Waco Independent Film Festival 2026 Announces Films and Special Guests for July’s Fest
The Waco Independent Film Festival (Waco Indie) announced the film lineup and events schedule for next month’s edition of the popular film festival, which recently was named as one of MovieMaker Magazine’s “50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee”. Waco Indie’s in-theater screenings will take place July 16-19, followed by an online encore July 19-25. The annual mark-your-calendar film event will lead off with an Opening Night presentation of Richie James Follin’s Crystal Cross. Evan Miller’s Due West, starring Adrianne Palicki will be the Closing Night selection.
Additional highlights will include a 25th Anniversary screening of Richard Kelly’s cult classic Donnie Darko with Director of Photography Steven Poster in-person, and a special presentation of an episode from the hit locally produced TV series The Chosen with Elizabeth Tabish (“Mary Magdalene”) on hand to talk about working on the show.
Over the course of the four days of screenings, parties, and panels, Waco Indie’s footprint will extend throughout the city, with screenings and events kicking off with a Red Carpet Opening event at The Palladium, screening at the historic Hippodrome, and afterparty at the Cambria Hotel. Following that, additional locations will include Brotherwell, the Grand Masonic Lodge, the Performing Arts Community Center, Southern Roots, Waco Surf, and for the first time, the Waco Civic Center, and the Waco Welcome Center.
This year’s lineup will feature 148 films, including 14 feature-length (11 narrative and 4 documentary), 126 short films (114 narrative and 12 documentary), and 8 music videos. Waco Indie’s yearly screenplay competition will include 17 finalists (4 feature-length, 13 shorts).
Waco Independent FF co-founders and directors Samuel Thomas and Louis Hunter, said, “This year’s edition of Waco Indie is testament that we can’t stop adding and innovating in our obsession to help our filmmakers in every way we can beyond platforming and celebrating their great work on the big screen, and showcasing Waco itself, both as a host for those incoming filmmakers, as well as an amazing location for them to shoot their next projects. We have added venues, we have added potential benefits, and – as we do each and every year – this year’s edition will demonstrate that we never stop building and encouraging the Waco Indie family.”
Waco Indie’s Red Carpet entrances and Opening Night party, which has grown into one of Waco’s major social events of the year, will take place at the Palladium (729 Austin Avenue) on Thursday, July 16, putting the attending filmmakers in front of cameras and microphones, and introducing them to scores of Waco film fans ready to watch their work on the big screen over the weekend. The Opening Night presentation of Richard James Follin’s dark romantic comedy Crystal Cross will kick things off with a proven crown pleaser that won an Audience Award at the Austin Film Festival. In the film, a Christian singer chasing fame, hitches a ride with a grieving father, who bears a passing resemblance to Jesus, bent on ending his life. On the road, their twisted love story unfolds as two desperate souls find faith, music, and truth on the way to life and death.
Friday, July 17, will feature a 25th Anniversary screening of Richard Kelly’s mind-blowing cult classic Donnie Darko (2001) with Director of Photography Steven Poster in-person. During the presidential election of 1988, a teenager named Donnie Darko sleepwalks out of his house one night and sees a giant, demonic-looking rabbit named Frank, who tells him the world will end in 28 days. When Donnie returns home, he finds that a jet engine has crashed into his bedroom. Is Donnie living in a parallel universe, is he suffering from mental illness – or will the world really end? Poster’s list of credits include Kelly’s Southland Tales, Randal Kleiser’s Big Top Pee-Wee, Ridley Scott’s Someone to Watch Over Me, and Madonna’s classic “Like a Prayer” video.
Saturday, July 18, will feature an expanded set of presentations led by a screening of Evan Miller’s locally-shot, and award-winning drama Due West. Honored at the Lone Star Film Festival, Burbank Intl Film Festival, and the El Paso Film Festival, the film stars Adrianne Palicki and Henry Thomas in the story about a small-town woman in West Texas who’s forced to break the law in search of medical care thanks to a harsher political climate in the state dealing with women’s health. Attending and participating in the post-screening Q&A will be Miller, Palicki, and Waco’s Joey Oglesby.
