The nine short films in the OPENING NITE screening of the Nitehawk Shorts Festival address the dynamics of family, shining in the face of adversity, and attempting to make meaningful connections. New York stories punctuate this program. Includes Q&A with filmmakers.

Join us afterwards for the official OPENING NITE PARTY at Nitehawk’s Lo-Res Bar. Featuring cocktails by New York Distilling and beer by Brooklyn Brewery!

KIM BUSH’S ABDUCTION
COURTNEY BUSH, WILL CARINGTON, JAKE GOICOECHEA / U.S.A. / 2017 / COMEDY / 9 MINS / NEW YORK PREMIERE
Everyone freaks out at a Christmas party when Kim goes missing.

MONSTER
JAKE KOLTON / U.S.A. / 2017 / COMEDY, DRAMA / 5 MINS / WORLD PREMIERE
A stay-at-home mom experiences an unexpected upheaval during her daily routine.

9AT38
CATHERINE LEE / SOUTH KOREA, U.S.A. / 2017 / DOCUMENTARY / 18 MINS
A Juilliard-trained violinist is unwavering in his pursuit of harmony by North and South Korean musicians straddling their heavily militarized border

86’D
ALAN PALOMO / U.S.A. / 2018 / COMEDY, DRAMA / 12 MINS / NEW YORK PREMIERE
Four seedy stories transpire over the course of one late-night order at 24-hour deli.

THE MORNING AFTER
LAUREN MINNERATH / U.S.A. / 2017 / DRAMA / 14 MINS / NEW YORK PREMIERE
Family tensions erupt the morning after the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.

LOW ROAD
ELEANOR WILSON / U.S.A. / 2018 / DRAMA / 91/2 MINS / WORLD PREMIERE
A tense slow burning thriller about a woman consumed by the image of her husband’s affair.

MARIA EL DIABLO (MARIA THE DEVIL)
JUSTICE NNANNA / PUERTO RICO, U.S.A. / 2018 / DOCUMENTARY / 5 MINS / WORLD PREMIERE
The story of Cucha, a 79 year-old artisan mask maker from Playa de Ponce, Puerto Rico.

SPELL OF THE WEST
SAME LANE / U.S.A. / 2018 / ANIMATION, WESTERN / 7 MINS
On an isolated cacti farm, three stressed out birds ask a cowgirl to help put a stop to the elusive Ax-Man.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARSHA!
TOURMALINE AND SASHA WORTZEL / U.S.A. / 2018 / DRAMA / 14 MINS
Commemorating Black transgender activist and performer Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson and her role in instigating the 1969 anti-policing riots at the Stonewall Inn.

Starring: Gordon Heath, Maurice Denham

The British animated adaptation by Halas & Batchelor of the George Orwell classic. A successful farmyard revolution by the resident animals vs. the farmer goes horribly wrong as the victors create a new tyranny among themselves. Though it features Disney-like animal animation, this British adaptation is of a decidedly bleaker subject matter.

The nine shorts in the CLOSING NITE screening at the Nitehawk Shorts Festival highlight bonded families, searching for a sense of belonging, and the effects of media on individuals. Q&A with filmmakers.

LIKE GLASS
ANDREW K. MEYER / U.S.A. / 2017 / DRAMA / 20 MINS / NEW YORK PREMIERE
A club kid grappling with their identity finds liberation in NYC nightlife, while haunted by the pressures of societal norms.

MAMMA, MAMMA
JOSE FERNANDO RODRIGUEZ / PUERTO RICO, U.S.A. / 2018 / DOCUMENTARY, HYBRID / 9 MINS
A son films his middle-aged mother as she undertakes a hallucinatory trip down memory lane.

STREAKERS
BRIELLE BRILLIANT / U.S.A. / 2018 / DRAMA / 11 MINS / NEW YORK PREMIERE
A little girl decides to become a Streaker to distract from her sister’s violent behavior.

THE MATRIX061792
TYNAN DELONG / U.S.A. / 2017 / COMEDY / 6 MINS
A group of friends try to remake THE MATRIX.

MAMA JANE
LISA MARIE HALL / U.S.A. / 2018 / DRAMA / 11:30 MINS / NEW YORK PREMIERE
An imminent death in the family puts a spotlight on the complex relationship of a free-spirited mother and her twenty-something daughter.

BOOMERANG
MATTHEW FROST / U.S.A. / 2018 / COMEDY / 9 MINS / NEW YORK PREMIERE
Our heroine JEN, a regular girl-next-door, tries to quit Instagram.

READY FOR LOVE
DYLAN PASTURE AND LAUREN MCCUNE / U.S.A. / 2017 / COMEDY, DRAMA / 15 MINS / NEW YORK PREMIERE
Amber Lynn Weatherbee knows that the right man is out there. Maybe he’s on The Bachelor?

THE MESS HE MADE
MATTHEW PUCCINI / U.S.A. / 2017 / DRAMA / 10 MINS
A man waits for the results of a Rapid HIV Test in a small town strip mall.

