In Corona, Queens, two Ecuadorian siblings are placed at odds when one reveals an urge to leave their home. Emilio Subia’s “Naños” drops us into the bumbling lives of two brothers and the high-stakes drama that allures them. Fleeing a petty heist, Diego sprints through the subway alongside his pa...

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....

On an afternoon at a skatepark, a 17-year-old girl makes an effort to fit in with her edgier friends while also tending to her shaky relationship with her younger sister. Emma Hall-Martin directs “Daughter of Wands,” a coming-of-age story set in the suburbs about teen pressures and the complexiti...

A suicidal woman’s life changes when she encounters a man-sized Furby. Nicole Daddona and Adam Wilder direct the absurd comedy, “Sexy Furby,” a bonkers tale of love and death. After being orphaned by the passing of her mother and the more recent death of her father, a woman prepares to call it qu...

During a routine smog check, an eastern European mechanic discusses racism in a very uncomfortable way with a black man. A dry comedy set in L.A., “Smog,” directed by Derek Milton, tackles an awkward exchange about skin color and the term African American in wry, understated fashion. The chatty m...

An elf and a deadbeat try to raise ten million dollars to pay their rent. Hamilton O’Toole directs “Lucky and Charlie in the Hole With Lots of Money,” a bizarre animated film rendered in the style of early Y2K console graphics that follows a roommate duo in an attempt to confront their landlord. ...

A not-quite-pornographic vignette from 1991. A hunky handyman comes to the rescue of a housewife with a rat infestation. Directed by Laura Moss. Written by Brendan J. O’Brien and Laura Moss.

A brother and sister in the San Fernando Valley reunite after the sister is forced from her home and daughter. “Purity,” by director Max Roux, is an emotionally raw drama about a broken family trying to keep it together in an ugly world. Riley shows up at the apartment of her brother, Karl, with ...

First of all, it’s not a typo. That's the actual name of the movie. Got it? Okay, so the movie is about a group of friends trying to remake "The Matrix" in a Brooklyn apartment. They take the harebrained scheme very seriously though every element of the production is utterly unconvincing, from th...

A not-quite-pornographic vignette from 1991. Sexy attorneys come together to discuss a horrific bus accident. Directed by Laura Moss. Written by Brendan J. O’Brien and Laura Moss.

Two chefs drive through the desert discussing invasive thoughts. “Fake Jazz,” directed by Kevin Luna, is a darkly funny conversation about uncomfortable (even gruesome) patterns of the mind. Wearing tall chefs’ hats (Luna wanted the hats to be taller even, but they couldn’t fit in the car), two c...

In this surreal odyssey, a young boy walks through a series of doors opening up visions of the past and future. “Mi,” made by Masayoshi Nakamura and Zak Engel, is beautifully animated, vibrating with color, shape and possibility. Emerging from abstract geometric landscapes, we lock in on a boy wi...

A young woman tries to embrace her sexuality while beginning to question the intimacy with her best friend. Lucy Blumenfield & Arielle Friedman direct “Countdown,” a tender snapshot that finds two friends at different stages of sexual expression. A bedroom conversation establishes Julia as the fr...

Jonas turns to his sister, Jules, for advice on how to fire someone. Mike Lars White directs “How to Fire Someone (with Jules and Jonas)," an improvised, one-take comedy that role-plays a series of scenarios. The goal for Jonas is to come up with a respectful way of letting an employee go, but Ju...

A married couple battles an age-curse that begins the night of their wedding. Alex Kavutskiy and Jerzy Rose direct “A Bride’s Curse,” a darkly comedic folk tale about lying and marriage. After consummating on their wedding night, the curse is revealed. If the husband lies to his wife three times,...

A teenage actress begins to reconsider her endeavors. Lola Selby directs “She’s Got Substance,” a look at a comically dysfunctional family and a fifteen-year-old’s flailing pursuit of a career in performance. Ella Blue banters and bickers with her parents at the dinner table ahead of her audition...

A young woman becomes flustered when her boyfriend refuses to help prepare for an upcoming trip. Surreal moments begin to add up — Alex’s tooth falls out, an entire body of water lies just outside her window. Dauterman nails the feeling of a nightmare, say when your partner becomes inexplicably u...

Over the course of several months, a Colombian immigrant working as a cleaner in New York converses with her grandmother in a series of phone calls and voice messages. Natalia Luque directs the tender portrait, “The Virgin, The Old Lady, The Journey,” a richly drawn study on familial bonds and lo...