During their first Thanksgiving together, Isabelle meets her boyfriend’s parents and helps prepare dinner. “A Very Oakland Thanksgiving,” directed by Karsten Kaufmann, is a home video portrait shot on mini-DV of a young woman merging into a new family. The film intercuts footage from kitchen meal...

An Illinois farming family on the verge of collapse confronts an uncertain future, and a tick finds a host. “Gossamer,” directed by Charlie Schmidlin is a heavy drama exploring familial hardship, generational loyalty, and a shifting society. Drawing on his own family’s experience, Schmidlin rende...

Instructional videos on how to survive an active shooter attack send a paranoid man into a self-fulfilling spiral. Dylan Redford directs “Emergency Action Plan,” a layered satire and personal essay film which explores emergency readiness drills ranging from Redford’s childhood to the present day....

A family quarantining together at their home in New Jersey are unable to leave their kitchen. Michelle Uranowitz directs “I Can’t Get Out of the Kitchen,” an absurdist home video filmed on an old VHS camera which is an intriguing combination of the mundane and the unexplainable. A dad makes a san...

A goofy buddy comedy with a language of its own, uniquely disarming and oddly hilarious. As an expression of their friendship, two young roommates — Ronnie and Darnell — meet in their living room one night a week to give each other a hug. So explains Darnell via his “little radio show” recorded i...

A Michigan man prepares for an annual ice fishing trip with a group of old friends. Pete Johnston directs and narrates “Ice Fishing In a Climate Crisis That Precedes a Global Pandemic,” a lighthearted personal documentary that details a tradition going back to 2013 where a group of men gather in ...

Sarah gave Ezra a soul crystal, and that may have been a mistake. “I Love to Wait,” directed by Harrison Atkins, is an imaginative, free-roaming vision of an on-and-off relationship in Los Angeles, a rare melding of the mundane and the mystical. In a world where couples communicate via crystals (...

A young woman shares an unsettling coincidence with her friend concerning an old photograph. “That Doe Zone,” an experimental film by Harrison Atkins, maneuvers in the unexplainable, existing at least partly as a dream. After her strange revelation, Sheetsa looks up from the table and sees someon...

A young waste incinerator employee meets with his show business mentor. “On Showbiz,” directed by Ryan McGlade, is a comedic glimpse at two unlikely acquaintances and their stylistic differences — one, Jeremy, a contemplative poet, the other, Murray, a showbiz veteran who’s always on, clock alwa...

Jed's family isn't how he remembered it. “Bennifer” is an absurd comedy about a strange homecoming, directed by Ryan McGlade and starring Keith Poulson as a deadpan orphan. Arriving to his childhood home after a long absence (by canoe no less), Jed finds his family situation completely different ...

A young woman is left stranded at an abandoned house in apocalyptic rural America to search for a mysterious object. “Abbygail Was Here,” directed by Keaton Smith, is enigmatic horror delivered with minimal plotting but vivid atmosphere and creeping tension. We don’t know the circumstances that b...

A short anthology of four loosely related vignettes in which the central characters throw away their opportunities at happiness for something even more out of reach. | Director & Editor: Rob Schmidt. Writer: Nick Funess.

Sisters Wren and Eileen are orphans living in the secluded desert home where their parents killed each other. | Directed by Ryan Weatrowski. Starring Clare Gillies, Andreja Pejic, Lorraine Farris, Steve Rizzo.

A young woman checks out of a clinic after her procedure. Directed by Johanna Block. Starring Odalis Rojas.

A 15 year old girl struggles through a seemingly mundane day at summer camp in the Florida Everglades. Kali Kahn directs “Fairchild,” an impressionistic character study of Joey, whose severe expressions during group activities juxtapose the carefree giggles and jokes of her campmates and counselo...

Waking in the home of a one night stand, a woman steals one thing while forgetting another. “Girlpower,” directed by Caydon LiRocchi, is a minimal, richly observed character study about a morning in the life of a young woman in L.A. Slowly we learn fragments about her life. She has an upcoming do...

A man played by writer/comedian Randall Otis whispers into a microphone the sort of soothing thoughts white people love to hear: that black people don’t hate them, and don’t consider them racist. A funny and biting expose. Produced by Studio 181. Director: John Connor Hammond. Writer/Starring: Ra...

The musician Dekunle dances through a supermarket in a suit accompanied by doo-wop backup singers with effervescent smiles, in this satirical take on the issue of food deserts. | Director: John Connor Hammond. Musician: Dekunle.

In this surreal and lighthearted mini-musical, we follow a young couple through an unusual wedding ceremony. | Director: John Connor Hammond. Cast: Dekunle, Lateefah Everett.

The country's most problematic group therapy session. | Director: John Connor Hammond. Writer: Randall Otis.

Missed your opportunity to stand up for justice? No worries! Randall Otis has got you covered with Protest Photography. | Director: John Connor Hammond. Writer and star: Randall Otis.

The trajectories of two teenage boys on opposite sides of a death in their town and the outlets they look to for emotional stability in the aftermath. | Directed by Cole Borgstadt.

A satirical look into a male filmmaker's creation, and the repercussions of his narcissistic behaviors that span across four realities. “Staff Pick,” directed by Mitch deQuilettes, is a mind-bending series of vignettes on art and life, both melodramatic and deeply self-aware. A straight man in L....

An attempted e-commerce transaction goes awry. | Director: Ryan McGlade. Cast: Edy Modica, Tynan DeLong.