NoBudge is happy to present new work from a group of emerging indie filmmakers mostly based in New York. These eight short films tackle a variety of themes related to the worlds of online sex, art dealing, LARPing, and activism. They tend towards the dramatic but offer moments of off-kilter humor and social commentary. Some are provocative while others are unexpectedly moving. Four of the films are NYC or Brooklyn premieres and each director will be in attendance for a post-film 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.
Waifu
Director Alexis Gil present.
A young woman becomes enamored with a waifu sex doll online and aims to transform herself into a sentient copy.
(10 min)
Areyouwinningson?
Director Dana Greenleaf present.
The chat-room of an online porn-forum transforms into a techno-feudal court.
(10 min)
Hangtime
New York Premiere
Director Chester Vincent Toye present.
An eager young artist receives a disturbing introduction to the art world during the delivery of a controversial sculpture.
(11 min)
AmeriGirl
Director Samina Saifee present.
Struggling to fit in at a sleepaway camp with a group of white girls, 11-year-old Aaliyah Khan tries to befriend a new arrival.
(10 min)
Never Fuggedaboutit
Brooklyn premiere
Director Dustin Waldman present.
Amid the high anxiety of post-9/11 NYC, a struggling post-production house is hired to remove a shot of the Twin Towers from the intro to a hit TV show.
(12 min)
Close the Gap
Director Alex Bliss present.
During the BLM protests of 2020, a white protester loses his head while trying to corral a group of fellow demonstrators.
(9 min)
Sad LARP
New York Premiere
Director Marissa Goldman present.
In this experimental documentary, a comedian’s break-up leads her to a surprising journey with a community of LARPers.
(19 min)
A Folded Ocean
Brooklyn premiere
Director Ben Brewer present.
A couple gets lost in each other.
(12 min)
Starring: Alyssa Milano / Abigail Adams, Virginia Madsen / Coach Judy, Gina Torres / Violeta Gonzalez, Milana Vayntrub / Vasectopia Saleswoman, Jennifer Holland / Sienna, Sean Gunn / John Adams, Molly C. Quinn / The Actress, Jason George / Officer Hall, Jackie Tohn / April-May June
The Future of Film is Female presents a special screening of GIVE ME AN A, an anthology film responding to the overturning of Roe V Wade. Q&A with filmmakers. Introduction by Chelsea Williams-Diggs, New York Abortion Access Fund‘s Interim Executive Director. To make an additional $10 donation to New York Abortion Access Fund, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.
Seventeen films. Seventeen filmmakers. One Supreme Court ruling. A countless number of women. From satire to horror to science fiction, Give Me an A is a unified vision in the form of an anthology film that tells the world how they feel about the overturning of Roe V Wade.
Natasha Halevi (BEAUTY JUICE)
Bonnie Discepolo (GRANDMA’S HOUSE)
Erica Mary Wright (RED NOTICE)
Meg Swertlow (NEXT 2 YOU)
Danin Jacquay (FATALE COLLECTIVE: BLEED)
Sarah Kopkin (THE AUDITION)
Hannah Alline (DOOM PATROL, CHERRY)
Kelly Nygaard (DROWNING)
Valerie Finkel (WAKING LIFE)
Avital Ash (BARRY)
Loren Escandón (CASA GRANDE)
Caitlin Hargraves (MI CASA)
Mary C. Russell (UNHINGED)
Monica Moore-Suriyage (LA CIGUAPA SIEMPRE)
Francesca Maldonado (DOWNFALLS HIGH)
Megan Rosati (TWO SENTENCE HORROR STORIES)
Starring: Dorothy Mackaill, Donald Cook, Ralf Harolde, Victor Varconi, Ivan F. Simpson
Co-hosted by filmmaker/programmer Caroline Golum
In this wild pre-code from director William A. Wellman, Gilda (Dorothy Mackaill) flees to an island after thinking she has killed a former client when she knocks him out with a bottle and accidentally sets the place ablaze. The island is a haven for criminals, and Gilda is intent on behaving for the sake of her sailor fiancé who has forgiven her of all past indiscretions. But when boredom creeps in she joins the reprobates for smokes and drinks, all the while dodging their advances. Sleazy Mr. Bruno, a corrupt local lawman, proves harder to deflect, so when he corners her with an ultimatum, she makes a bold choice.
35mm print courtesy Library of Congress
Starring: Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Chang Chen
Lai (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and his boyfriend, Ho (Leslie Cheung), arrive in Argentina from Hong Kong, seeking a better life. Their highly contentious relationship turns abusive and results in numerous break-ups and reconciliations. When Lai befriends another man, Chang (Chen Chang), he sees the futility of continuing with the promiscuous Ho. Chang, however, is on his own personal journey and, ultimately, both Lai and Ho find themselves far from home and desperately lonely.
