Starring: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O’Toole, Ruocheng Ying, Victor Wong, Dennis Dun, Ryûichi Sakamoto
This sweeping account of the life of Pu Yi (John Lone), the last emperor of China, follows the leader’s tumultuous reign. After being captured by the Red Army as a war criminal in 1950, Pu Yi recalls his childhood from prison. He remembers his lavish youth in the Forbidden City, where he was afforded every luxury but unfortunately sheltered from the outside world and complex political situation surrounding him. As revolution sweeps through China, the world Pu Yi knew is dramatically upended.
Starring: Moisés Arias, Julianne Nicholson, Jorge Román, Sofia Buenaventura
Monos, Alejandro Landes’ awe-inspiring third feature, is a breathtaking survivalist saga set on a remote mountain in Latin America. The film tracks a young group of soldiers and rebels — bearing names like Rambo, Smurf, Bigfoot, Wolf and Boom-Boom — who keep watch over an American hostage, Doctora (Julianne Nicholson). The teenage commandos perform military training exercises by day and indulge in youthful hedonism by night, an unconventional family bound together under a shadowy force known only as The Organization. After an ambush drives the squadron into the jungle, both the mission and the intricate bonds between the group begin to disintegrate. Order descends into chaos and within Monos the strong begin to prey on the weak in this vivid, cautionary fever-dream.
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Alison Lohman, Robert Guillaume, Marion Cotillard
When Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) becomes ill, his son, William (Billy Crudup), travels to be with him. William has a strained relationship with Edward because his father has always told exaggerated stories about his life, and William thinks he’s never really told the truth. Even on his deathbed, Edward recounts fantastical anecdotes. When William, who is a journalist, starts to investigate his father’s tales, he begins to understand the man and his penchant for storytelling.
Starring: Martin Dubreuil, Marie-Eve Petit, Marc Vaillancourt, Anthony Pereira, K.M. Lavigne
Featuring a very special guest host for the evening, Unkle Spooky
“Chaotic, sleazy, and unmistakably SOV.”
This city will chew you up and swallow you whole in this Canuk pseudo-snuff masterpiece of SOV insanity! The streets of Montreal are rotten with sex, drugs, and unhinged violence when a pack of disturbed, broken souls collide in a nightmare of home invasions, thrill-killing and cannibalism. There are no more heroes, just more meat.
Urban Flesh is pure late-90s SOV slasher grime. It’s an abrasive collage of sleaze and nihilism where narrative takes a backseat to slimy homemade gore and a FTW attitude. The movie’s fixation on unfiltered violent ecstasy sends it firmly into transgressive territory, aligning it with the most confrontational and notorious examples of DIY horror of the era like August Underground, Atroz and Necromaniac. Ugly, raw, and completely unpolished, Urban Flesh isn’t trying to entertain—it’s here to punch you right in the face.
Special Screening before feature: the SOV slasher short Blood Rail (2025), followed by cast and crew Q&A
Starring: Mick McCleery, Sasha Graham, Scooter McCrea, Joel D. Wynkoop, Michael Gingold
“An oddball anthology stitched together by alien paranoia.”
The year is 2030, and Earth is already screwed. A lone, time-traveling survivor uncovers the truth: the alien invasion didn’t begin with war, it started years earlier, buried deep inside our human bodies. Alien doubles, flesh eating worms, and a string of other bizarre encounters prove that our planet was marked for annihilation long before it happened.
Directed by renowned SOV veterans Kevin J. Lindenmuth and Mick McCleery, The Alien Agenda: Out of the Darkness is a quintessential slice of late-era shot-on-video sci-fi horror, mixing the popular anthology trope of the era with the mainstream X-Files mania that swept the nation. It’s moody, experimental structure and grassroots production design make it a raw and fascinating artifact of regional DIY cinema—where the limitations become part of the aesthetic, and its high-minded sci-fi ideas shove their way right past those lo-fi trappings.
