Short Film

A single dad gets in over his head when he is tasked with getting his teenage daughter her first bra. Featuring a pitch-perfect lead performance, this cringe-worthy comedy is delightfully endearing.

Twin sisters Ona and Emilija have lived their whole lives in the Williamsburg loft their mother built. After her passing, the sisters must fight an eviction that threatens to displace them from their irreplaceable home. With incredible proximity, director Fanny Texier crafts a tender reflection on family and gentrification.

In this singular vision of queer fantasy under oppressive regimes, a young couple’s blissful moments together are interrupted by the arrival of evil beings who they must fight to survive. Real scenes of life and war in Tehran are brought together with computer-animated scenes of euphoric queertopia and violent monsters.

When a grad student travels from Chicago to Arizona to reconnect with a friend, boundaries are tested, and in the aftermath, they are tasked with rebuilding the normalcy of their relationship. As a meditation on the destabilizing moments of grief and adulthood, the film’s performances stick with you.

A late-night grocery run turns into an unexpected connection and emotional release. Beautifully sincere, delightfully surprising, and very funny, Balloon Animals showcases the power of a brief but meaningful encounter.

A mysterious comb acts as a conduit for the fearsome banshee, unleashing a series of deaths in a 19th century village. Shot on 35mm, this scare-filled film brings together folklore, family drama, and grief against the starkly beautiful backdrop of fog-filled rural Ireland

Maxed out, burnt out, and sex-starved, Amber falls under the spell of a glamorous self-help guru. Repression evolves into possession as Amber molts into a new ego: a worksona.

In a near future in which cattle are almost extinct, a skilled farmhand is hired to extract semen from one of the last bulls in Asia. When the bull’s owner becomes obsessed with the worker’s hands and overturns professional boundaries, the worker must decide between his dignity and his paycheck.

In this introspective and poetic portrait, filmmaker Mars Verrone reflects on the life of their grandfather, Carroll B. Williams Jr., a trailblazing Black and Indigenous forester and entomologist. Using family archives and luminous 16mm imagery of the redwoods, Verrone meditates on the personal and political dimensions of memory.

In this colorful satire, a group of ambitious and competitive women tries to climb the corporate ladder as sinister government practices creep closer and closer. Buoyed by comedic talents, this film mocks our current political climate in over-the-top, blood-soaked fashion.

Stuck in a loop regarding his career, financial well-being, and ability to reach life’s milestones, an aspiring screenwriter is forced to confront the realities of choosing his passion over practicalities. A tale as old as time for creative workers, this film ponders the choices we make for ourselves and others.

An extremely dedicated office worker begins to question her workplace’s mission of scamming strangers in order to return to their home planet. An eccentric and creative take on the absurdities of office culture and conspiracy theories, this dark comedy is utterly singular.

Aboard the Pompelmo Express, a dildo-like spacecraft, thousands of single beings seek their mates in sex and love. Through cartoonish vignettes full of fantastical characters big and small, this 2D-animated film evokes the universality of loneliness in the modern age.

Searching for direction following her mother’s death and in frequent conflict with her father, 17-year-old Mati finds herself pulled toward a group of glamorous soul-eating women. With stunning, blue-tinged cinematography, this atmospheric short depicts the powerful allure of belonging, no matter the cost.

A young boy of the clouds, Yios, whose head shines bright like the sun, finds it difficult to make friends. But when he falls to earth, he finds that sometimes the best friendships come from those willing to think outside the box for connection.

Embla is the picture of perfection, a wooden woman designed and brought to life by an artist who dotes on her. But when she burns her hand, her creator’s affection dims, and Embla is forced to seek revenge using the very element that marred her muse status.

The absurd, liminal space of the airport just might be the perfect place to await the apocalypse—especially if you’re too absorbed in reality television and souvenir shopping to notice the end is here. Alexander Skarsgård and Noomi Rapace lend their voices to oddly existential animals in this stop-motion animated satire.

Beginning with endings, this short mythologizes the journey of a recently deceased woman through her final moments with the five senses that helped her experience life. Told as a fable with a singular animation style reminiscent of paper cutouts and puppet shows, the film asks audiences to imagine what worlds await beyond death.

Rendering the toxic romance between a lonely woman and a sentient finger in hand-drawn black, white, and red, this provocative short packs a serious visual and emotional punch. This limited color palette underscores its heavy themes, enticing viewers with whispered proclamations of love that distort into something much more sinister.

Tired of building a bed with his father and eager for his own space, a young boy follows a fire-creature into a magical, mushroom world. While the freedom and destructive chaos are initially welcome, he learns there may be limits to mischief.

“It’s more than just clothes.” In this spoken word film, fashion becomes the story, exploring the identities and memories woven into every thread.

