Alternative/Experimental (Domestic and International Film Schools)
SIMULACRA
Director: Curry Sicong Tian
University of Southern California
An old geisha’s life journey about identity, perception, relationships between eastern and western culture, and circularity/dualism.
Animation (Domestic Film Schools)
CIERVO
Director: Pilar Garcia-Fernandezsesma
Rhode Island School of Design
‘Ciervo’ tells the story of a young girl who holds violence, submission, and independence in an uneasy balance as one morphs into the other.
HAMSA
Director: Daniela Dwek, Maya Mendonca, Chrisy Baek
School of Visual Arts
A young Israeli girl is oblivious to the historical conflict she lives in. On a trip to the market, her mother reinforces her fear of “the other”. However, when chaos strikes, she finds that the people she was once afraid of are not so bad.
MIME YOUR MANNERS
Director: Kate Namowicz & Skyler Porras
Ringling College of Art & Design
An arrogant man berates a mime. Therefore, he is transformed into a mime until he learns to treat others how he would like to be treated.
Animation (International Film Schools)
THE BEAUTY
Director: Pascal Schelbli
Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg (FABW) Germany
The Beauty is a poetic journey through a fascinating underwater world, where plastic and nature become one. For one breath our concerns and feelings of guilt dissolve between eerily beautiful coral reefs and the mysterious depths of the ocean.
Documentary (Domestic Film Schools)
MAKING WAVES
Director: Laura Zéphirin
New York University
Lamya Essemlali is an ocean activist, dedicated to protecting marine turtles from being poached in the Indian Ocean and Pilot Whales from being hunted in the North Atlantic. But who is really in danger, the sea life or the humans facing an empty ocean by 2048?
THE DOPE YEARS: THE STORY OF LATASHA HARLINS
Director: Allison A. Waite
University of Southern California
The story of Latasha Harlins as told by the women closest to her. A personal retelling of the life and death of Latasha Harlins, the forgotten spark igniting the Los Angeles uprising of 1992, popularly known as the LA riots.
UNFINISHED LIVES
Director: Yucong Chen
University of Southern California
In 2014, 24-year-old USC graduate student, Xinran Ji, was beaten to death by four teens when returning home from a study session. The case shook the Chinese community to its core, both in Los Angeles and back home in China, as many demanded for justice. A lawyer, Rose Tsai, took it upon herself to tirelessly advocate on his behalf and represent his parents, as they attempt to understand the senseless tragedy together.
Documentary (International Film Schools)
DEAR FATHER...
Director: Maren Klakegg
Westerdals Institute of Film and Media-Kristiania University College, Norway
Dear father, is a documentary about Beates fight to take back her life, after a childhood with a physically, mentally, and sexually abusive father.
Narrative (Domestic Film Schools)
BITTU
Director: Karishma Dube
New York University
A close friendship between two girls is eclipsed by an accidental poisoning at school.
SWEET POTATOES
Director: Rommel Villa Barriga
University of Southern California
1951, Mexico City. After synthesizing the main component of the contraceptive pill, young scientist Luis Miramontes deals with the religious and personal consequences of his groundbreaking invention.
UMAMA
Director: Talia Smith
New York University
The morning after having made a promise to celebrate her son's academic achievement, Domestic worker Sibongile wakes to find he is missing. Despite her worries about her missing son, Sibongile must care for the children of her employer to get home and keep her promise.
Narrative (International Film Schools)
CRESCENDO
Director: Percival Argüero Mendoza
Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica (CCC) Mexico
A violinist faces a terrible decision when the leader of the string quartet she is auditioning for tries to seduce her.
I WAS STILL THERE WHEN YOU LEFT ME
Director: Marie Mc Court
Institut des Arts de Diffusion (IAD) Belgium
While her block is burning, a 7 years old girl is consumed by guilt thinking she started the fire.
MY DEAR CORPSES
Director: German Golub
Baltic Film & Media School (BFMS), Tallin University, Estonia
Unexpectedly evicted from his house, Erki faces a rather difficult task of taking care of his lonely mother. He is forced to become a corpse carrier. But the situation is about to get a whole lot worse when Erki meets his new colleague for whom it is just another day in the field.