Nandan Rao's second film begins with a 3 minute phone call over a black screen. We gradually hear something about church and then we cut to a quote from an Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: "brethren, encourage our young men to marry." Off the quote, we're at a peaceful ...

Two men in bloody shirts watch a French film and chat about Cheese-Wiz as a shell-shocked woman tries to make sense of it all. “Be Leaving,” directed by Brandon Wilson, is a surreal avant-garde film oozing with uncertainty as it reveals surprising doses of humor. Via deadpan banter, the two men d...

Living in a car with his fugitive mom, a young boy yearns for a normal family life. “Beneath the Grass,” directed by Sam Friedman and William Bermudez, is an artful drama carried by a terrifically natural lead performance from Joshua Garcia. With his frantic mother clawing to keep it together, Le...

Through an autobiographical video essay, a dance artist muses on her transition from restaurant work to full-time teaching. Miriam Gabriel’s “Verbal Diarrhea” is a self-reflective journal entry about career shifts during a particularly manic period of the pandemic. We first find Miriam in the out...

The first river returns to Earth on a holographic tour. Robert Sommerlad directs “River One,” the story of a post-natural future told through 2D animation and an ambient being’s narration. Announcing the grand return of a river, exhibited for the first time to a young generation, the film weaves ...

Two sisters fight to save their digital utopia from demise. “Welcome to the Enclave,” directed by Sarah Lasley, is an inventive experimental animation framed as an absurdist crowdfunding video. The Enclave is a virtual street created by a woman named Moni, but at the moment she’s under attack fro...

Vincent, a neurotic millennial with a middling credit score, needs work bad. A life of crime could certainly pay if he ever gets a chance, and one night he does. “Auxiliary Man,” directed by and starring Max Roux, infuses its 90’s style crime tale with bumbling humor and energetic soul tunes. The...

In a rapidly gentrifying dive bar, two men pick a fight. “Last Nite at Sam’s,” directed by Devon Manney, is an intense animated film that depicts a violent night spiraling out of control with vivid soundscapes and compositions. What starts as an ordinary evening — one patron picks a song from the...

An aspiring teenage comedian joins a community theater and is cast to play a school shooter. “Itchy Fingers,” directed by Anna Nilles and Marco Jake, is a transfixing exploration of identity that encircles themes of gun violence, mental health, storytelling, creative process, and others. It’s a p...

An instructional etiquette series. Episode 3: "Getting Mad"

Creators: Ember Knight, Bobby McCoy, Mikey Santos. Cast: Ember Knight, Eamon Shea, Haley Dahl, Magi Calcagne, Vera Drew, Dino Stamatopoulos. Animation: Clara Murray.

A walk through a 16-yr-old’s uncomfortable shoes: gym class, an awkward encounter with a crush, and a meeting with her mom’s new boyfriend. Vanessa Meyer directs “Foot Trouble,” a coming-of-age set in 1999 that captures some darkly funny corners of a teenage girl’s day-to-day life. Sitting in her...

An eco-warrior gets out of jail and an old friend tries to pull him back into the fray. A mystifying film, a cheap production & awkward, unnatural interactions make it seem like maybe it's a ruse. Either way, it's intriguing & I recommend you watch at least twice. The film is basically one conver...

After a young woman seriously injures a child, she fixates on getting pregnant with her friends’ unwitting boyfriends. Gabriel Rodriguez-Fuller directs “The Gene Pool,” a peculiar micro-budget feature film starring Veronika Slowikowska and featuring an ensemble of familiar faces like Caroline Yos...

A night-in-the-life of a Mick Jagger impersonator while a former lover narrates the story of a lost romance between the two. Black and white collage over sentimental lost love voice over. Directed by Bradley Bischoff.

In her bombastic daydreams, Mel Vitale plays “the hardest-working cunt in show-business,” a scrappy broad stacked with brass balls and blue jokes. Back on our planet, Mel resembles less Joan Rivers and more the demon child of Wednesday Adams and Al Pacino. And her act, which often unravels into t...

Awakening in a field far from home, two sisters embark on a magical and bizarre adventure through the pastoral Midwest. “Prairie Girls,” directed by Benett Holgerson, is a lighthearted romp through past and present detailed with antiquated costumes and props, and colorful animation sequences. Aft...