How to Glow in the Dark

Maggie Brill | Evanston | Age 21

With their parents fighting downstairs, 15-year-old Charlotte attempts to comfort her imaginative younger sister Avery with a magical bedtime story.

Taste of 75th

Andee Williams, Aniya Carey, Antoinette Green, and Iyana Jordan | Chicago | Ages 15-18

A celebration of famous eats on Chicago’s South Side featuring Brown Sugar Bakery, Original Soul Vegetarian, and Mabe’s Deli.

look at our bodies

Christina Erica Eagleson | Chicago | Age 20

As two young women prepare for a night out, they reflect on their ever-changing relationships with their bodies.

Your Face In December

Chris Derek Van | Chicago | Age 18

An immersive collage depicting the many facets of love between two men.

See Me

Josh Leftwich | Chicago | Age 22

After his older brother goes missing, a young boy sets out in search of him with the help of a mysterious stranger.

Chicago Polar Bear Club

Rebecca Shaid, Hank Yang, Ethan Cheng | Evanston | Age 21

With the shared goal of supporting Chicago families in need, a group of daredevils meets every winter to take a plunge in icy Lake Michigan-–and creates community along the way.

Sinking

Gillian Fauntleroy | Chicago | Age 22

The submarine crew of a 1960s reconnaissance mission notices a mysterious glowing light from the periscope which leads to tension and then hysteria on board.

In the face of society’s confining norms, the individuals in these films persevere and celebrate their queerness, gender fluidity, and identities.

Counter Conformity

Isabella Chiappini | Florida | Age 18

Diving deep into fluidity and the relationship between gender and clothing, this documentary celebrates different ways of expressing your true self and identity.

Unacceptable

Joseph Aguilar | California | Age 15

Forced to choose between being with the girl she loves and living by her father’s rules, a young high schooler seeks to carve her own path.

One Lift at a Time

Flo Singer, Ben Dame | California | Age 21

Navigating the challenges and gender politics of professional weightlifiting, a young transgender athlete shares an intimate look at their accomplishments and obstacles they’ve overcome.

Dare

Johanna Halbartschlager | Austria | Age 17

Without dialogue, this short skillfully illustrates the difficulties and complexity of contemporary interpersonal relationships as it depicts the daily lives of three individuals and their attempts to fit in.

Pure

Natalie Jasmine Harris | Maryland | Age 22

On the eve of her cotillion ball, Celeste, a seventeen-year-old closeted poet, experiences an unexpected new love that shifts her role in the traditional rite of passage.

Please note: This film will only appear at the in-person screening and will not be part of the streaming presentation.

Claymation, digital collage, 16mm photography, and triptych displays are but a few of the formal devices out to use in these exciting explorations of our evolving world.

In Search of Mount Analogue

Leonardo Pirondi | California | Age 21

Using 16mm film to capture computer-generated images, the filmmaker brings to life the imagined, metaphorical, and mysterious island from the 1952 surrealist novel Mount Analogue.

Vodník Many Years After the Rainstorm

Emma Penaz Eisner | California | Age 19

Many years after his hideous crimes, the fiendish water creature Vodník from Czech folklore surfaces in San Francisco to recount his beguiling tale.

COCOABEAN

Tanya Bittar Massally | United Kingdom | Age 19

Through spoken word poetry and associative imagery, this piece powerfully embraces the nature of what it means to be of BAME (Black, Asian, and minority ethnic) background.

You are not far, for you are everywhere

Cole Greenberg | Nevada | Age 20

A diary film odyssey that captures the thoughts, feelings, experiences, and environments of Las Vegas during the early days of the pandemic.

Letting the light in

Viktor Gelbek, Leanne Butter, Malu de Kruijk, Liza Chernik, Panayiota Georgakopoulou | Greece | Age 17-20

The stresses of daily life are illustrated through rapid fire camera movement and a chaotic urban sound design, eventually giving way to the peaceful quietude of the natural world.

