September 24, 2026
A CRIME ACROSS FOUR LANDSCAPES
DescriptionBiosContactTrailerDescription Screens as part of SHORTS PROGRAM: AFTER DARK When a small-town crime goes awry, the evidence is scattered across four picturesque landscapes in the American South — inviting viewers to piece together what happened. Bios Aidan Weaver is an LA–based writer-director from North Carolina whose films push against the boundaries of form and genre....
September 24, 2026
A COUNTRY DOG
DescriptionBiosContactTrailerDescription World Premiere Screens as part of SHORTS PROGRAM: LIVE ACTION 2 In this adaptation of Shirley Jackson's "The Renegade," a young family moves from the city to an isolated rural community, where their beloved dog is accused of killing a neighbor's chickens. Bios Writer/director Ryan Nielsen was born and raised in the Midwest and...
September 24, 2026
CLARISSA
DescriptionDescription Screening to be followed by a conversation with actor Sophie Okonedo moderated by film critic and culture writer Manuel Betancourt. With a star-studded ensemble cast, Arie and Chuko Esiri (EYIMOFE, AFI FEST 2020) relocate Virginia Woolf’s "Mrs. Dalloway" to contemporary Lagos, turning its meditation on memory, desire, class and privilege into a distinctly Nigerian...
September 24, 2026
CONGRATS ON FIRST CHAIR
DescriptionTrailerDescription Screens as part of CONSERVATORY SHOWCASE 4 A high school trumpet player struggles with her feelings toward her best friend, and her competition. Trailer
September 24, 2026
CHUURAA
DescriptionBiosTrailerDescription North American Premiere Screens as part of SHORTS PROGRAM: DOCUMENTARY 2 In the wilderness of the Siberian Arctic, an Indigenous Sakha paleontologist descends into the depths of the melting permafrost and traverses the mythical realm of the Underworld in search of an ancient creature. Bios Born in the Russian Arctic, Evgenia Arbugaeva remains connected...
September 24, 2026
CITIZEN OSAMA (AL MOWATEN OSAMA)
DescriptionBioDescription Palestine's Oscar® submission for Best International Feature Screening to be followed by a conversation with producer Laura Nikolov. In CITIZEN OSAMA, the distance between documenting history and simply surviving it has all but disappeared. Osama Al-Ashi, a young Palestinian photographer turned citizen journalist, remains in northern Gaza with his wife and newborn son, training...
September 24, 2026
BUNKER
DescriptionBiosContactTrailerDescription Screening to be followed by a conversation with director and screenwriter Florian Zeller. Oscar®-winners Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz square off in this marital thriller from Oscar®-winning filmmaker and AFI FEST regular (THE FATHER, 2020; THE SON, 2022) Florian Zeller. Miguel (Bardem), a renowned architect living in London with his wife, Sofia (Cruz), an...
September 24, 2026
CHRONICLES FROM THE SIEGE
DescriptionBiosContactDescription Screening to be followed by a conversation with producer Taqiyeddine Issaad. In his striking debut feature, Palestinian-Syrian filmmaker Abdallah Alkhatib crafts a compelling mosaic of interconnected vignettes that captures the rhythms of life under siege with both urgency and deadpan delivery. While the omnipresence of bombardment, hunger and displacement defines the landscape, the film...
September 24, 2026
BUCKSKIN
DescriptionBiosContactDescription Screens as part of SHORTS PROGRAM: DOCUMENTARY 2 An experimental portrait of the filmmaker’s grandfather: Carroll B. Williams, a ground-breaking African-American and Indigenous forester, reflecting on his work and legacy in the twilight of his life. Bios Mars Verrone is a filmmaker from Los Angeles, CA, currently based in Brooklyn, NY. As a first-time...
September 24, 2026
A BREACH WITHIN (UNE BRÈCHE)
DescriptionBiosContactTrailerDescription Screens as part of SHORTS PROGRAM: AFTER DARK A detective and her partner head to the country on a sweltering summer afternoon for a routine witness interview in an ongoing investigation. Bios Jean-François Leblanc is a writer/director whose short films, including THE GUY FROM WORK (2015) and LANDGRAVES (2019), have screened at numerous international...
