Where can you find a creepy baby, jocks in soft-core, and a persistent spot of mold that just won’t quit? Look no further than this year’s Midnite program. We are thrilled that the Midnite program is returning with a new selection of scary, surreal, silly, and sexy shorts, all screening at a reasonably late hour. This year’s lineup is packed with premieres that are guaranteed to leave you on the edge of your seat. We invite you to join us for this wild ride—if you dare.

Q&A moderated by Desmond Thorne, Nitehawk Cinema

Benny’s Second Birthday
R.J. Glass, 12 min.
When strangers arrive at her toddler’s birthday party, an expectant mother confronts her son’s unexpected popularity.

I Beg Your Pardon
John W. Lustig, 4 min., NYC premiere
A man commits a terrible crime and the consequences are not what you’d expect.

Birth of the Hive Queen
Tempest Creation, 8 min.
Amina, a trans escort, gives birth from her anus.

Collectors
Susan C OBrien, 14 min., NYC premiere
When an unexpected visitor arrives at a blind man’s doorstep posing as a saleswoman, the night takes a fatal turn as he soon discovers her true intentions.

JOCK
Max Wren, 5 min., world premiere
College football player Harry battles his desires as he tries to comfort his friend. Shot on VHS and inspired by soft-core gay porn.

Water Sports
Whammy Alcazaren, 19 min.
Sad boys Jelson and Ipe harness the power of their love in an attempt to survive a world devastated by climate change.

ROT.
Wes Andre Goodrich, 6 min., world premiere
Over the course of a sleepless night, a father is consumed by the fear that the mold in his apartment is not only sentient, but has dark designs on his family.

Bad Dad
Chisa Hutchinson, 11 min., NYC premiere
When a stranger shows up at Warren’s door to escape the heat, it soon becomes clear he is definitely not waiting for a tow.

Cathexis
Libe Barer, 5 min., world premiere
A young woman who has found herself under investigation for murder begins liking being thought about by the female detective tasked with catching the killer.

Birth Controlled
Isa Fraga-Abaza, 5 min.
A visceral response to a lifetime of medical neglect, patriarchal control, and the systemic failure to treat vaginas as vital organs essential to well-being.

A comeback story with grit and groove. New York’s 1980’s Dance pioneers Rockers Revenge reunite decades later to finally record their debut album, transforming nostalgia into a powerful journey of friendship, resilience, and unfinished dreams. From the frontlines of New York’s COVID crisis to the pulse of Black Lives Matter, their music channels loss, hope, and defiance.

Directed by legendary DJ and music producer Arthur Baker – whose collaborations with New Order, Afrika Bambaataa, Bruce Springsteen and Al Green defined an era – this film spans 30 years yet feels urgently of the moment – a testament to survival, second chances, and the unstoppable spirit of Rockers Revenge.

When society fractured, electronic music took over.

Late 80s. In an England suffocated by unemployment and Margaret Thatcher’s policies, a generation found refuge and a voice in music. In abandoned factories and secret fields, underground raves were born – explosions of light and sound where thousands of youth escaped social oppression to the rhythm of a new musical genre: breakbeat. Fusing the raw intensity of Detroit techno, the warmth of Chicago house, and the energy of New York hip hop, breakbeat shattered all the rules. Syncopated rhythms, powerful basslines, and limitless production fueled by samplers and synthesizers gave birth to a sound that was not just danced to – it was an act of rebellion.

An electrifying journey into the heart of the rave revolution, from the first illegal beats in England to its global explosion. Through never-before-seen archival footage, interviews with the most underground pioneers, and a soundtrack that still resonates today, this documentary unveils the story of a movement that transformed music, culture, and the very essence of nightlife.

A story of defiance, creativity, and the search for freedom, and a cinematic portrait of Felix Leu, artist and patriarch of one of the most iconic and respected families on the international tattooing scene: the Leu Family, a bohemian clan that turned freedom and creativity into their way of life. Son of painter Eva Aeppli and assistant to Jean Tinguely, Felix grew up in Paris’s vibrant 1960s art world before embracing the revolutionary counterculture of the Beat Generation. In New York he met his lifelong partner, Loretta, and together they chose a nomadic path, raising four children while rejecting conformity and living with only time as their true wealth.

In the late 1970s, Felix discovered tattooing, first as a way to support their travels, then as a form of expression in which he became a pioneer, founding what would become the legendary Leu Family Iron. Loretta’s voice guides us through their extraordinary journey through hardship, love, and enduring commitment to artistic exploration. More than a film about tattooing, this is a meditation on independence, identity, and daring to remain true to one’s dreams.

