Shorts

After years of no communication, a pair of exes find themselves together once again. Unable to connect, they take an edible, which acts as a catalyst for an evening of old wounds and new revelations.

On a scorching afternoon along an isolated stretch of road, a lone police officer watches a girl running a small store. His gaze is sharp and relentless, searching for any sign of guilt like a predator stalking its prey. But as he scrutinizes her every move, he isn’t the only one on the hunt.

In this futuristic short, a cleaning robot is lonely on a long trip across space. So it constructs a companion. The pair grow close, but with only a single source of power, the question arises if both will be able to survive.

Tensions flare between 30 year-old Nadine and her boyfriend Karim as they go to elaborate means to dispose of their used condom before her parents return home. The different cultural expectations imposed on the two become apparent, bringing unspoken conflicts to the surface.

A surreal, nightmarish game in which the player (or the viewer) is confronted with abstract and frightening tasks to complete.

A fearful bunny discovers a dancing orb of light. When the light begins to move, he must follow the light through the uncertainty of night, leading him to a stunning mythical encounter.

In this short, we see a delicate and deeply moving portrait of Maria, a grieving woman. Small fragments of Maria’s life and surroundings help give the work a sense of poetry and mystery that lingers long after the end of the viewing experience.

Mitch, Jaden, and Stevie, three young students with visual impairments who attend the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, detail common misconceptions and their struggles for accurate representation.

As Pablo falls in love with the altar boy Sebastián, he finds that God has become an obstacle to their relationship in more ways than one.

Winding through the maze of downtown Chicago, the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors (CCCM) work alongside the Field Museum and Willowbrook Wildlife Center to rescue birds that collide with skyscrapers, and study the birds that are killed during their annual migrations. The tenderhearted work presents a lens of environmental change that impacts every urban landscape.

Carol bristles at an unexpected proposal from her girlfriend Ray. Matters worsen as disturbing changes take hold of Ray, and Carol must decide how to respond.

Paralyzed by anxiety at her OB/GYN appointment, painful memories resurface for Jiya during her pelvic exam. She dissociates and relives her recent assault — this time with sequined boots and red lipstick as her battle gear.

A news studio becomes the ideal breeding ground for an unexpected new monster. As the cameras roll, something sinister begins to take shape behind the scenes.

A wealthy matriarch’s important work dinner is thrown into disarray when her housekeeper doesn’t show up. When her (and her adult children’s) incompetence in the kitchen becomes harder to hide from their hungry guests, a wacky comedy of errors ensues in this biting and boisterous class satire.

Leo Berkeley is a wheelchair-bound resident of an inner city suburb in Australia. Filled with ideas about existence but limited to the observations of his neighbors, Leo comes to know the depths of his awareness, while others are unbothered by their personal impact.

Facing a daunting task at work, a young woman explores a novel method to boost her confidence. Throughout the day, she discovers that her newfound audacity isn’t always beneficial.

Through unique and fantastical imagery, the 17th-century Congolese heroine and prophetess Kimpa Vita comes to life in contemporary Brazil. In an effort to rescue her people from colonial oppression, Kimpa Vita methodically replicates herself.

Estranged Letters provides intimate access into Iranian-American visual artist Maryam Taghavi’s process as she prepares for her fist solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

A group of friends bring a newcomer named Judy to a certified jerk’s house party.
Judy is sweet, wears a nice dress — and she’s a shape-shifter battling an identity crisis while targeting her next victim.

An unlikely pair in their late twenties spend a summer weekend chasing their early twenties. They do their best to act as young as they feel by dining and dashing, getting high, and trash-talking their exes— all while watching a goldfish they’ve been hired to keep alive.

A young boy reaches the end of the lunch line, where he’s told he doesn’t have enough money for a meal. He finds himself at the whim of adult rules and egos, as well as small mercies.

When Evens and his mom planned a trip to the consulate office, they were hoping for a quick errand. They end up waiting hours to learn the status of Evens’ travel documents, and everyone in the overcrowded waiting room grows more aggravated — and interconnected — with each other.

In the lead-up to her baptism, 16-year-old Grace ponders God, her relationship to friends and family, and the idea of sin and repentance while staying under her grandmother’s roof. Set in the American south of the 1950s, Grace looks at the constants of adolescence, regardless of place or time.

