The SXSW Film & TV Festival has unveiled the lineup for its 32nd edition, kicking off with the premiere of Apple TV+’s show biz comedy The Studio.
Co-created by and starring Seth Rogen, The Studio follows a legacy Hollywood movie studio striving to survive in a world where it is increasingly difficult for art and business to live together. The show is set to unveil its first two episodes on March 26.
At this year’s festival, films to look out for in the Headliner section include Amazon’s Ben Affleck starrer The Accountant 2, A24’s Death of a Unicorn starring Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega, Blumhouse’s horror pic Drop, and the Nicole Kidman thriller Holland (fka Holland, Michigan) from Amazon. Other notable titles screening include Searchlight’s musical drama O’Dessa starring Sadie Sink, Regina Hall and Kelvin Harrison Jr.; The Astronaut starring Kate Mara, Laurence Fishburne and Gabriel Luna; The Dutchman starring André Holland, Kate Mara and Zazie Beetz; Amy Landecker’s feature directorial debut For Worse; Jay Duplass’s The Baltimorons; the Zoey Deutch comedy The Threesome; Australian horror thriller We Bury The Dead starring Daisy Ridley; Babak Anvari’s thriller Hallow Road starring Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys; Michael Bay’s We Are Storror; and the H.E.R.-directed The Makings of Curtis Mayfield.
Notable television projects making their way to Austin include Paramount+’s serial killer series Happy Face, starring Dennis Quaid, Ramy Youssef’s Amazon animated series #1 Happy Family USA, and Apple TV+’s Government Cheese, exec produced by and starring David Oyelowo.
SXSW’s Narrative Feature Competition, Documentary Feature Competition, Poster Design, and Special Award winners will be announced on Wednesday, March 12 along with all the Short Film Program winners. The festival runs from March 7-15 in Austin, TX. View the full 2025 lineup below.
HEADLINER
Big names, big talent featuring red carpet premieres and gala film events with major and rising names in cinema.
The Accountant 2
Director: Gavin O’Connor, Producers: Ben Affleck, Lynette Howell Taylor, Mark Williams, Screenwriter: Bill Dubuque
Christian Wolff is brought out of hiding by Treasury Agent Marybeth Medina after someone close to them is killed by unknown assassins. To solve the murder, Wolff must recruit the help of his estranged but highly lethal brother Brax. Cast: Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Daniella Pineda, Allison Robertson, J.K. Simmons (World Premiere)
Ash
Director: Flying Lotus, Producers: Nate Bolotin, Matthew Metcalfe, Screenwriter: Jonni Remmler
A woman wakes up on a distant planet and finds the crew of her space station viciously killed. Her investigation into what happened sets in motion a terrifying chain of events. Cast: Eiza González, Aaron Paul, Flying Lotus, Iko Uwais, Kate Elliott, Beulah Koale (World Premiere)
Death of a Unicorn
Director/Screenwriter: Alex Scharfman, Producers: Drew Houpt, Lucas Joaquin, Alex Scharfman, Lars Knudsen, Tyler Campellone, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page
A father and daughter accidentally hit and kill a unicorn while en route to a weekend retreat, where his billionaire boss seeks to exploit the creature’s miraculous curative properties. Cast: Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter, Téa Leoni, Richard E. Grant, Anthony Carrigan, Sunita Mani, Jessica Hynes (World Premiere)
Drop
Director: Christopher Landon, Producers: Jason Blum, Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, Cameron Fuller, Screenwriters: Jillian Jacobs, Chris Roach
A widowed mother, on her first date in years, arrives at an upscale restaurant where she meets her handsome date. But their chemistry curdles as she begins being irritated and then terrorized by a series of anonymous drops to her phone.
Cast: Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar, Violett Beane, Jacob Robinson, Ed Weeks (World Premiere)
Holland
Director: Mimi Cave, Producer: Kate Churchill, Peter Dealbert, Nicole Kidman, Per Saari, Screenwriter: Andrew Sodroski
In this unpredictable thriller, Nancy is a teacher whose life with her husband in Holland, Michigan, tumbles into a twisted tale when she and her colleague become suspicious of a secret. Cast: Nicole Kidman, Matthew Macfadyen, Jude Hill, Gael García Bernal (World Premiere)
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
World premieres showcasing the art of storytelling by emerging voices.
Bunny
Director: Ben Jacobson, Producer: Sarah Sarandos, Screenwriters: Mo Stark, Ben Jacobson, Stefan Marolachakis
Two best friends rally the neighbors in their tenement building to help them hide a dead body over the best/worst night of their lives. Cast: Mo Stark, Ben Jacobson, Liza Colby, Tony Drazan, Lina Rong Mei Chen, Genevieve Hudson-Price, Liz Caribel Sierra, Ajay Naidu, Richard Price, Henry Czerny (World Premiere)
Fantasy Life
Director/Screenwriter: Matthew Shear, Producers: Charlie Alderman, Chris Dodds, Philip Keefe, Amanda Peet, Emily McCann Lesser, David Bernon, Sam Slater
After getting laid off, a thirty-something paralegal in New York starts babysitting his psychiatrist’s three granddaughters and falls for their mother, an actress in a rocky marriage. Cast: Amanda Peet, Matthew Shear, Alessandro Nivola, Judd Hirsch, Bob Balaban, Andrea Martin, Zosia Mamet, Jessica Harper, Holland Taylor, Sheng Wang (World Premiere)
Fucktoys
Director/Screenwriter: Annapurna Sriram, Producer: Timothy Petryni
Join AP on a bubblegum grindhouse adventure through sunny and romantic Trashtown, USA. In this raucous odyssey a wanton minx quests hard across a dreamy landscape of smut, filth and psychics, hustling to lift a curse that has been f*cking her sh*t up. Cast: Annapurna Sriram, Sadie Scott, Francois Arnaud, Damian Young, Big Freedia, Brandon Flynn, Lorrie Odom, Jowin Batoon, Tamika Lawrence, Arianna Ortiz (World Premiere)
It Ends
Director/Screenwriter: Alexander Ullom, Producers: Carrie Carusone, Evan Barber
Four friends’ post-college plans are derailed when a wrong turn traps them on a never-ending backroad. Cast: Phinehas Yoon, Akira Jackson, Noah Toth, Mitchell Cole (World Premiere)
My Uncle Jens (Norway)
Director/Screenwriter: Brwa Vahabpour, Producers: Renée Hansen Mlodyszewski, Anda Ionescu
A young literature teacher lives a peaceful life in Oslo until his estranged uncle from the Iranian part of Kurdistan unexpectedly arrives for a visit. Cast: Peiman Azizpour, Hamza Agoshi, Sarah Francesca Brænne, Magnus Lysbakken, Theresa Frostad Eggesbø, Emir Hakki, Marko Lazic, Mohamed Chakiri (World Premiere)
Outerlands
Director/Screenwriter: Elena Oxman, Producers: Marc Smolowitz, Elena Oxman, Asia Kate Dillon, Allison Estrin, Henry Russell Bergstein
When Cass (they/them) is asked by an alluring woman to watch her 11-year-old daughter while she goes out of town, Cass is forced to confront the truth of their own tumultuous childhood. Cast: Asia Kate Dillon, Louisa Krause, Ridley Asha Bateman, Lea DeLaria, Daniel K. Isaac, Melinda Meeng, Allie Heng, Winter Dewitt, Safia Fredericks, Sedrick Cabrera (World Premiere)
Reeling
Director: Yana Alliata, Producer: Jack Forbes, Screenwriters: Yana Alliata, Amy Miner\
A psychological drama set against a backdrop of celebration at a family’s Hawaiian estate, three siblings confront heartbreaking, inescapable truths after an accident that changed their lives forever. Cast: Ryan Wuestewald, Hans Christopher, Nikki DeParis, Fabrizio Alliata, Makena Miller, Nyah Juliano, Michael Carter (World Premiere)
Slanted
Director/Screenwriter: Amy Wang, Producers: Amy Wang, Mark Ankner, Trevor Wall
Desperate to fit in, an insecure Chinese American teenager undergoes experimental trans-racial surgery to become White in order to secure her chances of winning Prom Queen and the acceptance of her peers. Cast: Shirley Chen, McKenna Grace, Vivian Wu, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Amelie Zilber, Fang Du, Elaine Hendrix, Keith Harris (World Premiere)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
World premieres of captivating, real stories by emerging voices.
Arrest the Midwife
Director: Elaine Epstein, Producers: Elaine Epstein, Robin Hessman
The arrest of midwives in a rural healthcare desert ignites an unexpected rebellion: Amish and Mennonite women who break from tradition, and emerge as fierce political activists fighting for reproductive justice and birthing rights. (World Premiere)
Assembly
Directors/Producers/Screenwriters: Rashaad Newsome, Johnny Symons
Visionary artist Rashaad Newsome merges art, AI, and performance to transform a former military facility into a Black queer utopia. Through immersive storytelling and visuals, the film explores how creativity can heal, unite, and spark liberation. (World Premiere)
Baby Doe
Director: Jessica Earnshaw, Producers: Holly Meehl Chapman, Jessica Earnshaw
At 22, Gail gave birth alone and left her newborn in the woods. Decades later, she’s arrested for murder, despite claiming the baby was stillborn. Baby Doe explores the fallout when young women cannot accept the reality of an unplanned pregnancy. (World Premiere)
The Python Hunt
Director: Xander Robin, Producers: Lance Oppenheim, Lauren Cioffi, Mel Oppenheim, Xander Robin
Every year, the Florida government asks the general public to compete in an invasive python removal contest in the Everglades. For ten nights, an eclectic group of hunters confront the dangerous terrain, nocturnal creatures and their own tiny demons. (World Premiere)
Remaining Native
Director: Paige Bethmann, Producers: Jessica Epstein, Paige Bethmann, Judd Ehrlich
Ku Stevens, a 17-year-old Native American runner, struggles to navigate his dream of becoming a collegiate athlete as the memory of his great grandfather’s escape from an Indian boarding school begins to connect past, present, and future. (World Premiere)
The Secret of Me (United Kingdom)
Director: Grace Hughes-Hallett
19-year-old Kristi discovers a secret her doctor and parents have kept from her all her life. Her search for truth uncovers a radical psychology experiment on a pair of identical twins that led to a global medical scandal. (World Premiere)
Shuffle
Director: Benjamin Flaherty, Producers: Carra Greenberg, Harris Fishman, Benjamin Flaherty, Scott Paskoff
Through the lens of his own recovery, a filmmaker offers an intimate look inside the billion dollar addiction treatment industry where young people are bought and sold for their insurance policies and ushered into a system designed to keep them sick. (World Premiere)
The Spies Among Us
Directors/Producers: Jamie Coughlin Silverman, Gabriel Silverman
Thirty years after the Cold War ends, a former political prisoner of the East German secret police searches for the truth after learning his brother spied on him for the regime, and discovers the lasting effects of living in a surveillance state. (World Premiere)
NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
Unforgettable features receiving their World, North American, or U.S. premieres.
