Saturday: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM • Spectator Lounge
Tomorrow’s Game
Although Daniel de la Rosa comes from a family of baseball prestige, he has never appreciated the sport. But on the day of his Uncle's ascendance into the Hall of Fame as the first Dominican player in the league, Daniel is forced to embark on a journey through time that sees him (with the help of new friends) restore his family’s legacy and rewrite baseball history.
Saturday: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM • Main Theater
Experiencing Loss
Is it actually true that life doesn’t give you more than you can handle? These films take us through the experiences of people dealing with a myriad of loss and hardship, whether it’s the loss of an elderly parent or extreme grief and isolation. Join us as a woman searches for her fictitious husband, siblings try to find a resolution after their father asks to send his ashes to a very eccentric place, and a 16-year-old mother lives alone with her baby after her husband leaves for work in a remote city, leaving her to navigate the hustle of Cairo streets.
Khadiga, a young mother of 16, lives alone with her baby after her husband leaves to work in a remote city. On an ordinary day, she makes her way through the hustle of Cairo streets while dealing with postpartum depression.
A victim of domestic violence calls emergency services to report her father's suspicious death.
Ghostly things start happening at an engaged couple's house. Is it Natan's dead Jewish mother or is it all in his head?
How would you react if your father's last wish was to send his ashes to a very eccentric place? For siblings Roz and Elli, there is no consensus on the answer.
Saturday: 12:45 PM - 2:15 PM • Spectator Lounge
The Marshmallow Mystery Tour
After landing a gig at a marshmallow theme park, a cameraman uncovers the shocking truth about America's candyland and his own sugar-coated childhood. Written, shot and directed by two brothers who went undercover at candy landmarks across America, this film breaks down the boundary between feature film and documentary to offer the first-ever docu-fairytale. It was blessed by Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) himself, who caught a glimpse of the project as it began.
Saturday: 12:45 PM - 2:25 PM • Main Theater
(Dis)Connection
Understanding and connecting with other people can be hard, yet our connections to others can completely transform our lives for the better or worse. Through these six short films, the audience is given the chance to reflect on their own desires through the lens of the human condition.
When a kind-hearted prison officer (Oscar Isaac) is transferred to the letter room, he soon gets involved in an inmate’s personal affairs. Also starring Alia Shawkat. Sponsored by: Claire Brown
In quarantine, after a complicated game of husband and wife, the man disguises himself as the woman and begins the experience of living like her.
A man should be afraid of the subservient woman. The "subservient" is a one-take short film of a friendly party.
After a young British mother loses her leg in a work accident, her whole family struggles to cope. Based on a true story.
An autistic Palestinian man is mistaken for a terrorist when he tries to help a little girl on the beach at the Dead Sea.
Saturday: 2:30 PM - 3:45 PM • Spectator Lounge
Tough Topics: Family Edition
Familial relationships are hard. But sometimes, just plain existing as a person is harder. This block of five short films addresses the complexities of navigating blood ties and how sometimes the people closest to you don’t understand you at all.
Two sisters' relationship is broken when one insists on continuing the tradition of circumcision with her daughter.
At a family gathering, an older woman confronts an awkward young man she doesn't recognize. To reveal his identity, she forces him to use a haunted typewriter that will only type the truth.
Through Ana's eyes, we see how continued harassment can nullify and destroy the personality of any teen.
A young Afghani immigrant in Iran has ambitions to better her life by becoming an Olympic bicyclist. But her guardian has other plans.
After a few decades of separation, a transwoman, Marie, has to introduce herself to her father once again.
Saturday: 3:00 PM - 5:15 PM • Main Theater
Explorations in Masculinity
These two films explore different ways of navigating toxic versions of masculinity. In Magoada, a reclusive fisherman hiding on the coast of Santa Catarina, Brazil, is unexpectedly visited by his estranged son. While in Scrap, Ciaran and Michael meet one summer and become quick friends, but will they stay friends?
Please join us for a panel discussion following the block.
Ciaran and Michael meet one summer and become quick friends. But when they attend the same school for the first time, will they stay friends?
