Lemon Cake

Sepideh Khosrowjah, United States, 2019

FEATURING
Terry Boero
Adriana Palhares
Grace Jensen

Made in the style of silent, black-and-white films from the 1920s. On her birthday, Sara feels sad and lonely. Suddenly and unexpectedly, two women from the Ministry of Old Women (MOOW), Joyce and Annie, pay Sara a visit.

Sepideh Khosrowjah

Dear Commuter

Birdy Wei-ting Hung, United States, 2020

A conversation between the Taiwanese filmmaker, who has just moved to California, and her father, who emigrated to China thirty years ago. An intimate examination of departures from home, diaspora experiences, and the daughter-father relationship always distanced by oceans.

Birdy Wei-ting Hung

Gesundheit

Amber Fenton, United States, 2019

FEATURING
Amber Fenton
Michael Sarago
Christopher Paddock
Kaycee Phillips
Hannah Modesitt
Sameer Thapa

A curse is transferred to a protagonist from someone else through a sneeze. Gesundheit plays with humor and the “impossible” while staying within the visually realistic world.

Amber Fenton

Beyond the Storm

Duy Le, United States, 2020

Combining cinema-verité camerawork with high-contrast Hollywood-style cinematography, Beyond the Storm tells the story of Tuan and his neighbors during the hardship of Central Vietnam’s 2020 storm season.

Duy Le

heart whispers

Ash Verwiel, United States, 2020

FEATURING
Ash Verwiel
Kaleb Wright
Cal Calamia
Sydney Gartmond

Heart whispers is a reflective abstract short exploring my journey through adolescence, developing my own voice and struggling to belong as a trans man. Instead of a mainstream medicalized trans story, this film expresses the inner transformation of a trans person.

Ash Verwiel

The Lung

Imran Sekalala, Judah Ray Marsden, United States, 2020

Using machine learning tools, The Lung transforms a set of natural visuals into moving paintings in the impressionist style. These images accompany a version of the song “the lung” by mwami, originally by Hiatus Kaiyote.

Imran Sekalala and Judah Ray Marsden

The Drying Salton Sea

Nick Roberts, Molly Forster, United States, 2019

In California’s poorest county, the air is making children sick. A major contributor is agricultural pollution that drifts off the region’s vast and fabled farmland. But now there is a new culprit: toxic dust from the drying Salton Sea.

Nick Roberts, Molly Forster

9/9/2020, Oakland

Gavin Richard, United States, 2020

In September 2020, fires around the Bay Area caused a giant cloud of smoke that turned the sky red. It looked unreal, and many captured the historical moment. I filmed my morning, then captured drone shots to reveal the event’s magnitude.

Gavin Richard

Pantaleón

Diana Ojeda, Colombia, 2019

FEATURING
Edinson Carreño

Pantaleón, a country boy, is forced to go on a suicide mission on which he will have to shoot his own friends. Once at the front, he ends the war.

Diana Ojeda

Telepatía

Marcela Vargas, Erik Nuding, United States, 2020

A therapeutic reimagining of family history and memory through archival home video.

Marcela Vargas and Erik Nuding

Big House

Allison N. Lopez, United States, 2020

FEATURING
Layla Vanegas

The inspiration for this project began with my childhood home, a big house filled with many hallways, windows, doors, and staircases. Big House isn’t a story about a ghost but a visual poem of my childhood.

Allison N. Lopez

I’ll Be Here

Christopher Thach, United States, 2021

FEATURING
Samantha Thach
Cindy Thach
Sanh Thach

I’ll Be Here is a critical look at the contemporary American family, shedding light on those who suffer silently. Despite the harrowing sadness, the film ends with a girl taking the first step in healing.

Christopher Thach

Danny, Danny

Huan Cheng, United States, 2020

FEATURING
Huan Cheng
Gabriel Lage
Ed Pritz
David Rege
Henry Dreng
Moises Maynes
Louise Gomez

Danny, Danny explores the ongoing struggles of a woman’s life on the fringe. She has an immense fear of isolation and a crippling addiction to surface-level intimacy. The film reveals her “flavor of life” in a manner that evokes emotion.

Huan Cheng

House of Little Wings

Jess Alvarenga, Brandon Yadegari Moreno, United States, 2020

Migrants in Arizona are being kept in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody, where a growing number of children are dying. At Casa Alitas, doctors work to treat migrants before they reunite with their families across the United States.

Jess Alvarenga and Brandon Yadegari Moreno