheslik
United States // 2023 // English // 108 min
In this 19th century, slapstick winter epic, a drunken applejack salesman must go from zero to hero and become North America’s greatest fur trapper by defeating hundreds of beavers.
Narrative Feature, #Cinematography Competition
Jasmine is a Star
directed by Jo Rochelle
United States // 2023 // English // 58 min
Jasmine, a determined 16-year-old with albinism makes it her mission to become a professional model in her hometown of Minneapolis, while attempting to go unnoticed in every other aspect of her teenage life. Against the backdrop of fall in the Twin Cities, Jasmine explores what independence – and more importantly, what self-acceptance – looks like for someone like her.
Noire, #Family Friendly, #Narrative Feature, #New Mavericks
Miss Viborg
directed by Marianne Blicher
Denmark // 2022 // Danish // 99 min
Former beauty queen and senior citizen Solvej lives alone with her dog in a social housing area on the outskirts of a Danish provincial town. Every day, she performs the same routine of rolling around on her scooter, dealing her prescription drugs, and dreaming of a world outside Viborg. When her neighbor’s rebellious 17-year-old daughter crashes into Solvej’s life, an unlikely friendship forms.
In Competition, #Narrative Feature, #New Mavericks
Our Father, the Devil
directed by Ellie Foumbi
United States, Cameroon // 2022 // French // 108 min
Marie is an African refugee working as the head chef at a retirement home in small-town France. Her quiet existence is upended by the arrival of Father Patrick. a charismatic priest with whom she’s convinced she shares a heavy past in her homeland. Marie must now confirm his identity and decide if settling an old score is worth sacrificing the new life she’s built.
Narrative Feature, #New Mavericks
Quantum Cowboys
directed by Geoff Marslett
United States // 2022 // English // 99 min
Mixing live action film, paper cut outs, hand drawn animation, oil paintings, 8k video, collages and digital animation, and featuring live musical performances by Neko Case, John Doe, Howe Gelb and Xixa, Quantum Cowboys is an old fashioned western about a trio of hapless drifters in search of an elusive frontier musician. There’s gun fights, horses, cacti and time travel, too!
In Competition, #GA Features Competition, #Georgia Film
Red Earth
directed by Georg Koszulinski
United States // 2023 // English // 64 min
Explore the landscape of the late Anthropocene age, where large parts of Earth have become inhospitable to life. The story follows three generations of Martians, from the first colonists to the first expedition to return to an Earth decimated by interplanetary war.
Narrative Feature, #Cinematography Competition
She Watches Blindly
directed by Bryan Tan
United States // 2023 // English // 86 min
Beth Abrams believes she has a unique ability: she can know the thoughts of others. Only it is not a gift, it is an illness, and it is destroying her life and relationships. After a night of nightmares, a mysterious doctor arrives to investigate the circumstances and help Beth piece together what remains of her life, but doing so may cost her everything.
Narrative Feature, #GA Features Competition, #Georgia Film
The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster
directed by Bomani J. Story
United States // 2023 // English // 91 min
Death surrounds everything in Vicaria’s world. All around her are the fatal outcomes of chronic gang violence, drugs, and police brutality. After watching her mother and brother succumb, Vicaria decides to put an end to all this death…by curing it. Drawing deeply from Black cinema of the 90s , THE ANGRY BLCK GIRL AND HER MONSTER wraps systemic terrors up inside thrilling scares and suspense.
Narrative Feature, #In Competition, #Noire
Wilder Than Her
directed by Jessica Kozak
United States // 2023 // English // 89 min
When Bea, the glue of their friend group, dies tragically, Emilia, Finn, and Lucey suffer in solitude until Emilia convinces them to go on their annual camping trip, where they can honor Bea and reconnect. Once they’re alone in the forest, however, Emilia begins to feel gaslit and taunted by Finn, the only person who witnessed Bea’s death. As tensions escalate and old wounds are brought to the surface, the trio of women begin to suspect each other of terrible things, calling into question their friendship and their own morality.
In Competition, #Narrative Feature, #New Mavericks
Party Girl
directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer
United States // 1995 // English // 94 min
Plazadrome is a monthly film screening partnership between the Plaza Theatre and Videodrome, Atlanta’s last video store, where Videodrome employees bring store favorites and cinematic curiosities to the big screen. This month’s selection is the Atlanta premiere screening of a brand-new restoration of PARTY GIRL, director Daisey von Scherler Mayer’s 1995 Manhattan cult comedy starring the sublime Parker Posey. Co-hosted by Fun City Editions, who commissioned and oversaw the restoration, this event will feature a Q&A with Fun City founder Jonathan Hertzberg and Millie De Chirico, local film programmer, writer, historian, and host of the weekly film podcast I Saw What You Did.
Narrative Feature
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
Black Mothers Love & Resist
directed by Débora Souza Silva
United States // 2022 // English // 102 min
Wanda Johnson and Angela Williams, mothers of young Black men victimized by police brutality, come together and build a network of community-led support, mutual aid, and healing in this documentary spanning Oakland’s Fruitvale to the American South. Radical empathy fuels this timely exposé.
In Competition, #Documentary Feature, #Noire, #New Mavericks
Dusty & Stones
directed by Jesse Rudoy
United States // 2022 // English, SiSwati // 83 min
Dusty and Stones struggle to sustain a country music career in their tiny African Kingdom of Swaziland and yearn for greater recognition. When they are unexpectedly nominated to compete in a Texas battle of the bands, the two cousins journey to the heart of American country music, determined to win big and turn their careers around. But things do not exactly go as planned.
