Narrative Short
World Premiere

In a random act of kindness, Zoya invites a stranger into her home who has no intention of leaving. Following the death of her mother, Zoya inherits the family home. Her mother was last on a long list of Zoya’s family members that have passed away. There’s no one left in the family home but Zoya. When Amelia, astranger who claims to have rented her home on Airbnb, arrives, Zoya clings to the unexpected comfort of the presence of another person. Zoya lets Amelia stay the night, not wanting to spend a night alone in the cold home. When a night turns into an indefinite stay, their companionship twists into a game of control and abuse. As the situation becomes dire, it becomes a question of why can’t Amelia leave but more importantly why does Zoya stay?

Director: Maya Gray
Producer: Michael Jasper
Writer:  Maya Gray            
Cast: Serine Sianosian, Rachel Alig, Geneva Cimone, Peter Kalisch, Jamie Criss, and Chad Adbnerson
Cinematographer: Olugbenga Osikomaiya
Editor: Michael Jasper

Documentary 
USA Premiere

" This is a story of scars, and it is dramatically true.

Narrating it is Bepi Losasso, a plastic surgeon from Udine who travels to Pakistan to operate on the victims of acid disfigurement. His testimony tells us about his mission, the commitment to restore the smile to women, girls and children who, because of brutal violence, have lost everything: face, role, dignity.The women evoked in the documentary bear the mark of a refined and diabolical punishment. They are female, they are weak, and often, they are beautiful; their guilt is always the same: they dared to say no, refusing an imposed husband. Instead of killing them, it is more convenient to disfigure them with a treacherous liquid, which corrodes the skin and engraves on their bodies an indelible, unequivocal mark: so that all the others know, and none ever dare again. 

An inconceivable violence, distant… but perhaps not so far away.

At the heart of the story, the testimonies of three victims: Nasrin and Iram, two young Pakistani women, and Filomena Lamberti, the first Italian woman victim of acidification. Disfigured by men they dared to leave.The documentary, set between Italy and Pakistan, retraces the places of the doctor’s mission and interweaves them with a fast-paced editing of testimonies, archive footage, and evocative reconstructions that represent the stories of the girls marked with acid. At the side of the victims, the doctor, supported by activists and diplomats, undertakes a difficult path: full of sacrifices and obstacles, but also of unexpected encounters with sensitive people and important personalities who embrace the cause with great humanity.

A story of courage and competence that overcomes difficulties; a story that also speaks of the future, and of smiles that begin to open again after the abysses of suffering."

Director:  Alessandra Usai
Producer: Alessandra Usai, Sara Svagelj, Nicola Mennuni, Ettore Spezza,
Writer:    Alessandra Usai e Annalisa Maniscalco     
Cast: Giuseppe Losasso, Daniela Fasani, Filomena Lamberti
Cinematographer: Sara Svagelj
Editor: Alessandra Usai

Best film as  Honorable Mention at Materla Int. film festival. (29-09-2025)

Website: www.nicalfilms.com  http://www.alessandrausai.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nical_films_/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/productionitaly

Short Film, Drama

Good Night June is a haunting dystopian drama set within the confines of a single home, where obedience is broadcast over the airwaves and survival depends on compliance. Amid perpetual rain and societal collapse, June fights to protect her daughter from the dangers outside — and the rising threat inside their own home.

Director’s Note:
Inspired by current struggles over women’s autonomy and personal freedom, Good Night June explores how authoritarianism seeps quietly into domestic life. Through this film, I wanted to capture both the beauty and the dread of resilience in a world where silence has become a form of survival.

Director: Kourtney Gleason
Producers: Ashley Carr, Annie Girard
Writer: Alexis Archer, Kourtney Gleason
Cast: Whitney Rice, Josh Lawson, Indiana Elle, Matt Danner
Cinematographer: Eddy Scully
Production Designer: Paris Pickard
Costume Designer: Maressa Ritchmyer
Editor: Taylor Sage Mott

Accolades / Press:
“Good Night June was one of the most fascinating films for someone like me, interested in religion and dystopia. Set in a future shaped by climate and societal collapse, a woman locks her husband up at night while obedience is broadcast over the radio by the Supreme Teacher.”
— James F. McGrath, Patheos.com