Starring: Kazunari Ninomiya, Yamato Kôchi, Kotone Hanase, Naru Asanuma, Nana Komatsu
Based on the global hit eponymous video game created by KOTAKE CREATE. A man trapped in an endless sterile subway passageway sets out to find Exit 8. The rules of his quest are simple: do not overlook anything out of the ordinary. If you discover an anomaly, turn back immediately. If you don’t, carry on. Then leave from Exit 8. But even a single oversight will send him back to the beginning. Will he ever reach his goal and escape this infinite corridor?
For six decades, Jimmy Grashow’s intricate woodcuts and fantastical sculptures have graced museums and galleries, iconic album covers and over a thousand publications. As Jimmy approaches 80, he is given the commission of a lifetime that proves to be both exhilarating and daunting. As he obsessively carves his magnum opus, Jimmy searches for the meaning behind this profound and sacred piece to which he devotes every moment. But life is full of surprises and Jimmy is faced with a difficult decision. Navigating through the unexpected twists and turns with humor and trepidation, he experiences the true agony and ecstasy of being an artist. Jimmy & The Demons is an unforgettable reminder that life can be a chaotic struggle, but the power of love, kindness and courage is undeniable.
Starring: Megan Seely, Dan Bakkedahl, Mamoudou Athie, James Urbaniak, Danny Deferrari, Bethany Kay, Benjamin Norris
The FOFIF presents a Brooklyn screening of its new release, Megan Seely’s debut feature Puddysticks, as part of its THREE FILMS, FIVE CITIES project. The Wednesday screening includes a Q&A with Seely and cast members and the weekend brunch screenings include special introductions. To make an additional $10 donation to The Future of Film is Female, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.
Puddysticks follows anxious video-game designer Liz and her therapeutic odyssey into a secret society of adults who play like they are little kids. Led by the alluring Sylvester Cromwell, the society compels each member to reveal their most shameful memory, with the promise of psychological healing through childlike play. But when Liz finally gains the courage to share her own darkest trauma, her world turns upside down and she must find her own way to free herself of her past.
Megan Seely’s debut feature is a joyously twisted dark comedy produced by Oscar-winner Alex Coco (Anora).
Part of The Future of Film is Female’s THREE FILMS, FIVE CITIES project.
Starring: Matthew Shear, Amanda Peet, Alessandro Nivola, Judd Hirsch, Bob Balaban, Andrea Martin, Zosia Mamet, Holland Taylor
An anxious law school dropout (Matthew Shear) stumbles into a job babysitting his psychiatrist’s three granddaughters and falls for the girls’ mother (Amanda Peet), an actress in a rocky marriage. A smart, New York-set romantic comedy co-starring Alessandro Nivola, Judd Hirsch, Bob Balaban, Andrea Martin, Zosia Mamet, and Holland Taylor. Winner of the SXSW Narrative Feature Audience Award.
Starring: Ryan Wuestewald, Hans Christopher, Nikki DeParis
The FOFIF presents a Brooklyn screening of its new release, Yana Alliata’s debut feature Reeling, as part of its THREE FILMS, FIVE CITIES project. The Tuesday screening includes a Q&A with Alliata and cast members and the weekend brunch screenings include special introductions. To make an additional $10 donation to The Future of Film is Female, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.
Reeling, the striking debut feature by Yana Alliata, is a lyrical and emotionally charged exploration of memory, trauma, and belonging set against the idyllic family property on Oahu’s windward side. After a life-altering accident, Ryan returns to his family’s homestead for a birthday luau, attempting to reconnect with old friends and relatives who now feel like strangers. As the pig roasts slowly in the imu pit and the atmosphere turns festive, buried tensions simmer beneath the surface as Ryan uncovers the secret of when things took a tragic turn.
Executive Produced by the singular Werner Herzog.
Part of The Future of Film is Female’s THREE FILMS, FIVE CITIES project.