Saturday will also feature the special presentation of a specially selected episode from Dallas Jenkins’ hit locally produced TV series The Chosen with Elizabeth Tabish (“Mary Magdalene”) on hand to talk about working on the show. The first multi-season television series about the life of Jesus Christ, the popular show dramatizes his life through the eyes of those who knew him. Tabish will attend and participate in a Q&A following the screening of the episode, discussing her filmmaking career and her work on the show.
Beyond the groundbreaking drama, Tabish has appeared in a range of film and television projects, including recent feature films One in A Million and To Will the Sunrise. Other credits include Between Borders, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, The Shift, Panic, and The Son. A passionate advocate for independent filmmaking, Tabish is also an award-winning writer and director whose work often explores identity, spirituality, and the female experience. Her short films—including Mother’s Day, Cecilia, Musa Cansada, To See You, and The Darlings—have screened at festivals and garnered critical acclaim for their emotional depth and distinct artistic voice. She previously co-founded The Arthouse Film Festival, where she served as Art Director, championing emerging filmmakers and innovative storytelling. She reprises her role as Mary Magdalene in The Chosen Adventures and will appear in The Chosen in the Wild with Bear Grylls, while continuing to develop original film and literary projects of her own.
Highlights among the additional narrative indies coming to Waco include a screening of Michael Walker’s The Legend of Juan Jose Mundo. The film, has had an incredible run on the film festival circuit, winning several awards at many of them, including the Boston International Film Festival, Garden State Film Festival, Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, First Glance FF, and Sunscreen FF. Set in suburban New York in 1984, a high school student’s family hosts a charismatic, larger than life Spanish exchange student. He instantly becomes very popular with the other girls in her school, hooking up with more than a couple of them. As this happens, she becomes obsessed as well, believing she has fallen in love with him. But she may be about to learn what love truly is. Yana Klimova-Yusupova’s Russian film Seems Like Love brings an international rock n’ roll flavor to the film festival with its pun love story between a woman arriving in Saint Petersburg for the first time and a free-spirited artist named Vasya and his musician friend, Viktor who come to her aid when all of her backpack has been stolen. Reed Arnold’s screwball comedy Do Us Part is another festival favorite with multiple awards under its belt in Waco Indie’s lineup. In the film, when the female part of a close friend trio from school crashes another member’s wedding to confess her love, the best man – and third member of the trio must keep them a part, lest the entire day become a disaster. Adam Meeks’ Union County stars Will Poulter as a recovering addict assigned to a county-mandated drug court program as he embarks on the tenuous journey toward recovery amidst the opioid epidemic in rural Ohio. The film debuted at Sundance.
Films comprising Waco Indie’s documentary slate include local filmmaker and film instructor Ya’Ke Smith’s inspirational Cycles of Resiliance: A Journey Through Austin’s Black History. On Black History Bike Ride’s 6th annual Juneteenth Ride, led by Talib Abdullahi, hundreds of cyclists bike together to learn under-told stories of Black history, from the transition from plantation sites to freedom communities, the impact of the 1928 City Plan’s “Negro District” in east Austin, and the contributions of leaders of the Black community like Jacob Fontaine and Barbara Jordan. Filmmaker Kirsten Dickerson is also very familiar to Waco. Her latest, Handmade Future showcases craftspeople worldwide whose work carries generations of skill, culture and creativity. It considers the ethics, artistry and equity of the global craft economy – highlighting the beauty of handwork, the pressures makers face, and those determined to keep their traditions alive in a rapidly modernizing world. Finally, Waco Indie has established a beloved tradition via its relationship with Surf Waco to platform a surfing film each year. This year, Chris Sardelis’ Harbour Chronicles: Shaping a Legacy will take audiences to Seal Beach to meet iconic board shaper Rich Harbour as he crafts not only surfboards but a legacy that will span generations.
In addition to Waco Indie’s celebrated Waco Indie Screenplay Grant, awarded to the winner of the film festival’s screenplay contest, providing a variety of elements for producing that screenplay in Waco including pre-production scouting or during, up to $2,500 in rebates provided by the Waco Independent Film Festival, and camera and lighting packages will be a brand new initiative in which Waco Indie’s new Short Film Grand Prize will support the film’s theatrical run to help it become Oscar-qualified.
