2026 Scheduled Events
September 30th - October 4th
Garibaldina Society
4533 N Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90065
An Evening With the Filmmakers
Join us for an intimate conversation and reception with the filmmakers behind this year's official selections. Light refreshments will be served, with an open Q&A to follow.
Garibaldina Society
4533 N Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90065
Networking with Kenneth Castillo
How to build genuine relationships in Hollywood. The do’s and dont’s of networking.
Refreshments sponsored by Godmother Salt
Soar
A baby bird learns how to fly. World Premiere
How Not to Die on an Alien Planet
Stranded on a distant world, a small, worn-out robot named Helen wanders through strange, beautiful landscapes, guided only by a song and the quiet weight of an unfinished mission.
Where Do Birds Die?
A girl encounters a common bird that awakens a strange obsession within her, distorting her reality until she becomes a horrifying creature.
I Never Thought of Phoenixes
An experimental film response to, and reflection on, the fires that happened in Los Angeles and Hong Kong in 2025, alluding to the mythology of both Western and Chinese birds.
Amarelo Banana
After another night of insomnia, a man comes across a strange community living in his building and discovers the elaborate illusion they have created.
People Live Here
Montrealers enjoy parks, balconies, cafés, and biking, but a truck full of orange cones arrives, disrupting neighborhoods and reshaping the city.
Sensual
Softly, slugs trace their way across wet lips. Snakes glide gently through fingers, while a bear embraces a woman's body — an intimate exploration of physical closeness.
Prison and Time
Filmmaker Evan Bode animates excerpts of an essay by writer & activist Marvin Wade, who speaks personally about his 25 years of incarceration.
These Shirts are Not Mine
An experimental short comprised of photographs taken on 35mm of different clothes collected over the years from other people.
and I see
The world, unfixed. When mortality shakes me, the search for joy means making the familiar new.
MODERNS - Romance
A music video for the band MODERNS, a song titled 'Romance.'
You Do Not Exist
In the stillness of his yard, Booker watches the sky fill and empty with passing planes.
The Phalanx
Filmed on the former site of Ceresco, a 19th-century agrarian commune in Ripon, Wisconsin, this lyrical, experimental film revisits utopian aspirations of a community.
CAN I PUT YOU ON HOLD?
A man struggles with the crushing bureaucracy of immigration as he waits on hold with his immigration lawyer.
Prison and Time
Filmmaker Evan Bode animates excerpts of an essay by writer & activist Marvin Wade, who speaks personally about his 25 years of incarceration.
This Land Carries Us
A short experimental doc that centers Tewa stories and memory across Tewa homelands in northern New Mexico.
Please Hold
It's a bright, peaceful morning in the home of Mr. Schultz. A new toaster leads to a chain of chaos as he waits on a customer service hotline.
blitz
A short film screening as part of Reel Laughs. World Premiere
Taming, or Life in a Not-So-Modern Age
In a world of dating apps and swipe culture, this reimagines The Taming of the Shrew through the lens of a sharp, modern mockumentary.
Juan and Ito go Viral
Two latino vending hustlers seek acceptance into America, while filming a live stream.
The Deserts Miss the Rain
After 941 days stranded in a blistering desert, a long-haired outlaw and her aging white dog survive on instinct and hallucinations.
The Jazz Band
A comedy mockumentary following an eccentric jazz band manager working hard to get his band a gig.
Bush
Darcy desperately tries to remove her bush before she has sex with her boyfriend.
The Offbeat Bar
6316 York Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90042
Join us for drinks and conversation to close out the day.
Garibaldina Society
4533 N Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90065
brain_rot_vol1.mp4
In frantic bursts of digitally-degraded symbols and distorted sounds, this short film explores the absurdity of our attention span.
What it Feels Like
Invoking generations of embodied experiences, this dance short gives texture to the trappings of female gender.
My Body Is a Lens I Can Look Through With My Mind
A diaristic film that begins at the solar eclipse, using planetary movements and geological records to explore meaning-making, subjectivity, and memory.
close friends
Lauren had a transformative year. Her friends on the internet and The Great Plains helped her through it.
Sensual
Softly, slugs trace their way across wet lips. Snakes glide gently through fingers, while a bear embraces a woman's body — an intimate exploration of physical closeness.
hiatus B
Regarding passage to the light house (B-theory of time), the great ecstasy of nothing-much.
People Live Here
Montrealers enjoy parks, balconies, cafés, and biking, but a truck full of orange cones arrives, disrupting neighborhoods and reshaping the city.
Merrimundi
A twisted utopia unfolds as singing cherubs melt to the sound of decay, crafted by a sentient machine from the future.
Astronauta
Adrift in space with his plush companion, Davi must journey home to his planet. World Premiere
Where Do Birds Die?
A girl encounters a common bird that awakens a strange obsession within her, distorting her reality until she becomes a horrifying creature.
Todo el Vino
A couple confronts their changing perspectives of life over dinner.
For Us
For Us follows a father and son living in an isolated environment; to survive, the father relies on something produced by his son. World Premiere
When the Tiger Roars
A tiger's escape shatters the long silence between a father and his son, with suppressed love shining through the crack.
THE BIRDS RECALL
Nina runs into Bruno, a guy who just tried to shoplift from the store where she works. She pulls him into a heist.
LOLOBATMAN
A Filipino-American comedy writer sets out to find her late grandfather's lost Batman film, uncovering a strange cinematic legacy and her own sense of belonging.