A reclusive fisherman hiding on the coast of Santa Catarina, Brazil, is unexpectedly visited by his estranged son.
Saturday: 4:00 PM - 6:15 PM • Spectator Lounge
Hi-Fi Sci-Fi
Find yourself enraptured by worlds beyond imagination. This dedicated block of sci-fi films pushes the boundaries of the human experience as characters are forced to journey beyond the earth we know. These eight films obliterate our understanding of how humans experience life with off-planet communities, technology, flora, and fauna.
A couple goes to a gene-editing clinic to design their first child, hoping the kid will have the successful and happy life that has eluded them.
After taking control of her ship from her AI companion, a space captain must make repairs before it's too late.
A man wakes up in a realm between life and death. Dazed and afraid, he discovers there's more to his life (and death) than he ever could've imagined.
Three astronauts, stranded in a spaceship with an alien corpse, have to find a way to survive without food.
Sam learns that time travelers have erased his family tree. Can he and his cousin find a way to save their family?
A pair of lovers, one of whom is a humanoid, go to a robot repair shop to have their relationship mended.
A man is thrown into a trash container from the future. In his frantic search for the exit, he runs into a mysterious man who will make him doubt the origin of his own existence.
Every night, The Censor and his team moderate Yoko's dreams. Tonight nothing happens, as planned.
Saturday: 5:30 PM - 7:15 PM • Main Theater
Finding Love ❤️
There’s no better feeling than finding and retaining that connection with someone special. Get ready to vicariously delve into the depths of love through a variety of characters who find each other through space…and time.
Jamie is a young woman struggling to find her place in the world. When she inadvertently makes contact with an astronaut on her ham radio, everything changes. Sponsored by: Lynn Serstad and Jennifer Fray
A late-night romance radio show host struggling with her own relationship issues receives a call from an adoring fan that might finally give her a happy ending.
People suddenly begin speaking nonsense, verbalizing only in disjointed phrases, as society isolates them.
The possibility of love and the reminder left afterwards. Based on the poem "there is a scratch on the inside of my right knee" by Paula Harris.
A unique collection of vintage photos of men in love from the 1850s to the 1950s, when male partnerships were often illegal. Sponsored by: Thom Johnston and Robert Gould
Saturday: 6:30 PM - 8:15 PM • Spectator Lounge
Natives
The documentary Natives (Eu Nativo) shows aspects of the indigenous lives of the Kayapó, Potiguara, Tabajara, Fulni-ô,and Pankararu tribes, located in the north and northeast of Brazil. The 2022 film features stunning images of the natural beauty that surrounds the villages where the ethnic groups live, as well as surprising testimonials about how natives suffer from racial prejudice and discrimination by non-indigenous society. It is a sensitive reflection on native individuals, who rarely have the opportunity to talk about their emotions and sadness.
Please join us for a panel discussion following the film.
Saturday: 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM • Main Theater
Some of Our Favorite Short Shorts 🩳
16 films in one block! WHAT A DEAL. These short films each pack a serious emotional and narrative punch during their short run times. From the quirky tale of a zucchini yearning to be eaten, to weighty insight into the politics of Chick-Fil-A, and an animation that bridges Shakespearean drama into one film, this grouping of short films demonstrates that a long run time isn’t a requirement for incredible storytelling.
A woman from Bangkok feels alienated by the comparatively soporific pace of San Francisco until a bike restored from a dumpster changes everything.
As Little Red Riding Hood wanders through the forest, she senses that something is stalking her.
An animated short about asexuality that explores the experience of feeling different, as well as the isolation, confusion, self-loathing (and also self-love and joy) that difference can create.
An homage to Shakespeare in three minutes. Artful depictions of the Bard's best plays with images that flow beautifully together. Sponsored by: Christoff & Christoff Attorneys
This screen dance mixes performance and visual art to represent the chaos of the cosmos and the wonder of the vast universe.
A poetic animated exploration of love needs to be looked after daily as a plant. Love is a constant work in progress; It is a process, not a result. Meanwhile, the most important thing is to cherish the here and now – don't worry too much about things that haven't happened or might happen.