American Sweatshop (Germany)
Director: Uta Briesewitz, Producers: Anita Elsani, Uta Briesewitz, Jason Sosnoff, Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana, Screenwriter: Matthew Nemeth
Daisy, a young woman who works what has been called “the worst job in the world” – purging overtly hateful, sexual, and violent content from social media – and ends up fundamentally changed by her encounters with the darkest corners of the internet. Cast: Lili Reinhart, Daniela Melchior, Jeremy Ang Jones, Josh Whitehouse, Tim Plester, Christiane Paul, Joel Fry (World Premiere)
The Astronaut
Director/Screenwriter: Jess Varley, Producers: Brad Fuller, Eric B. Fleischman, Chris Abernathy, Cameron Fuller
An astronaut believes something extraterrestrial has followed her back to Earth. Cast: Kate Mara, Laurence Fishburne, Gabriel Luna, Ivana Milicevic, Macy Gray (World Premiere)
The Baltimorons
Director: Jay Duplass, Producers: David Bonnett Jr., Michael Strassner, Drew Langer, Screenwriters: Jay Duplass, Michael Strassner
After cracking a tooth on Christmas Eve, newly sober Cliff embarks on an adventure through Baltimore with Didi, his emergency dentist. Cast: Michael Strassner, Liz Larson, Olivia Luccardi (World Premiere)
Caper
Director/Screenwriter: Dean Imperial, Producers: Tessa Borbridge, Dean Imperial, TJ Sansone, Andy Zolot
When a sext to the wrong number sends a group of clueless men into a panic, they recklessly dive into an all-night journey through NYC to save their friend, revealing their own misguided and toxic views on women along the way. Cast: Christopher Tramantana, Asa James, Celester Rich, Richard Cooper, Sam Gilroy, Ron Palais, Michael Panes, Anne Klaus, Kevin Kane, Caroline Angelica Winkler (World Premiere)
Clown in a Cornfield
Director: Eli Craig, Producers: Marty Bowen, John Fischer, Wyck Godfrey, Screenwriters: Carter Blanchard, Adam Cesare, Eli Craig
A fading midwestern town in which Frendo the clown, a symbol of bygone success, reemerges as a terrifying scourge. Cast: Katie Douglas, Will Sasso, Cassandra Potenza, Aaron Abrams, Carson MacCormac, Verity Marks, Dylan McEwan, Daina Leitold, Vincent Muller, Kaitlyn Bacon (World Premiere)
Cotton Candy Bubble Gum
Director/Screenwriter: J Pinder, Producer: Cole Dabney
After his mom gets engaged to a vindictive cop, Carter, a 21-year-old mama’s boy still living at home, must secure a paid promotion at his internship by the end of the day or find a new place to live in this modern coming-of-age comedy. Cast: Nick Darnell, Morgan Jay, R. Marcus Taylor, JadaPaige, Jack Stone, Ben Scattone, Mildred Marie Langford, Rodney J. Hobbs, Jecobi Swain, Sophia Renee Sherman (World Premiere)
The Dutchman
Director: Andre Gaines, Producers: Andre Gaines, Jonathan T. Baker, Screenwriters: Andre Gaines, Qasim Basir
A successful black businessman, haunted by his crumbling marriage and identity crisis, is drawn into a psychological game of cat and mouse with a mysterious white woman he encounters on a New York subway. Cast: André Holland, Kate Mara, Zazie Beetz, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Aldis Hodge, Lauren E. Banks (World Premiere)
For Worse
Director/Screenwriter: Amy Landecker, Producers: Amy Landecker, Bradley Whitford, Valerie Stadler, Jenica Bergere, James Portolese
Fresh off a messy divorce, a 50-year-old sober mom tries to rebuild her life and stumbles into a new beginning after finding herself at a Gen Z wedding behaving like a 25-year-old drunk bridesmaid. Cast: Amy Landecker, Bradley Whitford, Nico Hiraga, Gaby Hoffmann, Ken Marino, Missi Pyle, Kiersey Clemons, Claudia Sulewski, Simon Helberg, Liv Hewson (World Premiere)
Forge
Director/Screenwriter: Jing Ai Ng, Producers: Liz Daering-Glass, Gabrielle Cordero, Jing Ai Ng, Damian Bao
In Miami, siblings Raymond and Coco Zhang’s art forgery ring flourishes when they encounter a disgraced millionaire in need of their expertise. Meanwhile, FBI Art Crimes agent Emily Lee moves to Miami to investigate a series of mysterious paintings. Cast: Kelly Marie Tran, Andie Ju, Brandon Soo Hoo, Edmund Donovan, Eva De Dominici, T. R. Knight, Jack Falahee, Sonya Walger (World Premiere)
I Really Love My Husband
Director/Screenwriter: GG Hawkins, Producer: Elle Roth-Brunet
When a woman grows disillusioned with her golden-boy husband during their tropical honeymoon, she recruits an enigmatic expat to spice things up—for better or worse. Cast: Madison Lanesey, Travis Quentin Young, Arta Gee, Lisa Jacqueline Starrett, Elizabeth de Robbins, Armodio Sophia, Meggan Taylor, Mitch Bisschop, Amberlin Morse (World Premiere)
Lifehack (Cyprus)
Director: Ronan Corrigan, Producers: Joann Kushner, Timur Bekmambetov, Screenwriters: Ronan Corrigan, Hope Elliot Kemp
Four teenage slackers attempt to pull off a multi million dollar Bitcoin heist from the comfort of their bedrooms but when their chickens come home to roost they find there is no comfy bed to fall back on! Cast: Georgie Farmer, Yasmin Finney, Roman Hyack Green, James Scholz, Jessica Reynolds, Charlie Creed Miles (World Premiere)
Mermaid
Director/Screenwriter: Tyler Cornack, Producers: Daniel Brandt, Dane Eckerle, Cole Eckerle
A Percocet-addicted ‘Florida Man’ finds a wounded mermaid at his lowest point. Fascination becomes a drug infused, one sided relationship — sending him further into decline. When word spreads about his secret, he’ll stop at nothing to protect her. Cast: Johnny Pemberton, Avery Potemri, Kevin Nealon, Kirk Fox, Tom Arnold, Robert Patrick, Kevin Dunn, Devyn McDowell, Tyler Rice, Julia Valentine Larson (World Premiere)
O’Dessa
Director/Screenwriter: Geremy Jasper, Producers: Michael Gottwald, Noah Stahl, Rodrigo Teixeira
Set in a post-apocalyptic future, O’Dessa is a rock opera about a farm girl on a quest to recover a family heirloom. Her journey leads her to a dangerous city, where she must use the power of destiny and song to save her true love’s soul. Cast: Sadie Sink, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Murray Bartlett, Regina Hall, Kelly Macdonald, Pokey LaFarge (World Premiere)
$POSITIONS
Director/Screenwriter: Brandon Daley, Producers: Ben Gojer, Jake Bloom
Blue-collar Midwesterner Mike Alvarado attempts to save his family from the throes of poverty by investing their savings into speculative cryptocurrencies. A twitchy, hyper-contemporary comedy with equal doses of laughs and panic attacks. Cast: Mike Kunicki, Vinny Kress, Trevor Dawkins, Kaylyn Carter (World Premiere)
She’s The He
Director/Screenwriter: Siobhan McCarthy, Producers: Halley Albert, Vic Brandt
Just before graduation, Alex and Ethan pretend to be trans women to get into the girl’s lockers. It’s all a joke until Ethan realizes: she really is trans. Alex and Ethan must reckon with their changing friendship and the process of coming out. Cast: Misha Osherovich, Nico Carney, Suzanne Cryer, Mark Indelicato, Malia Pyles, Emmett Preciado, Tatiana Ringsby, Aparna Nancherla, Kyle Butenhoff, Emma Orr (World Premiere)
Surviving Earth (United Kingdom)
Director/Screenwriter: Thea Gajić, Producers: Aleksandra Bilić, Sophie Reynolds
Having fled the Yugoslav war and settled in the UK, Vlad strives for success with his Balkan band, whilst trying to reconnect with his only daughter. Cast: Slavko Sobin, Olive Gray, Stuart Martin, Peter Coonan, Toni Gojanović, Ann Ogbomo (World Premiere)
The Threesome
Director: Chad Hartigan, Producers: Tim White, Trevor White, Vince Jolivette, Steve Shapiro, Screenwriter: Ethan Ogilby
A young man’s crush leads him into an unexpected threesome… What’s the worst that could happen? Cast: Zoey Deutch, Jonah Hauer-King, Ruby Cruz, Jaboukie Young-White, Josh Segarra, Robert Longstreet, Arden Myrin, Kristin Slaysman, Allan McLeod, Julia Sweeney (World Premiere)
The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick
Director: Pete Ohs, Producers: Callie Hernandez, Pete Ohs, Jeremy O. Harris, Josh Godfrey, Screenwriters: Callie Hernandez, Zoë Chao, James Cusati-Moyer, Jeremy O. Harris, Pete Ohs
A woman in crisis seeks refuge in her friend’s idyllic countryside home only to suffer strange side effects from a mysterious tick bite. Cast: Zoë Chao, Callie Hernandez, James Cusati-Moyer, Jeremy O. Harris (World Premiere)
We Bury The Dead (Australia)
Director/Screenwriter: Zak Hilditch, Producers: Kelvin Munro, Grant Sputore, Ross Dinerstein, Joshua Harris, Mark Fasano
In the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment, a desperate woman joins a “body retrieval unit” in the hope of finding her husband alive, but her search takes a chilling turn when the corpses start showing signs of life. Cast: Daisy Ridley, Brenton Thwaites, Mark Coles Smith (World Premiere)
DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
Incredible features receiving their World, North American, or U.S. premieres.