Waco Independent Film Festival panels will include topics/themes like; Managing an Oscar Campaign, Before My First Feature, The Future of Color, a Film Festival Directors panel, and a Writer’s Panel on Adapting Screenplays.
To purchase passes and tickets and to find more information on the Waco Independent Film Festival, please go to: https://www.wacoindie.com/.
2026 Waco Independent Film Festival Official Selections
OPENING NIGHT
Crystal Cross
Director: Richie James Follin
Country: United States; Running Time: 88 minutes
Dotty, a Christian singer in trouble, believes she’s received a sign from God when she meets James, a man who looks strikingly like Jesus. For Dotty, James is her ride out of town and a chance to reverse her fate. For James, however, the journey has a darker purpose. Crystal Cross explores the absurdity and tenderness of survival, faith, and failure in modern America. It is both a darkly comic odyssey and a meditation on love in its rawest form – love that doesn’t fix or promise, but simply keeps you alive for one more mile.
CLOSING NIGHT
Due West
Director: Michael Walker
Country: United States; Running Time: 81 minutes
Set in suburban NY in 1984. Julie Gornick hosts a charismatic, larger than life Spanish exchange student. As he starts hooking up with the girls in her class, Julie falls in love with him. Or what she thinks is love.
SPECIAL SCREENINGS/PRESENTATIONS
The Chosen
Director: TBA
Country: United States; Running Time:
Against the backdrop of Roman oppression in first-century Galilee, a charismatic prophet begins recruiting a diverse group of flawed, outcast disciples, sparking a radical spiritual revolution that challenges the established religious order and alters the course of history. EPISODE TBA
Donnie Darko (2001)
Director: Richard Kelly
Country: United States, Running Time: 113 minutes
After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
ADDITIONAL NARRATIVE FEATURES
A Woman’s Work
Director: A.R. Ephraim
Country: United States; Running Time: 92 minutes
A young woman in rural Kentucky works as a coal miner to provide for her two younger sisters after losing her parents to the opioid epidemic.
Do Us Part
Director: Reed Arnold
Country: United States; Running Time: 93 minutes
When Rose, Ryan’s college best friend and unrequited love, crashes his wedding with a change of heart, years of buried emotions threaten to shatter his world. As Ryan reels, his best man must navigate a minefield of secrets to get his friend to “I do” before the past rewrites the future.
The Driftless
Director: Tim Connery
Country: United States; Running Time: 108 minutes
Deep river valleys, tall limestone bluffs sawing through the sky . . . thousands of years ago, this unique portion of the Midwest escaped the crushing effects of the giant Ice Age glaciers. But with its scenic beauty, this preserved primal landscape also conceals unimaginable terrors. The Driftless is a horror film that weaves through four disturbing Midwest tales of the macabre. Guided by a mysterious antique store owner, these stories delve into a Mississippi River cult of masked assassins, a grieving musician’s struggle with a cursed bottle of liquor, a motel pool cleaner’s uncanny ability to retrieve time-altering artifacts, and a woman’s blood-thirsty revenge from beyond the grave.
Honeyjoon
Director: Lilian T. Mehrel
Country: Portugal; Running Time: 75 minutes
June and her Persian mom Lela take a trip to the romantic Azores islands for a grief anniversary, with contrasting ways of coping. A charming surfer takes them on a tour as they (and we) surf the waves of life, loss, flirting . . . an unforgettable ride. Honeyjoon is for anyone who lives with loss. For anyone who wants to feel free in their body. For anyone who has tried, and failed, to flirt.
The Legend of Juan Jose Mundo
Director: Michael Walker
Country: United States; Running Time: 92 minutes
Set in suburban NY in 1984. Julie Gornick hosts a charismatic, larger than life Spanish exchange student. As he starts hooking up with the girls in her class, Julie falls in love with him. Or what she thinks is love.
Seems Like Love
Director: Yana Klimova-Yusupova
Country: Russian Federation; Running Time: 92 minutes
Liza, a young and optimistic woman, arrives in Saint Petersburg for the first time, enchanted by the city’s poetic bridges, legendary embankments, and vibrant bohemian parties. Her adventure begins when she meets a free-spirited artist named Vasya and his musician friend, Viktor. Together, they embark on a whimsical journey through the city, involving the sale of an antique bed, spontaneous conversations, and the magic of white nights. As the day unfolds, unexpected connections form, leading Liza to discover that love might be found in the most unforeseen circumstances.
