A twenty-something seasonal worker on Fire Island navigates the tempestuous waters of pleasure and connection. “Subject of Desire,” directed by Benett Holgerson, is a documentary character study oozing with confidence with a naturally vivid aesthetic and bold subject. Flexing vocal-range and smal...

A filmmaker is ready to be old. Carly Lieberman directs “Old Fantasy,” a charismatic essay film appreciating the elderly and the joys of aging. Lieberman narrates over a series of simple animations. She recounts when an old man approached her at a restaurant to compliment her toenails, and a movi...

What if a day could be a year for a day. Maxwell Blanche directs and animates “Ten Thousand,” a comedic confrontation of calendar days and metrics for time. Blanche makes his proposal for a shift in temporal perspective, stating “no one knows that, four months and 25 days after your 27th birthday...

A reflection on the intimacy of being seen and our perception of time. Shereen Lani Younes’ “no one has seen me naked in a long time” is an audio-visual journal made of existential realizations and peculiar scenes from her everyday life. We hear the filmmaker’s train-of-thought as a sequence of s...

Two siblings try to sell a mounted deer head. Zach Strum directs “Beefmastor Inn,” a quick snapshot of a charismatic brother-sister dynamic in the American South. On a patch of grass off to the side of the road, she practices her dance moves while he holds the taxidermy deer head. They go back-an...

In the aftermath of a near-death experience, a young woman finds herself stuck in limbo between two worlds. Izzy Aghahowa directs “Fires of Katherine,” a story-book-like animation featuring fantastic landscapes and pulsing streaks of color. The rules of the world are outlined—there are three live...

A film crew and a nervous young director craft an expressive dance scene. A quietly observant exploration of a film set, “Proscenium,” directed by Georgia Evenson, portrays the filmmaking process with a shifting POV. The crew settles into place and “Action!” is called. We linger on behind-the-sce...

An elderly man spends his days watching livestreams as his upstairs neighbors quarrel. “Rolling By,” directed by Nicholas Facchini, is a poignant portrait of loneliness that slowly creeps towards an emotional wallop. Toggling between livestreams on a dated desktop computer, the man checks in on b...

An international student moves in with Americans and gets the lay of the land. Luis Figueroa Caunedo directs “…And You Had Tourette’s,” a playfully obscure series of vignettes shot on 35mm film. A young man arrives to an apartment as a kid with Tourette’s watches a strange television show. The ne...

In a seaside town in Maine, a group of young skateboarders go about their normal lives—skating, smoking weed, and shooting the shit. A slice-of-life snapshot directed by Gideon Baeza, “Hope is Hip” tracks the lifestyle and personalities of an outsider subculture just beyond a quaint tourist distr...

An American living in Rome takes a trip to Umbria after a spontaneous invite from a childhood friend. Daniela Garza directs “A Place Between us,” a stylish summer excursion that portrays a couple of days of warm weather pleasures mixed with nostalgia and ennui. When Fiore decides to leave a work ...

Faced with infinite possibilities, a profoundly indecisive woman attempts to buy a new couch. Lily Citrin directs “Phoebe Getting a Couch,” a comedy about the burden of choice and the battle to define oneself with home decor. Phoebe can’t even decide what she wants at the drive-through fast food ...

In a city where the sun never shines, a young skeptic helps his scientist uncle conduct an experiment that could give his people hope. Made in Kazakhstan by Batyrkhan Jussipov, “Helios” is deadpan dystopian sci-fi with an inventive DIY spirit. Nurseit is a disaffected young man living in a remote...

In need of a place to stay, a young man poses as the son of a woman with Alzheimer’s. Sam Severin directs “Niko & Eleanor,” an understated drama about an unlikely relationship that fleetingly forms between two people with different struggles. Niko enters the home of Eleanor wearing a safety vest ...

As an online roleplaying game approaches its final days, two teens embark on a cross-country trip to meet each other in real life. “Love192,” directed by Haydon Mayer, is a tender romance and sign-of-times saga that captures and transcends the digital realm. Jude goes by the username “M4yJud3July...

A young woman arranges viewings for her one-bedroom house, which she may not be genuine about actually renting. Ryan Leedu directs “No Bedroom,” a character study that builds intrigue with an ordinarily mundane task that raises questions of intent. At first it seems like a typical situation: a wo...

On their first summer back from college, a group of friends aim for an epic night of drugs and partying but Curtis’ lingering crush on an ex-girlfriend complicates the picture. “Crocodile Dose” is a hilariously hyperactive Gen-Z comedy feature that offers a non-stop extravaganza of digital stimul...

A lonely neurotic orders a gimmicky calendar from TikTok hoping it'll inspire him to change his life but it completely backfires. “Terry’s Calendar,” directed by Chris Connor, is a jumpy comedy about the existential meltdown of a mustached man in his thirties who thinks he’s dying. After ordering...

An overwhelmed woman caring for her schizophrenic mother tries to take a moment for herself while picking up her mother's backordered medication. Daniel Aguilar directs “Uneasy Moments,” an expressionistic snapshot of a Latino family’s struggle with mental illness. Diana is exhausted from taking ...

A family invents a series of rituals to describe the trouble they're in: first a burial, then an alien invasion. “Katelin Describes a Crisis,” directed by Stephen Wardell, is an avant-garde exploration featuring an intriguing cast of kids making a pre-apocalypse movie with an older family member....

A film about being on the phone. Bobby McCoy directs “Excuse Me, I’m On The Phone,” a high-tempo game of hot potato between erratic youngsters and their cellular crises. It all starts with a young lady seated outside an Erewhon grocery store. She speaks to someone on the phone, distressed about h...

After smoking weed one time, a woman believes that remaining stoned will be the answer to all of her problems. “Schwag,” directed by Danny Hurwitz, stars a hilarious Sara Hennessey in a meandering tale of indecisiveness and pot smoking. At first she declines to hit a joint with a friend, played b...

A recent graduate poaches rare books from his geriatric roommate. Sam Brodsky directs “Mint Condition,” a NYC story tracking a young Irish lad in his quiet quest through a niche enclave of the literary world. Oscar makes breakfast for his roommate and landlord, Jerry. They sit across from each ot...

Two mysterious drifters wander through the desert on a journey of self-discovery. The third film in the “Reveries” trilogy written and performed by Matt Barats and Anthony Oberbeck, “Reveries: The Mind Prison” is a psychedelic comedy full of absurd musings and visual abstractions. Graham Mason di...