Synopsis

As a community grapples with the disappearance of one of their own, a young boy receives spiritual guidance from his grandfather. Hypnotic and profound, Lanawaru depicts one community’s bond with nature and their sacred spiritual practices.

This film screens as part of Shorts Program 7: Documentary.

Synopsis

The creators of these shorts unabashedly follow their own singular visions into wildly new and weird territories. Filled with fantastic imagery, oddball production design, and both animated and live-action storytelling, this program showcases the boundless possibilities of short film as a uniquely innovative art form.

Water Sports transports us to a hyper-stylized world ravaged by climate change where two students discover that emotional rather than physical strength offers their best chance of survival. In Arguments in Favor of Love, two animated ghosts revisit the conflicts and emotions that populated the landscapes of their previous shared life. A filmmaker narrates the events surrounding her abortion with poignance and irreverence while MS-paint style animation depicts the titular Abortion Party. A single woman navigates the difficult world of contemporary dating in Manakin by building a life-sized stuffed companion onto which she projects the images and words of a litany of single men. A young queer man on his way to a rave in the Argentine Pampas finds himself stranded in a rural tavern with a secret in the strikingly animated Luz Diabla. In a fantastical world suffused with eroticism, Once in a Full Moon follows a young vampire as he embarks on a quest that promises to grant him his heart’s truest desire: to consummate his love for the moon.

Synopsis

On his way to a rave in the Argentine Pampas, a young queer man gets into an accident. Taking refuge in a mysterious rural tavern where he is conspicuously out of place, his paranoia begins to mount and he worries he might never escape.

This film screens as part of Shorts Program 10: Outré.

Synopsis

The award-winning shorts of CineYouth 2025 showcase the talent and vision of eight young filmmakers from around the world. Fast-paced action-comedy, timely documentary, cheerful animation, and body horror help comprise this genre-spanning program. Join us immediately after the screening for a celebratory mixer in the Festival Filmmakers’ Lounge.

Diagnosed with terminal insomnia, Cillian obsessively builds a time machine to escape death in the The Mechanization of Man. Perfect Casting follows the founding of an unlikely friendship. How to Smell Without a Nose is a dark and impactful short about the Korean war, illustrated through the prosecution of a Joseon woman. April struggles for self-expression in Arm and a Leg. In the action comedy Check Please, a Korean and a Korean-American fight over their pride, honor, and who gets to pick up the tab. A mother and daughter cope with grief in Chiquita Piconera. An evil king holds a princess captive in Paper Love. In Hey Hugo, a well-loved family man waits in prison for his conviction to be overturned.

Synopsis

1985. Bogotá. A pall of paranoid insecurity hangs over the capital city, where tailor Salvador leads a solitary life. His quiet routine is shattered by the arrival of Isabel, the new elevator operator in his building. The two embark on an awkward love affair until jealousy and suspicion (as family members start disappearing) begin to cloud his judgment.