Union County
Director: Adam Meeks
Country: United States; Running Time: 97 minutes
Assigned to a county-mandated drug court program, Cody Parsons (Will Poulter) embarks on the tenuous journey toward recovery amidst the opioid epidemic in rural Ohio.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
Cycles of Resiliance: A Journey Through Austin’s Black History
Director: Ya’Ke Smith
Country: USA; Running Time: 60 minutes
On Black History Bike Ride’s 6th annual Juneteenth Ride, led by Talib Abdullahi, hundreds of cyclists bike together to learn under-told stories of Black history. From the State Capitol to Austin’s only HBCU to iconic venues like Victory Grill, this journey through history explores the transition from plantation sites to freedom communities, highlights the impact of the 1928 City Plan’s “Negro District” in east Austin, and celebrates the contributions of leaders of the Black community like Jacob Fontaine and Barbara Jordan. Through interviews with local Austinites and thought-leaders like Peniel Joseph and Tara Dudley, an inspirational story of resilience and Black excellence unfolds.
Handmade Future
Director: Kirsten Dickerson
Countries: India/Kenya/Mexico/Morocco/United Kingdom/United States; Running Time: 83 minutes
From rug weavers in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains and block printers in India’s Golden Triangle to Appalachian broom makers in Kentucky and recycled-glass blowers in Kenya, Handmade Future showcases craftspeople worldwide whose work carries generations of skill, culture and creativity. It considers the ethics, artistry and equity of the global craft economy – highlighting the beauty of handwork, the pressures makers face, and those determined to keep their traditions alive in a rapidly modernizing world. The film reflects on how artisans might guide us towards a more sustainable, community-focused future.
Harbour Chronicles: Shaping a Legacy
Director: Chris Sardelis
Country: United States; Running Time: 89 minutes
Set in the nostalgic, Mayberry-like surf town of Seal Beach, Harbour Chronicles follows iconic board shaper Rich Harbour as he crafts not only surfboards but a legacy that will span generations. Through the vivid characters, evolving tides, and enduring passion that shaped Harbour Surfboards, the oldest surf shop in the world, the film reveals how one man and one small coastal community helped define surf culture forever.
The Ramba Effect
Director: Claire Sandberg
Country: United States; Running Time: 82 minutes
Guided by compassionate experts and a devoted team of volunteers, Ramba, an Asian elephant who endured 50 years of isolation in a Chilean circus, embarks on an extraordinary 2,550-mile journey to her new home at Elephant Sanctuary Brazil.
NARRATIVE SHORT FILMS
A Good Day Will Come
Director: Amir Zargara
Country: Turkey; Running Time: 25 minutes
A Very Crowded Room
Director: Nate Wilburn
Country: United States; Running Time: 5:25 minutes
Admin
Director: Shannon Sullivan
Country: United States; Running Time: 12:07 minutes
ADO
Director: Sam Henderson
Country: United States; 15:53 minutes
Amenece
Director: Julan Fernandez Garnik
Country: Puerto Rico; Running Time: 13:12 minutes
An Excess Baggage
Director: Myriam Garcia Marienstras
Country: France; Running Time: 16:20 minutes
Arman
Director: Farzad Kiyafar
Country: United States; Running Time: 12:24 minutes
Avant Guard
Director: CR Sherman
Country: United States; Running Time: 12:21 minutes
Beauty Sleep
