A male stripper has an unusual experience on the job in Mary Dauterman’s “Unfinished Business.” From a script co-written by Jenny Donheiser, the film is an awkward comedy that uses 1980’s costuming and choreography to highlight its dingy tableaus and expressionless ladies. When he arrives to a mo...

In a world where words are indecipherable and conversations don’t make sense, Sydney works at a fast food restaurant called Awesome Burger. Made as a thesis project at VCUarts, “Awesome Burger,” directed by Will Barker, is a playfully lo-fi comedy about the baffling experience known as life. Afte...

Chris invites an online date to his Brooklyn apartment where it gets off to a rocky start and ends suddenly (kind of). “Lucy in the Morning,” directed by Isaac Cole, is both an admission of the awkwardness and unromantic standards of modern “dating,” and an increasingly tender portrait of two str...

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.

Roaming through rural France on their tandem bike, young post-punk musicians look for an audience and a name for their band. “Gwendoline,” directed by Joaquim Bayle, is a beautifully shot musical odyssey in 16mm black-and-white film that’s both bleak and lighthearted. On the road desperately seek...

A dispirited young musician living out of her car comes to a crossroads when she reconnects with an ex-girlfriend for one night. Chloe Jury-Fogel directs “Five Song Tour,” a portrait of solitude and longing set around Christmas that highlights the flip side of holiday frivolity. Making her way t...

After receiving a text, Josh crafts a response. “wyd?" is a low-key exposé on selfie photoshopping, detailing the process of one man going to great lengths to alter his appearance just to respond to a text message from a friend. Writer, director, actor: Josh Granovsky,

In a seaside town in Maine, a group of young skateboarders go about their normal lives—skating, smoking weed, and shooting the shit. A slice-of-life snapshot directed by Gideon Baeza, “Hope is Hip” tracks the lifestyle and personalities of an outsider subculture just beyond a quaint tourist distr...

On her 80th birthday, a woman moves through time to meet younger versions of herself. “The Oak Tree,” directed by Yuliya Antonova, is a deep rumination on big, unanswerable questions that transports with dreamy visuals and an ethereal soundscape. A family gathers around a birthday cake to sing th...

Two mysterious drifters wander through the desert on a journey of self-discovery. The third film in the “Reveries” trilogy written and performed by Matt Barats and Anthony Oberbeck, “Reveries: The Mind Prison” is a psychedelic comedy full of absurd musings and visual abstractions. Graham Mason di...

In need of a place to stay, a young man poses as the son of a woman with Alzheimer’s. Sam Severin directs “Niko & Eleanor,” an understated drama about an unlikely relationship that fleetingly forms between two people with different struggles. Niko enters the home of Eleanor wearing a safety vest ...

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. ...

A troubled teen has one last night out with friends before her life is changed forever. Maddy Rose Figueredo’s “Swan Song” follows college student Aubrey as she navigates the social gymnastics and vices of a hard-partying friend group. Feeling sick after drinking too much, Aubrey goes to the bath...

After witnessing a violent beating on the boardwalk, a 12-year-old boy starts to feel his sleepy coastal town closing in around him. “Sparrow,” directed by Boris Krichevsky and Nikita Zarkh, is a quietly arresting character study rendered with striking images of desolate seaside locales. The boy,...

Gus Reed is a filmmaker ​from Cape Cod. He graduated summa cum laude from Columbia University. After nearly ten years in NYC, he relocated to LA and began a two-year fellowship in directing at the ​American Film Institute
​Conservatory in Fall 2020.

A couple rebrands their struggling haunted house business amid the pandemic. “Spooky Town,” directed by and starring Omar Shaukat and Anna Suzuki, is a sign-of-the-times mockumentary that follows a hapless duo through badly executed attempts to frighten their customers. While they wait for their ...

On Valentine's Day in Toronto, a young couple's relationship is fragmented by performance. “V-DAY,” directed by Zachary Lacosse, is a slow-burn drama that’s highly observant of a long-distance couple and their awaited encounter to see each other on the February holiday. We meet a young man, in hi...