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Chinese Take-Out
Short
World Premiere
Åge (70), a retired man set in his ways, has his world shaken - and his prejudices challenged - when an Asian restaurant opens on the floor beneath his apartment.
Director, producer, writer and editor: Hoang Larsen
Co-producer: Aleksander Knudsen
Cast: Peter Grindem, Philip Nguyen, Mike Hoang, Trine Beathe Solberg, Pål Erik Helgerud, Guro Strand Heum.
Cinematographer: Knut Svanes Lunde
Co-editor: Fabian Engesæth
Website: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28306331/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hoanglarsen
Falling into Silence
Feature
US Premiere
In a quiet rural town in Gifu, Minoru Okura is haunted by his mother’s death from mental illness and burdened by an absent father and a reclusive sister. As the Bon festival nears, his fascination with the afterlife leads him to a psychic and to drugs said to mimic near-death experiences, pulling him into a dangerous spiral of curiosity and rebellion. When he meets Juri, an older girl whose warmth begins to fill his emotional void, Minoru’s fragile world is shaken again by sudden tragedy. Confronting his deepening fear of death and the darkness within, he slowly discovers—through the support of those who care for him—the courage to cherish life and the people around him. This is the story of a boy’s turbulent summer and his search for meaning, connection, and acceptance.
Director: Yuto Shimizu
Producer: Ken Ochiai
Writer: Yuto Shimizu
Cast: Iori Abe, Utano Aoi, Masaya Kato, Kokona Sumi
Cinematographer: Rui Arichika
Editor: Takumi Wada
https://bokuhana.ayapro.ne.jp/
https://www.instagram.com/bokuhanamovie/
https://twitter.com/bokuhanamovie
Forever is a Delicate Thing
Short
Los Angeles Premiere
When a visit from the Los Angeles County Department of Child and Family Services interrupts the humble, kindred lifestyle of a Vietnam War immigrant and the grandson in his custody, the two spend their last days together braving what will soon become the broken pieces on which they built their lives.
Director: Cally Nguyen
Producer: Karyn Lopez
Writer: Cally Nguyen
Cast: Orion Tran, Huynh Cao Nguyen
Cinematographer: Cameron J. Schulz
Editor: Kyle Wang
2025 Independent Shorts Awards- (Gold) Best Student Female Director & (Silver) Best Drama Short
Website: callynguyen.com
Instagram: @ih8film @foreverisadelicatething
Heirs
Short
Sixteen-year-old Shun Kimura, suffocated by his violent father and fragile mother, struggles with peer pressure and his relationship with his girlfriend, Hana. As domestic abuse worsens, a tragic event underscores the profound impact on his identity and relationships, leaving his fragile adolescence in turmoil.
Director: Lisa Shiomi
Producer: Lisa Shiomi, Lidong Wang, Nana Okamoto, Izzy Silver
Writer: Lisa Shiomi
Cast: Yuki Kedoin, Alyssa Ishibashi Fan, Shigeto Terasaka, Miri O Harms, Showta Ito, Taiga Masuya, Megumi Morino
Cinematographer: Tapio Tokunaga
Editor: Yizhou 'Allen' Xu
Lanfeng-A Blue Day
Animation Short
USA Premiere
Director: Mingze Bao
Producer: Mingze Bao
Writer: Mingze Bao
Animator: Mingze Bao
Art director: Lauren Huang
Background Paintrist: Lauren Huang
Sound Designer: Daniel Viñas Morera
Sound Mixer: Joe Hirst
Ending song: "Blue DAYDREAMING" by HEDGEHOG (Have copyright and contract)
Editor: Mingze Bao
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/bao.mz?igsh=azFhZmxjdG1qNG4y&utm_source=qr
Maryjane is one Word
Short
Los Angeles Premiere
A young adopted woman meets her biological mother for the first time.
- Director: John Liang
- Producer: Diana Cody
- Writer: John Liang
- Cast: Anna Jaller, Kathryn Kelley
- Cinematographer: Carrie Morgan Glassman
- Editor: Joe Carugati
www.lonelydevilfilms.com (https://www.lonelydevilfilms.com)
www.instagram.com/lonelydevilfilms.com (https://www.instagram.com/lonelydevilfilms.com)
www.facebook.com/lonelydevilfilms.com
(https://www.facebook.com/lonelydevilfilms.com)
Moment of Choice
Narrative Short
West Coast Premiere
Anne—seated in an obstetrics and gynecology clinic—grapples with a heart-wrenching dilemma:whether to terminate her unexpected pregnancy for a dream job in Silicon Valley or stay in Taiwan and embrace life as a single mother. As the tension between reason and emotion intensifies, her long-buried fear of family life rises — like a monster from the deep.
Director: Yung-Han Chang / Huai-Yu Chang
Producer: Amo Chang
Writer: Yung-Han Chang / Huai-Yu Chang
Cast: Zhi Ying Zhu, Yi Jung Wu, Andie Chen, Yi Ru Li, Chia Yi Cheng
Cinematographer: Ahoj Chao
Editor: Huai-Yu Chang
Award: Best of Fest (34th St. Louis International Film Festival), Special Jury Prize & Best Actor (47th Golden Harvest Awards, Taiwan)
Ocher
Short (Animated)
USA Premiere
“Ocher” is the story of the world’s first visual storyteller: the discovery of painting, and the original artist’s hand. Because sometimes you have to leave the tribe, in order to lead.
Ocher is the story of vision, evolution… and destiny.
