A lonely weed dealer spirals when she tries to make conversation with an uninterested client. “Sativa,” directed by Kelly Cooper and Johnny Frohman, is an absurd sketch film built around a loopy performance from Cooper and a pointless query. Tynan DeLong plays a musician working on a dog food com...
A young couple surveys the state of their relationship, calling into question everything they once knew about each other. “Breaking Up,” directed by Claudia Nankervis and Jessica Sofarnos, is a heated drama about partnership and communication, and the punctures that threaten to dissolve such. Ste...
Two aspiring writers in L.A. are secretly writing novels about each other as they spend their first evening together. Jens Josephs directs “Based on a True Story,” a sharp comedy exploring the personalities and inner monologues of a couple of egotistical dreamers, mutually repulsed by each other ...
A house full of men with nothing to talk about. To boot, no one knows each other, or whose house they're in, or whether the football game they’re watching is being broadcast via Cable or Dish. An unbelievably funny exposé on men's small talk, which takes every moment of social awkwardness & magni...
After an angry fight with his boyfriend, Thomas walks across Manhattan to cool off. Juan Pablo Rivera Garza & Charlie Sosnick direct “The Length of Your Rage,” a charmingly ragged comedy oozing with strange encounters between NYC oddballs. So says an Inuit tradition about anger, the length of one...
When Sherri gets arrested for shoplifting from work, she needs to find money for legal fees. Amandine Thomas writes, directs and stars in “Cherry Cola,” a dramatic portrait delivered with sharp-edged dialogue and vivid characterizations about a young woman on the verge of a breakdown. Living with...
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...
Across a freezing night, confused dropout Cooper Townsend tries to make it home. “Townsend’s Last Night,” directed by Rhys Scarabosio, is a chaotic, lo-fi fever dream about a young man who has lost his way. Left desperately clinging to his only refuge — scribbling lyrics in an old notebook — the ...
Afflicted by a mysterious case of hyper-empathy, a young woman stumbles across a group that claims to treat the disorder. “Empath,” directed by Alec Moeller, is an engrossing character study lifted by a powerhouse performance by Betsey Brown. Moving through everyday life is a minefield of emotion...
A fashion-forward model questions his self-image when he crosses paths with the "cooler" version of himself on a photoshoot. “Coolguy,” directed by Nicky & Z, is a pop comedy sketch about overthinking one’s appearance. A man struts onto set exuding confidence and swagger, owing to his carefully c...
When Cass’s expectations about her first time aren’t met, she confronts the boy who took her virginity. Connie O’Connor directs “In Your Sheets,” a coming-of-age snapshot that captures a complex set of feelings pre and post first-time sex. Early in the evening, Cass is filled with jitters and exc...
Etta returns home from Vegas with a pile of cash and needs to explain to her boyfriend how she got it. Jessica Garrison writes and directs “DIME,” a provocative chamber drama circling a host of relationship hot buttons - trust, jealousy, sex, power. The situation escalates bit by bit - Etta arriv...
Commissioned to make a short profile of an emerging pop star, a 3-person American film crew spends six days in Asia searching for their subject. Brook Linder directs “Time Code,” a hyperkinetic meta narrative that coheres improbably around the creation of a piece of glossy online content in 2016....
A casual weekend hangout is thrown off course with the arrival of an unexpected guest. “Jellyfish,” directed by Gabe Ross, is an absurd comedy of quick-witted lunacy and sudden behavior shifts. Gabe and Will are relaxing on a beach-front porch when their friend, Eli, shows up to join the party. B...
When two friends accept an invitation to see the new couch of an up-and-coming comedian/actor, it turns into an evening of heavy drinking and idiosyncratic self-expression. Kailee McGee directs “The Idea of a You,” a self-referential portrait of the lives and romantic inclinations of three L.A. a...
Two undergraduates discuss the status of their relationship and their sexual experiences. Jinho Myung directs “The Pressure of Sweetness,” a spontaneous conversation that accurately reflects the nascent modes of expression between two young adults evaluating a fling. While hanging out one day, th...
On a weekend getaway to a family home, two old friends bicker, gossip, and search for trouble in town. Katie Colosimo directs “Something You’ve Never Told Me,” a sharp-tongued comedy about complicated relationships, underlying tensions, and “selfish energy.” At her aunt’s vacation house, Eliza in...
A man returns a letter meant for his neighbor but it’s not what it seems. In this satire by Johnny Frohman and Jeremy Levick, the topics of pandemic masking and modes of shaming are explored in prickly fashion. Wearing a bright yellow vest and double-masked, a man turns up at a woman’s door and s...
Adam Bernet's last wish was for his funeral guests to watch a special video he made, reenacting his final, gruesome, moments on Earth. “My Great Funeral Movie” is a morbid comedy that cycles through several scenarios of possible death. From a small TV wheeled out in front of a congregation, a tap...
A western novelist makes a noise complaint to his neighbors before getting sucked into their strange orbit. “A Man’s World,” directed by Jens Joseph, is a loopy, rapid-fire comedy wherein a man enters a rabbit hole and struggles to find his way out. After the cowboy-hat-wearing writer slides a no...
A teenager confronts her best friend who has a closer relationship to her mom than her, threatening the ties that hold them all together. Chaconne Martin-Berkowicz directs “In Sync,” a coming-of-age drama built with specificity and detail that explores the simmering tensions embedded in an unusua...
A woman returns home to a constantly shifting domestic and mental landscape in this retelling of “Meshes of the Afternoon,” Maya Deren’s landmark avant-garde film. Meg Case and Brad Porter direct “Meshes of the After,” swapping 1940’s Hollywood for Brooklyn current day, and grainy black and white...
Spending his days in a café in Paris watching people, Antoine falls for a woman he sees walking to the cinema. Paul Rigoux directs “Thus Began Antoine's Down-Going,” a poetic contemplation of love, art, and self; both an iconic depiction of a youthful French romance and a meta dissection of one. ...
In a moment of tense negotiation, Joyce and Mims haggle over a vintage Hank Aaron baseball card inside a sweltering pizzeria. “Card Shark,” directed by Alex Fabry, is an oddball comedy vignette about a should-be simple exchange turning into a strange encounter. Mims arranges a meet-up at his usua...
