Friday, April 21st, 2023
ALL FILM SCREENINGS ARE HELD AT
TCL CHINESE 6 THEATRES
6925 HOLLYWOOD BLVD.
HOLLYWOOD, CA 90028
TO-DO
Drama (3 min) United States
Directed By: Juan-Arturo Maldonado
Written By: Juan-Arturo Maldonado
Produced By: Juan-Arturo Maldonado
Cast: Josephine Koffend
Synopsis: As a young girl tries to stay on top of her schedule, her routine slowly twists into an obsessive distraction from her problems.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Drama (6 min) United States
Directed By: Jessica Qinyue Luo
Written By: Jessica Qinyue Luo
Produced By: Jessica Qinyue Luo, Qin Qin
Cast: Mai Yang, Steven Morana, Allie Dever
Synopsis: Haunted by a failed audition and her imperfect appearance, a young Asian actress goes down a dangerous path of no return…
PLUTO’S GENDER
Drama (6 min) United States
Directed By: Hsiao-Hsia Huang
Written By: Stoy Ware
Produced By: Hsiao-Hsia Huang
Cast: Jeff Verge, Alyssa Rae
Synopsis: Sophie, A law student visits her brother Gavin as he wraps up his astronomy class. Engaging his sister in the playful arguments that define their relationship, Gavin turns the conversation to Pluto’s Gender. In this, the astronomer reveals that while useful, definitions can be imperfect, whether they refer to planets or people, and when they break down, it’s best to listen to your heart. As Sophie realizes her sibling isn’t talking about planets, Gavin comes out as Gabrielle. Understanding, Sophie embraces her sister’s identity.
SUPER POWERS
Drama (8 min) United States
Directed By: Chase Fritz
Written By: Chase Fritz
Produced By: Chase Fritz, Rovenna Luchi
Cast: Jordan Nichole Wall, Kacie Ellegood, Lori Kall
Synopsis: Emily, a grocery store manager and law student hopeful, has just been told by her younger sister with Down Syndrome that she’s leaving home for good. After working the graveyard shift at her local grocery store, Kate informs her that she’s aware their parents are in prison and can’t trust Emily anymore after keeping this from her. Despite trying to protect Kate from the harsh realities of life, Emily knows now is the time to open up to Kate about why their parents are in prison and how things will change moving forward.
AVALANCHES
Drama (14 min) United States
Directed By: Liz Lian
Written By: Evan Hartney
Produced By: Ian Phillips, Aidan Wheeler
Cast: Ethan Chen, Cole Chisholm, John Charles Martin, Alexandre Chen
Synopsis: When his younger brother joins the team, a high school lacrosse player is forced to confront his coach’s sexual abuse and the institutional pressures stacked against him.
PAPITO
Drama (15 min) United States
Directed By: Ramiro Vargas
Written By: Kaitlyn Fisher
Produced By: Christine DiGioia
Cast: Jose Eduardo Ramos, Elisa de la Roche
Synopsis: Danilo, has a strained relationship with his family. After receiving news of his father’s passing, Danilo returns home for the first time in years and is now faced with the responsibility of being his mother’s sole caregiver. This is no small task as his mother is rapidly losing her memories due to her late staged Alzheimer’s. She and Danilo now face a language barrier and struggle to reconnect. Danilo wonders if he will ever find peace with his family and his past.
DADDY
Drama (20 min) United States
Directed By: Johanna Steinhart
Written By: Johanna Steinhart
Produced By: Claire Holl
Cast: Emily Robinson, Dylan Stretchbery, Thomas W. Ashworth
Synopsis: An aspiring porn star spends the summer of 1980 sleeping with men who pass through her family’s dilapidated desert motel until one fateful summer night, when she’s forced to contend with her father’s darkest secret.
CHAINSAW ARTIST
Documentary (83 min) United States
Directed By: Marco Bottiglieri
Written By:
Produced By: Ashla Soter, Stacy Poitras
Cast: Stacy Poitras, Alison Eastwood, Clint Eastwood, Sam Elliott, Titus Welliver.
Synopsis: After leaving home To pursue his dream of becoming the world’s best chainsaw artist and possibly vying for, not only his father’s approval, but the acknowledgment from the rest of the world, that he actually exists. Stacy ends up being a very successful artist and marries his muse Alison. And when he decides to sculpt the seven deadly sins changes him in profound ways.
