Starring: Robert Taylor, Denise Darcel, Hope Emerson, John McIntire, Julie Bishop, Lenore Lonergan

There’s a deficit of good, honest women in the West, and Roy Whitman (John McIntire) wants to change that. His solution is to bring a caravan of over 100 mail-order brides from Chicago to California. It will be a long, difficult and dangerous journey for the women. So Whitman hires hardened, cynical Buck Wyatt (Robert Taylor) to be their guide across the inhospitable frontier. But as disaster strikes on the trail, Buck just might discover that these women are stronger than he thinks.

Starring: Vic Carmen Sonne, Trine Dyrholm, Besir Zeciri, Ava Knox Martin, Joachim Fjelstrup

Struggling to survive in post-WWI Copenhagen, a newly unemployed and pregnant young woman is taken in by a charismatic elder to help run an underground adoption agency. The two form an unexpected bond, until a sudden discovery changes everything.

Journalist Shiori Ito conducts an investigation into her own sexual assault, aiming to bring the prominent perpetrator to justice. Her pursuit evolves into a significant legal case, revealing the antiquated judicial and societal frameworks in Japan.

Starring: Isaac Cooper, Steve Sheppard, Gary Browning, Anne R. Key, Jenn O.Cide

“A jaw-droppingly gory trash fest.” – The New York Times

After being gunned down by the police, a deranged serial killer is brought back from the dead by a group of Satanists—as a depraved, flesh-hungry, and lust-driven zombie maniac! Now, two unstable, drug-fueled Seattle cops, a pair of incompetent cultists, and a flying zombie baby must band together to stop the undead fiend as he unleashes a nightmarish rampage of carnage on the city.

A long-standing cult favorite and a staple of underground “iceberg” horror for the past 25 years, Matt Jaissle’s grimy gore opus is a true “American Video Nasty” and a perfect gateway into the grim depths of SOV horror. Packed with unrelenting bloodshed, shocking sadism, and some of the most jaw-dropping moments in shot-on-video history, The Necro Files lives up to its infamous reputation with every frame.

Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat follows Basquiat’s life pre-fame and how New York City, the times, the people and the movements surrounding him formed the artist he became.

Using never-before-seen works, writings and photographs, director Sara Driver, who was part of the New York arts scene herself, worked closely and collaboratively with friends and other artists who emerged from that period: Jim Jarmusch, James Nares, Fab Five Freddy, Glenn O’Brien, Kenny Scharf, Lee Quinones, Patricia Field, Luc Sante and many others. Drawing upon their memories and anecdotes, the film also uses period film footage, music and images to visually re-recreate the era, drawing a portrait of Jean-Michel and Downtown New York City -pre AIDS, President Reagan, the real estate and art booms – before anyone was motivated by money and ambition.

The definition of fame, success and power were very different than today – to be a penniless but published poet was the height of success, until everything changed in the early 1980s. This is New York City’s story before that change.

Starring: Danielle Evon Ploeger, Luke Wilcox, Darius Autry, Khali Sykes, Ariel Ash, Jacob Wysocki, John Ennis

It’s 2007 in Pfresno, Texas. Raphael is in county jail following an arrest for graffiti. He’s a good kid. It’s just graffiti. So you can’t blame Raphael for the events that unfold after his arrest. He’s not responsible for the sting operation, Pflophaus’s new mixtape, Officer Williams and her delusional suspicions, the meth pipes, the FBI, the rich kids with nothing to lose, Mateo, Larry the pig, all the knives, the local aspiring TV newswoman, the plutonium deal gone wrong, or anyone who may or may not die due to that deal turning sour. None of it is Raphael’s fault, but it is his problem.

Starring: Katie Corwin, Delaney Buffett, Zachary Quinto, Cazzie David, Mason Gooding, Casey Wilson, Owen Thiele, Benjamin Norris

Join The Future of Film is Female for a special screening of Delaney Buffet’s debut feature ADULT BEST FRIENDS. To make an additional $10 donation to The Future of Film is Female, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.

Katie and Delaney, inseparable since childhood, find their paths diverging in their 30s. While Katie is happily committed and living with her boyfriend, Delaney is still single and living with a roommate. Despite the differences in their lives, their friendship is still a top priority. They’ve always been the most important person in each other’s lives. That is, until Katie’s boyfriend proposes.

