A woman ascends out of a mud pit disrupting a young couple living in a country home. The young couple takes her in -- just like Pauly Shore & Sean Astin in Encino Man -- and they teach her how to be human, beginning of course with how to sharpen a pencil. At first the stranger has a rejuvenating ...

A portrait of a roommate named Kayla, a teacher who watches French movies and drinks three cups of tea at a time. Directed by Travis Wood, “Kayla in 1A” is a film about two strangers living together and establishing no connection. “We’ve lived together for six months. I don’t know anything about ...

With the ghosts of his father and brother haunting his household, Reza gets pressured into getting a tattoo, a rite of passage to the only community that allowed him to seek refuge from his home. | Directed by Yasir Masood.

Feeling ignored on an important day, a 12-year-old girl seeks attention from an unexpected source. Written and directed by Julia Kennelly, “Chandler,” is a tender yet frank coming-of-age drama about the awkwardness and swirling expectations of young girlhood. At gymnastics practice one day, Chand...

A girl dressed like a tree tries to find her way home. “Tree Girl" begins with a spot-on replica of a makeup tutorial video, complete with flashy editing and thumping background music, about how to make yourself look like a tree. Directed by and starring Marissa Goldman.

A band of ravers who reside and dance under the L.A River have their lives turned upside down when one of their own is chopped in half with a glow stick. “A Ballet,” directed by Zoe Katz, is a bonkers 5-minute no-fi extravaganza where everyone wears JNCOS (this is a sequel to Katz’ “A Very JNCOS ...

A 5 minute single take of a Beetlejuice impersonator making a VHS-taped love confession to a woman he briefly met after his show at Universal Studios. The nervous monologue is simultaneously tentative and crazed, "Beetlejuice, listen up, this is do or die. If you can't have her, you can't have an...

A strange and hostile girl is visited by universal love in its personified form. Ava Hase directs “A Person Named Universal Love,” a dark comedy that looks at a young woman’s relationship with a persistent, unconditionally loving being. Universal Love, played by Oscar Falcon, comes knocking at Av...

During lockdown, a man travels to the desert to pick up his dog from an estranged partner. The film, “Pup, directed by and co-starring Avon Haughton, was conceived and filmed during the Covid-19 quarantine and registers as a poetic response to isolation and missing affection. Written and directed...

Extremophiles are organisms that exist when nothing else can survive. In this environmental documentary about pollution, director Leah Shore presents a slide show of lethal hot spots in Brooklyn as a duo in matching grey suits strike ominous poses. Beginning with the infamous Gowanus Canal, which...

In this unsparing portrait of a contentious relationship between father and child, a young filmmaker explores family history through impromptu interviews and old photographs. A reflexive essay documentary, “Father, Can’t You See I’m Burning?”, directed by Grant Conversano, offers a penetrating st...

An ode to the unspoken romance between cats and their humans. LaTajh Weaver directs “Companion,” a black-and-white film poem putting a peculiar bond into perspective. A young man waits for someone to come home. We listen to his train of thought, watching as he tries to occupy his lonesome mundane...

A new film edited from the same footage as last years, The Men of Dodge City. Andrea Sisson + Pete Ohs, responsible for the re-edit, The Other Men of Dodge City, reshape and add some flair (see: freeze frames) + insert several full songs from No Age, achieving some intermittent pep. But the point...

After an agoraphobic scientist accidentally creates a baby-like plant creature, their connection threatens to upend his reclusive way of life. In “Sprout,” Leah Dubuc explores fear and friendship through illustrative animation. From retrieving his mail to shooing away girl scouts, the reclusive m...

Briant and Edo have kids and family now. Work, kids, life - will they survive? Director Tynan DeLong returns with this brilliantly ludicrous sequel to “Love is Stinks,” picking up twenty years after Briant and Edo began their passionate love affair. In “Family is Stinks,” we find the couple deep ...

The relationship of two young friends is put to the test as their differing views on entitlement and independence are exposed. From the comfort of their luxurious couch (which they never leave), they endlessly bicker about what it means to contribute to society, or not. The darkly comedic drama f...

A nervous magician performs one last trick. Gordy De St. Jeor directs “A Tale of an Unimpressive Magician,” a nightmarish, monochrome sequence, all in a single location where dark fate and punishment awaits. Smashed drywall litters the floor. Dust floats into the nether. An old man shivers as he ...

Debate sparks when a steadfast student challenges a guest lecturer and his presentation on metaphysics. Michael Rees directs “Middle Sized Things,” a comedic commentary on moral ambiguity and hierarchies in the higher education space. A visiting speaker, played by Al Warren, opens his lecture wit...

Rachel balances minimum wage work with her dream of running a sketch comedy group.

As an eight-year-old kid, director Travis Wood had two bikes stolen in the course of a month. In “One Peg Boss,” he narrates the tale over a charmingly simple animation, ruminating on his memories and coming to terms with the incidents. The first bike was stolen immediately after receiving as a b...

A man recounts the story of a local legend as he travels to the jungle to make peace with his life. “Del Arco Vacío,” by director Micah Van Hove, is a hybrid concoction, something like a joyous eulogy delivered via impromptu walking tour of a small town in Peru. The story of Alex Carlo Delgado is...