When Abdul Ahad Momand traveled to space with the Soviets in 1988, he became the only Afghan astronaut in history. Reflecting on Momand’s subsequent emigration and centering questions of what is lost when one becomes a refugee, filmmaker Elham Ehsas tells the parallel refugee story of his own father.

In 2000, an Armenian pre-teen and her little brother face a new sense of responsibility when their mother takes them to visit their incarcerated father. Featuring excellent performances and a precise sense of place and time, this family drama takes us on a poignant emotional journey.

Days blur together for a maternity ward nurse who prays that a previous abortion was successful and that her late period will arrive in due time. Set among scenes of medical expertise, electricity blackouts, and camaraderie, this film feels lived-in, reminding us that life continues apace despite individual crises.

In Hag, the idea that single women in their 30s are lonely hags is literalized to hilarious extremes. Portrayed through raucous, expressive animation, a woman goes on a hero’s journey to rediscover her true self despite the obstacles she’s faced: patriarchy, waning fertility, and dating apps.

A non-binary Chinese American finds connection with their mother when their flooding apartment is visited by the spirit of an old relative. An impressive balance of spiritual imagery and grounded realism, this film glows with subtle magic and deeply felt intimacy.

When middle-aged, sexually repressed Germán hears the strange whistling sound of a mysterious creature, he begins to crave his greatest aversion: penetration. Formally inventive and subversively queer, this film reimagines the Colombian legend of “El Silbón” as a delightfully handmade fantasy about family, self-discovery, and buttholes.

After a stressful arrival at Immigration and Customs, Koffi gets a crash course in Montreal’s nightlife straight off the plane from Côte d’Ivoire. An attempt to charge his phone and take the bus to his aunt’s house leads to hijinks, performances and personal realizations at a busy jazz club.

In the aftermath of friends and family disappearing, a rural congregation is forced to confront the impossible: an extraterrestrial explanation. Breathtaking visuals and stirring performances ground this film as it journeys from our innermost emotions to places beyond the human realm.

Through archival footage and candid conversations, a Mexican immigrant family considers the impact of 25 years of separation at the border and their enduring hope for reunion.

Composed in 3D and mixed-media stop motion elements, a capybara lives each day in a land on the ocean with his beloved Mr. Tangerine as his main companion. However, passing animals question if this companionship is enough, continually asking, “Aren’t you lonely?”

When a bite from an endangered eel starts replacing an unsuspecting scientist’s skin with salt, the scientist must give in to the unstoppable force of transformation. With a muted, earthy color palette brought to life by colored pencil, this hopeful short finds peace in the often painful process of becoming something, or someone, new.

Adapted from a graphic novel by Nicholas Gurewitch, Death attempts to pass on their work to their young, sweet apprentice who may not be up to the task. Tender and darkly funny, Death seeks advice in the unlikeliest of places in this beautifully illustrated work.

Here, the titular character offers a once-in-a-lifetime combination of sex, birth, and death to those who are willing to pay. Featuring a show-stopping prosthetic and moving performances by Julian Richings and Grace Glowicki, this short serves up a spectacle equal parts shocking and sensitive.

During the Mahsa Amini protests in 2022, Shirin Alizadeh was killed while filming the Iranian regime’s violent crackdown from her car. Driven to action by her story, two filmmakers begin documenting what they see from their windows, asking whether this act can help bring forth the revolution they yearn for.

In a city of coal and dust, a Taoist priest’s ritual rescues a lost boy from an abandoned mine. When villagers reopen the mine for profit, buried curses surface and faith slowly withers.

A Month in Minnesota goes beyond the headlines of the ICE raids in Minneapolis, providing a more intimate view of what transpired on the ground through interviews with political officials, activists, and ordinary citizens who were trying to keep their neighbors and neighborhoods safe.

Traveling without her son, Señora Concha faces the chaos of the Tijuana airport and debates whether she is willing to accept the support of eager wheelchair attendant Jorge. Animated with a wonderful sense of physical comedy, this work highlights just how valuable interdependence can be.

In a beautiful town on the Italian coast, tourists and locals alike find themselves in subtle competitions of masculinity that expose their fragility. Gorgeously shot and effortlessly poignant, this sleek look at gender dynamics is equal parts dreamy and hilarious.

This animated documentary travels through the memories of a childhood toy, a loved one’s watch, and a bottle of hot sauce from a lifetime ago.

Insecurities abound in this depiction of people trying desperately to connect and love one another. Offbeat and absurd, this expertly animated stop motion dark comedy is deeply human.

Among scenes of snow-capped forests and tranquil frozen lakes, a darker underbelly emerges when a cult survivor is discovered hiding in a truck. Eerie and unsettling, the darkest of human emotions and fears are on display as our two protagonists attempt to survive and perhaps save each other.

