Author: Sherman Oaks Film Festival

2026 Official Selection: Feature Film – Horror

In 1981, porn filmmakers chase the slasher craze with a low-budget ripoff, as spring-breaking coeds are stalked by a killer beekeeper at a camp with a tragic past.

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Alex Montilla
• Writer(s): Alex Montilla
• Producer(s): Alex Montilla
• Key Cast: Amy Letcher, Rob Zoppo, Bud Galloway, Amber Kellehan, David Arnold Rubin, Anna Bess, Alex Montilla
• Editor(s): Alex Montilla
• Cinematographer(s): Alex Montilla
• Sound Designer(s): Ignacio Kriman
• Composer(s): Chris Ranier

Language: English

Runtime: 1h 32m

Country: United States

Synopsis: Friday the 69th, the first-ever period-piece feature shot entirely on an iPhone (probably… don’t Google it), is a microbudget slasher-comedy paying tribute to early ’80s B-movies. In 1981, adult filmmakers chase the slasher craze by making their own ripoff, only to unleash a killer beekeeper with a vendetta on a group of spring-breaking coeds. With a scene filmed at the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre house, it channels the DIY spirit of El Mariachi into a cult horror romp.

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2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Drama

A young woman battles with a toxic relationship while going through the last stages of an ectopic pregnancy. Will she break the generational trauma or continue the cycle?

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Denise Borraz Trepat
• Writer(s): Denise Borraz Trepat
• Producer(s): Denise Borraz Trepat, David Guthrie
• Key Cast: Adam Wesley, Denise Borraz Trepat
• Editor(s): David Guthrie
• Cinematographer(s): Stephen St Peter
• Production Designer(s): Savannah Sokoloski
• Sound Designer(s): Private Island Studio
• Composer(s): Anna Ortiz Wienken

Language: English

Runtime: 17m

Country: United States

Synopsis: Recovering from an ectopic pregnancy, Deianira has to face another devastating truth: her husband has been unfaithful.

As the couple attempts to reconnect over a single night, the reality between them grows heavier.

Through raw and intimate flashbacks, ENOUGH explores the emotional wreckage of betrayal, the weight of womanhood, and what it takes to break the cycle of generational pain.

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2026 Official Selection: Screenplay – Screenplay – Short Film

Ceremony date & tickets — to be announced

She doesn’t want to die alone. He doesn’t want to live without her. One of them is lying.

• Writer(s): Tiana Stuart

Language: English

Country: Not Specified

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Tracy, in her early 40s, is dying and increasingly alone, with few friends and a family that feels more like an obligation. Then she meets Corey: warm, steady, unbothered by her diagnosis. As her body fails, he moves in to care for her, and she hands over not only her trust but also her trust fund. When her prognosis shrinks from months to days, Corey’s devotion takes a dark turn: he wants to die beside her, in one final act of love.

2026 Official Selection: Series Episode – TV/Streaming/Web Series

How are you supposed to do "inner child work" when your inner child is a little shit?

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Molly Daniels
• Writer(s): Jem Splitter, Molly Daniels
• Producer(s): Rachael Morrow, Jem Splitter
• Key Cast: Tegan Higginbotham, Paige Joy Ryans, John Leary, Fiona Macleod
• Editor(s): Emily Robb
• Cinematographer(s): Samuel Galloway
• Production Designer(s): Madelin Latomanski
• Composer(s): Matthew Tankard

Language: English

Runtime: 22m

Country: Australia

Los Angeles Premiere

Synopsis: A depressed, dysfunctional physicist accidentally sent back in time tries to fix her future by mentoring her troubled 14-year-old self — a whole-ass handful with her own mischievous agenda.

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2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Drama

We Have Been Gifted.

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Landon Hogue
• Writer(s): Landon Hogue
• Producer(s): Landon Hogue, Megan Elisabeth Kelly, Ben Humphrey
• Key Cast: Landon Hogue, Megan Elisabeth Kelly

Language: English

Runtime: 14m

Country: United States

Synopsis: When a traumatic loss leaves a young couple desperate and squalid, a man becomes disillusioned over an onion he finds in the dirt. Believing it is a gift from a higher power, he falls into a psychological spiral.

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2026 Official Selection: Feature Film – Horror

An emotional and physical horror film about a man living with Muscular Dystrophy and the metaphorical journey of dealing with his negligent nursing staff.

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Zak Seidman
• Writer(s): Zak Seidman, Will Stocker
• Producer(s): Zak Seidman, Will Stocker
• Key Cast: Will Stocker, Logan Lark, Blair D’Amico, Patty Stocker
• Editor(s): Zak Seidman
• Cinematographer(s): Rob E. Bennett
• Composer(s): Joe Cipriano, Will Stocker

Language: English

Runtime: 1h 9m

Country: United States

Los Angeles Premiere

Synopsis: An emotional and physical horror film about a man living with Muscular Dystrophy and the metaphorical journey of dealing with his negligent nursing staff.

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2026 Official Selection: Screenplay – Screenplay – Short Film

Ceremony date & tickets — to be announced

• Writer(s): Lia Martin

Language: English

Country: Not Specified

When a mother investigates the death of her daughter’s classmate, she discovers who the real bully is.

2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Horror

During a breathwork session, a reluctant skeptic opens herself to “new energies” and lets in something far darker.

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Erik Westerström
• Writer(s): Theo Wanderydz
• Producer(s): Konrad Patocs
• Key Cast: Hanna Ardéhn, Madeleine Ferraud, Victor Iván, Astrid Kakuli, Einar-Hugo Strömberg, Esther Andersson, Katja Ferm
• Editor(s): Joakim Andreasson
• Cinematographer(s): Robin Trolin
• Production Designer(s): Rasmus Alexander
• Sound Designer(s): Olle Södergran
• Composer(s): Jonathan Lytz

Language: Swedish

Runtime: 13m

Country: Sweden

Los Angeles Premiere

Synopsis: During a breathwork session, a reluctant skeptic opens herself to “new energies” and lets in something far darker.

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2026 Official Selection: Screenplay – Screenplay – Feature Film

Ceremony date & tickets — to be announced

Some curses are justified.

• Writer(s): Ree Merrill

Language: English

Country: Not Specified

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Lacy has long since left Turkey Creek, Alabama, but decides to venture back for a childhood friend’s wedding. Four couples drive deep into the woods to a small group of cabins for a bit of rest and relaxation. But there is no rest for the weary, as an ancient witch, BISHOP GOOD NURSE, comes reigning terror on all. Time is running out as Lacy scrambles to figure out a way to save the few remaining friends she has left. But some curses are justified.

2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Animation

A man and a bird. Both dead inside.

Screening date & tickets — to be announced

• Director(s): Timothy David Orme
• Writer(s): Timothy David Orme
• Producer(s): Chris Carpenter
• Key Cast: Richard Farrell
• Sound Designer(s): Lanier Sammons
• Composer(s): Lanier Sammons

Language: English

Runtime: 9m

Country: United States

Los Angeles Premiere

Synopsis: On a rainy night in the heart of the city, a hooded, an unstable man engineers a dead bird with his own voice, in order to sing his own bird songs and ultimately get the perspective he needed.

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