Rocketship
Two neglected sisters set out to retrieve their mentally ill mother from a playground, discovering grit, tenderness, and childhood resilience along the way.
Take Me Home
The estranged relationship between an always-too-busy daughter and her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer's, comes to a head when the mother escapes her care facility.
The Sharp Point of Time
An immigrant Filipina who had dreams of being a filmmaker just wants her America-born son to not smoke weed, wash the dishes right and be more like his brother.
The Trials of Ken'ichi
While fighting to resurrect his once promising career, an aging actor has a surreal confrontation with his past.
Her Last Day in the US
When Leonor, a 70-year-old undocumented single mother, decides to return to Mexico after nearly 40 years in the U.S., her children must face that this could be their last goodbye.
Confessions to the Moon
A haunting and intimate journey through the blurred edges of memory and reality, as Ana, a weary single mother, begins to unravel as echoes of her childhood resurface.
Last Call
A shady Hollywood producer pops into a dive bar for a casual night on the town, but his quest for a cold beer slowly turns into a nightmare.
All You Need
A desperate, isolated woman must battle an internet demon disguised as a wellness influencer before she eats her soul.
Follow Me Home
A man drives to his wife's hometown to make things right after a devastating argument, only to realize something is deeply wrong with the town and the people in it. World Premiere
80% of Home Invasions Happen During the Day
After drinking hallucinogenic tea to escape her overbearing parents, a moody teenage girl is tormented by a masked serial killer who may or may not be real.
Enseñame como morir (Show Me How to Die)
After her grandmother passes away, a grieving Mexican-American woman becomes fascinated with learning what it feels like to die, believing it will bring her closer to her grandma.
Amarelo Banana
After another night of insomnia, a man comes across a strange community living in his building and discovers the elaborate illusion they have created.
The Offbeat Bar
6316 York Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90042
Join us for drinks and conversation to close out the day.
Garibaldina Society
4533 N Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90065
Trauma 4 Life
Two teenage sisters plan to take guns to school to exact revenge.
A Gift in the Making
Throughout her discussions of childbirth, Christal Oyuo discovers the true meaning of motherhood, embracing the journey through the love of her two sons.
The Hands of Manuel
From a young age, Manuel is put to work in the fields; his calloused hands symbolize his hard work, from child farmworker in Mexico to Bracero in the United States.
Three Brothers in Shanghai
Escaping the Nazis in Austria, a Jewish family flees to the port of last resort: Shanghai. The three young sons adapt and thrive in an unknown world.
Roots
Local Vermonter and ski patroller Ethan Parrish explores his deep connection to the mountains, the people in his life, and his home. World Premiere
Climate Control
A director making a documentary about fossil fuel extraction is consistently subverted by an AI agent that wants to tell a generic love story.
The Tiny Cinema
A short documentary featuring Doctor Davey B. Gravey (David Weaver) and his traveling 'cine-magic' attraction, The Tiny Cinema.
The Last Eight
The untold story of a pirate ship built by thousands of volunteers in Burbank, California. World Premiere
Fructose Frenzy
A banana-crazed critter is shaken when his last banana was inadvertently taken by an absent-minded nerd, whose fate is sealed after the first bite.
Spotlight
Forced into acting as a child, Ryan grows resentful of her demanding life in the spotlight while her sister suffers silently in her shadow.
InteleJustice
As AI and big tech invade more of our lives, this imagines the institutional inhumanity of automating our legal system. World Premiere
Her Anima
Her Anima is Anna's apocalyptic catharsis as she fights through different versions of herself to find one that sticks within her new environment. World Premiere
Soar
A baby bird learns how to fly. World Premiere
Foley
A foley artist, staring at an empty folder and impending deadlines, slips out into the night to harvest raw soundscapes from the sleeping city.
Mellin: The Masked Magician
In a small, dark theatre, a magician captures the attention of all attendees except John, who mocks him as his date gradually becomes mesmerized.
The Jobber
Raúl, a jobber stuck in a cholo gimmick, is humiliated in the ring by the all-American champion, Brett Barkley. World Premiere
Tuna on Rye
Elderly couple Amy and Arthur deal with the everyday complications of Arthur's dementia.
Darcine's Day
Darcine Thomas is recently divorced and starting over, but she's struggling to get back on her feet, pursuing opportunities that come up against obstacles at every turn.
Grind
When John, an aspiring sneaker designer in East Los Angeles, gets the opportunity of his life, his best friend and business partner tries to pull him down a divergent path.
Comets
Nan's life changes abruptly when she's diagnosed with Alzheimer's. But a new resident at the nursing home brings her hope.
hi mom
Maya struggles to find the right words to come out to her mom.
Fronds, Fractals
When two estranged high school friends reunite for coffee, one arrives transformed: finally living as their nonbinary self. The other leaves changed in subtler ways. World Premiere
Be my Baby
It was only supposed to be a movie night, but two couples' casual gathering spirals into a devastating game of revelations. World Premiere
Truncated Soul
The final thoughts of a sicario unravel in the moments before his soul becomes trapped in the in-between, a liminal space where regret, memory, and judgment collide.
The Offbeat Bar
6316 York Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90042
Join us for drinks and conversation to close out the day.
Garibaldina Society
4533 N Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90065
Light Memories
Misha uses his grandfather's camera to recreate a family album, bridging the gap to a man he never met, exploring absent father figures and reclaiming spaces once denied his family.
Closing Night Gala & Awards
Join us to close out the festival with our closing night gala and awards ceremony, celebrating this year's official selections.