In Competition, #Documentary Feature, #Talent Anticipated
Eat Bitter
directed by Pascale Appora-Gnekindy and Ningyi Sun
Central African Republic, United States // 2023 // Sango, Chinese, French // 95 min
EAT BITTER is a vérité film set in the Central African Republic. As in other African countries, skilled migrant workers from China are a strong presence here. Through the parallel stories of Chinese immigrants and local residents, the film captures the journeys of two opposed communities.
In Competition, #Documentary Feature, #Noire
Fenom
directed by Kayla Johnson
United States // 2022 // English // 66 min
Fenom follows basketball and music’s next big star -Flau’Jae Johnson, one of the nation’s top recruits and the daughter of the late rapper, Camouflage. Building her brand and balancing life as a student-athlete comes with hard work, sacrifice, and triumph. This is a story of legacy, victory and the pursuit of greatness.
In Competition, #Georgia Film, #Noire, #New Mavericks, #Documentary Feature
Gabi: Between Ages 8 and 13
directed by Engeli Broberg
Sweden, Denmark, Norway // 2021 // Swedish // 76 min
GABI: Between 8 and 13 follows the remarkable Gabi over the course of five formative years as she wrestles with society’s stereotypes about boys and girls. As puberty kicks in, Gabi must decide whether she wants to fit in with the crowd or chart her own path. A landmark portrait of early adolescence, GABI: From 8 to 13 is ultimately about the journey to be true to yourself.
In Competition, #Documentary Feature, #Pink Peach, #New Mavericks
It’s Only Life After All
directed by Alexandria Bombach
United States // 2023 // English // 123 min
Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, better known as The Indigo Girls, have made their mark as musicians, songwriters, and dedicated activists. Still, Amy and Emily battled misogyny, homophobia, and a harsh cultural climate chastising them for not fitting into a female pop star mold. A timely look into the obstacles, activism, and life lessons of two queer friends who never expected to make it big.
Documentary Feature, #In Competition, #New Mavericks, #Pink Peach, #Talent Anticipated
JessZilla
directed by Emily Sheskin
United States // 2023 // English // 90 min
Jesselyn Silva, a 15-year-old girl from New Jersey, is a 3x national boxing champion who has her sights set on becoming the best in boxing. As she is on the cusp of making the Olympic team, she faces her toughest battle yet, a cancer diagnosis. JessZilla is a coming-of-age story about what it means to be a champion.
Documentary Feature, #Cinemás, #New Mavericks, #In Competition
No Time To Fail
directed by Sara Archambault, Margo Guernsey
United States // 2022 // English // 91 min
Despite the desperate attempts to disrupt the 2020 election, election administrators pulled off the most secure election in our history. Rather than receiving a hero’s welcome, they have become the focus of a coordinated campaign of disinformation. No Time To Fail gives voice to the experiences of this largely invisible, yet completely indispensable workforce.
Documentary Feature, #In Competition
Path of the Panther
directed by Eric Bendick
United States // 2022 // English // 89 min
The Florida panther’s habitat has become an island. Its lush territory transformed into subdivisions. Perched on the edge of extinction, the panther is an emblem of our once connected world. Against all odds, wild panthers have been stunningly captured in their native ecosystem, as they’ve never been filmed before.
Documentary Feature, #In Competition
Savage Waters
directed by Mikey Corker
France // 2022 // English // 93 min
A treasure-hunter’s journal inspires a captivating journey to seek out a mythical, never-ridden wave in some of the most remote and dangerous waters of the Atlantic Ocean. With family and friends, Matt Knight boards the beautiful catamaran Hecate and follows clues to find this ‘perfect wave’, but not everything goes to plan.
In Competition, #Documentary Feature
Ship Happens
directed by Jordan Bellamy, Josh Gilligan
United States // 2023 // English // 81 min
On Sept 8, 2019, The Golden Ray, a 656 foot cargo ship loaded with 4200 vehicles capsized in the Saint Simons Sound. Concerned locals work hard to undo the environmental damage and hold authorities accountable, but the attempts to remove the ship suffers every possible setback.
Georgia Film, #Documentary Feature, #In Competition
Silent Beauty
directed by Jasmín Mara López
United States // 2022 // English, Spanish // 87 min
When director Jasmin Mara López sees an old family photo, she is flooded by painful memories of sexual abuse at the hands of her grandfather. In this poetic documentary, López bravely films her story through archival family footage and intimate moments with her family. López has created a film about confronting painful truths and the beauty one can feel when they reach the other side of grief.
New Mavericks, #Cinemás, #Documentary Feature
The Only Doctor
directed by Matthew Hashiguchi
United States // 2023 // English // 80 min
For the past 15 years, Dr. Karen Kinsell, a compassionate, yet no-nonsense physician, has been the only doctor in Clay County, Georgia-one of the poorest counties in the nation. Knowing all too well that she’s the only healthcare for many residents, she begins a journey of twists and turns towards a solution so that she can continue serving her patients,
Preview Screening, #Documentary Feature, #New Mavericks, #In Competition, #Georgia Film
This World is Not My Own
directed by Petter Ringbom, Marquise Stillwell
United States, Sweden // 2023 // English // 97 min
This World is Not My Own traces the lifespan of Nellie Mae Rowe, an artist who struggled to dedicate her life to art while exploring the personal and political events that shaped her singular body of work. In detailed film sets that recreate Nellie’s home, the actress Uzo Aduba embodies an animated version of the subject. Her recorded dialogue, movement and song make Nellie come to life.
