Two AI assistants conspire to get their human counterparts to meet. In “Sophie & Stephen,” directed by Rob Perri, a love story between two people who have yet to meet, there are plenty of questions beyond the central connection: is this where we’re headed as a society? Is that a good thing? In a ...

Instructional videos on how to survive an active shooter attack send a paranoid man into a self-fulfilling spiral. Dylan Redford directs “Emergency Action Plan,” a layered satire and personal essay film which explores emergency readiness drills ranging from Redford’s childhood to the present day....

Sarah gave Ezra a soul crystal, and that may have been a mistake. “I Love to Wait,” directed by Harrison Atkins, is an imaginative, free-roaming vision of an on-and-off relationship in Los Angeles, a rare melding of the mundane and the mystical. In a world where couples communicate via crystals (...

Several hours of unanswered texts and phone calls have everyone at a Christmas party wondering: where is Kim Bush? Filmed in Gulfport, Mississippi, and starring real-life sisters Courtney and Gabe Bush (playing themselves), “Kim Bush’s Abduction,” is a rolling mix of mystery and comedy, brimming ...

During the 2020 BLM protests, a white protester loses his head trying to corral a group of fellow demonstrators. Alex Bliss directs “Close the Gap,” a satirical character study that boldly examines the loose ends of a young man’s mind amidst a high-tense moment. As he marches, he broadcasts live ...

Wandering the dappled grounds of an old farmhouse, Henry plays schoolmaster at an open-air painting retreat, where his instructional duties seem to involve holding forth at candlelit dinners in the garden and sucking down endless cans of Budweiser on the lawn while the work of painting and posing...

The dad and step-dad of Branson, a 13 year old boy who loves Skippy peanut butter, try their best to connect during a visitation exchange. Directed by Tynan DeLong (our unofficial ‘18 resident filmmaker, prolific output here), “Dad & Step-Dad,” merges the mundane and absurd, call it cinéma vérité...

Two best friends retrace their steps in hopes of locating a missing item after a seemingly average night. “Journal,” directed by Alex Bliss, takes what should be a mundane scenario and pumps it full of anxiety and paranoia. The friends spend the night getting high and watching TV. The next day, o...

Jim Cochran hates his job, he wishes he could just shoot clay pigeons all day.

Directed by James P. Gannon.

In three New York City vignettes, a handful of characters engage (both actively and passively) with the soundtracks of their current lives. Ray Smiling directs “Play This at My Funeral,” a film that revolves around music and corresponding moments of humor or enthusiasm. A Times Square Spiderman f...

Brie adapts a new practice, a lifestyle of loneliness to achieve her highest self. Written and directed by Ester Song Kim, “The Practice of Loneliness,” is a stylish anti-rom-com about seeking happiness in solitude. Shot on nostalgia-soaked 8mm film, and featuring actors dubbed into French (thoug...

An entrepreneur pivots with the market. “Trash Scab,” directed by Philip Steiger, is a scarily plausible, bitingly funny vision of a dystopian nightmare. The circumstances have been exaggerated from our current reality but not by much: a pandemic rages on, a citywide curfew in place, police have ...

A flustered man with persistent foot pain wants to cancel an upcoming appointment with his longtime podiatrist because he's not seeing the progress he had hoped for. Director: Alex Fabry. Cast: Anthony Duva, Liz Mitts, Regina Melady, Omkar Shinde, Alex Fabry.

The story of a fool in a smart city– a glimpse into our glorious future where no scrap of data goes un-personalized. | Directed by Danny Garfield.

An artist is interviewed about her photos in this delightfully dry comedy starring Ana Fabrega and Ike Ufomadu. Directed by Graham Mason, “The Photos of Ana” is a subtle jab at the often cliche-ridden manner in which the artist speaks about their work. Ana’s photographs are perfectly suited for u...

A Chinese manicurist in Miami attempts to describe feelings she doesn't have the words for. “Agua Viva,” written, directed and animated by Alexa Lim Haas, is a gorgeous, melancholic portrait of a stranger in a strange land. As she quietly goes about her day giving manicures and pedicures in a Flo...

At the end of a great date, Jack and Rachel bond over a shared interest in deconstructing traditional relationship structures. Bianca Poletti directs “Radical Honesty,” a sharply written and performed snapshot of would-be liberation and the fine lines surrounding it. The two free-thinking young p...

Three devoted Cornholio enthusiasts struggle to make ends meet in New York. Presented as a direct cinema black and white documentary by the Maysles' Brothers, “Cornholios” (actually directed by Jess Lane), is an inspired low-art gag about being obsessed with a character from “Beavis and Butthead”...

A dinner party with friends turns into a two-way battle of ego and one-upmanship. Directed by Andrew DeYoung. Starring John Early and Kate Berlant.

An embittered man-child rails against women for being so mean. Written by and starring John Reynolds, “Women Are Mean” follows Greg around Brooklyn on a rainy day as he rants about his issues with the opposite sex. The recipient of many of his complaints is his own wife, Bethany, whom he resents ...

Two roommates struggle to decide which Black Lives Matter sign they should purchase to show their support for the BLM movement. Chester Vincent Toye directs “I’m SO Sorry,” which satirically tackles prevalent forms of white guilt and virtue signaling. Caught up in a moment of racial reckoning, a ...

A mail-order bride on the way to meet her new husband searches for a restroom in Chinatown, where an unassuming young man outside of a sandwich shop offers his nearby apartment. “Persimmon Night,” directed by Scarlett Li, highlights a brief encounter between two strangers that opens up a window i...

A young woman copes with heartbreak, blackheads, and bad therapy. Emily Ann Hoffman directs “Blackheads,” a study on relationships and gender roles, melding stop motion and 2D animation with a nuanced sense of realism. Sofia has just broken up with her boyfriend and she’s struggling with anxiety ...

A goofy buddy comedy with a language of its own, uniquely disarming and oddly hilarious. As an expression of their friendship, two young roommates — Ronnie and Darnell — meet in their living room one night a week to give each other a hug. So explains Darnell via his “little radio show” recorded i...