Even when you’re in a seemingly familiar situation life is frequently unpredictable. Different situations affect people in unique ways and can dramatically alter your perception of what you took for granted as a permanent consistency. The way we react and find a way forward becomes more urgent in these times. While all of this certainly applies to real life, some of the filmmakers in this program have taken the same notions and will challenge the way you might think of subject matter and genres in film.

Post-Screening Q&A moderated by Cristina Cacioppo, Nitehawk Cinema

D AS IN DO NOT
Rachel Wolther / U.S. / 2022 / 16 min. / English
A stand up comedian, Jenny (Joey Ally), deals with her mom’s (Annie Golden) continual hints that she’s planning to end it all.

MOIDA SHE ‘DUNNIT!
Tess Paras, Tyler Davis / U.S. / 2021, 2022 / 3 min. / English
In this Film Noir spoof, Beatrice McMoidara turns herself in for a homicide but has trouble convincing the male detectives that she was, in fact, the murderer.

NIGHT
Ahmad Saleh / Germany, Qatar, Palestine, Jordan / 2021 / 16 min. / Arabic
Night has to trick the mother of a missing child into sleeping in order to save her soul.

BILL & BETTY BUILD A PYRAMID
Alex Wroten / U.S. / 2022 / 15 min. / English
Bill and Betty are thrilled to be attending an exclusive work party, but things get weird when their hosts offer them an opportunity to multiply their success.

BALIKBAYAN
Rebecca Rajadnya / U.S. / 2022 / 18 min. / English, Tagalog
A Filipina immigrant grapples with the physical distance from the family she left behind and the cultural disconnect from her daughters in the United States.

REST STOP
Crystal Kayiza / U.S. / 2022 / 12 min. / English, Luganda
On a bus ride from New York to Oklahoma, Meyi, a Ugandan American girl, realizes her place in the world through her Mother’s efforts to reunite their family.

OPÉRATION CARCAJOU
Nicolas Krief / Canada / 2021 / 18 min. / French
A police search disturbs the peace and quiet of a suburban family and arouses suspicions in Nicolas about his father, a secret man with suspicious activities.