Director: Jasmine De Silva
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 13:04 minutes
Best Practice
Director: Martin Strange-Hansen
Country: Denmark; Running Time: 14:09 minutes
Beyond Silence
Director: Marnie Blok
Country: Netherlands; Running Time: 16:51 minutes
The Big Everything
Director: Salvador Paskowitz
Country: United States; Running Time: 15:49 minutes
Bot
Director: Blair Skinner
Country: United States; Running Time: 6:44 minutes
Bowling, Alone
Director: Casey Baum
Country: United States; Running Time: 19:07 minutes
The Boy with the Dinosaur Head
Director: Imran J Khan
Country: United States; Running Time: 9:57 minutes
Bus
Director: Andre Balbuena
Country: Peru; Running Time: 8:47 minutes
Butch and Mandalin: The Search for the Golden Morral
Director: Riley Engemoen
Country: United States; Running Time: 18:50 minutes
Chlorophyll
Director: Matthew Sean Decker
Country: United States; Running Time: 12:31 minutes
Chocolate Cake
Directors: Jack Craymer, Jesse Suchomel
Country: United States; Running Time: 13:30 minutes
Cottonmouth
Director: Cole Johnson
Country: United States; Running Time: 15:30 minutes
Cutter
Director: Scott Park
Country: United States; Running Time: 13:51 minutes
Daddies Boi
Director: Jason Avezzano
Country: United States; Running Time: 14:58 minutes
Death Finds Love
Director: Zoe Marie Brown
Country: United States; Running Time: 4:19 minutes
Death is a Favor
Director: Cecilia Kim
Country: United States; Running Time: 9:59 minutes
December, Day Zero
Director: John Robert Hammerer
Country: United States; Running Time: 7:55 minutes
Down the Hatch
Director: Alexandra Lukina
Country: Russian Federation; Running Time: 7:58 minutes
Downsized
Director: Ed Willey
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 9:14 minutes
Dr. Sam
Director: Danielle Beckmann
Country: United States; Running Time: 17:02 minutes
Eeohtoh
Directors: Matthew Barber, Nathaniel Barber
Country: United States; Running Time: 7:40 minutes
End of Camp
Director: Camille Ramos
Country: United States; Running Time: 14:09 minutes
Ensañame Como Morir (Show Me How To Die)
Director: Gerardo Maravilla
Country: United States; Running Time: 14:05 minutes
Everything Is Brand
Director: Brett Weiner
Country: United States; Running Time: 13:07 minutes
Evoke
Director: Peter Melhado
Country: United States; Running Time: 20 minutes
Extended Warranty
Directors: Tess Sullivan, Sara Carpenter
Country: United States; Running Time: 14:13 minutes
Find Me in the Void
Director: Denver Humphrey
Country: United States; Running Time: 7 minutes
The Finger Wife
Directors: Taryn Stickrath-Hutt, Dan Lund
Country: United States; Running Time: 7:52 minutes
Fireflies in the Dusk
Director: Jonathan Hammond
Country: United States; Running Time: 17:30 minutes
The Fires We Play With
Director: Paulina Manseau
Country: United States; Running Time: 9:51 minutes
Freakin Weekend
Director: David L Bradburn
Country: United States; Running Time: 6:24 minutes
Girl Dad
Director: Rachael Hudson
Country: United States; Running Time: 14:29 minutes
The Good Boy
Director: Esmeralda Hernandez
Country: United States; Running Time: 10:30 minutes
Grossness of Closeness
Director: Cathal Power
Country: United States; Running Time: 25 minutes
Gunslingin’ Grandpa
Director: Madden Stahlecker
Country: United States; Running Time: 6:50 minutes
Hafu
Director: Josh Wolff
Country: United States; Running Time: 15:58 minutes
Halfway Hunted
Director: Sam Rudykoff
Country: Canada; Running Time: 16:49 minutes
Help!