Starring: Leon Lai Ming, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Charlie Young, Michelle Reis, Karen Mok
Lost souls reach out for human connection amidst the glimmering night world of Hong Kong in Wong Kar Wai’s hallucinatory, neon-soaked nocturne. Originally conceived as a segment of Chungking Express only to spin off on its own woozy axis, this hyper-cool head rush plays like the dark, moody flip side to Wong’s breakout feature as it charts the subtly interlacing fates of a handful of urban loners, including a coolly detached hitman (Leon Lai) looking to go straight, his business partner (Michelle Reis) who secretly yearns for him, and a mute delinquent (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who wreaks mischief by night. Swinging between hardboiled noir and slapstick lunacy with giddy abandon, Fallen Angels is both a dizzying, dazzling city symphony and a poignant meditation on love, loss, and longing in a metropolis that never sleeps.
Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Montgomery Clift, Eli Wallach
While filing for a divorce, beautiful ex-stripper Roslyn Taber (Marilyn Monroe) ends up meeting aging cowboy-turned-gambler Gay Langland (Clark Gable) and former World War II aviator Guido Racanelli (Eli Wallach). The two men instantly become infatuated with Roslyn and, on a whim, the three decide to move into Guido’s half-finished desert home together. When grizzled ex-rodeo rider Perce Howland (Montgomery Clift) arrives, the unlikely foursome strike up a business capturing wild horses.
Starring: Chuck Handy, Terri Heater, Larry Frampton, Les Rigwood, Steve Overbay
After a chance encounter with a female bodybuilder – who is also an alien – loner and reluctant hero Percy “Spider” Leibowitz falls madly in love. She soon goes missing, and he turns to his military pal to find her and battle the army of deadly, intergalactic trash cans who he thinks are responsible – trashcans that also happen to be hell bent on taking over earth.
This wildly obscure, never-released homemade sci-fi opus from Oregon’s Chuck Handy is stunningly hypnotizing in its simplicity and weirdness, dropping you into a lo-res otherworld from the first frame and leaving you there to marinate in the thick, hazy syrup of a one-of-a-kind consumer grade VHS universe.
Hosted by Matt Desiderio of Horror Boobs with free giveaways of Blu-rays, DVDs and collectibles. Followed by an after party in Lo-Res where Desiderio will DJ an all-vinyl set.
Starring: Todd Michael Smith, John Polonia, Mark Polonia, Marion Costly, Jeff Seedon
A pair of twins are sent off to spend time at their aunt’s farm, but they have stepped into a nightmare as the farm’s handyman turns out to be a sadistic serial killer who’s been slaughtering locals and keeping a collection of body parts out in the barn.
Made by teenage twin brothers Mark and John Polonia in rural Pennsylvania, Splatter Farm is a 1980s’ shot-on-video fan favorite and a gore-drenched testament to the DIY spirit that has endured over time and led the brothers to a decades-long career in filmmaking that is still thriving today.
Hosted by Matt Desiderio of Horror Boobs with free giveaways of Blu-rays, DVDs and collectibles. Followed by an after party in Lo-Res where Desiderio will DJ an all-vinyl set.
Starring: Romain Duris, Bérénice Bejo, Grégory Gadebois, Finnegan Oldfield, Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz
Special midnite sneak preview!
Oscar winner Michel Hazanavicius’ remake of Shin’ichirô Ueda’s cult hit One Cut of the Dead follows a director (Romain Duris, L’Auberge Espagnole) charged with making a live, single-take, low-budget zombie flick in which the cast and crew, one by one, actually turn into zombies. Featuring hysterically unhinged performances from Oscar nominee Bérénice Bejo (The Artist), Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz (Revenge), and Finnegan Oldfield (Corsage), Final Cut is a sly love letter to the art of filmmaking and a blood-soaked, hilarious genre farce with a meta-to- the-max premise.
Starring: Annie Parisse, Gus Birney, Constance Shulman, Paul Sparks
After having her identity stolen online, Diana Dent leaves her family and goes on a road trip with her son’s pregnant girlfriend to track down the perpetrators. The mismatched travel companions form an unexpected bond as they concede to the hardships of their own lives, and their hunt for answers becomes a surreal journey of self-discovery and empowerment.
Before Giving Birth to a Butterfly, we’ll screen Theodore Schaefer’s short “I Fell in Love with the World,” which was part of Nitehawk Shorts Fest 2023.
A Fandor Exclusive.
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