QUEENBIRD
Drama, Thriller (8 min) United States
Directed By: Roxanna Dunlop
Written By: Roxanna Dunlop, Annisha Lashand
Produced By: Roxanna Dunlop, Danielle Argyros, Courtney Stewart, Morgan Lester
Cast: Nicole Varona, Angie Patterson Muto
Synopsis: Desperate for work, a young graduate interviews at a women-led production company, where her ideas of boundaries between women are challenged.
IN SEARCH OF
Drama (9 min) Canada
Directed By: Leanne Melissa Bishop, Leigh Rachel Faith
Written By: Leanne Melissa Bishop, Leigh Rachel Faith
Produced By: Leigh Rachel Faith, Leanne Melissa Bishop
Cast: Leigh Rachel Faith, Leanne Melissa BIshop, Mike Dopud, Isabella Lessard
Synopsis: Detective Angelica Lang questions Tina Burnett, a suburban Mom, after her daughter goes missing only to discover she has become a victim of one of the largest child trafficking rings.
THE RECRUIT
Drama/Thriller (10 min) United States
Directed By: Bao Truong
Written By: Christina Connerton
Produced By: Bao Truong, Christina Connerton, Steph Douglass, Alan Galinsky, Jack Curry, Mel Loncich, Fernando Morillo
Cast: Christina Connerton, Tryphena Wade, Brittany Carel, Milan Anderson, Wynter Glen, Mel Loncich, Morgan Jay, Taquira Thompson, Haley Jonae
Synopsis: A chronically ill people-pleaser interviews for a life changing job at a recruiting agency, only to unravel the sinister cult that lies within.
TIDAL
(10 min) Canada
Directed By: Chloe Van Landschoot and Niamh Wilson
Written By: Chloe Van Landschoot
Produced By: Chloe Van Landschoot, Nicholas Nyhof
Cast: Chloe Van Landschoot, Avery Konrad
Synopsis: Tidal examines the cyclical nature of workplace trauma and the relentlessness of the nursing profession.With the use of movement and dance, waves of deep-seated expression move through her as she tries to find home. Disjointed and overwhelmed, she is increasingly unable to connect to her outside world and no longer able to separate hospital life from herself.
EDEN
Sci-Fi (13 min) France
Directed By: Olivier Perrier
Written By: Olivier Perrier
Produced By: Nouvelle Toile Productions, Canal +
Cast: Marie-Gael Cals, Paul Vautrin, Theo Gerey, Chloe Guillot, Nezhaa Khelouya
Synopsis: Antoine is moving with his mother and little brother in a vegetated tower of sustainable and self-sufficient architecture. In full psychological distress, he feels like a stranger to this new environment.
PROMISES
Drama (14 min) United States
Directed By: Faye Brenner
Written By: Faye Brenner, DetraHicks
Produced By: Mekia Cox, Aaron Brenner, Vidal Cohen
Cast: Melissa Marty, Nick Gomez, Alain Uy
Synopsis: A Latina single mother of two is struggling to keep her head above water and regain custody of her kids while keeping the needle out of her arm.
THE HALF YOU HATE
Drama (15 min) United Kingdom
Directed By: Alexander Igbanoi
Written By: Alexander Igbanoi
Produced By: Zyna Goldy, Cyrus Mirzashafa, Hector N Helsing
Cast: Kimberley Okoye, Wil johnson, Charlotte hunter, Martha watson Allpress, Christian Edwards, Joe Sangha, Posi Morakinyo, Ade Femzo
Synopsis: Erica attempts to demonstrate she has what it takes to be an actress as she looks to seek validation from a tough Director
THE FLOWER THAT NEVER WILTS
Drama (24 min) United States
Directed By: Chris Shaw
Written By: Chris Shaw
Produced By: Michael Petrovich, Hasna Nada, Chris Shaw, TJ Shaw, Stephen Enloe, Luke Orr, Brad Rundblade, Nick Goodreau
Cast: Michael Evans Behling, TJ Shaw, Sarah Kaufmann, Cyrus Hobbi
Synopsis: Simon, a prodigy painter, living the playboy lifestyle of 1970’s Hollywood, finds his career fading as his work isn‚Äôt what it used to be due to the tragic loss of his wife. Not only is Simon’s art suffering, but his outlook on life is slipping into darkness, despite his childhood friend and art dealer remaining by his side. After Simon is broken by the reality of his decisions, a life model walks into his world and challenges his perspective.