Director: Alex Chew
Country: United States; Running Time: 14:45 minutes
Hide
Director: Brenden Hubbard
Country: United States; Running Time: 16:05 minutes
Hivemind Deluxe
Director: Chris Alan Evans
Country: United States; Running Time: 10:04 minutes
I Constantly Thank God for Estaban
Director: Adriana Guevara
Country: United States; Running Time: 10:04 minutes
I Want To Go To Moscow
Director: Sarah Baskin
Country: United States; Running Time: 12:35 minutes
Intergalactic Ingenue
Director: Nathan Deshawne Bouie
Country: United States; Running Time: 19:33 minutes
It Happened: The Judy Tenuta Story
Director: Taylor Blackwell
Country: United States; Running Time: 13 minutes
It’s Hard Not to be Romantic About Time Travel
Director: Michael Charron
Country: United States; Running Time: 12:11 minutes
JJ
Director: Mark Thiedeman
Country: United States; Running Time: 17:38 minutes
Ladylike
Director: Taylor Coriell
Country: United States; Running Time: 15:06 minutes
The Last Fry
Director: Sam Zarrin
Country: United States; Running Time: 17:52 minutes
Like That DVD Screensaver
Director: Aditya Raj Gureja
Country: Australia; Running Time: 17 minutes
The Little Ancestor
Director: Alexa Tremblay-Francoer
Country: United States; Running Time: 11:12 minutes
Little Earthquakes
Director: Iris Davis-Quick
Country: United States; Running Time: 5:19 minutes
Little Fierce Loong
Director: Anian Tao
Country: United States; Running Time: 17:50 minutes
The Long Spring
Director: Olly Ginelli
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 12:15 minutes
Lumps
Director: Maya Winkler
Country: United States; Running Time: 17 minutes
The Magician
Director: Mathieu Gauvreau
Country: Canada; Running Time: 18:22 minutes
May I Put You On Hold?
Director: Ash Blodgett
Country: United States; Running Time: 13:25 minutes
Meeting Your Maker
Director: Gregory JM Kasunich
Country: United States; Running Time: 18 minutes
Mime
Director: Gabri Blankston
Country: United States; Running Time: 6:39 minutes
Mort
Directors: Larry Ziegelman, Terry Ziegelman
Country: United States; Running Time: 13:02 minutes
Moving
Director: Nat Rovit
Country: United States; Running Time: 9:20 minutes
My Favorite Murderer
Director: Tina Carbone
Country: United States; Running Time: 9:11 minutes
Nani
Director: Mainak Dhar
Country: United States; Running Time: 9:56 minutes
Night Feeds
Director: Rana Roy
Country: United States; Running Time: 16:40 minutes
Nightfall
Director: Zac Villanueva
Country: United States; Running Time: 17:22 minutes
The Old Man at the Bar
Director: Alexander Jeffery
Country: United States; Running Time: 11:30 minutes
Olive
Director: Tom Koch
Country: United States; Running Time: 13:08 minutes
Only Here A Little Longer
Director: Justin Anthony Rodriguez
Country: United States; Running Time: 11 minutes
Patina
Director: Jake Hull
Country: United States; Running Time: 11:54 minutes
The Pearl Comb
Director: Ali Cook
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 15 minutes
Pearls
Director: Alastair Train
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 15 minutes
Plastic Surgery
Director: Guy Trevellyan
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 12:02 minutes
Portrait of a Young Mother
Director: Andy Clay Huey
Country: United States; Running Time: 13:32 minutes
Pretty Boys
Director: Sof Puchley
Country: United States; Running Time: 18:03 minutes
Prime
Director: Meagan Coyle
Country: United States; Running Time: 15:58 minutes
The Reveal
Director: Samip Raval
Country: United States; Running Time: 14:30 minutes
The Ride
Director: Slava Denislov
Country: United States; Running Time: 15 minutes
The Sale
Director: Meera Angelica Joshi
Country: United States; Running Time: 15:36 minutes
Saverio
Director: Ellen Ancui
Country: United States; Running Time: 13:50 minutes
Second Place
Director: Andrea Dunne
Country: Canada; Running Time: 14:59 minutes
The Sentry
Director: Jake Wachtel
Country: Cambodia; Running Time: 17:34 minutes
Serenity
Director: Frank Tremblay
Country: Canada; Running Time: 23 minutes
Sicko
Director: Aman Johnson
Country: United States; Running Time: 9:47 minutes
Sorry, Clancy Miller
Director: Haynes Brooke
Country: United States; Running Time: 12:48 minutes
Status: Active