In Competition, #Georgia Film, #Noire, #Documentary Feature
Twenty
directed by Lev Omelchenko
United States // 2023 // English, Portuguese // 65 min
Amid the tumultuous events of 2020, a mysterious speak-easy in Atlanta becomes a home for a group of young people to share their stories of loss, resilience, and hope. “Twenty” is an observational film, set in a dreamy underground world, witnessing a group’s unique yet universal vulnerabilities—shown through scenes shot in intimate black-and-white.
Georgia Film, #Documentary Feature, #In Competition
ᏓᏗᏬᏂᏏ (We Will Speak)
directed by Schon Duncan, Michael McDermit
United States // 2023 // Cherokee, English // 95 min
While there are 430,000 Cherokee citizens in the three federally recognized tribes, fewer than an estimated 2,000 fluent speakers remain—the majority of whom are elderly. Language activists, artists, and the youth must now lead the charge to help save the language from extinction.
In Competition, #Documentary Feature
NARRATIVE SHORTS
Black Butterfly
directed by Kelvin Summerhill
United States // 2023 // English // 13 min
On the day of his long-awaited corporate promotion, an ambitious Black man starts to see cracks in his carefully constructed persona.
Noire, #GA Shorts Competition, #Georgia Film, #Narrative Short
Bowling 4 Eva
directed by Aelfie Oudghiri
United States // 2023 // English // 14 min
A troubled teen girl spends her time trolling men online and bowling with her grandfather while becoming increasingly medicated by her psychiatrist.
New Mavericks, #In Competition, #Narrative Short
CATCHING SPIRITS
directed by Vanessa Beletic
United States // 2022 // English // 13 min
Destiny has been told since childhood she has seizures when she dances. An unexplained phenomena that’s resulted in deep fear and her refusal to dance- despite being drawn to it.
Noire, #In Competition, #Narrative Short
Chipper
directed by Shaun Maclean
United States // 2023 // English // 20 min
After receiving a mysterious letter, a wayward son returns to his childhood home to wrestle with a dark family secret.
GA Shorts Competition, #Georgia Film, #Narrative Short
Civic
directed by Dwayne LeBlanc
United States // 2022 // English // 20 min
A young man returns to South Central L.A. after several years away. Confined to the interior of his car, we watch as he interacts with the people and places he once knew.
Noire, #Narrative Short
CONTENT: The Lo-Fi Man
directed by Brian Lonano, Blake Myers
United States // 2023 // English // 15 min
“Filmmaker” Brian Lonano tries to talk about a beloved cult film. What happens next will shock you!
Georgia Film, #GA Shorts Competition, #Narrative Short
Dandelion
directed by Lorena R. Valencia
Mexico, United States // 2022 // Spanish // 17 min
A teenage girl who lives in a small town in Mexico, is helped by her best friend in her search for home remedies to stop an unwanted pregnancy, undeterred by the health risks that she may face.
Cinemás, #Narrative Short
Demon Box
directed by Sean Wainsteim
Canada // 2023 // English // 14 min
After festival rejections, a director revises his intensely personal short film about trauma, suicide, and the Holocaust, and transforms it into a painful, blunt and funny dissection of the film and his life. Ten years in the making.
Narrative Short
Fragments
directed by Jakey Lutsko
United States // 2022 // English // 7 min
Bedridden and broken, Emma, a young woman in her early twenties, faces the horrors manifested from her recent car crash.
In Competition, #New Mavericks, #Narrative Short
Gabriela
directed by Evelyn Lorena
United States // 2023 // Spanish, English // 18 min
It’s the summer after high-school graduation in North Carolina and Gabriela, a young undocumented Guatemalan woman, pursues her dream of swimming with an illustrious Country Club swim team. However, she is soon confronted with her over-protective mother’s fears, limitations on her legal and socio-economic status, and her own self-judgment.
Cinemás, #Georgia Film, #GA Shorts Competition, #Narrative Short
Give It To Me
directed by Courtney Hope Therond
United States // 2023 // English // 9 min
In a bid to finally process a traumatic sexual experience, Max hires Lucy, a sex worker, to recreate the scene – but things instead take a steamy turn.
In Competition, #New Mavericks, #Narrative Short
Good Man !?!
directed by Marshall Wayne Cooper
United States // 2022 // English // 8 min
A young man grapples with conflicting beliefs about masculinity after a video of him backing down from a fight goes viral.
Noire, #In Competition, #Narrative Short
Goose Egg
directed by Madeline Leshner and Zach Stone
United States // 2023 // English // 13 min
When a lonely suburban mom begins experiencing hallucinatory migraines, she sends her son Tim to retrieve her medication. While on the road, he is tailed by a menacing truck and taken hostage by a pair of vengeful vagrants. In a case of mistaken identity, they believe Tim is the mayor, who has begun euthanizing local geese and feeding the tainted meat to the community.
In Competition, #New Mavericks, #Narrative Short
Hangtime
directed by Chester Vincent Toye
United States // 2023 // English // 11 min
An eager young artist receives a disturbing introduction to the art world during the delivery of a
controversial sculpture.