A FEAST THAT NEVER COMES
Drama (16 min) United States
Directed By: Maria Juranic
Written By: Sven Britt
Produced By: Rachel Morgan, Sven Britt, Maria Juranic
Cast: John Raffles Durbin, Kayla Farrish, Nico Li, Paul Vickers
Synopsis: Four characters inhabit cycles within cycles of contentment, discontentment, inertia, movement, desire, and betrayal. A story emerges—told through the marriage of music (Ex-Fiancée) and dance (Chris Masters Dance)—functioning as a set of nesting dolls, inviting you to uncover as many layers as you wish. By carving pathways for witnesses to investigate their assumptions and reactions, drawing their own conclusions, we craft not a declaration but rather an interrogation. You are encouraged to embrace your unique history and perspective to ask your own questions, and provide your own answers. The work remains fundamentally unfinished without you.
LUNA
(19 min) United States
Directed By: Luca Bueno
Written By: Luca Bueno
Produced By: Gabriela Lima, Ana Luiza Leite
Cast: Ava Torres, Dennis Mallen, Katie Rose Keith, Samuel Cureton
Synopsis: Luna, lays in bed gazing at the stars and full moon, she wonders where her father could be amidst the never-ending beauty of space, thinking that he should have returned from his mission by now. As she has an idea on how to get into contact with her father, in a way that only a kid could have come up with, her mother receives some unsettling news.
VERA
Drama (78 min) Spain
Directed By: Steffy Argelich
Written By: Steffy Argelich, Grear Patterson
Produced By: Grear Patterson, Paloma Fernandez
Cast: Alejandro Castro, Nicole Wallace, Gabe Fazio,, Marte Torne
Synopsis: A young lawyer arrives on a island in Spain with a weight on his conscience that is about to drive him to suicide. The encounter with a young teenager discovering sexuality will first reveal her vulnerabilities and finally her cynicism.
TRYING
Comedy (7 min) United States
Directed By: Emily Alpren
Written By: Abby Wathen, Emily Alpren
Produced By: Sara Mohazzebi
Cast: Abby Wathen, Michael Draper
Synopsis: Trying is a modern comedic drama capturing a woman’s determination to conceive a child and the unspoken loneliness of trying to get pregnant.
THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED
(7 min) United States
Directed By: Emily Maya Mills
Written By: Lindsay Ames
Produced By: Lindsay Ames, Sohale Dezfoli
Cast: Lindsay Ames, Carrie Aizley
Synopsis: The remarkable true story of an adult woman accidentally locked in a car by her mother on the hottest day of summer.
IT’S A DOG
Comedy (8 min) United States
Directed By: Eli Shapiro
Written By: David Rosenberg
Produced By: Ali Keller
Cast: David Rosenberg, Molly Carden, Daniel Jenkins
Synopsis: “He’s bald. Well, no, he’s *going* bald. He still has hair. On like, the sides. Does that count? It counts, right? Maybe?
Either way, he‚Äôs pathetic. And he‚Äôs getting old.”
DRIVE TO KILL
(8 min) United States
Directed By: Riocam
Written By: Riocam
Produced By: Pablo Garcia, Riocam
Cast: Jenny Watwood , Taylor Wood, Lex Machaud
Synopsis: A beautiful woman drives the famous RUF yellow bird looking for her next victim.
LA PETITE MORT
Comedy (10 min) United States
Directed By: Matthew Law, Grasie Mercedes
Written By: Matthew Law
Produced By: Rob Smith, Matthew Thompson
Cast: David Castañeda, Grasie Mercedes, Matthew Law, Maren Hill, Carla Short
Synopsis: Two thirty-year-olds who have never had an orgasm are interviewed after going on a date that went bad. Real bad.
GOOD BOY
Comedy (10 min) United States
Directed By: Basile Sampson
Written By: Basile Sampson
Produced By: Kelly Moore
Cast: Abhishek Singh, Arielle Hope, Erich Rausch
Synopsis: Fritz is miserable in a life he feels trapped by: only feeling fleeting, stolen, moments of happiness when he runs through the park dressed up as his dalmatian alter-ego “Lucky”. Will Fritz ever be able to share his secret dogness with his love, Eleanor, and find happiness?
SAME BUT DIFFERENT
Comedy (10 min) France
Directed By: Eric Grech
Written By: Jacob Tindle
Produced By: Eric Grech
Cast: Jasper Foley, Phoebe Fox, Hiromi komorita, Briony Martha, Hannah Coyle, Eric Grech, Audrey Mikondo, Johann Silva
Synopsis: Warning! This is the story of a man who knows what he wants in love.The love journey of a childish man who wants a love story but only on his own term.