The Age of Disclosure
Director/Producer: Dan Farah
An unprecedented film –featuring 34 senior members of the U.S. Senate, House, military and intelligence community– revealing a cover-up of the existence of non-human intelligent life and a secret war to reverse engineer technology of non-human origin. (World Premiere)
Are We Good?
Director: Steven Feinartz, Producers: Steven Feinartz, Julie Seabaugh, Ethan Goldman
An intimate portrait of comedian and podcast pioneer Marc Maron, following the sudden loss of his partner and filmmaker Lynn Shelton. Maron struggles with grief, disillusionment, and a shifting comedy landscape. (World Premiere)
ASCO: Without Permission
Director/Screenwriter: Travis Gutiérrez Senger, Producers: Andrew Renzi, Nick Boak, Kyzza Terrazas, Santiago Maza, Sabrina Coulston, Colin Cadarette, Travis Gutiérrez Senger
ASCO: Without Permission profiles the extraordinary, LA based, Chicano art group ASCO, and through a genre-defying approach, reimagines what is possible today in art and cinema while celebrating an iconoclastic group that was far ahead of its time. Featuring Zoe Saldaña, Michael Peña, Arturo Castro (World Premiere)
Creede U.S.A.
Director: Kahane Corn Cooperman, Producers: Innbo Shim, Kahane Corn Cooperman
In tiny Creede, CO, conservative mining families and progressive theater people have been trying to negotiate their differences for 60 years. When the same issues polarizing America ripple through the town, can it maintain its fragile coexistence? (World Premiere)
Dear Tomorrow (Denmark, Japan, Sweden)
Director/Screenwriter: Kaspar Astrup Schröder, Producers: Maria Helga Stürup, Katrine A. Sahlstrøm
In Japan, where loneliness has become a national crisis, the film follows three individuals battling isolation. Through a volunteer chat service, compassionate connections, and government initiatives, they find hope and paths to reclaim their lives. (World Premiere)
Deeper (Australia)
Director: Jennifer Peedom
In the deepest, darkest cold-water cave system in the world, a reluctant hero explores a dangerous obsession. (World Premiere)
Deepfaking Sam Altman
Director: Adam Bhala Lough, Producers: Kevin Hart, Luke Kelly-Clyne, Brian Smiley, Harold Berón III, Adam Bhala Lough, Dana J. Olkkonen, Scoop Wasserstein, Elizabeth Weil, Mark W. Olsen
Hartbeat partners with Vox Media Studios and Telemarketers’ Adam Bhala Lough for a comedic documentary about AI. Follow Adam as he seeks answers about the buzzy new tech and explores what it means to be human in an increasingly AI generated world. (World Premiere)
Flight 149: Hostage Of War (United Kingdom)
Director: Jenny Ash, Producers: Andy Holland, Helen McClure, Mowaffaq Safadi, Lucy Towers
When Flight 149 landed in the middle of a warzone, the passengers and crew became human shields for Saddam Hussein. Thirty years later, the hostages are launching a legal case to discover the truth about why the plane landed in the first place. (World Premiere)
Make It Look Real (Australia)
Director/Screenwriter: Kate Blackmore, Producers: Bethany Bruce, Daniel Joyce
Intimacy coordinator Claire Warden guides actors through sex scenes for a new film Tightrope, negotiating the vision of a director, the physical and psychological needs of the actors, and a documentary crew filming her every move. (International Premiere)
Mola: A Tale of Tibetan Love and Loss (U.S., Switzerland)
Directors/Screenwriters: Yangzom Brauen, Martin Brauen, Producer: Katherine LeBlond
Mola, a 100-year-old nun, wants to return to her homeland, Tibet, to die. The fulfillment of her dream takes an unexpected turn. (North American Premiere)
Now! More! Yes!
Director: Max Hey, Producers: Chris James Thompson, Frankie Latina, Andrew Swant
A legally blind used car salesman wakes up to realize that he drunkenly purchased an ambulance without keys using his boss’s money. (World Premiere)
Other Side
Directors: Heather Hogan, Carter Oakley, Producer: Amy Brown
Activist Lynda Bluestein contemplates how to legally end her life – her landmark lawsuit made Medical Aid in Dying in Vermont accessible to anyone in the United States. This is an intimate portrait of finding a way to die peacefully in the U.S. (World Premiere)
Seen and Heard
Directors: Giselle Bailey, Phil Bertelsen, Producers: Giselle Bailey, Phil Bertelsen, Issa Rae, Montrel McKay, John Maggio, Rachel Dretzin, John Ealer, Jonathan Berry, Dave Becky, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez
From executive producer Issa Rae, Seen and Heard is a two-part documentary that travels through time, creating a kaleidoscopic portrait of Black talent being “seen,” to Black creatives being “heard,” shaping today’s Golden Age of Black television. Featuring Issa Rae, Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Shonda Rhimes, Ava Duvernay, Lena Waithe, Cord Jefferson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Swizz Beatz, Norman Lear (World Premiere)
Snow Leopard Sisters (United Kingdom)
Directors: Ben Ayers, Sonam Choekyi Lama, Andrew Lynch, Producers: Ian Davies, Joanna Natasegara, Torquil Jones, Tshiring Lhamu Lama
In Nepal’s remote Dolpo region, two Indigenous women form an unlikely friendship to save one of the planet’s most mysterious and vulnerable wild cats: the snow leopard. (World Premiere)
Spreadsheet Champions (Australia)
Director: Kristina Kraskov, Producers: Anna Charalambous, Charlotte Wheaton, Nick Batzias
Students from around the world give it their all in the greatest competition you’ve never heard of, the Spreadsheet World Championships. (World Premiere)
Starman
Director/Screenwriter: Robert Stone, Producers: Ray Rothrock, Keith Haviland, Robert Stone Legendary NASA robotics engineer and best-selling science fiction author, Gentry Lee, has spent a lifetime seeking an answer to the ultimate cosmic question: Are we alone in the universe? At age 82 he has come to a revelatory conclusion. (World Premiere)
Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror
Director: Linus O’Brien, Producers: Adam Gibbs, Garret Price, Avner Shiloah, Linus O’Brien, Screenwriter: Avner Shiloah
A wild journey into the origins of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the biggest cult film of all time, its impact on popular culture and socio-political resonance to this day. Featuring Richard O’Brien, Tim Curry, Lou Adler, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick (World Premiere)
Take No Prisoners
Directors: Adam Ciralsky, Subrata De, Producers: Adam Ciralsky, Gene Klein, Subrata De
Take No Prisoners delves into the secretive, high-stakes world of hostage rescues, following America’s top envoy as he races to free a young attorney held as a political pawn by a rogue regime. (World Premiere)
The Tallest Dwarf
Director: Julie Forrest Wyman, Producers: Lindsey Dryden, Shaleece Haas, Jonna McKone
When Julie embarks on a journey to understand her own body and the rumors of dwarfism in her family, her path collides with a new drug that promises to make little people taller, threatening the community’s existence. (World Premiere)
Uvalde Mom
Director: Anayansi Prado, Producers: Ina Fichman, David Goldblum, Screenwriters: Anayansi Prado, Pablo Proenza
When a school mass shooting rocks a small Texas town, a mom desperate to save her kids becomes an overnight hero. She speaks out against a faulty system. The community unites to challenge the powers that neglected its most vulnerable—its children. (World Premiere)
MIDNIGHTER
Exciting after-dark features for genre lovers and the terminally curious.
Descendent
Director/Screenwriter: Peter Cilella, Producers: David Lawson Jr, Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Caleb Ward
After a traumatic brain injury triggers terrifying visions of extraterrestrials and a newfound talent for drawing, a father-to-be begins to question his reality and becomes obsessed with the need to protect his family from an unseen threat. Cast: Ross Marquand, Sarah Bolger, Susan Wilder, Charlene Amoia, Dan O’Brien, Brandon Scott, Alexandra Barreto, Alex Ruiz, Clare Cooney, Emily Pendergast (World Premiere)
Good Boy
Director: Ben Leonberg, Producers: Kari Fischer, Ben Leonberg, Screenwriters: Alex Cannon, Ben Leonberg
Do you ever wonder why your dog stares at empty corners, barks for no reason, or refuses to go into the basement? Good Boy is the story of a dog who sees everything that goes bump in the night. No talking pets, just terrifying scares. Cast: Indy, Shane Jensen, Larry Fessenden, Arielle Friedman, Stuart Rudin, Anya Krawcheck, Max (World Premiere)
Hallow Road (Czechia, Ireland, United Kingdom)
Director: Babak Anvari, Producers: Lucan Toh, Ian Henry, Richard Bolger, Screenwriter: William Gillies
Two parents enter a race against time when they receive a distressing late-night phone call from their daughter after she caused a tragic car accident. Cast: Rosamund Pike, Matthew Rhys, Megan McDonnell (World Premiere)
The Home (Estonia, Iceland, Sweden)
Director: Mattias J Skoglund, Producer: Siri Hjorton Wagner, Screenwriter: Mattias J Skoglund, Mats Strandberg
Joel reluctantly returns to his childhood town to help his mother Monika move into a home for people with dementia after she suffers a stroke. She is unrecognizable and Joel becomes convinced that something has followed her back from the other side. Cast: Philip Oros, Anki Lidén, Gizem Erdogan, Malin Levanon, Peter Jankert, Lottie Ejenbrant, Ayan Ahmed, Bengt CW Carlsson (World Premiere)
New Jack Fury
Director/Screenwriter: Lanfia Wal, Producers: Van White, Mariah Morgenstern, Denaun Porter, Lanfia Wal, Akino Childrey
After his girlfriend is kidnapped by a ruthless kingpin, a former cop must seek the help of two unlawful R&B eccentrics to help save her. Cast: Andre Hall, Page Kennedy, Dean “Michael Trapson” Morrow, Paul Wheeler, Ally Renee, Shawn Nathan, Wrekless Watson, Ace Vane, James Markham Hall, Jr., Vincent M. Ward (World Premiere)
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (Canada)
Director: Matt Johnson, Producers: Matthew Miller, Matt Greyson, Screenwriters: Matt Johnson, Jay McCarrol
Matt and Jay try to get a show at the Rivoli. Cast: Jay McCarrol, Matt Johnson (World Premiere)
Redux Redux
Directors/Screenwriters: Kevin McManus, Matthew McManus, Producers: Michael J. McGarry, Kevin McManus, Matthew McManus, Nate Cormier, PJ McCabe
In an attempt to avenge her daughter’s death, Irene Kelly travels through parallel universes, killing her daughter’s murderer over and over again. She grows addicted to the revenge streak, putting her own humanity in jeopardy. Cast: Michaela McManus, Stella Marcus, Jeremy Holm, Jim Cummings, Grace Van Dien, Taylor Misiak, Dendrie Taylor (World Premiere)
The Surrender
Director/Screenwriter: Julia Max, Producers: Mia Chang, Lovell Holder, Julia Max, Ian McDonald, Robert J. Ulrich
When the family patriarch dies, a grieving mother and daughter risk their lives to perform a brutal resurrection ritual that will bring him back from the dead. Cast: Colby Minifie, Kate Burton, Neil Sandilands, Vaughn Armstrong, Mia Ellis, Pete Ploszek, Chelsea Alden, Alaina Pollack, Riley Rose Critchlow, Lola Prince Kelly (World Premiere)
VISIONS
Audacious, risk-taking artists who demonstrate innovation and creativity.
