Month: October 2026

The Person You Were Before

2026 Official Selection: Screenplay – Screenplay – Feature Film

Screenplay Awards Ceremony · Sun, Dec 6, 2026 · 2:00 PM

Fate is always on call.

Writer(s): Mark Jonathan Landau, Ali Reza Tafreshi

Country: Not Specified

October 19, 2026November 4, 2026

The Person You Were Before is a semi-autobiographical medical drama with sci-fi elements that acts partially as an exposé of the daily life of healthcare workers. The broken healthcare system molds the psyche of those who engage in it, both patient and practitioner, until the result is something unrecognizable to themselves. When confronted with an increasingly surreal atmosphere, their thirst for knowledge comes at the price of having to face their own mortality.

The Feed

2026 Official Selection: Screenplay – Screenplay – Feature Film

Screenplay Awards Ceremony · Sun, Dec 6, 2026 · 2:00 PM

When broke gig worker Emily wins a residency with tradwife influencer Rosa, she discovers that, behind the apron, her flawless hostess is a vampire seeking a willing successor.

Writer(s): Michele R. Wells

Language: English

Country: Not Specified

Drowning in debt and with a looming eviction, gig worker Emily wins a coveted residency with tradwife influencer Rosa. Rosa’s homestead is even more unbelievable than it seems online @TheWhitePicketFence, and Emily happily devotes herself to learning what makes Rosa so successful with her millions of daily viewers. But she soon learns the empire she is inheriting comes with a curse that binds its mistress to the homestead…and a thirst she cannot ignore.

Satellites

2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Arthouse/Experimental

Who controls who?

Program 16 – Powerful Spotlight · Sun, Dec 6, 2026 · 2:00 PM

Director(s): Gustavo Ramos
Producer(s): Gustavo Ramos
Key Cast: Gustavo Ramos
Editor(s): Gustavo Ramos
Cinematographer(s): Gustavo Ramos
Sound Designer(s): Gustavo Ramos
Composer(s): Gustavo Ramos

Runtime: 3m

Country: Brazil

Los Angeles Premiere

Synopsis: The reactive relations of attraction and repulsion of the object and the body are expanded when a subtle edition effect is created, in which the space itself appears to participate in the movement of not only the object, but also the connected body and its reactions. The body is confused with the object and the object is confused with the body. In this environment where all the elements come to life, who controls who?

Oddities

2026 Official Selection: Feature Film – Horror

When two self-destructive best friends have to flee town, they find shelter in a roadside antique mall, but the owner isn’t as sweet as she seems.

Program 10 – Oddities · Sat, Dec 5, 2026 · 7:20 PM

Director(s): Tyler Savage
Writer(s): Tyler Savage
Producer(s): David Broad, Noah Lang, Javier Gonzalez, Max Neace
Key Cast: Adrienne Barbeau, Xander Berkeley, Lovie Simone, Lilimar
Editor(s): Stephen Boyer
Cinematographer(s): Antonio Cisneros
Production Designer(s): Amber Unkle
Sound Designer(s): Nick Bohun
Composer(s): Cody Carpenter

Language: English

Runtime: 1h 31m

Country: United States

Los Angeles Premiere

Synopsis: When two self-destructive best friends accidentally kill their drug dealer, they have to flee town. Stopping at a roadside antique shop, they quickly discover that the older woman running the place isn’t as sweet as she seems. It’s out of the frying pan and into the fire as they fight for survival while the criminals they were running away from descend on the property…

Click here to watch the trailer →

13 Seconds

2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Documentary

A visual and sound collage of 9/11 from the voices of the people who were at Ground Zero that day.

Program 12 – Pivotal Spotlight · Sat, Dec 5, 2026 · 8:00 PM

Director(s): Matthew Ferraro
Writer(s): Matthew Ferraro
Producer(s): John Osborne, Ramy Katrib
Editor(s): Nicole Bell
Cinematographer(s): Animator – Nicole Bell
Sound Designer(s): Mark Curry, Matthew Ferraro, Stefan Henrix, Michael Engesser
Composer(s): Matthew Ferraro

Language: English

Runtime: 14m

Country: United States

Synopsis: 13 Seconds is a short documentary film that uses animation, live action, and a vocal mosaic of literally hundreds of recorded testimonials never heard before from people who were in and around Ground Zero that fateful day of 9/11. A brilliant piece of orchestral journalism, it is the collective voice of hundreds of New Yorkers, and follows their harrowing experiences and shows how they survived the trauma of such a tragic event. A visual collage of sound and music.

October 17, 2026November 3, 2026

TV Dad

2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Horror

A surreal horror story about a lonely latchkey kid who becomes fixated on a sitcom character as a surrogate father figure.

Program 14 – Haunted Spotlight · Sat, Dec 5, 2026 · 9:45 PM

Director(s): Sam Ripley
Writer(s): Sam Ripley
Producer(s): Borna Jamshidi, Dhruvraj Singh Bhati, Associate Producer: Jonathan Taub
Key Cast: Ron Livingston, Logan Kaufman, Keenan Moran
Editor(s): Kyle Moore
Cinematographer(s): Ian Herz
Production Designer(s): Bianca Natalia
Sound Designer(s): Thomas Neugebauer

Language: English

Runtime: 11m

Country: United States

Synopsis: Alienated from his father, lonely twelve-year-old Kyle finds comfort in the warm, familiar world of an old family sitcom. When the show’s kindly patriarch begins speaking directly to him through the television, Kyle believes he’s finally found the father he always wanted. But as his fixation deepens, TV Dad’s comforting guidance takes a sinister turn, offering Kyle a path to a perfect new home… if he’s willing to leave his real one behind.

October 17, 2026November 3, 2026

The Part

2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Drama

When two co-stars unexpectedly meet before an audition for the same role, Eleanor an insecure yet talented performer, must learn to embrace her individuality to secure the part.

Program 13 – Compelling Spotlight · Sat, Dec 5, 2026 · 9:25 PM

Director(s): Wednesday Peck
Writer(s): Wednesday Peck
Producer(s): Marillia Yunis
Key Cast: Annie Jean Buckley, Kaya Hohensee, Ariana Guliak
Editor(s): Jonathan Lau
Cinematographer(s): Benjamin Tinsley
Sound Designer(s): Benjamin Tinsley
Composer(s): Thomas Yamada

Language: English

Runtime: 12m

Country: United States

Synopsis: Eleanor, an insecure yet accomplished performer, attends a stage play audition and encounters a former co-star auditioning for the same role. As they wait for their turn to perform, ego and self-doubt take over, causing the girls to question one another and themselves. After a moment of weakness, Eleanor must perform and embrace who she truly is.

Click here to watch the trailer →

October 17, 2026

The Ottoman

2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Animation

Winning takes everything you’ve got

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

Director(s): Mike Stamm
Writer(s): Mike Stamm
Producer(s): Mike Stamm, Dimos Vrysellas
Key Cast: Bob Carter, Cadence Winter, Jack Carter, Ray Scarborough
Editor(s): Mike Stamm
Cinematographer(s): Mike Stamm
Production Designer(s): Matt Evans
Sound Designer(s): Sweet Justice Sound
Composer(s): Abraham Darwich, Zach Heyde

Runtime: 12m

Country: United States

Synopsis: The Ottoman, a hotshot mechanic and amateur robot gladiator, is looking forward to proving himself in the arena against the reigning Tournament champion and his massive mechanical Scorpion. But when his obsession with winning endangers the lives of his wife and son, the Ottoman must face some harsh lessons about what victory truly requires.

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