A captured mermaid finds an unlikely career as a lonely taxi driver’s favorite camgirl, blurring the lines between predator and prey. Dark expanses and muted tones dominate this eerie, dialogue-free short depicting the siren song of digital desire.

In a beautiful world where gravity flows upward, a young boy lives with his beloved grandfather as they form a close bond in their floating home. When a storm damages their home, the boy navigates through this world after an irrevocable change.

In Sawyer Avenue, Sunday Afternoon, Oscar-nominated director Bill Morrison reconstructs, through cellphone and body-cam footage, a shocking confrontation on Chicago’s Northwest side on October 12, 2025, after federal agents detained a young Latino man.

A misogynistic killer gets more than he bargained for when his would-be victim unknowingly lures him to a cabin filled with his worst nightmare: lesbians. With hilarious performances from Ethan Embry, Jenna Kanell, and more, this slasher spoof skewers the subgenre’s straightness.

When a girl who steals shoes from her one-night stands discovers a pair she doesn’t remember taking, she must track down the owner—and confront what she’s been running from at home.

Using an at-home DNA test, an adoptee seeks to make sense of his ancestral past. After reconnecting with long-lost relatives online, a trip to his home country shows him welcomed by extended family but raises darker questions about his immediate origins and reunification with his birth mother.

With an engaging, breathy score, the ups and downs of a day in the life of a child are depicted through colorful, lively animation.

After death, they become a dark moon. A filmmaker reflects on his father after the death of his grandmother.

Already feeling like a fish out of water among his straight, British-Jamaican clan, Drew’s anxiety spikes when someone steals the speech he’s meant to give at his sister’s wedding. With encouragement from his loved ones and elders, he’s able to take the microphone and step into the familial spotlight.

When two kids connect at a vibrant Nigerian wedding, they break free from the adults and go on a secret adventure of their own. Led by two extremely charming performances by its young stars, this delightful excursion is heartfelt and fun.

Through the eyes of a parking ticket machine, we experience the everyday realities of a city lobby: angry passersby, playful children, graffiti taggers, bickering couples, and drunken antics. Dissatisfied with its disrespectful patrons and constant view of the mundane, an act of rebellion sends the machine to uncharted territory.

A son visiting his elderly mother in a care home is confronted with an unthinkable dilemma in this Irish dark comedy.

Vivid, jewel-toned animation sets the scene for a lively Jamaican birthday party, where a young girl and her uncle reminisce about her late mother’s life and personality. A warm family tale, this film mixes comedic elements with resonant vocal performances and a hint of mysticism.

At a summit for radical life extension, scores of Americans young and old desperately look for any method of stopping death’s inevitable onslaught. Through an observational lens, filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer (The Act of Killing) takes a simultaneously profound and satirical look at this gathering of America’s would-be immortals.

A lonely woman fills her time by writing to a lover, her preoccupation acting as a balm during the grayest days of Chicago winter. Shot in a bedroom and snow-covered train stations, we are reminded of the yearning that arrives when cold and darkness are constant, and nature offers no reprieve.

When two Belgian tourists follow a monkey into a dense rainforest, their subpar survival instincts leave them feverish, frightened, and lost. With charming stop motion animation that gives way to hallucinatory 2D digital drawings, this darkly funny short treats themes of friendship, impulsivity, and ultimately, mortality.

When a mixed-race German and Indonesian young man visits his sister who has moved to Indonesia, he finds himself caught between two identities, not feeling at home in either. Beautifully shot and delicately portrayed, this complex exploration of mixed identity is as funny as it is heartbreaking.

Following a violent attack on their church, a rattled congregation turns to hosting punk gigs in their basement to raise money for repairs. When Miriam covers for the church’s event coordinator, she battles between micromanaging as a form of control and losing herself in the writhing bodies and loud music.

A group of retired Indian uncles decides to seek revenge on the AI machines that threaten their livelihoods. Timely and righteously indignant, this uproarious mockumentary celebrates distinctly human brilliance.

Two best friends spend an eventful day in an Algerian town, as they prepare for a life-changing journey. This heart-rending film perfectly captures the vibrant and dynamic environment, as well as the profound connection between the two boys.

When they interrupt each other’s early morning visits to the cemetery, two men find themselves bonding over the painful experience of being a widower. Starring Glynn Turman and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs of Cooley High, this short packs an emotional punch and showcases the chemistry and talent of this veteran duo.

As a teen girl becomes her terminally ill mother’s caretaker, they both struggle to accept the new dynamic. Tender and contemplative, this beautiful meditation on grief and personal evolution is quietly powerful and deeply moving.

As endless storms ravage her land, a young girl ventures out to determine if the fire keeping her ailing sister alive is worth protecting. Produced using Mexican ceramics and tree bark for the puppets, Yugen is a testament to love and the balance between us and the natural world.