Noire, #In Competition, #Narrative Short
Homesick
directed by Valeria Contreras
United States // 2022 // English // 15 min
“Homesick” is a modern-day tale of two star-crossed lovers, separated by a global pandemic and the U.S.-Mexico Border. This film focuses on the love and bond that unites people and communities across borders—and the heartbreak that exists when that unity is broken.
Cinemás, #Narrative Short
I Seek Your Help to Bury a Man
directed by Anderson Bardot
Brazil // 2023 // Portuguese, Nheegatu, Calon // 20 min
Gita is a transgender woman doomed to die or suffer the consequences of her traditions. The half-breed soldier is fated to uphold and serve the unjust laws of his country. The old woman in black needs to save her indigenous son from the claws of the Brazilian Empire. The child claims that the purpose of love, the greatest universal law, is the breaking of the cycle of all tragedies.
Cinemás, #Narrative Short
Impression
directed by Brandi Stevens
United States // 2023 // English // 14 min
Set in the late 90’s Texas, Impression follows a young perfectionist art graduate student, Mia, and her internal struggle over her looming marriage to her doctor fiancé, Derek. She is soon surprised at her developing feelings from a day spent with a mysterious, free-spirited young woman, Vivian.
Noire, #New Mavericks, #GA Shorts Competition, #Pink Peach, #Narrative Short
Kid Free Weekend
directed by Rozalyn Mattocks
United States // 2022 // English // 13 min
Vivian finally has a weekend all to herself, she won’t let anything eat up her free time.
GA Features Competition, #New Mavericks, #Narrative Short
Late to the Party
directed by Hannah Patterson
United States // 2023 // English // 16 min
During his 25th birthday party, a Trans man runs into his ex-best friend who ghosted him after he confessed his feelings for her before college, but she doesn’t recognize him post-transition.
GA Shorts Competition, #Pink Peach, #New Mavericks, #Georgia Film, #Narrative Short
Lily’s Mirror
directed by Linnea Frye, Adam Pinney
United States // 2022 // English // 17 min
Lily is out on a dinner date with her boyfriend Bart, expecting a proposal, when he unexpectedly chops off her hand. As Lily works on recovering, she begins to feel phantom pains where her hand used to be, so her doctor gives her a therapeutic mirror box to help with the discomfort. However, as she begins to use the box, she realizes there’s a side effect: she can see real phantoms in the mirror.
GA Shorts Competition, #Georgia Film, #New Mavericks, #Narrative Short
Look Back At It
directed by Felicia Pride
United States // 2023 // English // 12 min
A forty-something single mother gets her groove back with a little assistance from her teenage daughter
In Competition, #Noire, #New Mavericks, #Narrative Short
Lumps
directed by David Nixon Jr.
United States // 2023 // English // 20 min
After the sudden incarceration of his mother, thirteen-year-old Jaylen is forced to move to a new city where he struggles to learn the ropes of his new school, city, and family life.
Noire, #Georgia Film, #GA Shorts Competition, #Narrative Short
Murmur
directed by Simon Smith
United Kingdom // 2023 // English // 19 min
Murmur is a contemporary fairytale short film, about the relationship between a mother and her autistic daughter, and their fascination with the murmurations. Evie doesn’t talk very much, but we learn she is communicating with everything.
New Mavericks, #Narrative Short
No Other Gods But Me
directed by Alex Spott
United States // 2023 // English // 7 min
In the midst of a sexual awakening, a religious teen finally musters up the courage to kiss her crush, but will lust will send her straight to h-e-double-hockey-sticks?
New Mavericks, #In Competition, #Narrative Short
One Yes the Other No
directed by Juanita Umaña
United States // 2022 // Spanish // 11 min
In the mountains of Bogota, a woman ages before our eyes experiencing small moments in her life that shape her understanding of sisterhood, beauty, and death. The story follows two sisters in three different
stages of their life—one of them falls ill, the other doesn’t.
New Mavericks, #Cinemás, #GA Shorts Competition, #Georgia Film, #Narrative Short
OURIKA!
directed by Xenia Matthews
United States // 2022 // English, French // 18 min
After being dead for over 200 years, Ourika’s soul awakes inside of a barren purgatory while her body incubates in a fleshy blob. In the void, she encounters ghosts from her past life and depictions of her likeness that taunt her. Meanwhile, two sister scientists, Velinda and Ronnell, been searching for all the pieces of Ourika in hopes to bring her back to life.
Noire, #New Mavericks, #Narrative Short
Over the Causeway
directed by Pablo Mejía
United States // 2023 // English, Spanish // 16 min
Over the Causeway is the coming-of-age story of Victoria, a twenty-year-old jazz musician born and raised in Galveston TX. As she ties up loose ends around town, she is confronted by doubtful neighbors, childhood friends, and dependent family members who question her decision to chase her dreams beyond the Gulf.
Cinemás, #In Competition, #New Mavericks, #Pink Peach, #Narrative Short
Petalos
directed by Nicole Mejia
United States // 2023 // English, Spanish // 14 min
A Mexican flower vendor spreads hope and love through the streets of Los Angeles while reminiscing on the life that led her there.
Cinemás, #New Mavericks, #Narrative Short
RACE
directed by Sean Famoso, Dennis Williams, Gladimir Gelin
United States // 2022 // English // 5 min
An overly confident cop’s first day on the job gets interesting as he navigates unfamiliar territories and people.