Dead Lover (Canada)
Director: Grace Glowicki, Producers: Yona Strauss, Ben Petrie, Grace Glowicki, Screenwriters: Grace Glowicki, Ben Petrie
A lonely Gravedigger who stinks of corpses finally meets her dream man, but their affair is cut short when he tragically drowns at sea. Grief-stricken, she goes to morbid lengths to resurrect him, resulting in grave consequences and unlikely love. Cast: Grace Glowicki, Ben Petrie, Leah Doz, Lowen Morrow (Texas Premiere)
Ghost Boy
Director: Rodney Ascher, Producers: Elika Portnoy, Ryan Bartecki, Gary Levinsohn, Billy Hines
Martin Pistorius slipped into a coma at the age of 12. Three years later he woke up but was unable to communicate and no-one realized he was fully aware. This is the true story of his remarkable journey back to life. (World Premiere)
The Infinite Husk
Director/Screenwriter: Aaron Silverstein, Producers: Aaron Silverstein, Mitchel McKenzie, Christine Sohail
An alien consciousness, sent to Earth to spy on one of its own kind, learns what it means to be human. Cast: Peace Ikediuba, Foreste Jean Feely, Circus-Szalewski, Michael Jon Murphy, Geena Alexandra, Gary Lee Reed, William Thomas Jones, Smaran Harihar, Jyl Haruye Kaneshiro (World Premiere)
Night Fight
Director: Khary Saeed Jones, Producers: Khary Saeed Jones, Kendra T. Field
It’s been seven years since I was followed by a vigilante down back roads in rural Canada. Night Fight explores the secret life spawned by the encounter and the impossible task of sharing this experience with my young son. (World Premiere)
Odyssey (United Kingdom)
Director: Gerard Johnson, Producers: John Jencks, Isabel Freer, Matthew James Wilkinson, Patrick Tolan, Screenwriters: Gerard Johnson, Austin Collings
Natasha Flynn is an estate agent on a mission—and she’s going to make a killing. Cast: Polly Maberly, Mikael Persbrandt, Jasmine Blackborow, Guy Burnet, Ryan Hayes, Charley Palmer Rothwell, Kellie Shirley (World Premiere)
We Are Storror
Director: Michael Bay, Producers: Michael Bay, Angus Wall, Paris Kassidokostas-Latsis, Terry Dougas
A thrilling, emotional parkour odyssey chronicling the 7 childhood friends who escalated and came to define this extreme sport; The dizzying rise, tragic setbacks and inseparable brotherhood captured firsthand while in pursuit of the ultimate stunt. (World Premiere)
Your Higher Self (Canada)
Director/Screenwriter: Annie St-Pierre, Producer: Audrey-Ann Dupuis-Pierre
Part sympathetic portrait and part exposé of the absurd, Your Higher Self dives into the world of life coaching – a modern phenomenon in full swing – embodying the quest of our individualistic society: to be oneself, only better. (International Premiere)
24 BEATS PER SECOND
Vibrant films showcasing the sounds, culture and influence of music and musicians.
42nd Street (Dominican Republic)
Director/Producer: José María Cabral, Screenwriters: José María Cabral, Miguel Yarul
A sensory dive into the lives of dancers and artists hungry for fame, clashing with police tactics and unorthodox views. 42nd Street unveils a defiant counter-culture in the Dominican urban scene—all unfolding on a bold, unrelenting 600-meter 42nd street. Featuring Demetal, Natasha Dancer, Maco Boba, Ricardo La Música (World Premiere)
Boxcutter (Canada)
Director: Reza Dahya, Producers: Soko Negash, Reza Dahya, Screenwriter: Chris Cromie
After his laptop is stolen, an aspiring rapper goes on a quest across the gentrifying streets of Toronto to recover his music in time for the event that could change his life – a meeting with a Grammy Award winning producer. Cast: Ashton James, Zoe Lewis, Viphusan Vani (International Premiere)
Brother Verses Brother
Director: Ari Gold, Producers: Michelle Stratton, Starr Sutherland, Screenwriters: Ari Gold, Ethan Gold, Lara Louise, Brian Bell, Herbert Gold, Tongo Eisen-Martin, John Flanigan
A radically personal one-shot musical odyssey about combative twin musicians hunting the streets of San Francisco for their dying poet father. Cast: Ari Gold, Ethan Gold, Lara Louise, Brian Bell, Herbert Gold, Tongo Eisen-Martin, John Flanigan (World Premiere)
Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt
Director/Screenwriter: Tom J Stern, Producers: Derrick Rossi, Neil Fellah
Five years in the making, this is the definitive documentary about Austin music legends The Butthole Surfers. Featuring Gibby Haynes, Paul Leary, King Coffee, Teresa Taylor, Richard Linklater, Flea, Dave Grohl, Henry Rollins, Ice T (World Premiere)
Forever We Are Young
Directors: Grace Lee, Patty Ahn, Producers: Eurie Chung, Nora Chute
Forever We Are Young delves into the heart, soul, and surprising evolution of one of the most passionate and complex global fandoms in pop music history: BTS ARMY. (World Premiere)
La Salsa Vive (Colombia)
Director/Screenwriter: Juan Carvajal, Producers: Diego Ramirez, Kevin Lopez, Juan Carvajal
La Salsa Vive is a vibrant cinematic exploration of Afro-Cuban music’s history, tracing its roots from New York’s lively streets to Cali, Colombia, now the global salsa capital. Featuring Rubén Blades, Henry Fiol, Willie Rosario, Angel Lebron, Johnny Rodriguez, Luis Eduardo Mulato, Samuel Formell, Francia Elena, Yuleissy Montano, Kevin Santiago Quiñones (World Premiere)
The Makings of Curtis Mayfield
Director: H.E.R., Producers: Peter Afterman, Mari Keiko Gonzalez, Sarah Haber
The Makings of Curtis Mayfield, directed by and featuring Grammy Award winning musical artist and actor, H.E.R., explores the legacy and deep musical and cultural influence of singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, and entrepreneur Curtis Mayfield. Featuring Curtis Mayfield, H.E.R., Dr. Dre, Mary J Blige, John Legend, Lena Waithe, Stephen Marley, Maxwell, Tom Morello, Ernie Isley (World Premiere)
Selena y Los Dinos
Director: Isabel Castro, Producers: Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, J. Daniel Torres, David Blackman, Simran A. Singh
Selena y Los Dinos explores the life and legacy of Selena Quintanilla, the Queen of Tejano music. Through archival footage and interviews, the film highlights her rise to stardom and her family’s commitment to preserving her enduring impact. (Texas Premiere)
GLOBAL
Artful international films, featuring premieres, festival favorites, and more.
Corina (Mexico)
Director: Urzula Barba Hopfner, Producers: Carlos Hernández, Iván López- Barba, Urzula Barba, Screenwriters: Urzula Barba, Samuel Sosa
Corina suffers from agoraphobia due to a traumatic event from her childhood. Everything will have to change if she wants to save her job. Cast: Naian González Norvind, Cristo Fernández, Carolina Politi, Mariana Gimenez, Laura de Ita, Gerardo Trejoluna (North American Premiere)
Fury (Spain)
Director: Gemma Blasco, Producer: Mireia Graell Vivancos, Screenwriters: Gemma Blasco, Eva Pauné
After being raped on New Year’s Eve, Alex seeks refuge in her brother. But consumed by rage, he follows an increasingly dark path. His reaction pushes them apart, and she channels her pain through theater, embodying the vengeful character of Medea. Cast: Ángela Cervantes, Àlex Monner, Carla Linares, Eli Iranzo, Salim Daprincee, Pau Escobar, Victoria Rivero (World Premiere)
Glorious Summer (Poland)
Directors/Screenwriters: Helena Ganjalyan, Bartosz Szpak, Producers: Maria Gołoś, Monika Matuszewska
A sun-drenched renaissance palace. Three women remain in a carefree state of limbo, tended to by an unseen, all-providing system. But as cracks in the paradise begin to appear, they are faced with a choice: escape or remain in the perfect illusion? Cast: Magdalena Fejdasz, Helena Ganjalyan, Daniela Komędera, Weronika Humaj (World Premiere)
Real Faces (Belgium)
Director: Leni Huyghe, Producer: Elisa Heene, Screenwriters: Leni Huyghe, Vincent Vanneste
Julia, an ambitious casting agent, relocates to Brussels. Struggling to build a new life, she masks her insecurities behind a façade of success. She meets microbiologist Eliott and forms an authentic friendship that inspires her to break free. Cast: Leonie Buysse, Gorges Ocloo, Joely Mbundu, Yoann Blanc, Karlijn Sileghem (World Premiere)
Trans Memoria (Sweden)
Director/Screenwriter: Victoria Verseau, Producers: Malin Hüber, Mathilde Raczymow
In an exploration of self-discovery, Victoria, Athena and Aamina navigate womanhood through loss and introspection, weaving past regrets and future aspirations in a poetic documentation of embracing true selves. (U.S. Premiere)
FESTIVAL FAVORITE
Acclaimed standouts from festivals around the world.
