The Waiting Room
Experimental
•
Short Films, 09-Feb-2026
Two women meet in a strange room that defies space and time. Jonas Bishop Hayes directs “The Waiting Room,” a surreal melodrama that’s shrouded in mystery and crafted with unsettling dream logic. Emma sits straight in a plaid, yellow blazer. She’s been waiting for a while, but then there’s a sudden disruption—she finds herself accompanied by a new visitor. With mascara stained eyes, Sophia tries to make sense of this place. Emma observes the newcomer unfazed but slowly must recall her trauma. Hayes focuses on feeling through expressionistic imagery as the women’s recollected memories flash in the form of self-reflections. -JM. Director: Jonas Bishop Hayes. Writers/Cast: Imogen Whist, Olivia De Salvo. Producer: Zoe Garrick. DP: Katie Mlinek. Editor: Mack Wolf. Production Designer: Nifemi Ogunro.
Up Next in Experimental
-
kid with a pearl earring
A filmmaker builds a self-portrait of her two relationships with men and the objects they left behind. Abigail Holland’s “kid with a pearl earring” offers a snapshot of young love and grief told through forthright narration over vivid images of New York City. She retraces the arc of a relationshi...
-
Toilet Movie
A series of intimate moments between two roommates in their shared bathroom. “Toilet Movie,” directed by Jillian Moray, speeds through a sequence of kinetic scenes between two charismatic young women. We never get their names, but we do know their bathroom serves as a sacred space. We witness eve...
-
We Took a Train
A travel vlogger persuades his "friend" to embark on a 36-hour journey aboard the Amtrak Coast Starlight with the hope it will finally bring them closer. “We Took a Train,” directed by Austin Zollars, is a docu-fictional piece that reveals an increasingly tumultuous dynamic in a male friendship. ...