Writer: Chee Ho
Producers: Chee Ho, Sean Kim
Production Design, Lead Animation: Sean Kim
Director: Chee Ho
Editor: Kira Robertson
Pilot
Short
Los Angeles Premiere
In a remote, orthodox village in India, a young widow defies all norms and learns to ride a bicycle to take her son to school 20 kilometers away.
Long Logline:
In a remote, orthodox village, a young widow refuses to let grief dictate her son’s future. Defying tradition and social scorn, she sets out to learn an unforeseen skill - riding a bicycle, to carry her child to school 20 kilometres away.
Synopsis
Pilot is inspired by a true story from rural India, capturing the silent crisis of farmer suicides and their shattering impact on families left behind. In a remote, orthodox village, a young widow refuses to let grief dictate her son’s future. Defying tradition and social scorn, she sets out to learn an unforeseen skill - riding a bicycle, to carry her child to school 20 kilometres away.
At its heart, Pilot is an ode to the courage of women who transform despair into determination, and to the quiet power of education to break cycles of hardship.
An initiative of Touching Lives Welfare Trust and shot in ProtoVillage, a resilient village community, the film bridges art and social impact, bringing to screen a story that speaks to the shared conscience of humanity, inviting empathy, awareness, and a deeper humility towards the struggles of rural communities.
Director: Sonia Mackwani
Producer: Sadik Keshwani, Sonia Mackwani
Writer: Sonia Mackwani
Cast: Pallavi Kedia, K. Danish Mohammed, Kallur Basha, Kalyan Akkipeddi, M. Mujamill, G. Ganesh, K. Naveen Kumar, Lakshminarayan
Cinematographer: Jaskirat Bhatia
Editor: Kanupriya Gupta, Suraaj Gunjal
Best Director Award in Symbiosis Film Festival, Pune 2025
Best Script (2 Prize) - HessenLab, Frankfurt 2024
Process And Social Impact -
The film is an initiative of Touching Lives Welfare Trust, a nonprofit organization in Mumbai, India that works to support education, mental health, and arts for children and communities for more than 20 years.
Shot in ProtoVillage, a self-sustaining community and a non-profit too in Andhra Pradesh, the collaboration was an experiential and impactful process as the children and the members of both the organizations became an active part for making the film.
Through the film, our team has sought to integrate the purpose of art and social impact. The prize amount received from HessenLab2024 was offered as a contribution to ProtoVillage for their commitment towards their vision.
Director’s Note : As a filmmaker, therapist, and social entrepreneur, I made Pilot to honour stories that pass quietly through generations, yet carry the power of seeking and relentless human spirit. The immortality of storytelling can inspire transformation and healing in making our mortal lives more humane and that is always my aim with camera, words and cinema.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonia_mackwani/
Run
Short
World Premiere
After a frightening encounter during her practice run, a teenage girl named Maddie struggles with fear and self-doubt. She must find the courage to face her trauma and get back on her feet, ultimately deciding whether she is ready to run again.
Director: Hanissa Kartika
Producer: Jack Huang
Writer: Hanissa Kartika
Cast: Hannah Aronson, Ellie Donahue, Stanislaw Kowalski
Cinematographer: Eric Tang
Editor: Jack Huang
Instagram: instagram.com/hanissaayu
Sunhwan
Short
World Premiere
A new mother struggling with alcoholism faces her intergenerational trauma head-on.
Director: Ben Tedesco
Producer: Tara Jayn
Writer: Cecilia Kim and Theodore Newton
Cast: Cecilia Kim, Theodore Newton, Jennifer Soo, Richard Chiu, Angela Park, Joohun Lee, Eric Ha, Han Kim, Iris Newton, Richard Taylor
Cinematographer: Wey Wang
Editor: Alex Tedesco
Instagram: @sunhwan.shortfilm
The Door Refused
Short
USA Premiere
After an act of violence shatters her sense of safety, a young pregnant woman isolates herself from the world, until her father’s silent presence reopens wounds she cannot ignore. "The Door Refused" is a quiet study of trauma, tenderness, and the weight of unspoken love.
Director: Nguyen Thanh Thuy
Producer: Duong Hai Long
Writer: Phung Nhuong
Cast: Pham Thu Minh, Tran Tien
Cinematographer: Phuong Bong, Nong Ich Nam, Truong Hao Nhien
Editor: Nong Hoang Son, Nguyen Hong Van, Nguyen Thanh Thuy
Official Selection and Top 6 – Inspiring Vietnam 2025 Short Film Competition
Website: https://saucanhcua.my.canva.site/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saucanhcua.film/
The Stranger
Shorts Shorts
Eunhee struggles to care for her ill mother, Young-ja, who loves only her son and refuses to go to the hospital with her. This pattern has persisted throughout Eunhee's life. After Young-ja's death, Eunhee grapples with mixed emotions towards her mother. She gradually encounters her feelings as she talks with David, a cleaner from the ‘Grief Cleaning’ service. In the end, she finds herself mourning after discovering a note from her mother hidden behind a photo.
Director: Minseo Kwon
Producer: Adin Replogle
Writer: Minseo Kwon
Cast: Victoria Sheen, Seong Park, Angie Rhee
Cinematographer: Zhen Li
Editor: Adin Replogle
Selected and Screened in 11th Asian World Film Festival (screening for Focus on Korea), Chain NYC Film Festival, KAFFNY Infinite Cinema
Selected and Awarded in Independent Shorts Awards (August 2025): Best Actress (Silver Award), Best Student Female Director (Bronze), Best Student Short (Honorable Mention)
Instagram: @minseoannie / @mare.lalune