The Ballad of Wallis Island (United Kingdom)
Director: James Griffiths, Producer: Rupert Majendie, Screenwriters: Tom Basden, Tim Key
An eccentric lottery winner lives alone on a remote island and dreams of getting his favorite musicians back together. Fantasy quickly turns into reality when the bandmates and former lovers accept his invitation to play a private show. Cast: Tom Basden, Tim Key, Sian Clifford, Akemnji Ndifornyen, Carey Mulligan (Texas Premiere)
Friendship
Director/Screenwriter: Andrew DeYoung, Producers: Raphael Margules, J.D. Lifshitz, Nick Weidenfeld, Johnny Holland
Suburban dad Craig has his life turned upside down by the arrival of a new neighbor. As Craig’s attempts to make a friend spiral out of control, their blossoming relationship threatens to ruin both of their lives. Cast: Tim Robinson, Paul Rudd, Kate Mara, Jack Dylan Grazer (U.S. Premiere)
The Perfect Neighbor
Director: Geeta Gandbhir, Producers: Geeta Gandbhir, Nikon Kwantu, Alisa Payne, Sam Bisbee
In June 2023, Ajike Owens, a vibrant, Black mother of four and a family friend, was killed by her neighbor, Susan Lorincz. The Perfect Neighbor unravels the chilling escalation from a minor dispute to a murder. (Texas Premiere)
The Surfer (Australia, Ireland)
Director: Lorcan Finnegan, Producers: Leonora Darby, James Harris, Robert Connolly, James Grandison, Brunella Cocchiglia, Nicolas Cage, Nathan Klingher, Screenwriter: Thomas Martin
A man returns to the idyllic beach of his childhood to surf with his son, but is humiliated by a group of powerful locals and drawn into a conflict that rises with the punishing heat of the summer and pushes him right to his breaking point. Cast: Nicolas Cage, Julian McMahon, Nic Cassim, Alexander Bertrand, Justin Rosniak, Finn Little (North American Premiere)
Touch Me
Director/Screenwriter: Addison Heimann, Producers: John Humber, David Lawson Jr., Addison Heimann
Touch Me is a story about two codependent best friends who become addicted to the heroin-like touch of an alien narcissist who may or may not be trying to take over the world. Cast: Olivia Taylor Dudley, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jordan Gavaris, Marlene Forte, Paget Brewster, JJ Philips, Yumarie Morales, Ashley Lauren Nedd, Eli Lucas (Texas Premiere)
Zodiac Killer Project (U.S., United Kingdom)
Director: Charlie Shackleton, Producers: Charlie Shackleton, Catherine Bray, Anthony Ing
Having tried and failed to make a true crime documentary, filmmaker Charlie Shackleton walks the viewer through what could have been. (Texas Premiere)
TV PROGRAM
TV PREMIERE
World premieres of prestige TV series premieres from acclaimed showrunners and directors.
#1 Happy Family USA
Showrunners: Ramy Youssef, Pam Brady, Directors: Griffith Kimmins, Hannah Ayoubi, Maaike Maliwanag Scherff, Producers: Ramy Youssef, Pam Brady, Andy Campagna, Mona Chalabi, Josh Rabinowitz, Ravi Nandan, Hallie Sekoff, Alli Reich, Screenwriters: Ramy Youssef, Pam Brady, Josh Rabinowitz, Theresa Mulligan Rosenthal
#1 Happy Family USA follows the Husseins – the most patriotic, most peaceful, and most definitely-not-suspicious Muslim family in post-9/11 “Amreeka” as they navigate the early 2000s under the watchful eyes of their terrified neighbors. Cast: Ramy Youssef, Mandy Moore, Chris Redd, Alia Shawkat, Kieran Culkin, Akaash Singh, Salma Hindy, Whitmer Thomas, Randa Jarrar (World Premiere)
Government Cheese
Showrunners/Screenwriters: Paul Hunter, Aeysha Carr, Director: Paul Hunter, Producers: Paul Hunter, Aeysha Carr, David Oyelowo, Charles D. King, Jelani Johnson, Ali Brown
Government Cheese is a seemingly surrealist family comedy set in 1969 San Fernando Valley that tells the story of the Chambers, a quirky family pursuing lofty and impossible dreams, beautifully unfettered by the realities of the world. Cast: David Oyelowo, Simone Missick, Jahi Di’Allo Winston, Evan Ellison, Bokeem Woodbine (World Premiere)
Happy Face
Showrunner/Screenwriter: Jennifer Cacicio, Director: Michael Showalter, Producers: Jennifer Cacicio, Robert King, Michelle King, Liz Glotzer, Melissa Moore, Conal Byrne, Will Pearson, Michael Showalter, Jordana Mollick=
Inspired by a true-life story, Happy Face tells the story of Melissa Reed, daughter of Keith Jesperson, aka the Happy Face Killer. Cast: Annaleigh Ashford, Dennis Quaid, James Wolk, Tamera Tomakili, Khiyla Aynne, Benjamin Mackey (World Premiere)
Spy High
Director: Jody McVeigh-Schultz, Producers: Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Archie Gips, Aliza Rosen, Jody McVeigh-Schultz, David Wendell
When 15-year-old Blake Robbins was accused of selling drugs, he filed a lawsuit alleging that his prestigious high school was spying on him. This fed a wild scandal with revelations that echo in the war over digital privacy in schools today. (World Premiere)
The Studio
Showrunners/Directors/Screenwriters: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Producers: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Alex Gregory, Peter Heck, Alex McAtee, Josh Fagen
In The Studio, Seth Rogen stars as Matt Remick, the newly appointed head of embattled Continental Studios. As movies struggle to stay alive and relevant, Matt and his core team of infighting executives battle their insecurities as they wrangle narcissistic artists and craven corporate overlords in the ever-elusive pursuit of making great films. Cast: Seth Rogen, Catherine O’Hara, Ike Barinholtz, Chase Sui Wonders, Katheryn Hahn (World Premiere)
TV SPOTLIGHT
World premieres of new seasons of acclaimed shows and exciting series episodes.
Dates in Real Life (Norway)
Showrunner/Director/Screenwriter: Jakob Rørvik, Producers: Petter Onstad Løkke, Synnøve Hørsdal
Ida spends most of her life online. When her boyfriend Marvin, whom she’s never met in person, announces he’s dating another woman in real life, her world collapses. Ida sets out on a quest to find her own physical partner. Cast: Gina Bernhoft Gørvell, Jacques Colimon, Mathias Luppichini, Heidi Goldmann, Amund Sigurdssønn, Ifeoma Anene, Alexandra Vuillot, Ken Yamamura, Nikis Theophilakis
Dui Shaw (Bangladesh)
Showrunner/Director: Nuhash Humayun, Producer: Redoan Rony, Screenwriters: Nuhash Humayun, Gultekin Khan
After desecrating a sacred temple, some hooligans must face the supernatural consequences of their hate crime. Dui Shaw takes the dark side of contemporary South Asia and gives it a supernatural spin. Cast: Allen Shubhro, Rizvi Rizu, Refat Hasan Saykat, Abdullah Sentu, Rafayatullah Sohan, Faiza Rahman Noon, Sahana Rahman Sumi, Mizanur Rahman, Mehmud Siddique, Yashrib Habib
Mix Tape (Canada, Australia, Finland, Ireland)
Showrunner/Screenwriter: Jo Spain, Director: Lucy Gaffy
In Sheffield, 1989, teens Daniel and Alison meet at a house party, and bond over their love for music. The relationship they forge that night will follow them forever, and leave them wondering what could have been. Twenty years later, they reconnect. Cast: Jim Sturgess, Teresa Palmer, Florence Hunt, Rory Walton-Smith (World Premiere)
Push (Germany)
Showrunner: Luisa Hardenberg, Directors: Katja Benrath, Mia Maariel Meyer, Producer: Marie-Therese Dalke, Screenwriter: Luisa Hardenberg
Push revolves around the daily challenges of three midwives working in a hospital in Berlin. They need to be nothing less than nurses, social workers and psychologists at the same time. Cast: Mariam Hage, Anna Schudt, Lydia Lehmann
INDEPENDENT TV PILOT COMPETITION
Discover new pilots from indie talent.
Bulldozer
Showrunner/Screenwriter: Joanna Leeds, Director: Andrew Leeds, Producers: Joanna Leeds, Andrew Leeds, Rhett Reese, Caleb Reese, Michael Day
Bulldozer is a comedy about a lovable, under-medicated, chronically impassioned young woman who lurches from crisis to crisis of her own making. Cast: Joanna Leeds, Mary Steenburgen, Nat Faxon, Harvey Guillen, Allen Leech, Kate Burton, Chris “CP” Powell, Tim Bagley, Adargiza De Los Santos, Andrew Friedman, Nick Armstrong (Texas Premiere)
Cigarettes
Director/Screenwriter: Sarah Mokh, Producers: Elaine Tunnat, Amanda Pinto
When Nora finds Ali bumming cigarettes outside a gas station, she skips school on her college decision day to help him settle a debt. Cast: Laith Nakli, Nada Shehata, Ramon Nunez, Patrick Boyle (US Premiere)
Denim
Showrunner/Director/Producer: Tedra Wilson
Denim is a fantastical doc series illuminating the brilliant minds of LGBTQIA+ creatives who showcase how they use their art as a form of self discovery. (World Premiere)
F*ckUps Anonymous
Showrunner/Screenwriter: Joe Tierney, Director: Kat Whalen, Producers: Joe Tierney, Nicole Kay Payson, Colin McCarthy
A rebellious teenager is sent to a therapeutic boarding school with controversial methods where the treatment of a fellow classmate on his first day makes the consequences of his actions frighteningly clear. Cast: Sarah Jeffery, Andrew Michael Fama, Debbie Campbell, Lexi Simonsen, Bob Gallagher, Marvin St-Jean, Stephen Gray, Timothy Griffin Allan (World Premiere)
Mr. Corruption
Showrunners/Screenwriters: Simeon Hu, Stephen Law, Director: Simeon Hu, Producers: Elliot Gong, Wendi Tang, Philip Ge
A corrupt Chinese businessman on the run teams up with his estranged son, in order to find his hidden money in Southern California to ensure their safety. Cast: Bruce “Kaze” Wang, Zhang Wang, Tiger Sheu, Scott Williams, Terrance Wentz, Ross Turner (World Premiere)
R&R
Director/Screenwriter/Producer: JJ Herz
Co-dependent twins Robbie (a responsible, hopeless romantic with Down syndrome) and Rachel (a raunchy, gay mess) tackle a chaotic, yet typical day in their lives. Cast: Kevin Iannucci, JJ Herz (World Premiere)
Stars Diner
Directors: Fidel Ruiz-Healy, Tyler Walker, Producers/Screenwriters: Mary Neely, Fidel Ruiz-Healy, Tyler Walker
Stars Diner isn’t the best choice for a quick steak & eggs. Run by ex-party girl Wendy, unhinged chef Milius, and odd busboy Willard, this Fresno greasy spoon must overcome unpaid bills and a once-in-a-lifetime volcanic eruption. Cast: Mary Neely, DeMorge Brown, Henri Cash, Cole Hersch, Chris Thayer, Natalie Palamides (World Premiere)
SHORT PROGRAM
NARRATIVE SHORT COMPETITION
Exceptional storytelling that captivates, surprises, and excites.
