Please join The Future of Film is Female for its second annual evening of short films at Nitehawk Cinema! These sixteen films across two programs span genre and style, capturing a unique look at our present moment – or a wild escape from it.

Both programs will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.

The Future of Film is Female is a non-profit organization whose mission is to amplify the work of all women and non-binary filmmakers through its Short Film Fund and exhibition programming. Short films are at the heart of what we do! To make an additional $10 donation to The Future of Film is Female, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.

River Bank (Pō-Kehgeh), 2023, dir. Charine Pilar Gonzales, 13 min
A Tewa woman must listen to the spirit of the River in order to free herself.

Me & Aydarous, 2022, dir. Sara Balghonaim, 8 min
Jude coerces her disapproving driver, Aydarous, into taking her to meet a date. Set over the course of a night in 2005 Riyadh, Jude must find creative ways to get rid of Aydarous so that she can have an intimate moment with her boyfriend.

Loveland, 2024, dir. Sofia Bonami, 11 min
When a woman mysteriously disappears from the production of America’s favorite dating show LOVELAND, one contestant becomes obsessed with uncovering what happened to her — jeopardizing the one thing she came for: happily ever after.

Tender Thoughts, 2024, dir. Anndi Jinelle Liggett, 9 min
A whimsical, modern-day fable about a Black woman regaining her sense of self after years of being a corporate cog. Inspired by a Shel Silverstein illustration.

Contractions, 2024, dir. Lynne A. Sachs, 12 min
Forthright yet intimate confessions, paired with experimental choreography outside a women’s clinic in Memphis, Tennessee, offer a glimpse into post Roe v. Wade America, a place where a woman can no longer make decisions about her own body.

Golden Child, 2024, dir. Hannah Levin, 10 min
A young woman is reunited with her childhood friend at a pool party and reckons with the fact that he used to pee on her when they were kids.

Inner Demons, 2023, dir. Jasmine J. Johnson, 11 min
Mya’s world takes a harrowing twist when pills meant to alleviate depression unwittingly unleash a nightmarish entity that embodies her inner turmoil. Mya finds herself entangled in a relentless battle against her own psyche, fighting not just for her mental well-being but her very survival.

Make Me a Pizza, 2024, Talia Shea Levin, 12 min
BORED HOUSEWIFE seduces HOT PIZZA GUY for free pizza, but is desire worth $29.99?

Starring: Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen, Natasha Lyonne

From writer-director Azazel Jacobs (French Exit, The Lovers) comes this bittersweet and often funny story of an elderly patriarch and the three grown daughters who come to be with him in his final days. Katie (Carrie Coon) is a controlling Brooklyn mother dealing with a wayward teenage daughter; free-spirited Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) is a different kind of mom, separated from her offspring for the first time; and Rachel (Natasha Lyonne) is a sports-betting stoner who has never left her father’s apartment — much to the chagrin of her stepsisters, who share a different mother and worldview. Continuing his astute exploration of family dynamics in close-knit spaces, Jacobs follows the siblings over the course of three volatile days, as death looms, grievances erupt, and love seeps through the cracks of a fractured home.

Starring: John Cho, Katherine Waterston, Havana Rose Liu, Lukita Maxwell, David Dastmalchian, Keith Carradine

In AfrAId, Curtis (John Cho) and his family are selected to test a revolutionary new home device: a digital family assistant called AIA. Once the unit and all its sensors and cameras are installed in their home, AIA seems able to do it all. She learns the family’s behaviors and begins to anticipate their needs. And she can make sure nothing – and no one – gets in her family’s way.

20th anniversary screening with rare archival 35mm print!

After bassist Jason Newsted quits the band in 2001, superstars Metallica realize that they need an intervention. In this revealing documentary, the filmmakers follow the three rock stars as they hire a group therapist and grapple with 20 years of repressed anger and aggression while searching for a replacement bass player and creating a new album confronting their personal demons.

Named one of the ten best music documentaries of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, this groundbreaking and critically acclaimed 2004 documentary, directed and produced by the award-winning team of Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, takes you inside the studio and into the psyches of Metallica as they record their Grammy-winning album St. Anger.

Join us at Nitehawk Prospect Park for a rare, archival 35mm screening to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the film Roger Ebert called, “Brilliant Oscar-level documentary filmmaking. Never a dull moment… fascinating…” and NPR’s David Edelstein cited as “One of the most marvelous rock documentaries of all time…”

Starring: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen Denzel Washington

Years after witnessing the death of Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius must enter the Colosseum after the powerful emperors of Rome conquer his home. With rage in his heart and the future of the empire at stake, he looks to the past to find the strength and honor needed to return the glory of Rome to its people.

Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Marissa Bode, Ethan Slater, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum

Wicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz, stars Emmy, Grammy and Tony winning powerhouse Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, a young woman, misunderstood because of her unusual green skin, who has yet to discover her true power, and Grammy-winning, multi-platinum recording artist and global superstar Ariana Grande as Glinda, a popular young woman, gilded by privilege and ambition, who has yet to discover her true heart.

The two meet as students at Shiz University in the fantastical Land of Oz and forge an unlikely but profound friendship. Following an encounter with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths. Glinda’s unflinching desire for popularity sees her seduced by power, while Elphaba’s determination to remain true to herself, and to those around her, will have unexpected and shocking consequences on her future. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfill their destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

Starring:

Reuniting the director, writer and stars of Forrest Gump, Here is an original film about multiple families and a special place they inhabit. The story travels through generations, capturing the most relatable of human experiences. Zemeckis directs from a screenplay by Eric Roth and him. Told much in the style of the acclaimed graphic novel by Richard McGuire on which it is based, Tom Hanks and Robin Wright star in a tale of love, loss, laughter and life, all of which happen right Here.

Starring: Kyle Gallner, Rosemarie DeWitt, Naomi Scott, Lukas Gage

About to embark on a new world tour, global pop sensation Skye Riley begins to experience increasingly terrifying and inexplicable events. Overwhelmed by the escalating horrors and pressures of fame, she must face her dark past to regain control of her life before it spirals out of control.

Starring: Amanda Flowers, Summer Greenberg, Michael Madsen, Cherie Currie, Kansas Bowling, Parker Love Bowling

Preceded by the short film The Triangular Door

Two sisters are thrown out of their isolation and onto opposite coasts of America by a terrifying cosmic entity. While one sister suffers from memory loss and the other is too young to understand her own past, the girls discover they possess supernatural powers as they are pursued by the mysterious and unearthly being hell–bent on their destruction. Spirit Riser is a genre-bending fantasy with elements of horror, comedy, action, surrealism, and martial arts from rising New York City filmmaker Dylan Mars Greenberg.