An immigrant mother and daughter have a heartfelt conversation about the ways their hopes and dreams have changed over time, growing beyond their wildest imaginations. This compassionate story, told with boundless color and creativity, brings to life the power of intergenerational understanding.

A dual-screen, fictionalized recreation of Eddie Hazel’s famous 10-minute guitar solo on the Funkadelic song “Maggot Brain.” According to a much-shared anecdote, George Clinton elicited an especially soulful performance by telling Hazel to imagine his mother’s passing as he recorded the track.

Two best friends, Fay and Sandra, go on a road trip across Greece as one makes plans to leave everything behind and move to France. After a transphobic attack by a former acquaintance, the two end up traveling by different means as the limits of their friendship, flirtation, and intimacy are tested.

When two best friends spend a frosty winter day ice skating on a lake, they encounter a surprise lurking beneath the surface. Delightfully exploring the power of overcoming a fear of the unknown, this charming romp captures the joy in unexpected friendships.

A self-portrait of trauma, dilemma, objectification, and relief told through a collection of experimental shorts.

Newly discovered archival footage shot in Hiroshima after the nuclear bomb is mixed with images of the city in the present moment. This work is a haunting meditation on war and memory.

A dedicated security guard in Beirut finds his assignment of guarding a waterfront construction site much more difficult than he thought. Delightful and romantic, this surrealist comedy gives us a glimpse into the ups and downs of a man who dares to dream beyond his reality.

A musician stuck in a monotonous office job decides to try the free kombucha that keeps his coworkers cheerful and productive. But the drink comes with a host of unsettling side effects, bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase “consumed by your work.”

As Lana grapples with finding her own voice while living under the roof of a strict parent, her real-world responsibilities get heavier. With her father’s immigration status under increasing scrutiny, she’s forced to imagine a new view of her family and herself.

Shopping under the pseudonym “Claude,” an older woman finds solace in isolation by buying secondhand lamps online. When a seller abruptly rescinds their offer, however, Claude is determined to possess the lamp by any means necessary.

Mary McGee’s bold life as America’s first woman motorcycle racer is told firsthand in this joyful documentary short. Watson’s restrained portrait allows Mary’s humor, grace, and determination to shine as she recounts major moments in her career.

With her loyal otter friend by her side, a brave child embarks on a mission to save her hometown from a water crisis. This calm and inspiring story is stylishly illustrated with beautiful 2-D animation.

Lourdes and her girlfriend Lana can communicate telepathically using “sensory pills.” After dating for some time, Lourdes brings Lana to meet her parents at their country house, where they confront their relationship and the limits of their telepathy.

A lonely man struggles to hide his alcohol addiction during an important reunion with an estranged loved one. A naturalistic and unflinching glimpse into one man’s inner turmoil, this stark and intimate portrait is told with profound humanity.

Hand drawn in charcoal, this short depicts a young woman stranded on a hotline call. Her surroundings begin to morph and change, exhibiting a surrealist resonance with her feelings of limbo.

Two teenage best friends devise an expert plan to meet their dreamy idol, a superstar Brazilian soccer player. But things change when one of them gets their first period at the game in this deeply relatable and utterly charming coming-of-age story.

Three donkeys roam an arid landscape seemingly devoid of humans. As they wander, the possibilities of stories beyond human communication come into focus.

Katie Wotton has struggled with mental health and body dysmorphia throughout her life, and the sea has always been an escape. There, she fights the currents and challenges the shadows of her mind to find inner peace and a sense of belonging.

In the face of groupthink, an old man walks his own path. Described by the filmmaker as a metaphor for the creative process, this film asks its audience to look and listen with intention.

Alone at a lantern festival, young Yuan Yuan is pulled into the bustling realm of gods and spirits. After being swallowed by a dragon spirit, a powerful deity offers to grant her one true wish.

57-year-old Jonathan is a staple of the Glen Ellyn community, thriving thanks to the support of his mother and friends as he navigates life with Autism Spectrum Disorder. When a new landlord increases his rent twice over, locals rally to raise the cost difference and his story goes global.

A package sent to the wrong address opens an addictive realm of pleasure for its recipient. A colorful and energetic examination of whether there can truly be too much of a good thing ensues.

As Laura spends a night out in downtown Tijuana, she anxiously awaits the arrival of her destiny. The vibrant city buzzes around her, but her thoughts are consumed by what lies ahead.

On the sandy beaches of France, a hermit crab loses his shell. Searching for a new home, he meets another crab. The two set off together, encountering good times and bad along the way.

