A distracted personal assistant frantically prepares for her boss’s birthday party. Ben Gauthier’s “Flail” hilariously dives into a young woman’s effort to complete an urgent errand as she battles a bombardment of phone calls, texts, and email notifications. Darting around L.A on a Saturday for b...

At the apex of California’s fire season, 16-year-old Mae is watched by a ghost whose gaze blurs lust and violation. Chloe Xtina directs “Ghost of You,” an elliptical slice-of-life portrait composed of a series of poetic fragments. Living in a secluded cabin in the woods with her sisters, Mae pine...

Men turn 26 and make having a sword their entire personality. Bobby McCoy directs “Swordhaver,” a comedic look at youthful detachment told through a man’s recent acquisition of a medieval blade. Played by McCoy, the man sits on the edge of a park and gazes at the Los Angeles skyline. He wears a c...

A found footage compilation of a young drifter’s Mini-DV adventures. Michael Santos’s “trash moth” offers a series of vignettes discovered from a young man’s handycam that becomes progressively darker. Felix makes friends with a group of hooligans in hopes they will give him a beer. Next, he has ...

After a decade away, a stripper returns to her conservative hometown to interrogate her past. “A Forgotten Place,” directed by Alice Leigh Barrós, is a sci-fi drama considering one’s relationship to home and the traumas that linger. Upon news of her mother’s illness, Kat returns to the rural outs...

After viewing a botched depiction of himself, a nude drawing model sprouts an ear from the back of his head. Nathan Ginter’s “The Third Ear” is an understated thriller with a surreal take on self image. Working as a janitor, a middle-aged man mops the floor of an art gallery space. At the end of ...

Over the course of a tense Halloween week, a black man navigates his fraught friendships with white people. Cory Nixon directs and stars in “Blind,” a prickly satire on the sociopolitical climate of 2020 with its newly unlocked conversations on race, white fragility, and colonizer mindset. After ...

On the evening of her birthday, a young woman hopes to unwind in solitude but is disrupted by her best friend’s good intentions. Caroline Falls writes and directs “SURPRISE!,” a dramatic comedy contending with complex friendships and projected expectations. Kayla, the birthday girl, returns home ...

Growing disconnected from the world around her, a young artist slips from reality. Ahmad Bakrin directs “moulded,” a subdued thriller with a unique consideration of dissociation as a result of modern social realities and fabricated persona. In a post-breakup reality, a young woman struggles to re...

A narcissistic woman gives an insincere apology after creating a deepfake video of her brother-in-law for her social issue documentary. Brooke Bundy and Jerzy Rose direct “Deepfake Apology Video,” a darkly comedic two-hander about the irresponsible behavior of a wannabe filmmaker. Joy sets up a b...

A shy college student turns invisible through a surreal metamorphosis and decides to follow around her crush from her philosophy class. In Natalie Horberg’s “Knowing Desmond,” animation collides with reality to form a youthful, experimental romance. In their university philosophy class, Desmond m...

An American comedy group documents their first trip to London performing what may be their last show together. “Simple Town Goes to London” is a docu-fictional look at the antics and conflicts behind-the-scenes of a Brooklyn alt comedy group across the pond. Serenaded by a baroque choir, we obser...

On their anniversary, a spontaneous sex-tape forces a 30-something couple to confront dormant issues in their relationship. Alex Bliss directs “A Real, Sexual Relationship,” a provocative exploration of the unsatisfied sex life and communication issues between Edy and Eric. After blindfolding her...

A middle-aged man wants to become a world-renowned rapper under the stage name "Wum Dum Dilly Willy X2396YY" but his girlfriend strongly disapproves. Max DeFalco directs “The Consequences of Taking Without Asking,” a close look at the outcomes of a man’s delusional dreams and impulsive choices. I...

A lonely boy starts an online relationship with a girl until one day she vanishes. Matthew Chan’s “Blue Crush Angels” tells the story of an internet romance, beginning to end, from the young man’s perspective. “xXissssaaaaccc_Xx,” or Isaac, speaks to April, his e-girlfriend, almost daily. Over vo...

A perpetually stoned pothead floats past life’s responsibilities on a cloud of smoke until accidentally smoking an ounce of K2 and descending into an existential rabbit-hole of increasing perplexity. Spencer Witmer directs “GINGER BOY and The Purpose of Life on Earth,” a rich, experimental charac...

After a ten year hiatus, two friends reunite to break a mysterious curse. Steph Twyford-Rigley’s “Teeth Tacs” is a playful lo-fi comedy that explores a female friendship stuck in a supernatural cycle. At a quaint beach-side home, Angela and Steph meet on the shore. Over their uniquely large bowls...

Captured in a single aerial shot, a young man’s proposal to his girlfriend at a McDonald's drive-thru is interrupted by an eager customer offering help with their order. Brad Roelandt directs “Joey Earns Rewards Using the McDonald's Mobile App & Megh and Clev Discuss Their Future Together,” a fil...

Two commercial actors in L.A. navigate awkward social interactions and problematic behavior. Whit Conway directs “Mo & Bert,” a buddy comedy centered around ethnographic stereotypes. Mo, a middle-eastern American, and Bert, a Latino-American, arrive at a commercial audition. There, a receptionist...