Funny, fresh, and full of heart, ADULT BEST FRIENDS is the first feature from filmmaking team Delaney Buffett (director/co-writer/star) and Katie Corwin (co-writer/star). The pair drew upon their own decades-long friendship and brought together a close-knit crew and cast, that includes Zachary Quinto, Cazzie David, Mason Gooding, Casey Wilson, Owen Thiele, and Benjamin Norris, to capture the joy of growing up with a best friend – and the angst of potentially moving beyond them.

Basel Adra, a young Palestinian activist from Masafer Yatta, has been fighting his community’s mass expulsion by the Israeli occupation since childhood. Basel documents the gradual erasure of Masafer Yatta, as soldiers destroy the homes of families – the largest single act of forced transfer ever carried out in the occupied West Bank. He crosses paths with Yuval, an Israeli journalist who joins his struggle, and for over half a decade they fight against the expulsion while growing closer. Their complex bond is haunted by the extreme inequality between them: Basel, living under a brutal military occupation, and Yuval, unrestricted and free. This film, by a Palestinian-Israeli collective of four young activists, was co-created during the darkest, most terrifying times in the region, as an act of creative resistance to Apartheid and a search for a path towards equality and justice.

Martha Cooper is an unexpected icon of the street art movement – a tiny, grey-haired figure running alongside crews of masked graffiti artists.

In the 1970’s, as the boroughs of New York City burned, she worked as a photographer for the New York Post, seeking images of creativity and play where others saw crime and poverty. As a result, she captured some of the first images of New York graffiti, at a time when the city had declared war on this new culture. Martha and her co-author Henry Chalfant compiled these images into the book Subway Art. However, the commercial failure of the book forced Martha to leave graffiti behind, moving on to document many other hidden cultures of New York.

20 years later Martha discovers she has become a legend of the graffiti world – a culture that has now exploded into a global movement. Subway Art became one of the most sold – and stolen – art books of all time, photocopied and shared by graffiti artists for decades.

At 75 years of age, she finds herself navigating a culture vastly changed. The small community born from struggle and adversity, has grown into a commercial industry fuelled by the rise of social media. Now every new piece of street art is immediately uploaded, and crowds line up for selfies in front of popular works. Martha struggles to find her place in this new world, driven by a passion for capturing the creativity that helps people rise above their environment.

“1977, the Bronx was burning down. No one really wanted to write that graffiti was an interesting thing. But I don’t want to shoot something that’s done with permission. It’s an outlaw art. That’s what makes it thrilling.” – Martha Cooper

NoBudge is happy to present a program of eight short films from a group of emerging indie filmmakers mostly based in New York. A mix of comedy, drama, documentary, and experimental filmmaking, the lineup explores strange pursuits and unusual relationships. Thematically varied and visually intriguing, often in lo-fi ways, the short films are filled with idiosyncratic personality and self-assured vision. Each film is a NYC or Brooklyn premiere and all filmmakers will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A and Afterparty.

NoBudge is an online platform spotlighting the best in low-budget indie filmmaking. “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.

36 hour walk
New York Premiere
Director Legyaan Thapa in person.
A college student attempts to walk from his dorm room in midtown Manhattan to the end of Long Island in 36 hours.
(10 min)

Manpower 4 Hire
Brooklyn Premiere
Director Ella Sinskey in person.
A woman finds a strange rock on the beach. A landscaper is down on his luck. A man licks his girlfriend.
(14 min)

Twin Flame
Brooklyn Premiere
Director Stella Gatti in person.
A young woman pays an online psychic to draw a portrait of her soulmate.
(11 min)

Handball
New York Premiere
Director Eli Beutel in person.
When his girlfriend expresses interest in opening their relationship, Charley turns to a handball rival for advice.
(9 min)

What Is You Laughin For?
New York Premiere
Director David Dunnington in person.
Four friends live in a toxic state of limbo until world events change everything.
(15 min)

Tradition
New York Premiere
Director Akari Alishio in person.
When Max’s ex comes over to pick up the last of her belongings, Max asks her for help with a self tape.
(13 min)

Recreational Social Interaction
New York Premiere
Director Alex Sovoda in person.
Two people go on a date and everything is perfect and they fall in love.
(18 min)

NADIR: A documentary about surfing in Newport, Rhode Island in the summer and most of the other times as well
New York Premiere
Director Jack Galvin in person.
What begins as a documentary about surfing evolves into a comedy about a guy trying to get rid of a surfboard.
(18 min)