Georgia Film, #Noire, #GA Shorts Competition, #Narrative Short
Rage
directed by Youngjae Lee
United States // 2023 // English // 9 min
Mr. Nice Guy has a change of heart after a neighbor flips him off.
In Competition, #New Mavericks, #Narrative Short
Roaming Dawn
directed by Adam Rioux
United States // 2022 // English // 13 min
A man takes a road trip with his pet fish.
GA Shorts Competition, #Georgia Film, #Narrative Short
Scotty’s Vag
directed by Chaconne Martin-Berkowicz
United States // 2023 // English // 15 min
A college freshman goes outside her comfort zone to impress the older girl she wants as her sorority “big.”
New Mavericks, #In Competition, #Narrative Short
Slice
directed by Kelsey Scult
United States // 2022 // English // 15 min
A young Black woman grieves her grandfather while trying to love her mortician girlfriend, after a tumultuous relationship Chilean abuse victim.
In Competition, #New Mavericks, #Cinemás, #Noire, #Pink Peach, #Narrative Short
Sound to Sea
directed by Ryan Craver
United States // 2022 // English // 26 min
Leo, a shy eighth grader at the cusp of understanding their trans identity, pursues a crush on a boy sharing his dorm, but is plagued by a frog. Meanwhile, Leo’s eager, gay teacher-in-training Brad tries to connect with his students, but oversteps boundaries in the eyes of a coworker. It is only in nature, among marshes and maritime forests, that Leo and Brad find an unspoken connection.
Pink Peach, #Narrative Short
The Jennifer Meyers Story
directed by Caroline Symons
United States // 2023 // English // 13 min
A mock true-crime episode covers the 1988 disappearance of a fictional teenager named Jennifer Meyers, but the reenactments are acted out with crudely-made mini models. As the episode progresses, we learn more about the woman constructing and operating the reenactment mini models and the danger lurking in her one bedroom apartment.
In Competition, #New Mavericks, #Narrative Short
The Vacation
directed by Jarreau Carrillo
United States // 2022 // English // 9 min
In Flatbush, Brooklyn, four friends are stuck in their car after it breaks down on the way to the beach on the last day of the summer.
Noire, #Narrative Short
TikTok Challenged
directed by Ivan Rome
United States // 2023 // English // 9 min
Claretha, a soap opera-loving grandmother, has always dreamed of being a star – and she’s finally got her chance: TIKTOK. To go viral though, she needs a little help from her grandson, Daryl, who didn’t exactly plan spending the day teaching her how to do the newest TikTok dance.
GA Shorts Competition, #Noire, #Georgia Film, #Family Friendly, #Narrative Short
Troy
directed by Mike Donahue
United States // 2022 // English // 16 min
Troy has loud sex 24-7. Troy shares a wall with Thea and Charlie. Troy is ruining their lives… or is he saving them? A darkly comedic tale of New York neighbors, the ways in which we become interwoven with the lives of strangers, and the unexpected consequences of unasked-for intimacy.
New Mavericks, #Narrative Short
True Love Waits
directed by Erin Doyle Cooper
United States // 2023 // English // 6 min
When freshman art students Viv and Cameron sneak into a studio classroom to practice figure drawing on one another, they must grapple with their budding sexuality and whether they can stick to the “True Love Waits” pledges they signed in their youth.
In Competition, #New Mavericks, #Narrative Short
Would You Still Love Me?
directed by Ramsey Telhami
United States // 2023 // English // 4 min
A romantic picnic takes an unexpected turn after she pops the magic question: “Would you love me if I was a _?”
Georgia Film, #New Mavericks, #Narrative Short
Yarayah
directed by Bernardo De Jeurissen
France // 2023 // Arab French // 20 min
Yarayah is the story of Yasmina, a Algerian and French female bodybuilder who goes back home after winning the world championship at the Arnold classic. This story depicts the moment in which Yasmina has to face her father’s closed doors.
In Competition, #New Mavericks, #Narrative Short
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
BlackBoyJoyGone
directed by Ashley Karrell and Isaac Ouro-Gnao
United Kingdom // 2022 // English // 25 min
Blending interviews, poetry, dance and storytelling, BlackBoyJoyGone captures the lives of men who experienced sexual trauma but who find strength through brotherhood.
In Competition, #Documentary Short, #Noire
Access Point
directed by Alexander glustrom
United States // 2023 // English // 14 min
Riley Kirkpatrick, a trans man living in rural Georgia, advocates for the safety and rights of drug users after founding the only harm reduction center in the area.
In Competition, #GA Shorts Competition, #Documentary Short
Black Strings
directed by Marquise Mays
United States // 2023 // English // 12 min
A string orchestra in Milwaukee, WI redefines what it means to be a first responder.
Noire, #Documentary Short, #In Competition
Blue
directed by Guénola Bally
Mexico // 2022 // Spanish // 11 min
BLUE follows the Contreras family as they harvest the jiquilite plant to produce a deep blue dye.
Documentary Short, #Cinemás, #New Mavericks
Breaking Silence
directed by Amy Bench, Annie Silverstein
United States // 2023 // English, ASL // 18 min
BLUE follows the Contreras family as they harvest the jiquilite plant to produce a deep blue dye.