Director: Bob Morley
Country: United States; Running Time: 9:31 minutes
Storage Fees
Director: Nicholas Michael Buck
Country: United States; Running Time: 14:30 minutes
Sundance Showdown
Director: Alana Bond
Country: United States; Running Time: 3:29 minutes
Sweetwater, Texas
Directors: Kaytie Nielsen, Nick Nielsen
Country: United States; Running Time: 22:50 minutes
Swordplay
Directors: Noah Sutton, Nathan Paine
Country: United States; Running Time: 8:58 minutes
Tasty Bones
Director: Ronald Short
Country: United States; Running Time: 5:12 minutes
Tether
Director: Meredith Berg
Country: United States; Running Time: 14:38 minutes
This is Us
Director: Kevin Ralston
Country: United States; Running Time: 8:30 minutes
Those Who Love Me Will Follow Me
Director: Alessandro Giovanni Lunghi
Country: United States; Running Time: 17:58 minutes
Till Death Do Us Part
Director: Oliver Kember
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 14 minutes
To-Go
Director: Bryan Poyser
Country: United States; Running Time: 6:30 minutes
Topspin
Director: Michael W Zhang
Country: United States; Running Time: 15 minutes
Trova
Director: Jake Ajamian
Country: United States; Running Time: 15:25 minutes
Violet Vendetta
Director: Ted Hayden
Country: United States; Running Time: 10:45 minutes
The Visitor
Director: Elliot Kealoha Blanchard
Country: United States; Running Time: 10:30 minutes
Wax Girl
Director: Stimson Snead
Country: United States; Running Time: 8:55 minutes
When Big People Lie
Director: Gianfranco Fernandez-Ruiz
Country: United States; Running Time: 13:36 minutes
The Whole Thing
Director: Calvin Sang
Country: New Zealand; Running Time: 16:04 minutes
The Witch Pricker and The Hare
Director: Brynn Mitchell
Country: United States; Running Time: 16:16 minutes
The Woman in the Bed
Director: Victor Mellors
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 4:20 minutes
Yer Smackin
Director: John Field Brown
Country: United States; Running Time: 6:30 minutes
You Get What You Pay For
Directors: Jeff Low, David Kolbusz
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 9:31 minutes
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILMS
Houdini II: A Beautiful Day to Die
Director: Daniel John
Country: United States; Running Time: 17:14 minutes
The Last KKKlavern
Director: Chris Neighbor
Country: United States; Running Time: 14:40 minutes
Middle Grounds
Directors: Kevin Smokler, Christopher Boone
Country: United States; Running Time: 26:52 minutes
Miles of Life
Director: Charli Doherty
Country: Uganda; Running Time: 14:38 minutes
Miracles in the Dirt
Director: Twila LaBar
Country: United States; Running Time: 5:31 minutes
The Non-Biological Mexican
Director: Joseph Balderas
Countries: South Korea/United States; Running Time: 14:58 minutes
Oklahoma Breakdown
Director: Kate Schein
Country: United States; Running Time: 13:05 minutes
Shut the Fuck Up, When We Speak
Director: Ryan Darbonne
Country: United States; Running Time: 11:52 minutes
Still Standing
Directors: Victor Tadashi Suarez, Livia Albeck-Ripka
Country: United States; Running Time: 9:45 minutes
Teaching America
Director: Anurima Bhargava
Country: United States; Running Time: 20:26 minutes
Thank You For Listening
Directors: Gene Gallerano, Bob Ray
Country: United States; Running Time: 27 minutes
This is Texas
Directors: John-Carlos Estrada, Zak Zeh
Country: United States; Running Time: 23:14 minutes
MUSIC VIDEOS
909
Artist: Starflyer 59
Director: Hunter Christy
Country: United States; Running Time: 6:30 minutes
1:21 Gigawatts
Artist: No More Kings
Directors: Erik Deutscher, Tamara Gray
Country: United States; Running Time: 5:53 minutes
Chingona
Artist: Tamara Flores
Director: Rupert Höller
Country: United States; Running Time: 3:15 minutes
Dance With Me (My Synth-Pop Queen)
Artist: TAPES
Director: Sam Hyatt
Country: United States; Running Time:6:57 minutes
I Remember the Alamo (But Can’t Recall Her Name)
Artist: Richie B
Director: Cynthia Garcia
Country: United States; Running Time: 5:24 minutes
Lil Boy
Artist: Tago
Director: Ori Evans
Country: United States; Running Time:3:12 minutes
Molly Drove My Car
Artist: NATEJOY
Director: Charles Featherston
Country: United States; Running Time: 4:25 minutes
What if I Die Flying Over Oklahoma?