This intimate portrait follows underground DJ Lee Burridge, whose lifelong goal has been to bring people together through music. Blending cinematic storytelling, rare archival footage and access to Burridge’s inner world, the film traces a 40-year journey from a small seaside village in Dorset to some of the world’s most iconic stages, from Fabric London to Burning Man and Coachella. Burridge’s story is one of persistence and passion, and also impermanence.

The DJ lifestyle demands sacrifice: communities fade, connections slip away, and the spotlight eventually moves on. As he reflects on these costs, Burridge creates a new sonic language rooted in beauty, longing and emotion. This sound becomes All Day I Dream – a global community, record label, and festival series that defines his legacy. More than just a music film, Sound of a Dream explores the magic of the dance floor and the universal human search for connection.

In the early 1980s, long before Brooklyn was synonymous with indie cool, a small dive bar on Prospect Avenue became the unlikely heart of a musical revolution. Lauterbach’s was no glamorous venue. Its low ceilings and makeshift stage were more grit than glamour, but what emerged inside its walls was extraordinary: a fiercely creative community of musicians inventing “The Brooklyn Beat.”

Before It Was Cool: The Brooklyn Beat from Lauterbach’s retraces this forgotten chapter of New York’s music history through the eyes of Rachel Cleary, host of Radio Free Brooklyn. While interviewing musicians for her show, she uncovers a hidden thread: band after band had roots in Lauterbach’s, a scene held together by passion, experimentation, and an almost family-like bond. Figures like Bob Racioppo of The Shirts and Chemical Wedding helped book shows and nurture the scene, while a constellation of indie, punk, and alternative bands turned competition into collaboration.

When Lauterbach’s abruptly closed for renovations, the scene teetered on collapse — but instead of vanishing, the artists carried their sound and spirit into the wider world. They proved that the bar was not the movement’s end, but its spark.

Through intimate interviews, archival footage, and vibrant animation, the film resurrects a scene that never sought the spotlight but left a lasting imprint on Brooklyn’s identity. This is not the story of overnight fame or commercial success, but a love letter to a borough before its reinvention. Before It Was Cool captures the beat of a time when art was survival, and community was everything.

The story of two accounting students from Trinity University in San Antonio who found solidarity in their shared strangeness, gathered a tribe of like-minded outsiders – queers, weirdos and nonconformists, including the unforgettable naked performance artist/dancer Kathleen Lynch– and launched one of the most radical and unpredictable paths in rock history. Against all odds, and with a proudly unmarketable name, they became a legendary psychedelic punk band: unlikely icons who inspired acts like Nirvana and even landed a number one hit. Butthole Surfers’ live shows were one-of-a-kind events – communal rites of passage for band and audience, and the antithesis of the digital isolation of our modern age.

The film also goes deep on the personal lives behind the chaos, with intimate portraits of lead singer Gibby Haynes, guitar wizard Paul Leary, drummers Teresa Nervosa and King Coffey, and bassist Jeff Pinkus: uncompromising originals whose lives took extraordinary turns.

Starring: Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Albert Brooks, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Hannibal Buress, Bobby Moynihan, Steve Coogan

Max is a spoiled terrier who enjoys a comfortable life in a New York building until his owner adopts Duke, a giant and unruly canine. During their walk outside, they encounter a group of ferocious alley cats and wind up in a truck that’s bound for the pound. Luckily, a rebellious bunny named Snowball swoops in to save the doggy duo from captivity. In exchange, Snowball demands that Max and Duke join his gang of abandoned pets on a mission against the humans who’ve done them wrong.

Starring: Fredric March, Claudette Colbert, Elissa Landi, Charles Laughton

Hosted by Caroline Golum and Cristina Cacioppo. Followed by an afterparty in Trees Lounge with a DJ set of pre-code era tunes from Owen Kline plus our signature cocktail special “Blonde in Hell.”

Cecil B. DeMille’s The Sign of the Cross is one of the most notorious spectacles of the pre-Code era, blending religious melodrama with lush, barely veiled decadence. Openly reveling in Rome’s sensual excess, DeMille fills the screen with opulent baths, languid banquets, and orgiastic court entertainments meant to show the moral rot of pagan Rome. With Charles Laughton as a yawning, sadistic Emperor Nero (often flanked by his scantily clad boy toy) and Claudette Colbert as the conniving Empress Poppea, the movie is full of provocative imagery, climaxing with a Colosseum scene that manages to be outrageous without the aid of CGI.