24 Hours After Reading Tuesdays with Morrie
Director/Screenwriter: Scott Tinkham, Producers: Michael Woloson, Scott Tinkham
A guy has an existential awakening after reading the hit book Tuesdays with Morrie. (World Premiere)
Baba I’m Fine
Director/Screenwriter: Karina Dandashi, Producers: Stephen Turselli, Dan Duthie
A teen navigates heartbreak through social media while spending Friday out with her father. (World Premiere)
Ben’s Sister
Director/Screenwriter: Emma Weinswig, Producers: Will Noyce, Emma Weinswig, Shane Bagwell, Chelsea Eisen
Ben, a charismatic f**kboy, must wrestle with his own toxic masculine tendencies when his Freshman sister becomes a pawn in his friend’s scheme to win their high school Senior Scavenger Hunt. (World Premiere)
Brief Somebodies (Canada)
Director/Screenwriter: Andy Reid, Producer: Alessandra Sconza
While rehearsing a sexual assault scene, a pair of actors form a connection they’ll be forced to reconfigure once filming begins. (World Premiere)
Entre Tormentas
Director/Screenwriter: Fran Zayas, Producers: José Vélez, Fran Zayas, Surhail Navarro
After a hurricane ravaged his hometown, a grieving man breaks into an off-limits cemetery to rescue the lost remains of his brother in order to, alongside his mother, give him a proper burial. (World Premiere)
Grandma’s Four Color Cards (Vietnam)
Director: Sally Tran, Producers: Ngân Lê, Kiều Vy
From her tiny home in Saigon’s bustling District 4, 101-year-old Ngoai runs an underground card game. With her loyal cat and the kindness of her neighbors, she faces poverty with unwavering resilience and quiet strength. (World Premiere)
How Was Your Weekend?
Director/Screenwriter: Cam Banfield, Producers: Greg Cohen, Lucas Ford
A corporate employee finds himself in a fight to survive Monday morning after breaking the most sacred of office rules: If you don’t have a good weekend, we can’t have a good week. (World Premiere)
I’m The Most Racist Person I Know (Australia)
Director/Screenwriter: Leela Varghese, Producer: Suriyna Sivashanker
When Lali unexpectedly ends up on a date with another woman of color for the first time, it unravels prejudices she has long ignored. (World Premiere)
Max Distance
Director/Screenwriter: Marissa Goldman, Producers: Rachel Moss, Jack Fatheree
Stuck in endless droning Zoom meetings, a programmer daydreams about the stranger next door—until she finally gets a chance at love. (World Premiere)
Nervous Energy
Director/Screenwriter: Eve Liu, Producers: Gregory Barnes, Elias Putnam, Alex Bendo
On the cusp of success/failure, two unhinged female filmmakers decide to break up with their boyfriends and for once, make a bold decision with their lives. (World Premiere)
Night Bloom
Director/Screenwriter: Tiye Amenechi, Producers: Satchel Lee, Cameron Debe
Riddled with insomnia and restlessness, a father and daughter duo go on a late night joyride through the streets of New York City during the height of the pandemic. (World Premiere)
One Day This Kid (Canada)
Director/Screenwriter: Alexander Farah, Producer: Joaquin Cardoner
One day this kid will feel something stir in his heart and throat and mouth. One day this kid will reach a point where he senses a division that isn’t mathematical. One day this kid will talk. (Texas Premiere)
Out for Delivery
Director/Screenwriter: Chelsea Christer, Producers: Clinton Trucks, Alexa Rocero, David B. Lyons
When terminally ill Joanna makes the difficult decision to pursue end of life options through the Death With Dignity law, the systems set up to make her death peaceful and dignified become the opposite. (Texas Premiere)
The Sentry (U.S., Cambodia)
Director/Screenwriter: Jake Wachtel, Producers: Visal Sok, Alan Milligan, Jake Wachtel
On assignment in Cambodia, a suave superspy has a haunting encounter with a garrulous guard and must come to terms with the damage he’s inflicted on the local community. (World Premiere)
The Singers
Director: Sam Davis, Producers: Jack Piatt, David Breschel, Charlie Cohen
An impromptu sing-off will decide the best singer in the bar tonight. (World Premiere)
Strangers in the Same Shirt
Director/Screenwriter: Anthon Chase Johnson, Producers: Lauralee Gonzalez, Andrew Scott James, Clay Connor Dean
Estranged siblings reluctantly reunite at their father’s third wedding, where unresolved tensions flare. As they confront relationship and familial discord, an unexpected act of compassion offers the siblings a new hope for their relationship. (World Premiere)
Synthesize Me (U.S., Netherlands)
Director/Screenwriter: Bear Damen, Producers: Salim El Arja, Po Wei Su
In 1989 a young teenager finds a way to bring her mother’s synthesizers back to life with disastrous consequences for her and her father. (World Premiere)
Unholy
Director/Screenwriter: Daisy Friedman, Producers: Arielle Friedman, Isaak Popkin, Camila Grimaldi
A girl with a gastrointestinal disorder attends her family’s Passover Seder for the first time since being put on a feeding tube. There, she’s confronted by pushy family members, malfunctioning medical devices, and a room of food she can’t eat. (Texas Premiere)
WassupKaylee (U.S., France)
Director: Pepi Ginsberg, Producers: Stéphane Marchal, Nelson Ghrénassia, Karen Madar, Pepi Ginsberg
Kaylee Hord, a 17-year-old prank video influencer, is the newest member of a popular TikTok content house where she struggles to fit in and pay the rent. (World Premiere)
Yú Cì (Fish Bones)
Director/Screenwriter: Kevin Xian Ming Yu, Producers: Shayan Ajmal Farooq, Camila Grimaldi, Kevin Xian Ming Yu
Bowen, a nonbinary Asian-American from Queens, tries to connect with their estranged father and help him deal with a poisonous fish bite. (World Premiere)
DOCUMENTARY SHORT COMPETITION
Authentic storytelling that captivates, surprises, and excites.
Armed only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
Directors: Brent Renaud, Craig Renaud, Producers: Juan Arredondo, Jon Alpert, Christof Putzel, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Tina Nguyen, Jeff Newton, Mami Kuwano Renaud, Naomi Mizoguchi, Tami Alpert
An intimate film about documentary filmmaker Brent Renaud, the first American journalist killed in Ukraine. Brent captured many wars from the front lines but cared most about the people caught in the middle. He used his camera to fight for peace. (World Premiere)
Camp Widow
Directors/Producers: Laura Green, Anna Moot-Levin
An immersion into a weekend gathering of “widows” (people of all ages, genders, and sexual orientations), this unexpected re-writing of the story of what it is to be a “widow” is by turns devastating and unexpectedly funny. (World Premiere)
Exodus
Director: Nimco Sheikhaden, Producers: Nimco Sheikhaden, Sara Chishti
Exodus is an intimate portrait of two women who face unique challenges following decades of incarceration. The film bears witness to their impassioned attempts to rebuild their lives and ultimately restore their humanity. (World Premiere)
The Goldfish Club
Director/Producer: Max Henderson
A traumatic event at an air display festival in England haunts the minds of the wingwalkers and the airplane pilot involved. (World Premiere)
The Long Valley
Directors/Producers: Robert Machoian, Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck
The film is a meditation on the difficulty of accepting reality, while finding room to dream. It documents the people and landscape of the Salinas Valley, one of the most productive agricultural regions in California. (Texas Premiere)
Looking for a Donkey (Mexico, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela)
Director/Screenwriter: Juan Vicente Manrique, Producers: Juan Vicente Manrique, María Benítez
In a small town in the Venezuelan Andes, two firefighters were taken to prison for recording a video of a donkey. After almost six years, little is known about the donkey’s whereabouts. (U.S. Premiere)
Murewa (United Kingdom)
Director: Ché Scott-Heron Newton, Producer: Matt Houghton
What if you had a second chance at a childhood friendship? (World Premiere)
Shanti Rides Shotgun
Director: Charles Frank, Producers: Daniel Lombroso, Meliz Yilmaz
On Manhattan’s jam-packed streets, NYC’s most iconic driving instructor prepares students for the road ahead. (World Premiere)
Tiger
Director/Screenwriter: Loren Waters, Producers: Dana Tiger, Loren Waters
Tiger highlights an Indigenous award-winning, internationally acclaimed artist and elder, Dana Tiger, her family, and the resurgence of the iconic Tiger t-shirt company. (Texas Premiere)
We Beg To Differ (Ireland, United Kingdom)
Director: Ruairi Bradley, Producers: Thomas Purdy, Ruairi Bradley
In the underground world of diffing, a subculture of car enthusiasts in the North of Ireland finds an outlet for their personal struggles amidst a mental health crisis. (North American Premiere)
Welcome Home Freckles (United Kingdom)
Director/Producer: Huiju Park
After four years apart, a daughter returns home to confront the unresolved family conflicts and deep-rooted domestic violence that plagued her childhood. She discovers the generational cycle of abuse and realizes that only she can break it. (World Premiere)
ANIMATED SHORT COMPETITION
A whirlwind tour of hand drawn, stop-motion, and digital revelries.