Documentary Short, #New Mavericks
Cristo Negro
directed by Brendan Mills, Paul Stavropoulos
Panama // 2023 // Spanish // 18 min
A spiritual portrait of the devout inhabitants of an Afro-Caribbean coastal town that worships a black Jesus Christ.
Noire, #Cinemás, #Family Friendly, #In Competition, #Documentary Short
Eco-Hack!
directed by Josh Izenberg and Brett Marty
United States // 2022 // English // 17 min
Biologist Tim Shields is waging an all-out technological war against ravens in a last ditch effort to save the Mojave desert tortoise from extinction.
Documentary Short, #In Competition, #Family Friendly
Exit 238
directed by Henry Davis
United States // 2022 // English // 12 min
Every year in Austin Texas, hundreds of people gather together to marvel at the sight of thousands of Purple Martins as they journey along their migratory path to Brazil.
Documentary Short, #In Competition, #Family Friendly
From Dreams to Dust
directed by Stephanie Tangkilisan, Muhammad Fadli
Indonesia, United States // 2022 // Indonesia // 10 min
Dreams to Dust tells the story of Pola, a nickel miner and family man from Indonesia. Through Pola’s eyes we see the dark side of green technology.
Documentary Short, #In Competition, #New Mavericks
I Don’t Know If You Remember This
directed by Katelyn Rebelo
United States // 2022 // english // 16 min
A group of former highschool classmates explore the memory of unspoken sexual assault, following the rhythms of the seventeen year cicada emergence in Virginia.
Documentary Short, #In Competition, #New Mavericks
In The Light
directed by Ruoyu Wang
United States // 2022 // English // 5 min
A young man comes to terms with his gender identity while exploring themes of faith and nature.
Documentary Short, #In Competition, #New Mavericks
Our memory
directed by Johanna Makabi
France // 2022 // French // 12 min
Mbissine Therese Diop, who played the starring role in the 1966 film, “Black Girl”, looks back on her experience as a Black actress in the 1960s.
Documentary Short, #In Competition, #New Mavericks, #Noire
Radio Bingo
directed by Shelby Mitchell Adams
Canada // 2023 // English, Mohawk // 8 min
To help revitalize the Mohawk language, a local reservation radio station incorporates the Mohawk language into a game of Radio Bingo.
Documentary Short, #In Competition
Still Waters
directed by Aurora Brachman
United States // 2022 // English // 12 min
A mother and daughter find connection and peace through intimate conversations about their past.
Documentary Short, #In Competition, #Cinemás
Strictly Two Wheel
directed by Ania Freer
Jamaica // 2022 // English // 10 min
An intimate portrait on a family owned mechanic shop in rural Jamaica and a father’s love for his children and community.
Documentary Short, #In Competition, #Noire
The Blake
directed by Courtney Sposato, Mark Sposato
United States // 2023 // English // 15 min
This cinematic memoir explores how the filmmaker’s childhood experience with a replica of the
Challenger space shuttle helped her cope with a devastating loss.
Documentary Short, #In Competition, #New Mavericks
The Boston Photograph
directed by Clennon L. King
United States // 2022 // English // 8 min
LaVerne Eagleson, a 91-year-old woman from Berlin, MD, tells the story of how she dated Martin Luther King Jr.
Georgia Film, #Documentary Short, #GA Shorts Competition, #New Mavericks, #Noire
Wild Magnolias
directed by Alexandra Kern
United States // 2022 // English // 15 min
A New Orleans based barber teaches his protégés the virtues of being a Mardi Gras Indian, a centuries-old tradition that shapes the minds of the local youth.
Documentary Short, #In Competition, #New Mavericks
Year One
directed by Cai Ning
Belgium, Portugal, Hungary // 2023 // English, Chinese, Dutch // 21 min
A sensitive group portrait of the first-time mothers.
Documentary Short, #In Competition, #New Mavericks
Young Kings
directed by Jonathan Banks & Dr. Arshley Emile
United States // 2022 // English // 23 min
From Ponce De Leon to Ralph David Abernathy, this film explores the exciting world of bike culture in the heart of Atlanta.
Documentary Short, #GA Shorts Competition, #Noire
ANIMATED SHORTS
Clicker
directed by Charles Kugler
United States // 2023 // English // 9 min
Two boyfriends take a tour of their dysfunctional relationship through the magic of television.
Animated Short, #In Competition, #Pink Peach
Curiosa
directed by Tessa Moult-Milewska
United Kingdom // 2022 // English // 10 min
Overly curious Mary climbs into her boyfriend’s head in search of answers.
Animated Short, #In Competition, #New Mavericks
Fury
directed by Julia Siuda
Poland // 2021 // // 5 min
Organic, fleshy masks become icons of living rage.
Animated Short, #In Competition, #New Mavericks
Hospes
directed by Stephanie J Williams
United States // 2022 // // 12 min
A film about appearing “racially ambiguous”. Performing a choreography of resistance, an amalgam of body pieces tries to remain whole in an environment programmed to disassemble it.
Animated Short, #In Competition, #Noire, #New Mavericks
In the Big Yard Inside the Teeny-Weeny Pocket
directed by Yoko Yuki
Japan // 2022 // Japanese // 6 min
When it shrinks, it expands. It floats and it sinks. It separates but connects. When I think I’m watching them, they’re actually watching me.