DON’T NEG MEG
Comedy (13 min) United States
Directed By: Ann Marie Allison
Written By: Ann Marie Allison
Produced By: Ann Marie Allison, Sali Dimond
Cast: Abbey McBride, Luca Pedroni, Erika Ortiz, Merry Rose Howley
Synopsis: A recently divorced mom learns a valuable lesson about the modern dating world as she helps her teenage son navigate his first break up.
FANATIC
Comedy (17 min) United States
Directed By: Taran Killam
Written By: Andrew Chappelle
Produced By: Sara Lindsey, Ashley Adams, Julie Craig
Cast: Andrew Chappelle, Devere Rogers, Caroline Rhea, Shannon Dang, Sam Pancake, Matt Cook
Synopsis: Charlie and Gerald revive their failed 2000’s boyband, 2N1, for a competition with prize money that could remedy all of their financial woes. What could go wrong?
YO SOY SALLY, LA LOCA!
(18 min) United States
Directed By: David Aguilar Rodriguez
Written By: David Aguilar Rodriguez
Produced By: Jamie Holt, Madi Maghdessian, Damon Laguna
Cast: Bernadette Perez, Jason Griffith, Albania Sagarra, Josh Cruze, Angela Fornero, Jeff Marlow, Omar Andrade, Brandon Ceja, Isaac Ordonez
Synopsis: A breakup comedy short film inspired by true events that happened in the director’s Mexican-American family, Yo soy Sally, la loca! tells the story of Sally Garcia as she goes to desperate lengths to get her long-term boyfriend back, even as she nearly destroys her own family in the process.
BREAKDOWN
Drama (7 min) United States
Directed By: Hon Hoang
Written By: Hon Hoang
Produced By: Jennielyn Abrot
Cast: Steve Lim, Angel Lin
Synopsis: With a broken car, a couple finds themselves lost. BREAKDOWN is a meditation of what is means to have a love lost.
LETTERS FROM A TRAVELER
Drama (7 min) United States
Directed By: Benjamin David Hoffman
Written By: Darby Gaëlle Hannon
Produced By: Benjamin David Hoffman, Darby Gaelle Hannon
Cast: Darby Gaelle Hannon
Synopsis: A dreamy artist moves back to NYC after traveling the world and reflects on her constant desire to start anew.
APPRAISAL
(8 min) United States
Directed By: Anna Koukouli Born
Written By: Anna Koukouli Born
Produced By: Rodrigo Afonso Dornelles, Anna Koukouli Born, Stefan Born
Cast: Rachael Hip-Flores, Mark Stablein, Jarrod Bogan, Lynda Brendish, Sydney Greene, Josh Dittrich, Lara Slosbergas, Ned Thorne
Synopsis: The appraisal meeting of a successful Associate Creative Director becomes a battle between her and the male-dominated working environment, but even worse, between her and her inner voice of doubt.
DAY TRIP
Drama (13 min) United States
Directed By: Brian Robau
Written By: Amber Laird
Produced By: Amber Laird
Cast: Amber Laird, Eman Esfandi
Synopsis: The morning that couple Maya and Julian had planned to drive to the desert and drop acid together for the first time, Maya is nervous. She and Julian are talking past each other. But they follow the plan, splitting a gummy and starting a hike. As the acid kicks in, the tension between them grows and comes to a head.
MYSORE MAGIC
Drama (14 min) United States
Directed By: Abijeet Achar
Written By: Abijeet Achar, Alex Woodruff
Produced By: Alex Woodruff, Abijeet Achar, Tim Reis
Cast: Aishwarya Sonar, Siddharth Kusuma, Saman Hasan, Rishik Patel
Synopsis: The true story of an unlikely romance in 1982 at a disco competition in Mysore, India.
PORTRAIT OF A COWBOY
(15 min) United States
Directed By: Devon Wycoff
Written By: Devon Wycoff
Produced By: Amanda Gostomski, Andrew Yang, Dylan Martin, Yoson An, Devon Wycoff
Cast: Stephanie Barkley
Synopsis: Alex returns home for the first time since her father’s death in order to prep her family’s farm to be sold at auction. After unearthing a letter she never received, Alex is able to move through the anger she held and find peace with the memory of her father. Alex mistakenly sells an important item in the estate sale which places yet another obstacle in the path of healing. The film is a commentary on the ambiguous nature of sentimental attachment, assigned value and how sometimes in grief, symbology is needed over reality.