Baggage (Australia, United Kingdom)
Director/Screenwriter: Lucy Davidson, Producers: Vanessa Batten, Amy Upchurch
Anthropomorphic suitcase best friends bring their emotional baggage on holidays. (International Premiere)
Detlev (Germany)
Director/Screenwriter: Ferdinand Ehrhardt, Producers: Saskia Stirn, Ferdinand Ehrhardt
Detlev doesn’t have a problem. Why should he have a problem? He’s obviously doing great. (North American Premiere)
The Dream Machine
Director/Screenwriter: Jimmy Marble, Producers: Jett Steiger, Lana Kim, Thomas Grabinski
After the death of her beloved husband, a grieving widow chooses to participate in a program called The Dream Machine, a technology that renders our deepest fantasies a reality. (World Premiere)
Hurikán (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czechia, France, Slovakia)
Director: Jan Saska, Screenwriters: Jan Saska, Václav Hašek, Producers: Kamila Dohnalová, Martin Vandas, Alena Vandasová, Antoine Liétout, Ivan Zuber, Juraj Krasnohorský, Mladen Đukić
A deep-fried romance from Prague. (Texas Premiere)
Mambo No.2 (Germany)
Director/Screenwriter: Anne Feldmeier, Producer: Sebastian Herbst
Betti’s date with Tom seems perfect—until her bowels stage a rebellion, turning the evening into a battle against her own body. (North American Premiere)
Mine!
Director/Producer: Lou Morton
Set in the early 20th century Midwest USA, deep underground a group of coal miners make an incredible discovery. (World Premiere)
My Wonderful Life (Singapore)
Director/Screenwriter: Calleen Koh, Producers: Tan Si En, Joel Neo, Daryl Cheong
Grace Lee, an overworked mom in Singapore, collapses at work. She gets admitted into the hospital, where she finds newfound freedom as a patient. (U.S. Premiere)
Retirement Plan (Ireland)
Director: John Kelly, Screenwriters: John Kelly, Tara Lawall, Producers: Julie Murnaghan, Andrew Freedman
At apathy with his life, Ray dreams of the beauty and joy he will find in retirement. (International Premiere)
S The Wolf (France)
Director: Sameh Alaa, Producer: Avantika Singh Desbouvries
A man recounts his capillary peregrinations from adolescence until now – from the barber’s trauma to his first love to the loss of his hair and eventually of the most important person in his life. (World Premiere)
TV or The Disturbance on Forest Hill Road (Switzerland)
Director/Screenwriter: Frederic Siegel, Producers: Marwan Abdalla Eissa, Fela Bellotto
A police patrol is involuntarily drawn into a vortex of fictional worlds, triggered by the intense TV consumption of a little boy. (World Premiere)
Words of Her (U.S., China)
Director/Screenwriter: Charlene Xu
“That woman” comes to her city for a short stay, bringing her the rain season from home. Inexplicable sensations torment her mind and body like mold, so she sinks into the reeds that grow out of the wounds on her finger. (North American Premiere)
MIDNIGHT SHORT COMPETITION
Indulge your cravings for horror, gore, and dark comedy.
The Beguiling
Director/Screenwriter: ishkwaazhe Shane McSauby, Producers: Savannah Romero, Frisly Soberanis, Fran Zayas, Génesis Mancheren Ab’äj
What seems to be a burgeoning romance between two Indigenous people takes a sinister turn as one grows suspicious of the other’s Indigenous heritage. When confronted, deceit turns their romantic evening into a darkly comedic nightmare. (US Premiere)
Familiar (France)
Director/Screenwriter: Marco Novoa, Producers: Clémence Crépin Neel, Igor Courtecuisse
Steve is kicked out by his parents, who do not accept his homosexuality. Caroline, on the other hand, is struggling to mourn her motherhood as she accompanies Youri on tour. (North American Premiere)
Last Call (U.S., Australia, Hong Kong)
Director: Winnie Cheung, Screenwriters: Andujar Twins, Winnie Cheung, Producers: Weston Auburn, Travis Wood, Celia Au, Amanda Kreuger
A motorcycle rebel spirals deeper into her erotic hallucinations to escape the grip of a sultry serpent woman. (World Premiere)
Lurk
Directors: Mairin Hart, Josh Wallace Kerrigan, Screenwriter: Josh Wallace Kerrigan, Producers: Mairin Hart, Josh Wallace Kerrigan, Devin Das, Greg Cohen, John Nodorft
A man is awoken late at night by an unexpected visitor who won’t seem to leave him alone. (World Premiere)
Stomach Bug (United Kingdom)
Director/Screenwriter: Matty Crawford, Producer: Karima Sammout-Kanellopoulou
A single Father’s empty nest syndrome begins to manifest as an unsettling physical condition. (U.S. Premiere)
Video Barn
Director: Bianca Poletti, Screenwriter: Allison Goldfarb, Producer: Stine Moisen
Two outcasts who work at a small town’s local video store must solve the mysteries of the town’s dark past when one of them goes missing. Will Hannah find her way to Jules or will she, too, become just another flickering image on the screen? (World Premiere)
Whitch
Director/Screenwriter: Hoku Uchiyama, Producer: Kelly King
After putting her daughter to bed, Aura discovers an intruder in her house: an elderly lady who acts strangely familiar, and is hell-bent on performing a bloody ritual before midnight. (World Premiere)
TEXAS SHORT COMPETITION
Vibrant work filmed in, inspired by, or connected to the Lone Star State.
An Ongoing List of Things Found in the Library Book Drop, Usually Being Used as Bookmarks
Director/Screenwriter: Kayla Abuda Galang, Producers: Preston Lee, Alifya Ali, Samantha Skinner
Library worker Daniel catalogs an assortment of forgotten objects left in returned books. (World Premiere)
Good Time Charlie
Director: David Black, Screenwriter: Natalia Leite, Producers: Kari Dexter, Russ Lemkin
Charlie, a washed-up country rocker turned real estate agent, clings to his dreams of stardom in the high desert. When a visit to an abandoned homestead leaves him bitten and bewildered, he is forced to confront the reality of his dreams. (World Premiere)
Harvester
Director/Screenwriter: Charlie Schwan, Producers: Micah Schultz, Ryan Kerr, Charlie Schwan
A woman forms a pact with a dark entity in exchange for a glimpse into her tormented past. (World Premiere)
Neuro
Director/Screenwriter: Wes Ellis, Producers: Shane Greb, Learda Shkurti, Wes Ellis
In the 1970s and after a traumatic event on their honeymoon, a couple visit an experimental, and borderline unethical memory research facility called Neuro to hopefully heal their marriage. (World Premiere)
Newbies
Directors/Screenwriters: Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence, Megan Trufant Tillman, Producers: Stephanie Roush, Melissa Louis-Jacques
Two broken strangers wrestling with their queer identities meet on the subway just after midnight. A poignant, poetic journey through the past few hours of their night reveals how they got here, and what broke them. (World Premiere)
Randy As Himself
Director/Screenwriter: Margaret Miller, Producer: Natalie Metzger
A Hollywood production crew comes to West Texas to recreate the grisly murder of a local woman. Using locals to re-enact the crime, Reality TV meets Reality in this bizarre romantic comedy about the (show) business of murder. (World Premiere)
Red Sands
Director: Romina Cenisio, Screenwriters: Romina Cenisio, Andrea Cruz, Producers: Romina Cenisio, Sean Mattison
In the red hued deserts of West Texas, an intergenerational Mexican-American off-roading community thrives in the border town of El Paso—until a looming danger forces them to confront both their relationship to the land and their shared identity.(World Premiere)
Sweetbriar
Director/Screenwriter: Danny Rivera, Producer: MK Goss
A love letter to mothers that blends scripted and documentary. Sweetbriar features the director’s own mother, Violeta Salazar, as a woman taking great pride in her home as she prepares to host her visiting queer son. (World Premiere)
MUSIC VIDEO COMPETITION
A dynamic mix of creativity and stylish visuals where music and storytelling collide.
A$AP Rocky – ‘Tailor Swif’ / Directors/Screenwriters: Vania Heymann, Gal Muggia
Biji – ‘Zigidi’ (France, Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom) / Director: Maceo Frost, Screenwriters: Maceo Frost, Robin Nazari
Billy Strings – ‘Seven Weeks In County’ / Director/Screenwriter: Bryan Schlam
Carson Coma – ‘Feldobom a Követ’ (Hungary) / Director/Screenwriter: Viktor Horvath
Cera Gibson – ‘Eclipse’ / Director: Alex Vaughn
Foster the People – ‘Lost in Space’ / Director: Rupert Höller
French Cassettes – ‘White Noise’ / Director: Syra McCarthy
Hana Vu – ‘Care’ / Director: Maegan Houang
Jeremy Pope – ‘U, Lost + What I Gotta Do’ / Director: C Prinz, Screenwriter: Jeremy Pope
Khruangbin – ‘May Ninth’ / Directors: Jenny Lucia Mascia, Jeremy Higgins, Screenwriters: Nathaniel Murphy, Jeremy Higgins, Jenny Lucia Mascia
Laboratorios Moreno – ‘Sonidos del Bosque’ (Mexico) / Director/Screenwriter: Alejandro Espinosa
Nubiyan Twist ft Nile Rodgers – ‘Lights Out’ (France, United Kingdom) / Director: Alice Bibette
Only Twin – ‘Give You Up’ / Directors: Josh Martin, Ryan McNeeley, Screenwriters: Thomas Dutton, Josh Martin
Red Clay Strays – ‘Wanna Be Loved’ / Director/Screenwriter: Kimberly Stuckwisch
RM – ‘Lost!’ (U.S., United Kingdom) / Director: Aube Perrie
Sabrina Carpenter – ‘Please Please Please’ / Director: Bardia Zeinali
Sarah Klang – ‘Other Girls’ (Sweden) / Directors: Rose Bush, Kirsten Bode
Sleater-Kinney – ‘Say It Like You Mean It’ / Director: Carrie Brownstein
XR EXPERIENCE
The immersive arts enhance and redefine how we experience the world. These projects emphasize ingenuity and storytelling across diverse industries.
XR Experience Competition
World premieres of mind bending immersive art.