ROADSIDE ATTRACTION
IVETE LUCAS AND PATRICK BRESNAN / U.S.A. / 2017 / DOCUMENTARY / 9:30 MINS / NEW YORK PREMIERE
Palm Beach International Airport’s newest snowbird has become one of the fastest growing roadside attractions in the United States.

Starring: Benfors ‘Wee Do, Boyd Banda, Kalundu Banda

After a minor incident in her village, nine-year-old Shula is exiled to a traveling witch camp where she is told that if she tries to escape she will be transformed into a goat. As she navigates through her new life with her fellow witches and a government official who espouses her, exploiting her innocence for his own gain, she must decide whether to accept her fate or risk the consequences of seeking freedom.

Starring: David Bradley, Holly Weston, Sam Gittins

It’s Christmas Day and the Milgram family wake to find a mysterious black substance surrounding their house. Something monumental is clearly happening right outside their door, but what exactly – an industrial accident, a terrorist attack, nuclear war? Descending into terrified arguments, they turn on the television, desperate for any information. On screen a message glows ominously: ‘Stay Indoors and Await Further Instructions’. As the television exerts an ever more sinister grip, their paranoia escalates into bloody carnage.

A powder keg of throat-grabbing intensity and mind-bending body horror, AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS is an unmissable tour-de-force from rising star filmmaker Johnny Kevorkian and the BAFTA-nominated producer of God’s Own Country.

Note: This is a special edition Halloween version of NoBudge Live! All directors will be in costume for the post-film Q&A and Afterparty. We encourage audience members who wish to dress up, please do!  The audience member selected best dressed of the nite will receive a Nitehawk / NoBudge / Movies Brand prize package!

NoBudge is a movies club that presents a hand-picked selection of new indie movies daily. “One of the best places to sample what’s happening in low-budget cinema worldwide,” says Glenn Kenny of The New York Times. Its mission is to provide a supportive home for emerging indie filmmakers working with limited resources and without major industry connections, and to be a trusted discovery platform helping audiences find their new favorite movies and filmmakers.

The Movies:

His Heart Lived in Lonesome Valley
Director Benjamin Finkel present.
A young man embarks on a cosmic journey after deciding to plan a party.
(8 minutes)

Exit 9
Director Joseph Barglowski present.
Maddy finds herself stranded somewhere off of the highway after being stood up by a guy named Mike.
(23 minutes)

The Filipino Picture Show
Director Shalemar Coloma present.
This double feature homage to Filipino culture includes a origin myth about how pineapples were created, and a visual poem about two Filipino girls in love.
(7 min)

Walking Your Dog in the Park
Director Graham Mason present.
A strange encounter with a man who loves dogs.
(4 minutes)

Proxy
Director Eric Schuman present.
An isolated sick girl and a curious boy strike up a hidden relationship at a roadside motel.
(14 minutes) 

While the Kettle Boils
Director Nick Shultz present.
While waiting for his water to boil to make tea, a young man enters a state of distorted reality.
(7 minutes)

Houseplants
Director Prashanth Kamalakanthan present.
The story of a couple on their first day living together. As they move in, ghosts from the past interrupt.
(10 min)

Girl Powder
Director Annelise Ogaard present.
Jessica is the CEO of a hip, millennial drug cartel. Her assistant Louise handles all the little details.
(6 minutes)

F*ck Bunny
Director Wesley Wingo present.
A young woman tries to navigate issues of intimacy in a unique relationship after an unsettling incident.
(10 minutes)

Radio Birdman were one of the great Detroit rock bands, except they came out of Australia. Inspired by The Stooges, MC5 and Aussie garage rock, the band formed determined to do things their own way, no compromise.

Kicked out and shut down, ‘the loudest band in the land’  started up a new scene of rock’n’roll in 1970s Sydney, attracting a crowd of inner-city kids looking for a new music. After Seymour Stein signed them to Sire Records, their intensity turned inwards, resulting in a bitter breakup during the ‘Van of Hate’ tour of the UK.

Years later they reform, undimmed. Can they manage to resolve their conflicts or will they self-destruct again?

Starring: Sunny Suljic, Lucas Hedges, Na-kel Smith

Written and directed by Jonah Hill, Mid90s follows Stevie, a thirteen-year-old in 90s-era LA who spends his summer navigating between his troubled home life and a group of new friends that he meets at a Motor Avenue skate shop.

Starring: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Ruth Livier

Christine Brown is a loans officer at a bank but is worried about her lot in life. She’s in competition with a competent colleague for an assistant manager position and isn’t too sure about her status with a boyfriend. Worried that her boss will think less of her if she shows weakness, she refuses a time extension on a loan to an old woman, Mrs. Ganush, who now faces foreclosure and the loss of her house. In retaliation, the old woman place a curse on her which, she subsequently learns, will result in her being taken to hell in a few days time. With the help of a psychic, she tries to rid herself of the demon, but faces several hurdles in the attempt.

Starring: Claudio Brook, David Silva, Tina Romero

A young girl’s arrival at a convent after the death of her parents marks the beginning of a series of events that unleash an evil presence on the girl and her mysterious new friend, an enigmatic figure known as Alucarda. Demonic possession, Satan worship and vampirism follows.