A young woman struggles with her inability to communicate with her boyfriend. Faced with an ultimatum, she takes a journey that inspires her to write him a song.
A worm finds a city inside an apple, but must escape the fascist government drones inside.
Being eaten is the lifelong dream of Zucchini. But when he's left to rot, he learns a surprising lesson about life.
Saturday: 8:30 PM - 10:00 PM • Spectator Lounge
Not All Blocks Need Titles: Funhouse Edition
Grab your beer and golf clubs, don your favorite shirt touting a seminal moment in Asian Cinema, and strap in for a fun and quirky block of films. Prepare to learn about F-cart racing, how to woo your middle-school crush, and the best way to catch a ding-dong-ditcher.
On the school bus, Kenza challenges her naive, romantic little brother to profess his love to the girl he loves.
Hannah and James start a t-shirt company as a ruse to get their friends to join their Asian Cinema Club. Sponsored by: Kathy Bock and Suzanne Galazka
Andrea goes undercover at the all-male Stout Laboratories to discover why their protein shakes are so addictive.
When someone starts ringing doorbells and running away, villagers try to catch the culprit. But a surprise awaits.
After getting laughed out of the PGA, a golf prodigy is forced to compete in his hometown mini-golf competition for money.
A veteran of the shopping cart racing league is challenged by a rebellious rookie with an underground style. Sponsored by: Deer Park Irish Pub
Saturday: 8:45 PM - 10:00 PM • Main Theater
Don’t Fuck with Megan & Other Stories of Female Empowerment
The best thing about being a woman is the prerogative to have a little fun and…get that patent. Or change that tire and do whatever you have to do to get into that spin class. These seven films exquisitely demonstrate the complexity of life as a self-empowered woman by telling their diverse, and at-times mesmerizing, stories.
In 1870, a woman designer is forced to prove she's the rightful owner of a patent, not the man who built the design. Sponsored by: Design Collaborative
Facing eviction, a desperate woman is introduced to a lucrative performing opportunity and a chance at independence.
Four women in a coat room at a wedding consult a ouija board to prove that the family's grandmother was Salvador Dalí.
Embarrassing moments only a woman could experience. The characters are raw, real, awkward, and hilarious.
Once she realizes her chauvinist date doesn't know how to change a flat tire, Emma takes charge of the situation.
A desperate young woman sets out to join a secretive and elite spin class by any means necessary.
Saturday: 10:15 PM - 11:45 PM • Spectator Lounge
And Now For Something Completely Different
Who doesn’t like a prankster? Or street musicians? Or stop-motion Barbie dolls? Or a solid spy story? If you don’t thoroughly enjoy the films in this block, we’re pretty sure you’re just incapable of feeling joy.
A couple's quest to outdo each other's pranks may lead to the most outrageous calamity of all. Starring Rose Byrne.
This is a theory (or conspiracy) concerning the sudden rise and fall of an eccentric student who finds success as a soft drink inventor at the expense of his father’s approval.
After critical Prince Gnarly meets a scrappy fairy godmother, he is granted three wishes. Why do they always end badly?
When the Mayor of Booneville turns up dead, Detective Humphrey Trowell uncovers a thick web of lies.
The joy of music is celebrated in this short film about a placement exam for street musicians in Turkey.
Keeping tabs on an Iranian defector becomes a complicated game of cat and mouse for a spy in Paris.
Saturday: 10:15 PM - 12:00 AM • Main Theater
The Leech & Other Dark Tales
The Leech begins with an act of kindness that becomes a test of faith as the sanctity of a priest's home is jeopardized at Christmas. The other three shorts in this dark series showcase a D&D cult, confrontations in bathrooms, and a woman navigating the streets of an eerily empty village while she descends into a ghastly mental state.
A young woman wakes up alone in the forest. She follows a path to a mysterious village where dark secrets lurk.
What begins as an act of kindness becomes a test of faith as the sanctity of a priest's home is jeopardized at Christmas. Sponsored by: Punch Films