1906 Atlanta Race Massacre
Director: Nonny de la Peña, Producers: Nonny de la Peña, Dan Brower, Screenwriters: Nonny de la Peña, Retha Hill, Alton Glass
Through the contemporaneous writings of magazine editor Jesse Max Barber, this augmented reality piece tells the true story of the terrible events of September 1906 when a white mob attacked a thriving black community in Atlanta, Georgia. (World Premiere)
Any War Any Enemy
Director/Screenwriter: Lena Herzog, Producers: Lena Herzog, Jonathan Yomayuza
Any War Any Enemy is an anti-war immersive requiem. (World Premiere)
The Choice – Chapters 2 & 3 (Canada, U.S., Poland)
Director/Screenwriter: Joanne Popinska, Producers: Joanne Popinska, Tom C. Hall
Three people, one decision. In a world where choice is often denied, step into a transformative journey of autonomy and resilience. The 2022 SXSW Audience Award winner returns with new episodes, delving into the complexities of abortion decisions. (World Premiere)
Cosmos in Focus (United Kingdom)
Directors: Tom Henchman, Aditi Rajagopal, Producer: Anna Taylor
This immersive journey through the cosmos on Apple Vision Pro brings the beauty captured from the far reaches of the universe by the telescopes Euclid, Hubble and James Webb to your own reachable universe. (World Premiere)
Currents
Director/Screenwriter: Jake Oleson, Producer: Cham Nguyen
A young woman leaves her rural village for Saigon, where the city’s rush forward challenges her ties to the life she left behind. (World Premiere)
Face Jumping
Directors: Danny Cannizzaro, Samantha Gorman, Producers: Yuxin Gao, J Noland, Screenwriter: Samantha Gorman
Face Jumping, an eye-tracked VR experience, invites you to swap perspectives by making eye contact. Leap between minds – from human to animal, object to machine – exploring how seeing and being seen shapes reality, perception, and self. (World Premiere)
Honey Fungus (Ireland)
Director: Jonah King, Producer: Alex Darby
Led by a queer mycelial guide, Honey Fungus takes viewers on a journey of ecological self-discovery through interactive fungal landscapes where science and sensuality collide to reveal Earth’s hidden erotic potential. (World Premiere)
In the Current of Being (U.S., France)
Director: Cameron Kostopoulos, Producers: Cameron Kostopoulos, Katayoun Dibamehr, Avi Amar
In the Current of Being is a haptic immersive experience chronicling the harrowing journey of a survivor of electroshock conversion therapy. (World Premiere)
The Last Practice (U.S., Portugal)
Director: Phil McCarty, Producers: Phil McCarty, David Dong, Nate Sherman, Screenwriters: Phil McCarty, David Dong
The Last Practice is an interactive one-act play which culminates in a musical performance, giving the participant the chance to experience the act of collaborative musical creation, and sample the thrill of performance. (World Premiere)
Proof As If Proof Were Needed (Taiwan, United Kingdom)
Directors: Ting Tong Chang, Matt Adams, Producer: Chun Han Lin, Screenwriter: Uray Chen
Explore an abandoned Taiwanese home in this interactive film installation about the debris of a relationship breakdown. (World Premiere)
Reflections of Little Red Dot (U.S., Germany)
Director/Producer: Chloé Lee
A mixed reality project that animates the artist’s archive of Singaporean voices in 2015, the year of the nation’s 50th birthday. We hear personal stories amidst rapid development and erasure of historical sites. AI projections link past and future. (World Premiere)
The Secret Life of Monsters – The Gateway Experience (Canada)
Director/Screenwriter: Emile Arragon, Producers: JP Desjardins, Jasmine Gervais
In this mixed reality adventure, you are exploring Solum, a parallel world accessed through a station called Gateway. Your mission: gather data on its inhabitants and uncover secrets that could reshape our understanding of reality itself. (World Premiere)
Shelter (Netherlands)
Directors: Sjors Swierstra, Ivanna Khitsinska, Producers: Ivanna Khitsinska, Justin Karten, Screenwriter: Sjors Swierstra
The VR documentary Shelter gives viewers an intimate look at the war in Ukraine. The film immerses them in everyday scenes and invites them to witness moments of shared humanity and reflect on the cost of war. (World Premiere)
Traces: The Grief Processor (Canada)
Director/Screenwriter: Vali Fugulin, Producer: Ziad Touma
Traces: The Grief Processor is a multiuser interactive VR experience that invites you to poetically explore your own grief. In a dreamlike forest, engage with symbolic elements of nature to transform your actions into profound emotional expressions. (World Premiere)
Ways of Knowing: A Navajo Nuclear History
Director: Kayla Briët, Producers: Lovely Umayam, Adriel Luis, Screenwriter: Lovely Umayam
The American Southwest holds a dark legacy as the place where nuclear weapons were invented and built. Navajo people have long held this place sacred, and continue to fight for a future that transcends historical trauma. This is their story. (World Premiere)
XR Experience Spotlight
Masterful immersive art from around the world.
A Number From the Ghost
Director: Peter Adams
An immersive, dreamlike experience that lets players step into a series of interactive music videos. Wander through hallucinatory landscapes in a genre-defying melding of video games, short film, and generative art.
Address Unknown: Fukushima Now (U.S., Taiwan)
Director/Screenwriter: Arif Khan, Producers: Arif Khan, Jamie Line, Keisuke Sekino
Address Unknown: Fukushima Now is an immersive VR documentary that uses photogrammetry and volumetric capture to take audiences to the heart of Fukushima to meet the survivors living in the shadow of the crisis today. (North American Premiere)
All I Know About Teacher Li
Director: Zhuzmo
Countless paper planes filled with censored messages from China float towards you in this interactive VR documentary. Toss them back and feel what it’s like to start an online revolution, like Teacher Li did in 2022. (North American Premiere)
Ancestors (Netherlands)
Director: Steye Hallema, Producer: Shea Elmore, Screenwriters: Steye Hallema, Shea Elmore
Take a selfie and become the great, great grandparent of a human 200 years in the future. Ancestors is an interactive and immersive group experience that will make you profoundly connect with your fellow players and with future generations. (Texas Premiere)
Anouschka (U.S., Netherlands)
Director: Tamara Shogaolu, Producers: Tamara Shogaolu, Riyad Alnwili, Daisy Corbin O’Grady, Screenwriters: Tamara Shogaolu, Elinor Vanderburg, Sandy Bosmans
In Anouschka, an AR adventure, a young teen delves into her grandmother’s memory, uncovering hidden magic in a colorless world. Through family stories and a vibrant neighborhood, she gains confidence and belonging, leading to a transformative quest. (International Premiere)
The Art of Change (U.S., Italy, Netherlands)
Directors/Screenwriters: Simone Fougnier, Vincent Rooijers, Producers: Peter Ariet, Megan Holland
The Art of Change is a VR-animated, multi-sensory journey through time, using tape-recorded voice memos and music to explore pivotal life moments. The project interweaves personal experiences and universal archetypes across virtual environments. (North American Premiere)
Chom5ky vs Chomsky: A Playful Conversation on AI (Canada)
Director/Screenwriter: Sandra Rodriguez, Producers: Marie-Pier Gauthier, Sebastian Huber
Chom5ky vs Chomsky: A playful conversation on AI is an engaging and collaborative VR experience that invites us to reexamine the promises and pitfalls of AI. What exactly are we trying to replicate? What do we fake? And what are we leaving behind? (International Premiere)
EchoVision
Directors: Jiabao Li, Botao Amber Hu, Producer: Jessica Kidd, Elan Tao
A mixed reality experience that invites you into an immersive bat world, where their AI-categorized social vocalizations are reinterpreted as evocative music. Echolocate like a bat by screaming and seeing the world bounce back. (U.S. Premiere)
Fly To You (Korea, Republic of)
Directors/Screenwriters: Youngyun Song, Sngmoo Lee, Producers: Seungmoo Lee, Seungpyo Kang
When young Songjeol yelled, “Don’t come back!” to her cousin, she didn’t know it would be their last moment. Seven decades after fleeing North Korea, her story reveals war’s lasting wounds, with dreams as the only bridge across the divide. (North American Premiere)
Future Botanica (Netherlands)
Director: Marcel van Brakel, Hazal Ertürkan, Producer: Marcel van Brakel
With this international premiere of Future Botanica, POLYMORF presents an AR experience where users can design future nature within speculative ecosystems, by using an app with generative AI systems the user can explore their relationship with nature. (International Premiere)
Just for You Trilogy (Taiwan)
Director/Screenwriter: Craig Quintero, Producer: Suling Yeh
Blurring the boundary between fact and fiction, the Just for You Trilogy immerses the audience in a surreal world of dreams and shadows, fears and desires. It is an invitation to see and be seen, to embrace the unknown. (World Premiere)
Origins – Life’s Epic Journey (Germany)
Director: Markos Kay
Origins is a captivating immersive experience through life’s epic journey – from the universe’s birth to first life. Blending stunning visuals and immersive soundscapes, it will leave audiences in awe of the extraordinary story of our beginnings. (International Premiere)
Oto’s Planet (Canada, France, Luxembourg)
Director/Screenwriter: Gwenael François, Producers: Julien Becker, Nicolas S. Roy, Vincent Guttmann, Voyelle Acker
This VR/MR fable immerses viewers in the tranquil life of Oto and Skippy on their planet, which is disrupted by a spaceship collision. From the wreckage, cosmonaut Exo emerges, and cohabitation between them turns out to be a challenging endeavor.
Resolution: A Cinephonic Rhapsody for the Soul
Directors: Scott Berman, Ryan Hartsell, Producer/Screenwriter: Scott Berman
An immersive cinephonic journey into the hopeful, heartfelt music of Salvage Enterprise by The Polyphonic Spree. Tune out distractions with this uplifting film, and tune in to a deeply human experience that invites you to feel, hope, and be moved. (Austin Premiere)
Sweet! (Netherlands)
Directors: René van Engelenburg, Gijs ten Cate
Step into this immersive and AI driven candy store! Choose your favorite flavor and discover the impact of color on your experience. Uncover the hidden history of sugar and its connections to the illusion of happiness. (World Premiere)
Uncanny Alley: A New Day (South Africa, U.S.)
Directors: Stephen Butchko, Rick Treweek, Producers: Stephen Butchko, Christopher Lane Davis, Whitton Frank, Deirdre V. Lyons, Screenwriter: Stephen Butchko
A cyberpunk computer whiz races against the clock to lead a group of escaped detainees to freedom through a hacked portal before the fascistic corporation that controls the city can erase their memories using experimental Radio Frequency technology. (U.S. Premiere)