@scroll_alice

Céline Ufenast | United Kingdom | Age 22

Our love-hate relationship with Instagram and photo-editing mania are personified through digital voices in this unusual and invigorating collage animation.

Please note: This film will only appear at the in-person screening and will not be part of the streaming presentation.

Amaranthine

Nolan Barry | Chicago | Age 21

A sole figure, who populates a planet of just one, seeks comfort in their contemplation of death and the life that precedes it in this ethereal stop motion animation.

Kamayan

Minerva Navasca | Canada | Age 19

Juxtaposing an outdated American informational film on dinner etiquette with the traditional Filipino way of eating, this work deftly confronts the idea of “correct” table manners.

St Clair W

Emily Ryder | Canada | Age 22

A fleeting and tender exploration of love, loss, and the relationship we have with our own memories as seen through the lens of queer female relationships.

How To Make Kimchi (or How To Be Korean)

Jonathan Lee | Michigan/Vermont | Age 20

Weaving together intimate family footage, folk tales, and archives of the Korean War, the filmmaker wrestles with questions of belonging as a Korean American.

Come get a bellyful of laughs (perhaps some turkey, chips, and hotdogs, too) in these quirky and all around hysterical shorts.

Please note: Films in this program contain themes or language that may not be suitable for all ages.

индейка (Turkey)

Theo Baldwin Edwards | Louisiana | Age 16

Dressed as a turkey, an earnest young man goes door-to-door fundraising for his church’s Thanksgiving Hurrah. Things take a turn when he meets a mysterious Russian bodybuilder fanatic.

I Thought Everyone Loved Chaos!

Kevaughn Reid | Florida | Age 19

A behind-the-scenes look at the lovable (if slightly dysfunctional) Fillmore High’s theater class, as they rehearse for a show that they never got to put on.

Divination Dave

Georgia Madden | United Kingdom | Age 19

Dave, a crisp-loving couch potato, finds himself on a journey of accidental enlightenment when his favorite flavor of salty crisps runs out and he seeks answers from a mysterious crystal.

It Only Hurts When I Laugh

Ahmed & Armaan Sultan | Chicago | Age 22

When a regular at his hot dog joint signs him up for a stand-up gig, Isaac, a shy twentysomething, realizes he may have what it takes to kill in comedy — literally!

Two Beers

Zach Robinson | Montana | Age 21

Lifelong friends Graham and Adrian have secret feelings for each other, which are brought boiling to the surface when they become trapped in a room with a bomb.

BIG KIDS

Brendan Lee Hickey | Washington | Age 20

Uneasily teetering on the precipice of adulthood, aloof burnout Steve and his buddies embark on a zany quest to find a lost tamagotchi from his childhood.

Paying tribute to the endurance and adaptability of family, these portraits of parents and grandparents acknowledge their strength and resilience over time.

Kaudo (The Gift)

Natalie Paton | Canada | Age 20

An immigrant family wrestles with cultural differences during Christmastime when their young son Amir expresses excitement about his Secret Santa assignment at school.

I Hope You Remember This Moment

Apoorba Misra | Minnesota/India | Age 22

Inspired by the fear she felt when her father fell into a coma, the filmmaker contemplates the reconstruction of memories and the temporal links between past, present and future.

Blue Belt

Liam Harrington | Australia | Age 22

Set in a laundromat in the early 2000’s, Blue Belt explores the isolating experience of a financially strapped single mother trying to provide for her son.

desiderium.

Emma Albrecht | North Carolina | Age 21

On a long-awaited trip to their mother’s childhood home in North Dakota, the filmmaker and their mom explore feelings of loss, guilt, and joy on returning home.

Vinyl Beginning

Lulu Chiang | Taiwan | Age 16

An 80-year-old man reminisces about the good old days spent in a vinyl record shop, bringing his past selves to life by riding the melodic waves of his memories.

Impermanence

Vejune Sidaugaite | Chicago | Age 22

Audrone grew up in Soviet-occupied Lithuania and spent her life thinking that tattoos were reserved for soldiers and criminals. At age 53, she decides to get her first tattoo.