Animated Short, #In Competition, #New Mavericks, #Family Friendly
Me and me
directed by ChiuLing Chen
Taiwan // 2022 // Mandarin // 10 min
A pencil hand-drawn animated short film, depicting the life of solitude into a short, light, black and white song .
Animated Short, #In Competition, #New Mavericks
Pills! Pills! Pills!
directed by Kate Saltel
United States // 2023 // English // 3 min
During Lobster Lobster’s first day as an unpaid intern at a snazzy pharmaceutical company, an abrasively hardworking coworker makes their one assigned task impossible,
Animated Short, #In Competition, #New Mavericks
Rest in piece
directed by Antoine Antabi
France, Germany // 2022 // // 9 min
A starving migrant man starving and resorts to eating the objects he has packed for the journey. The monstrous effects give him the strength to carry on through a scorching desert.
Animated Short, #In Competition
Rosemary A.D. (After Dad)
directed by Ethan Barrett
United States // 2022 // English // 10 min
As he cradles his newborn, a father wonders if his daughter would be better off without him and imagines her life once he is gone. Completely drawn with crayons.
Animated Short, #In Competition
Shelf Life
directed by Erin Zhang
United States // 2022 // English // 8 min
Mealtime and aging intersect in this stop-motion short about female shelf life.
Animated Short, #In Competition
Sprout
directed by Zora Kovac
United States // 2023 // // 8 min
An agoraphobic scientist accidentally creates a baby-like plant creature, and their connection threatens to upend his reclusive way of life.
Animated Short, #In Competition, #New Mavericks
Tavla
directed by Zoe Bysal
United States // 2023 // // 8 min
A stray cat must rescue her friend from the depths of the Aegian Sea.
Animated Short, #In Competition, #New Mavericks
The Law of the Jungle Gym
directed by Yoon Hei Cho
United States, Korea // 2022 // // 6 min
A dog-eat-dog survival game takes place in the seemingly innocent environment of a school at lunchtime.
Animated Short, #In Competition, #New Maverick
EXPERIMENTAL SHORTS
An Example of Lee-Roth Fog Isolated Under Laboratory Conditions
directed by Ryan Betschart
United States // 2022 // English // 3 min
Spiritual mists are a stand in for the nuts and bolts details surrounding the life of enigmatic Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth.
Experimental Short
Arrest in Flight
directed by Adrian Flury
Switzerland // 2021 // // 8 min
An experiment in film sets the stage for a hitherto unseen magical life form.
Experimental Short
as time passes
directed by Jamil McGinnis
United States, Turkey // 2022 // English, Turkish, Persian // 15 min
Through journal entries, a mother’s words, neighborhood stories, and existential inquiries; one still searches for meaning beyond the walls of one’s mind.
Experimental Short, #Noire
Boys Clap, Girls dance
directed by Dena Springer
United States // 2022 // English // 10 min
A short meditation on becoming and being.
Experimental Short, #New Mavericks
ELE OF THE DARK
directed by Yace Sula
United States // 2022 // English // 13 min
A nonbinary visual artist contemplates their relationship with darkness and its hold on their complexion, trauma and queerness.
Experimental Short, #Pink Peach, #New Mavericks, #Talent Anticipated, #Noire
I was born in 1988
directed by Yasaman Baghban
United States // 2022 // Persian, English // 9 min
An experimental documentary based on the executions of Iranian political prisoners that began in the summer of 1988.
Experimental Short, #New Mavericks
Only If You Could See a View Above the Clouds
directed by Zhuoyun (Yun) Chen
United States // 2022 // English // 4 min
A ghost, a face, lucid minerals, vague landscapes… What do you see when my words fall?
Experimental Short, #New Mavericks
Stinger
directed by Brian Zahm
United States // 2021 // English // 5 min
A filmmaker documents his own subtropical parasitic disease…
Experimental Short
Sun Coming and Casting a Shadow
directed by Daniel Robin
United States // 2022 // English // 7 min
A film about time, memory, fear, and the challenges of holding onto joy.
Experimental Short, #Georgia Film
What I Imagined the Dying Fly, with the Broken Leg, was Feeling
directed by Hugh Clegg
United Kingdom // 2022 // English, Italian // 5 min
A short film about a dying fly’s last words, and an Italian voice over artist.
Experimental Short
MUSIC VIDEO
American Football – “Fade Into You”
directed by David M. Helman
United States // 2022 // English // 7 min
A narrative music video for the band American Football.
Music Video
Arssalendo – “Quattro Paredi”
directed by Giada Bossi
Italy // 2022 // Italian // 6 min
When the family of a kid hides from him his dog’s death, the older brother takes the kid on a brutal journey towards the grieving process.
Music Video, #New Mavericks
Astral Summer – “Lucia (Love Yourself)”
directed by Elli Maven
United States // 2022 // English // 6 min
I can’t wait to see where you’ll go!
Music Video, #New Mavericks, #Georgia Film
Duffle Bag Buru – “What’s Crakin”
directed by Tanaseth (Pong) Tulyathan
United States // 2022 // English // 2 min
A man trapped in the multi reality, has to overcome his consequences.
Music Video, #Noire
Indigo De Souza – “Kill Me”
directed by Jordan Alexander
United States // 2021 // English // 5 min Indigo de Souza’s music video for the lead single entitled “Kill Me” features amateur wrestlers and the growing sport of cake sitting.