“This cinematic tour de force visualizes a haunting, mysterious twilight world of perpetual rain and unrelenting peril, in which a mother must protect her daughter.”
— Indy Film Fest, 2025

Website: https://happy-misfit.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodnightjunefilm/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HappyMisfitProductions

Short Film 
West Coast Premiere 

Director - Katie Goodman 
Producer - Nicole Coulon, Caitlin Burdi, Skyler Pinkerton, Katie Goodman
Writers - Nicole Coulon, Caitlin Burdi 
Cast - Nicole Coulon, Caitlin Burdi, Baron Bell, Katie Goodman, Tyler Pong, Michael Kurdyla 
Cinematographer - Kareem Atallah 
Editor - Skyler Pinkerton 

Instagram - TheCharlieandLilyshow

Short Film - Documentary

Her Name is Libertad follows activist Paula Ávila-Guillén through the ongoing struggle for women’s bodily autonomy across the Americas — a journey that reveals freedom not as a destination, but as a fragile process continuously reclaimed.
Through intimate testimonies and layers of collective memory, the film reflects on how resistance, legacy, and hope intertwine to redefine what it means to live with self-determination.
Beneath its images runs a quiet meditation on humanity’s enduring search for dignity — an invitation to see, in women’s fight for autonomy, the echo of our shared process of liberation.

Director & Producer: David Moreno Beltrán
Directors of Photography: Bruno Barreto, Tatiana Kotti, Javier Hernández
Narrative Design: Camilo García, Karolina Rosas
Executive Producers: Gauri Nema, Lauren Windsor
Sound Designer: Camilo Lucena
Photo & Archival: Itayu Torres

Voices / Participants: Paula Ávila-Guillén, Rosita Romero, Amanda Séptimo, Tary Hernández
Archival & Sources: AFP, Amnesty International, BBC, CNN, NPR, The New York Times, Univision, El País, Vice, and other global media
Advisors (NYFA): Anne Alvergue, Arsenio Assin, Rob Burgos, Richard D’Angelo, Julie Deffet, Akil DuPont, Dorottya Mathe, Kristen Nutile, Claudia Raschke
Filming Locations & Years: New York (2023), La Calera, Colombia (2024)

Website: www.hernameislibertad.com 
Instagram: @hernameislibertadfilm

Short Film 

A desperate but determined woman braces herself for another phone battle with the insurance company, after several failed attempts to make a claim on her husband's life insurance policy. But when a frazzled call centre worker finally connects her to a hidden department, the runaround takes a surprising turn.

Director: Daniel Fletcher
Producer: Daniel Fletcher and Nick Hardcastle and Miche Bonett
Writer:  Daniel Fletcher and Gerald Clark            
Cast: Paula Duncan, Kathy Luu, Nick Hardcastle, Alison McGir, Chimezie Anochie, Mark Dessaix.
Cinematographer: Jei Strolin.
Editor: Liam Bitton

Awards:

Best Comedy Short - Brussels World Film Festival 
Best Comedy - San Francisco Women Film Festival
Best Short Film - Tokyo Women Film Festival

Instagram: @hold.shortfilm

TV Pilot
WORLD PREMIERE

A hopeful story about how Javera hits rock bottom in the streets of LA, then meets her new mentor Lena who changes her life forever.This is the Pilot of the Life Listens TV docuseries. 

Director: G. K. Hunter
Producer: Lena Antoci
Writer: G. K. Hunter             
Cast: Javera Knox, Jayda Knox, Terry Bright
Editor: Brad Stoddard

Website: https://gkhunter.com/documentaries/

Short Animation

A seemingly ordinary matchstick, repeatedly dismissed and denied recognition as a military veteran, slowly ignites with emotion—until it finally flames up, revealing the true weight of the microaggressions it endured.

Director: Luna Lee
Writer: Luna Lee
Cast: Luna Lee, Matt Haro, Brianna Yi, Madeline Palmer, Emily Newland, Edwin Zha, Jess Reed
Editor: Luna Lee

Website: https://lunaleeart.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lunaleeart

Short Film 

Having been ensnared in the Hollywood studio system since childhood, Nadine embarks on a courageous quest for freedom and self-empowerment, challenging the constraints that have stifled her voice for far too long. Her journey is exploration of resilience and rebellion in an era where glamour often masked the harsh realities of life behind the camera. Join Nadine as she decides to reclaim her identity and illuminate the strength of women in a tumultuous industry.