An old man accidentally throws away a precious item as he is moving out of his home. An observant raccoon rescues the memento, and the two share a special moment upon its return.

The heartbroken host of a love advice radio show traverses through the mountains of Nepal. Testimonies from his audience about their problems haunt his journey in this deeply contemplative work that overflows with sadness and yearning.

A group of friends come to terms with the end of childhood in a dying tourist town home to the former space program.

A baby is born into a mysterious white room in outer space. There, they grow up nourished by an extraterrestrial creature, but plagued by a desperate desire to break free. Deeply unnerving and wildly inventive, this one-of-a-kind sci-fi journey bursts with style and intrigue.

Bruce is in elementary school, and starting to trust his own instincts over the lessons instilled in him by teachers and authority figures. Using the guiding voice of his own personal superhero, he puts his bravery to the test and defies his school in the name of self-respect.

Desperate to combat the pain of fibroids, Amanda steps into the world of edibles. When inanimate objects start speaking to her, she realizes she may have bitten off more than she can chew.

A poetic march through the cultural archive of teen girlhood, this film stitches together disparate found footage into an imagined narrative where girls navigate threatening forces, challenge complex expectations, clock the adults, and wage small rebellions.

In a hospital room, a grandson sits beside his declining grandmother. With seemingly no other options, he makes a final effort to save her life by performing a freestyle rap, and is soon joined by some unlikely performers.

In this drama about family ties, a young girl comes across the teenaged version of her immigrant mother from whom she has long been estranged. A newfound empathy for her mother leads them to reconnect.

After being offered the chance to showcase his art in Chicago’s most famous museum, a black sculptor reflects on decades of rejection. Elliot’s film is a melodic portrayal of the bias of history, and the institutions that control its interpretations.

Using the shadow and light of the pinscreen animation technique, this film considers a portrait of Queen Mariana of Austria by Baroque painter Diego Velázquez. Forced to marry her uncle as a child, Queen Mariana’s traumatic life becomes a reminder of the cruelty of incest, as well as art’s deep resonance, in this delicately made work.

At a summer music festival, a galactic burst leads to new dimensions. Two friends thrown apart by the blast try to make their way back together in this brilliantly prismatic short.

A woman has fantasies of burning the skyscraper in which she works. This film is a dreamlike and extremely mysterious portrait of a person alienated by their environment.

As a toxic substance slowly ravages a celebrity’s body, the question left to ask is, how far would you go for the advertising money?

When a 10-year-old vampire realizes that she will be living alone for eternity, she plans to turn a neighborhood boy into her immortal companion. In an effort to prove her immortality, she reveals something much more sinister.

Trigonometry’s untimely death inspires him to go out with one last hurrah, crashing his own funeral.

Down on her luck after an exhaustive job search, Luna returns to the home of her childhood friend following another failed interview. They commiserate over wine, working to re-establish their relationship as young adults navigating São Paulo, Brazil.

Speculation surrounds a man who lives in the forest. Some believe that he may be the cause of several recent natural disasters. A zoologist arrives to speak to him in hopes of reaching an understanding.

Without their leader, a group of pocket-sized people must cope with increasingly harsh conditions while trying to maintain their sanity on an ’80s TV show. An absurd and humorous tale executed with exquisite stop-motion animation, this film asks what it takes to move on.

A young Nigerian immigrant enlists the help of a stranger to communicate with an extraterrestrial vessel approaching Earth that may hold the promise of taking her away from a lonely world. With stunningly creative visuals, this beautiful sci-fi drama displays a deeply compassionate understanding of the unfulfilled promises and unexpected connections of the immigrant experience.

As a desolate community prepares for the succession of a shaman in Northeastern China, a pair of filmmakers recording the process find themselves intertwined in the deadly ritual. Combining found footage with an omniscient perspective, a nightmare unfolds.

A misty afternoon returns a Mapuche couple to their wedding video. In their civil ceremony, they are noted as one of only two couples married in the indigenous language of Mapudungun.

At once intimate and mundane, this creative slideshow follows a developing relationship between two long-haired trans men through a year ‘s worth of texts and pics. Over that year, they meet, date long-distance, get acquainted with each other’s families, and manage recovery from top surgery.

Leo lives in a world where those who want to kiss someone have glowing pink lips. At summer camp, he pokes fun at kissers alongside his friends. But his lips have started to glow as well.