Music Video, #Noire
Linqua Franqa – “The Whole Bank”
directed by Nolan Huber-Rhoades
United States // 2023 // English // 6 min
Linqua Franqa and a group of indebted workers must find a way to fight for their own liberation and the liberation of everyone who is held hostage by debt.
Music Video, #Pink Peach, #Georgia Film
Mermaid
directed by Haonan Huang
United States // 2023 // English // 4 min
A moody music video about a mysterious mermaid.
Music Video, #Georgia Film
Sadé Awele – “Intuition”
directed by Bruna Arbex
Canada // 2023 // English // 5 min
Two adventurous souls stumble upon an abandoned house and transform it into their very own haven, a powerful representation of their love blossoming.
Music Video, #New Mavericks, #Cinemás
Säye Skye – “ADHD”
directed by Sina Dolati
Canada // 2022 // Farsi, English // 5 min
A Persian music video that celebrates Attention Hyperactivity Disorder as a superpower through a lens of comedy and science fiction.
Music Video
Tianna Esperanza – “Princess Slit and the Raincoat Prince”
directed by Peter Collins Campbell
United States // 2022 // English // 2 min
A queer, punk rollercoaster – smashing through walls, sets and reality.
Music Video, #Cinemás, #Pink Peach
Tosya Chaikina – “Arrows Have Struck In The Heart”
directed by Yulya Litinskaya
Russia // 2022 // Russian // 4 min
In a surreal world, the Main Character falls from the sky and becomes an observer to chaos as people flee from the Dark-soul people.
Music Video, #New Mavericks
Wim Tapley – “Gut Punch”
directed by Connor DiVita
United States // 2022 // English // 5 min
It’s all about the moped.
Music Video, #Cinemás, #Pink Peach
EPISODIC
A Version
directed by Asad Farooqui
United States // 2023 // English, Urdu // 10 min
When a newly married Muslim-American couple visit a therapist to hash out their differences, we, the audience, get to see exactly what they’re complaining about.
Episodic, #Georgia Film
Brownsville Bred
directed by Elaine Del Valle
United States // 2022 // English, Spanish // 22 min
A spunky Latina must find her own path as she faces the grim realities of the musician father she once idolized and the deteriorating neighborhood she calls home
Episodic, #New Mavericks, #Cinemás
Don’t Let Kyle Sit Down
directed by Joel Jay Blacker
United States // 2023 // English // 9 min
When a couple attempts to depart from a fading party, their desperate friend suggests throwing one
more log on the fire, summoning a charred, shirtless stranger looking for warmth.
Episodic
Good Boy
directed by William Yu
United States // 2022 // English, Korean // 16 min
A young Korean American with dreams of launching his own streetwear brand struggles with
dysfunctional relationships and conflicting family values.
Episodic
Harbor Island
directed by Calvin Lee Reeder
United States // 2023 // English // 17 min
A dad-joke comic wanders the industrial zone at night.
Episodic
How To Be A Person: How To Get An Abortion
directed by SINDHA AGHA
United Kingdom // 2022 // English // 6 min
After booty calling Jawad from Sunday school, Sanam’s found herself pregnant with no one reliable to accompany her as her “abortion plus one.”
Episodic, #New Mavericks
Off Fairfax
directed by Erica Eng
United States // 2022 // English // 7 min
After a tumultuous night trying to solve a murder, three friends are led to a local diner where the answer may be staring them right in the face.
Episodic, #New Mavericks, #Noire
Phlophouse: Patton’s Theory
directed by Grant Hollingshed Jackson
United States // 2022 // English // 5 min
A young man turns his friend’s home into a motel while he’s out of town.
Episodic, #Noire, #Georgia Film
Sheltered
directed by Ben Evory
United States // 2023 // English // 45 min
His first year of college complete, Nathan returns home to the Appalachian foothills. With his dad’s help he reintegrates back into his progressive protestant community and prepares for a mission trip to Honduras. But what once seemed normal now feels foreign, and Nathan must build his own relationship to his father’s faith.
Episodic, #Pink Peach
Sorry I am late i was masturbating
directed by Alena Shevchenko
Germany // 2022 // English // 6 min
A young woman discovers her own sexuality through wild fantasies.
Episodic, #New Mavericks
VIRTUAL REALITY
Caves
directed by Carlos Isabel Garcia
Switzerland // 2021 // English // 19 min
Mankind has landed on the moon and flies around in space. But under our feet there are about a million kilometers of cave systems—only one per cent of which has been explored.
Virtual Reality
Cycle of Violence
directed by Felicia Bergström
Germany // 2022 // English // 8 min
So sweet, so painful – a love trapped by violence and fears, animated with stop motion, puppets and clay.
Virtual Reality, #New Mavericks
Musalem: from (selm); who lives in peace
directed by Mariam Al-Dhubhani
Yemen, United States, Jordan // 2022 // Arabic, English // 10 min
Amat Al-Lateef and Mohammed try to keep Yemeni honey available locally and abroad, despite the obstacles and destructions infused by seven years of war.
Virtual Reality, #New Mavericks
Surfacing
directed by Rossella Schillaci
Italy, Portugal // 2022 // Italian // 20 min
A 360 immersive fairy tale, set amongst mothers and children who live in prison.
Virtual Reality, #New Mavericks
The Choice
directed by Joanne Popinska
Canada, Poland // 2021 // English // 25 min
A Virtual Reality documentary about maternal health and reproductive rights.
Virtual Reality, #New Maverick
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