Director: Tash Ann
Producer: Chris Polczinski, Ryan Weaver
Writer:    Tash Ann          
Cast: Grace Caroline Currey, Tyler Posey, Michael Bunin
Cinematographer: George Su
Editor: Ethan Jones

LA Under the Stars "Angel City Trailblazer" award. 

Website: www.meetnadine.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meet_nadine/

Short

In 1964, Nan’s husband skips town. Determined to hold her family together and maintain the appearance of a perfect mother, Nan steps into the workforce for the first time.

Director: Lily Ellora Newton
Producer: Stevi Zabawa 
Writer: Lily Ellora Newton & Stevi Zabawa 
Cast: Heather Salm, Mason Wilson, Vera Zabawa, Abby Briggs, Audrey Carter, Kyle Dal Santo, Nathan Brandon Gaik
Cinematographer: Adam Sitton
Editor: Adam Sitton

Nan is based on the true life story of our producer and writer's grandmother, Mary Kupczak. This is the debut release from Forced Party Films. Awards include Best first time director at Amsterdam New Cinema Film Festival and Best Producer - Short at Nashville Independent Filmmakers Festival. 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forcedpartyfilms/

Short

Director: Lauren Robbins
Producer: Angela Dirksen, Savvy Jaye, Katie Patterson. William Patterson
Writer: Katie Patterson
Cast: Katie Patterson, Reggie P. Louix, C.J. Barkus
Cinematographer: TinNgai Chan
Editor: Savvy Jaye

Documentary
USA Premiere

Championesses is a powerful documentary about Polish female athletes who have broken barriers and achieved greatness in the world of sports. The film follows six extraordinary women – Aleksandra Kałucka, Natalia Kałucka, Adrianna Sułek-Schubert, Karolina Naja, Róża Kozakowska, and Natalia Partyka – portraying their struggles, victories, and resilience. It is a story about passion, discipline, and the strength of women who inspire future generations.

Director: Justyna Tafel
Producer: Kacper Sawicki, Łukasz Tomasz Kołtunowicz
Creative Producer: Justyna Górniak
Writer: Justyna Tafel, Justyna Górniak
Cast: Aleksandra Kałucka, Natalia Kałucka, Adrianna Sułek-Schubert, Karolina Naja, Róża Kozakowska, Natalia Partyka
Cinematographer: Ita Zbroniec-Zajt, Jakub Burakiewicz
Editor: Marcin Sucharski PSM, Filip Dziuba

Any awards, accolades or additional details:
The film was created with the support of ENEA, ORLEN, and Westfield, premiering in Poland in 2025. It highlights the transformative role of women in sports and has already gained significant attention for its inspirational message and strong female-driven creative team.

Short
West Coast Premiere

An unplanned pregnancy leaves an overwhelmed mother of four determined to end it—and her infertile best friend determined to stop her.

Writer-Director: Erin McGuff-Pennington
Producers: Adriana Spencer, Erin McGuff-Pennington
Cast: Rebecca Robertson, Adriana Spencer, Julian Giat, Saoirse Pennington, Aubrey Madison Lake, Finnegan Thornell, Jack Bibas
Cinematographer: Liza Gipsova
Editor: Adam Grannick

Awards: Best Short Film, Best Cinematography, Most Viewed (MOM Film Fest); Best of Fest, Best Cinematography (Blackbird Film Festival)

Additional detail: Women-led project

Website: RuffledOwlProductions.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruffledowlproductions 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ruffledowlproductions/ 

Short
World Premiere 

On the night before her return to work, Sarah, a young doctor and new mother, finds herself unraveling under the weight of sleepless nights, anxiety, and self-doubt. As she struggles to hold it together, she is thrust into a vivid nightmare that blurs the line between fear and reality, forcing her to confront her deepest fears about motherhood and the cost of failure.Second Shift is a psychological drama that captures the emotional, physical, and mental toll of modern motherhood and the impossible expectations placed on women to endure it all without breaking.

Director: Jackie Moore
Producer: Paris Khougaz, Ivette Li-Sanchez 
Writer: Paris Khougaz              
Cast: Paris Khougaz, Luke Barnett, Leo Sieglein, Edward Kasper, Forest Meadows
Cinematographer: Chuck France
Editor: Chris Clancy

This is Paris Khougaz's writing and producing debut. This is Jackie Moore's directing debut. 

