An eclectic mix of ten new short films made by emerging indie filmmakers, ranging from Cannes and Sundance official selections, to thus far unscreened experimental work. Several of the films are based around the holidays, from the Mississippi Christmas Party of “Kim Bush’s Abduction” (2018 Nitehawk Shorts Fest jury winner!) to the powerful Scottish drama, “Blue Christmas,” which takes place on Christmas Eve, 1968. Others like “Caroline” and “The Happiest Guy in the World,” are offered as drastic warm weather counterpoints.

Among the lineup is a mix of comedy, drama and documentary, and each filmmaker will be on hand to discuss afterward in a Q&A hosted by NoBudge founder and programmer, Kentucker Audley. NoBudge is an online 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.

100% of sales from our special paired cocktail, The Half-Shell, will go towards the Ali Forney Center’s “Homeless for the Holidays” campaign.

The Movies: 

Jane, Jean, John, & Jesus Make an Experimental Song
Director Nimay Ndolo present.
Jean and her band of snobs make an experimental song.
(6 minutes)

Kim Bush’s Abduction
Directors Courtney Bush, Will Carington, and Jake Goicoechea present.
Several hours of unanswered texts and phone calls have everyone at a Christmas party wondering: where is Kim Bush?
(9 minutes)

Goodbye, Brooklyn
Director Daniel Jaffe and Writer/Star Michelle Uranowitz present.
Struggling with New York living, Dana Schapiro decides to move, saying goodbye to a neighborhood that can barely remember who she is
(9 minutes)

One Eye Small
Director Jane Stiles present.
Eleanore and Irene are brought together by fate and decide to keep each other company during a night out in the city.
(10 minutes)

Boundaries
Director Rhys Marc Jones present.
Jared takes extreme measures in order to gain the sympathy of his ex-boyfriend.
(9 minutes)

Disposable Time
Director Lorenzo Benitez present.
An experimental short capturing the episodic and fragmented nature of our youthful memories.
(2 minutes)

Caroline
Directors Logan George and Celine Held present.
In the middle of a Texas summer, plans for a babysitter fall through and six-year-old Caroline is left in charge of her two younger siblings.
(12 minutes)

The Happiest Guy in the World
Director Lance Oppenheim present.
Mario Salcedo, known as Super Mario, has lived on cruise ships for almost 19 years and has no plans of stopping.
(11 minutes)

Blue Christmas
Directed by Charlotte Wells.
On Christmas Eve, 1968, in a Scottish coastal town, a debt collector goes to work to avoid confronting his wife’s worsening psychosis at home.
(16 minutes)

Christmas Light Killer
Director James P. Gannon present.
Every night in December, people in a small suburb of Philadelphia flock to a holiday light show. At the end of each night, one man drives the stretch alone, turning off all of the lights.
(6 minutes)

Starring: Eva Melander, Eero Milonoff, Jörgen Thorsson

Starring: Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth

Starring: Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone

Early 18th century. England is at war with the French. Nevertheless, duck racing and pineapple eating are thriving. A frail Queen Anne occupies the throne and her close friend Lady Sarah governs the country in her stead while tending to Anne’s ill health and mercurial temper. When a new servant Abigail arrives, her charm endears her to Sarah. Sarah takes Abigail under her wing and Abigail sees a chance at a return to her aristocratic roots. As the politics of war become quite time consuming for Sarah, Abigail steps into the breach to fill in as the Queen’s companion. Their burgeoning friendship gives her a chance to fulfill her ambitions and she will not let woman, man, politics or rabbit stand in her way.

Starring: Michael Chiklis, Giancarlo Esposito, Jorge Gutierrez, Dascha Polanco, RZA, Vince Staples, Danny Trejo

Angelino is just one of thousands of deadbeats living in Dark Meat City. But an otherwise unremarkable scooter accident caused by a beautiful, mysterious stranger is about to transform his life… into a waking nightmare! He starts seeing monstrous forms prowling around all over the city. Is Angelino losing his mind, or could an alien invasion really be happening this quietly?

Starring: Nadia Alexander, Toby Nichols, Karl Markovics, Margarete Tiesel

Starring: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester

This is the newly “un-restored” 4K version with original audio, supervised by Christopher Nolan.

Stanley Kubrick’s dazzling, Academy Award-winning achievement is a compelling drama of man vs. machine, a stunning meld of music and motion. Kubrick (who co-wrote the screenplay with Arthur C. Clarke) first visits our prehistoric ape-ancestry past, then leaps millennia (via one of the most mind-blowing jump cuts ever) into colonized space, and ultimately whisks astronaut Bowman (Keir Dullea) into uncharted space, perhaps even into immortality.

“Open the pod bay doors, HAL.” Let an awesome journey unlike any other begin.

Starring: Winona Ryder, Gabriel Byrne, Trini Alvarado, Samantha Mathis, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes, Christian Bale, Susan Sarandon

Cozy, comforting, and a real tear-jerker, 1994’s Little Women is the adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s coming-of-age novel that originally defied box-office expectations and has since become a generational favorite. You know the story: With her husband off at war, Marmee is left alone to raise their four daughters. There is the spirited Jo, conservative Meg, fragile Beth, and romantic Amy. As the years pass, the sisters share some of the most cherished and painful memories of self-discovery, as Marmee and Aunt March guide them through issues of independence, romance and virtue.

Starring: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello

Cher is devastatingly funny, sinuous and beautiful as Loretta, an unlucky-in-love Italian widow who finds romance through the intervention of the Manhattan moon. With her wedding to a close friend just weeks away, she meets – and falls hopelessly in love with – his younger brother, played by Nic Cage!

Starring: Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet, Maura Tierney, Amy Ryan