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Poster for Nitehawk Shorts Festival 2026: MUSIC DRIVEN

Nitehawk Shorts Festival 2026: MUSIC DRIVEN

Thu, Apr 9

Midnite weekend screenings happen on Friday & Saturday nights (meaning arrive on Friday and/or Saturday night by 11:45pm for seating, the movie starts after midnite)!

Run Time: 86 min. Format: DCP Release Year: 2026

Once again the Music Driven program for the 2026 edition delivers on all levels. A remarkably varied and explosive selection of music videos which let us know the new golden age only grows stronger and ups the ante with each passing year. From beat based tracks to meditative songs which thrive on subtle tonality it’s an impressive and sincere selection of music book-ended with two of the most well thought out and produced documentaries you’ll be taken on quite a journey this year.

Q&A moderated by John Woods, Nitehawk Cinema

“Joy, Joy!” / Valerie June
Taylor Washington, 3 min.
Tennessee roots rock fave Valerie June’s music video for her uplifting new single.

Tessitura
Lydia Cornett, Brit Fryer, 18 min.
Blending character portraits with historical context, Tessitura explores how voice and gender are continuously reformulated in opera.

“Sandrail Silhouette” / Avalon Emerson & the Charm
Felix Geen, Hayden Martin, 4 min.
From Avalon Emerson’s debut album “& the Charm”, Sandrail Silhoutte represents scales of time through it’s collage-like nature.

“EURO-COUNTRY” / CMAT
Eilis Doherty, 5 min.
Set in the Omni shopping centre in North Dublin, CMAT sings about her experiences of the economic crash in Ireland.

“Say She She” / Cut&Rewind
Alyssa Boni, 3 min.
Cut&Rewind is both a playful celebration of feminine grit and a graphic exploration of the New York City grind.

I QUIT.
Gordy De St. Jeor, 2 min., World premiere
A janitor is forced to clean up after a clown.

LÜCY – X
Haoyan of America, 9 min., World premiere
Techno-mysticism, the occult, and reincarnation converge when a beekeeper believes her deceased lover has returned to her in the form of a bee.

“Well Henry” / The Screaming Multitudes
Ellen Callaghan, 5 min.
Set under the blazing sun of a desert wasteland, “Well Henry” finds desperate cowboys in search of water and a place to let their tired hobby horsies rest.

Lethe Music Video
Mike Enright, 4 min., World premiere
An animated journey through Hades’s river of oblivion. Rebirth awaits at the end of tunnel’s light.

“Not Broken” / Tōth
Daniel Fox, 4 min.
Not Broken off Tōth’s third solo album “And The Voice Said” offers a sonic hug to his inner child.

“Slowly” / Tru Pierone
Brian Herrera Gladstone 4 min. Slowly is about the space between desire and expectation, a meditation on light, composition, and the vulnerability in unguarded performance.

“Kimberly” / MZZTR
Mr. Man, 4 min., World premiere
“Kimberly” is the debut single from NYC based band MZZTR, a masked horde emerging from the sexy bowels of NYC, who channel rage, seduction, and absurdity.

OH YEAH!
Nick Canfield, 17 min.
The story of the iconic electronic music duo Yello and the phenomenon of their 80s hit song

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