Artist: Rae Isla
Director: H. Nelson Tracey
Country: United States; Running Time: 4:55 minutes
FEATURE SCREENPLAYS
Beneath the Undercurrent
Writer: Helen Alexis Yonov
Blurring the line between imagination and reality, a famed mystery writer spirals into madness when her fictional character comes to life.
The Man in the Flying Lawn Chair
Writer: Ryan Mekenian
In the 1980s, in Long Beach, California, a Vietnam vet looking for meaning in his life after the way builds a flying machine out of weather balloons and a lawn chair. But as the dogged pursuit of his dream consumes his life, his relationship with his fiancée hangs in the balance, forcing them to navigate ambition and love. Inspired by the inventive genius of Larry Walters and Carol Van Deusen.
Saint Mick
Writer: Benjamin Carlucci
Saint Mick is a contemplative dramedy following a novitiate nun whose secret life as an indie band bassist and arthouse theater volunteer sparks a quiet rebellion within her monastery. As she prepares for her perpetual vows during Holy Week, she must reconcile her divided identity and decide whether her future lies within the convent walls or in the secular world.
Salt Kiss
Writer: Bixby Elliot
In 1963 a 19 year old woman, Margaret, becomes involved with a NASA funded project to teach a dolphins to speak English. Her obsession with the project leads her to live with Peter (the dolphin) in a room submerged in water full-time. Inspired by a true story, Salt Kiss is an unusual love story between a human and a dolphin told through the lens of “psychedelic realism”.
SHORT SCREENPLAYS
A New Leash on Life
Writer: Brittany Lewis
Two strangers, a woman scorned and a notorious ladies’ man, are forced into a nasty custody battle when they unknowingly adopt the same dog from a foster event.
American Values
Writer: Ryan Mekenian
When Blockbuster Video bans films that defy its ‘family-friendly’ values, a group of rebel cinephile employees in Bakersfield fight for free expression—one VHS at a time. Inspired by true events.
Bugged
Writer: Metin Bulent
Cyclor witnesses the death of his loved one by a heartbroken Zara and seeks vengeance.
Death Coach: Unplugged
Writer: James Bryan Hill
Aadi is dying as he lived: on his own terms, in expensive cowboy boots, and with a stubborn refusal to follow the script. Stuck in a sterile hospice ward, his only companion is Clyde—an eight-foot-tall, undead heavy metal mascot serving as his self-appointed “Death Coach.” Between rounds of cards and debates over Indian heritage versus American “grooves,” the duo fends off a predatory local pastor more interested in Aadi’s estate than his soul. Death Coach: Unplugged is a dark comedy about choosing how you cross the finish line.
Durning Road
Writer: Paula McCool
In the pandemonium of a World War II blitz, Frankie, a local soldier on leave, must navigate the bomb-ravaged streets of Liverpool to find his missing two-year-old daughter and save her life. Battling both the dangers of war and paralyzing guilt, he races against time in a desperate struggle for survival and redemption.
Hexed
Writer: Ariana DiValentino
A Brooklyn witch sets out to hex her ex (you know, for healing purposes), but things go awry when the spell doesn’t work exactly as planned.
Indistinct Chatter
Writer: Michael Afendakis
Caught between his mother’s quiet exhaustion and the schoolyard cruelty he endures daily, a teenage boy discovers grace in an unlikely friendship with a homeless man who writes messages in bottles.
Lo Que Florece (what blooms)
Writer: Alycya Magana
A father struggles to contain his daughter’s unsettling transformation on the eve of her quinceañera.
Manifest Destiny
Writers: Michelle L. Morgan, David R. Schleicher
Dark comedy short script. Unhinged becomes the broken soul determined to take charge of their destiny and yours.
Radio Contact
Writer: Kevin Machate
After receiving a call for help from a remote ranger station, a HAM radio operator begins to suspect that the emergency he’s trying to resolve may not be what it appears to be.
Savings Bonds
Writer: Chris San Nicolas
Pedro, an American farmer, has to choose between saving the family farm or securing his only son’s future.
Small Talk with Strangers
Writer: Michael Long
Jay and his BF Drew fly to Miami. Jay is occupied the entire flight making small talk with a complete stranger.
Stealing Shayna
Writer: Heather Older
Some filmmakers will do almost anything to have their feature film made.