CYCLE VERITE
(16 min) United States
Directed By: Adam J. Graves
Written By: Adam J. Graves
Produced By: Julia Archer, Suchitra Mattai, Devananda Graves, Adam J. Graves
Cast: James Patrick Nelson, Ariella Amar, Brady Bond, Dashiell Brennen, Sloan Park, Leon Cafaro, Pablo Cruz
Synopsis: When Don’s beloved vintage bicycle—a gift from his now-estranged father—is stolen off its rack, his carefully managed life is thrown into chaos. As he sets out to recover the bicycle, he is drawn into a cycle of truth and deception, giving and forgiving, and is ultimately forced to confront old familial wounds. Cycle Vérité, which was itself created by a father (writer/director) and son (editor/producer) team, explores the paradoxes of forgiveness, and how a little fiction is sometimes needed in order to reveal deeper truths
HOW TO MAKE SHEPHERD’S PIE
(16 min) United States
Directed By: Christen R. Carter
Written By: Christen R. Carter
Produced By: Christen R. Carter, Masora Fukuda, Coraline Kong
Cast: Ferelith Young, Joel Kelley Dauten, Jack McLoughlin, Shawn Carter Peterson, Rejena Taylor, Alexandra Weaver
Synopsis: When Carla prepares her husband’s favorite meal, the family recipe gets a new twist brought on by years of the same old.
PHANTOM SPECTRE
Comedy, Sci-Fi (16 min) United States
Directed By: Paul J. Vogel
Written By: Paul J. Vogel
Produced By: Annika Dawson, Sam Frickleton
Cast: Diedrich Bader, Saba Homayoon, Rob Roy Cesar, Kue Lawrence
Synopsis: Gene, a fading superhero unwilling to let go of his glorious past, struggles to latch onto his nocturnal alter-ego as his day-life plunges into a steep downward spiral. He loses his cover day job at a sad, dessert-only, food truck, and his ex-wife has taken in a younger, better-looking version of Gene!
WOMEN IN BLACK
Comedy, Drama (112 min) Armenia
Directed By: Gor Kirakosian
Written By: Ashot Abrahamyan, Gor Kirakosian
Produced By: Gor Kirakosian, Karo Kirakosyan
Cast: Diana Malenko, Luiza Nersisian, Iveta Mukuchyan, Elena Vardanyan, Rafayel Yeranosyan, Grigor Danielyan Armen Darbinyan, Artyom Markosyan
Synopsis: At a wealthy man’s wake, his mistresses unexpectedly appear and disrupt the peace.
A REAL ADVENTURE
Comedy, Drama (17 min) Sweden
Directed By: Ingela Ogard
Written By: Susanna Martelin
Produced By: Maria Forslin, Caroline Lindsten, Karl Johan Larsson, Jan Dufva, Ingela Ogard
Cast: Maria Forslin, Peter Sjoquist, Peter Groning, Karl Johan Larsson
Synopsis: “Two Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts are at the funeral of their best friend and dungeon master, Björn. As they‚re standing by the coffin saying farewell to their friend, a mysterious woman appears from out of nowhere. She is dirty and seems confused, but she claims she knows things about the men. Things they did not tell anyone. She says that their friend is alive and well, living in another dimension. Luckily she is a dimension pirate and is there to bring them across the dimensions to their friend for one last REAL adventure! But can she really do what she is proposing, is she for real…?”
PHI 1.618
Sci-Fi (94 min) Bulgaria
Directed By: Theodore Ushev
Written By: Vladislav Todorov
Produced By: Vladislav Todorov, Orlin Ruevski, Etienne Hansez, Theodore Ushev
Cast: Martina Apostolova, Deyan Donkov, Vasil Duev, Niki Stanoev, Kitodar Todorov
Synopsis: In a world where science has defeated death, a nation of ‘bio-titans’ – asexual, immortal men – has been created. Women and procreation are unnecessary in their world. As the Earth turns increasingly toxic, however, the bio-titans are eager to colonize the cosmos with their spaceship, The Spinning Top, taking with them the one female kept alive as a reminder of the past. But everything changes when a humble calligrapher, Krypton, watches as a forbidden book is magically transformed into a rebellious, defiant young woman. The two embark on a dangerous journey to stop the dark mission of the Top. A fairy tale about love and humanity, all set against a race against time.