Instagram: @secondshiftfilm

Feature
Los Angeles Premiere

・21th Osaka Asian Film Festival Competition 2025 Nominee OFFICIAL SELECTION

・20th Tasveer Film Festival  OFFICIAL SELECTION

・12th ARFF Barcelona /International Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION Best Feature Film / Shambhala Story,Toshio Sekine

・New York International Women Festival  Winner – June 2025

Best Feature Producer / Shambhala Story

A devout Tibetan monk is sent to Japan for further studies. There, he befriends a Japanese woman on parole, but he is forced to make an impossible choice between his love for her and his vow to his religion.

Tashi, a Tibetan monk, has long practiced in an Indian monastery, living strictly by its precepts. Fate, however, leads him to an ancient temple in a tranquil Japanese mountain village for deeper spiritual training.

There, Tashi meets Emi, a woman living with her grandfather. Currently on parole, Emi, in deep despair and flirting with suicidal thoughts, is nonetheless desperately trying to do everything she can to survive. When this deep sadness is her heart meets the burning vitality in Tashi's, they gradually feel inexplicably drawn to one another. As they spend more and more time with one another, and their hearts get closer and closer, their newfound friendship becomes ever more precarious.

Director: Toshio Sekine
Producers: Tamaki Fujiwara,Hitoshi Yoshikawa
Writer: Tamaki Fujiwara,Toshio Sekine
Cast: Mo Tzu-yi,Rina Takeda,Shohei Hino,Nahana,Pema Dorjee
Cinematographer: Hiroyuki Fukuda
Editers: Ayaka Yamamoto,Keiichiro Niwano
Music: Deon Lee
Associate Producers: Guy Orlebar / Hirotaka Asano

At the International Sound & Film Music Festival in Croatia,
“Shambhala Story”has been nominated for Best Original Score, Feature 2025.

The film’s composer, Deon Lee, received the nomination.

Producer and screenwriter Tamaki Fujiwara also serves as the film’s music supervisor.

Website:

https://linktr.ee/shambhala_movie

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/shambhala_movie/

X (Twitter):

https://x.com/shambhala8586

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ShambhalaMovie8586/

Documentary
Los Angeles Premiere

Still She Rides reveals the untold stories of Nepali women who face daily harassment on public transportation, yet continue to move forward with courage and resilience. Through intimate testimonies, the film uncovers how fear and silence restrict women’s education, careers, and independence, while experts from academia, NGOs, and the transportation industry expose the cultural and structural causes behind these barriers. By linking gender-based harassment to Nepal’s climate goals, the documentary highlights how unsafe public transit undermines both women’s rights and sustainable development. At its heart, Still She Rides is a call to action—urging collective responsibility, cultural change, and innovative solutions so that every woman can travel safely, freely, and with dignity.

Director: Anya Kothari & Anya Ramani
Producer: Anya Kothari & Anya Ramani
Writer: Anya Kothari & Anya Ramani
Cinematographer: Abhishekh Maharjan
Editor: Anya Kothari & Anya Ramani

Supported by a grant from the Embassy Foundation

Student Short (Drama / Social Issue) 
Los Angeles Premiere

The Talk delivers a searing portrait of one Black parent’s difficult conversation with their child. What begins with tenderness soon reveals the deep scars of systemic racism, the ache of personal loss, and the ever-present fear carried by families of color. Created by an all-female, student-led team, the film explores the emotional toll of injustice through quiet realism and raw humanity.

Director: Hila Cage Coppola
Producer: Hila Cage Coppola (Uncaged.Productions) and Christina Cannarella (Mother Road Studios, Associate Producer)
Writer:  Hila Cage Coppola            
Cast: Kareem Zion, Jazmin Garcia, Spencer McNish, Christian L. Scott
Cinematographer: Christina Cannarella
Editor: Hila Cage Coppola

The Talk is the first short film by Hila Cage Coppola, created entirely by students while enrolled in Summer 2025 Cinema 002 course at LACC. The production was led by an all-female crew, including a female director, producer, cinematographer, first assistant director, editor, and sound designer. The project was built around a fully inclusive set, both in front of and behind the camera, collaborating with students and artists with disabilities. The script was selected for the Los Angeles Valley College Anti-Racism Film Project and brought to life through a team dedicated to accessibility, representation, and authentic storytelling.

\Website: Uncaged.Productions

Instagram: @BonafideSavage

LinkedIn: Hila Cage Coppola 

Facebook: Hila Cage Coppola FB

Short
World Premiere

Kayley, an overlooked office assistant, must finish a multimillion-dollar deal document. She loses it and gets stuck in an elevator with her boss, with only five hours until the meeting.

Director: Andri Óskarsson
Producer: Andri Óskarsson
Writer: Andri Óskarsson     
Cast: Robin Lilja Talbot, Saga Geirdal Jónsdóttir and Magnús Ragnarsson
Cinematographer: Andri Óskarsson
Editor: Andri Óskarsson

Instagram: @Andri.oskarss

I think everyone can relate when it comes to toxic work environment. Just because you have lower qualifications, but still work as hard as the one above you, that doesn't mean you should be treated unfairly. When it comes to bosses and customers, they are often the ones who oversee your work, double cross you or demand more than is expected of you. 

Short
USA Premiere

An exhausted new mother is struggling alone with postnatal distress. Unexpected visitors arrive. She must take control, or risk losing everything.

Director: Ruth Dudding
Producer: Emma Deakin
Writer: Lisa Brickell            
Cast: Jocelyn Christian, Harrison Newport (baby), Bronwyn Turei, Andrea Kelland, Lisa Brickell
Cinematographer: Kelly Chen
Editor: Sonia Heideman

This short film is a collaboration between NZ creatives and Australian researchers. It has its genesis in the theatre show Shhh! -Mockingbird (also written by Brickell) which has been performed across New Zealand, Australia, Norway, France and Scotland to critical acclaim.Unlatched is a female story, told by women. The cast and key crew are 90% female to champion the themes of the movie and to highlight the artistry of women.

Facebook: 
https://www.facebook.com/mockingbirdablackcomedyaboutmentalhealth/

Documentary Feature
Los Angeles Premiere 

Vivien Hillgrove has been a film and sound editor all her adult life. She's worked with many filmmaking greats: Francis Coppola, Phil Kaufman, Milos Forman, Walter Murch, and celebrated documentary filmmaker Lourdes Portillo. When Vivien’s eyesight starts to deteriorate, the shame and loneliness she felt in 1964 come flooding back—having relinquished her baby as a teenage unwed mother when there were few choices for women was a loss that resonated throughout her life. Now she faces a new feeling of isolation and loss. Recalling her resilience as a young woman, she summons it anew, and reinvents herself as a person with a new way of being and seeing, an artist with a disability. Vivien’s Wild Ride captures a story of transformation, reimagining what it means to see and to belong through acts of creation, connection, and caring, not just biology.

Director:  Vivien Hillgrove
Producer: Deann Borshay Liem (Lead Producer), Dawn Valadez, Janet Cole, Jessica Anthony
Writer: Vivien Hillgrove              
Cast: Vivien Hillgrove, Kathleen Toschi, Lourdes Portillo, Karen Brocco
Cinematographer: Eric M. Ivey, Andres Gallegos, Clare Major
Editor: Vivien Hillgrove, Eric M. Ivey

San Francisco International Film Festival, Doc Edge Film Festival, Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival

Website: www.vivienswildride.com

Instagram: @hillgrovefilms, @mufilms

Facebook:  @vivien.hillgrove, @vivienswildride, @deann.liem

Documentary
World Premiere

A powerful documentary that challenges the general understanding of dyslexia. Sue Blyth Hall is on a mission. She is a passionate, empathetic, dyslexic facilitator with a strong sense of justice, who has dedicated her life to sharing with others the gifts behind this unique way of thinking. Her dream is for everyone to know the truths she's uncovered, so that every child can enjoy learning and fulfill their full potential.

Director: Kelly Conlin
Producer: Sue Blyth Hall
Writer: Sue Blyth Hall
Cinematographer: Kelly Conlin
Editor: Kelly Conlin

Website: https://www.thewds.org/documentary-who-knew

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/niceladyproductions/

Twitter: https://x.com/niceladypro

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/niceladyproductions