Los Angeles - Season 5 , 4th Showcase

Congratulations to Our Selected Filmmakers!

We are thrilled to extend our heartfelt congratulations to the talented filmmakers chosen to showcase their work at our event. Your creativity and dedication have set a remarkable standard, and we can't wait to present your incredible films to our audience.

Proving Time Travel is Possible Tomorrow

Directed by: Tommy Duncan

Country: Iceland

Sam decides to meet her future self at the top of a mountain. Tomorrow.

FALL IN LOVE AGAIN AND AGAIN

Directed by: Sean Lau

Country: Taiwan

A nonlinear narrative story about a young girl who enters the shooting club to practice.

Echoes

Directed by: Celestino Obama Obiang Nchama

Country: United Kingdom

Zia is the typical young Londoner who parties and drinks on the weekends to release stress and have fun.

One night she gets wasted, she finds herself in the streets feeling dizzy and nauseous.

Surprisingly, she stumbles upon the Thames path and finds momentary peace in that quietness and calm.

The following day, Zia being sober, ventures into the Thames path to find that peace and quiet one more time.

Zia finds the nature, ships, garages, pieces of history, old garages, the seaside… she gets to see the other abandoned London that most young people don’t see, and appreciate life from a different perspective now.

Cutting

Directed by: Clara Shahrazad

Country: Denmark

Do our plants actually notice more than we think?

Alma misses her ex-boyfriend Carl and decides to reach out to him on New Year’s Eve. What she doesn’t realize is that her plants are watching from the sidelines - and they have some pretty strong opinions about her past relationship. “Cutting” is a story about loss, grief, and the realization that some relationships may not always be what’s best for you.

PAIN

Directed by: Aman Mayur Shah

Country: India

Trapped indoors by a relentless Mumbai downpour, a man’s quiet night spirals into a nightmare when an unbearable toothache grips him, blurring the line between physical agony and psychological torment.

The Table We Share

Directed by: Brock Edwards

Country: United States

In America’s breadbasket, a Kansas town confronts the paradox of hunger amid abundance — revealing how community, care, and courage redefine what it means to share the table.

Safe

Directed by: Govind Chandran

Country: United Kingdom

When a compassionate helpline counsellor begins to grow concerned for the safety of one of her clients, she's forced to decide whether to trust her instincts or follow protocol. Safe is a tense, quietly powerful drama about the weight of responsibility and the courage it takes to listen.

TRIMMER

Directed by: Christopher Holland

Country: United States

In the turbulent business of substance trafficking, a search to discover the truth unfolds as recently distributed marked product sparks concern, causing Ty Dominguez, a top level dealer, to suspect Lee Trimmer of being a rat.

Everything You Need Is Down Here

Director: Oscar Adan Flores

A man finds himself trapped on the first floor of his cozy home comforted by several hands that do everything for him, that is, as long as he does not attempt to find what’s upstairs.

0% Lemon

Directed by: Raphael Vangelis

Country: United States

Two teens who know each other only from online games meet in real life for the first time. Mixing live action and animation, 0% Lemon captures the awkward, funny, and tender leap from virtual connection to physical presence.

RetroLuce

Directed by: Cecilia Danesi

Country: Italy

RetroLuce is a visual poem that crosses the boundary between the real world and the inner world, rendering the constant oscillation of human emotions in images and words.

Inspired by Rilke's Orphic vision, the project features a spokesperson who embarks on a journey of recognition and loss, of descent and return.

Through symbolic and sensitive narration, RetroLuce explores the breakdown of identity and the anguish of living, leading the viewer into Hades, a real and present hell, and then back up towards union with the other. The body becomes memory and a place of transformation, in a continuous cycle of loss and rediscovery.

Scapegoats

Directed by: Josh Evoy

Country: Canada

Wealthy socialites gather for a lavish birthday, but when an unexpected event shatters their world, they face a choice that tests their loyalties. As tensions rise, not everyone is willing to make the same sacrifice.

The Pump

Directed by: Dom Poots

Country: United Kingdom

In the cutthroat world of professional clowning, a charismatic duo are presented the opportunity of a lifetime. However, when one partner decides to betray the other in a ruthless bid for fame, their relationship shatters. As the once-harmonious pair are forced into interviews to unravel the mystery behind that fateful night, the narrative delves into the intriguing and competitive realm of professional clowning, exposing the dark underbelly of ambition and the cost of chasing the spotlight

Wild Bear

Directed by: James Hastings

Country: United Kingdom

A recluse man, embodying the characteristics of a wild bear, fears loneliness in the wilderness. As soon as love comes his way, the threat of deforestation and human destruction destroys his hope for survival.

The Absurd

Directed by: Gabriela Lopez

Country: United States

A year ago I was completely heartbroken. One year after heartbreak I am laughing. I needed to laugh at the absurdity of this relationship.

The Bottle

Directed by: Ashutosh Trivedi

Country: India

On an ordinary day at the beach, Sheetal stumbles upon a mysterious bottle (Botal - in Hindi) carrying a chilling message: “The beach killer is nearby, and you are its next prey.” What begins as a strange coincidence soon spirals into a nightmarish encounter when she crosses paths with Bhairav, an off-duty constable who offers to help.

But as his words and actions grow increasingly suspicious, Sheetal realizes she may be walking beside the very predator she’s been warned about.

Beneath the surface, an even darker truth emerges - the bottle is part of a deadly ritual of human sacrifices, tied to a family’s desperate attempt to cheat fate.

Botal unravels a tense tale of fear, trust, and the sinister forces that prey on both innocence and faith.

Short Cut

Directed by: Steve Schofield

Country: United Kingdom

A teenager realises he's late collecting his grandmother's medication and takes a fateful shortcut as he races to catch his train home.

Short Cut is looking at the way society ostracizes adolescent teenage boys, often suspecting them to be ‘trouble’ when in fact they may be quite innocent. It’s based on my own lived experience. I hope it makes the audience think about how this may contribute to how, as they make the transition to male adulthood, it may influence their attitudes and behaviours within society and personal relationships.

Spare a Pound

Directed by: Braeden Tylbor

Country: Canada, United Kingdom

Adam and Jen are a mid 20s couple who got sucked into a highspeed world before they could keep pace with it. Adam, moving his way up the soul sucking corporate ladder and Jen, trying her best to navigate the world of contemporary art as an Art Gallery manager. Hoping to repair their fleeting connection, the two decide to meet for afternoon coffee.

On the way to the cafe to meet Jen, Adam passes a homeless woman using a contactless card reader for donations. Not being able to shake this out of his mind, Adam brings this up to Jen at the cafe, assuming she would share in his sentiments. However, what starts out as a lighthearted conversation quickly devolves into a full argument where both Jen and Adam use the homeless woman as a launch pad to vent how they truly feel about each other.

A part of me

Directed by: Dorian Valdayo Brkic, Lucas Schulte

Country: Germany

A man enters a dense forest and comes face to face with a manifested fragment of his own self. Fear drives him to annihilate this unfamiliar presence, hoping to rid himself of his inner darkness. Yet his apparent victory collapses when the repressed side strikes back. In the aftermath of violence, both selves find an uneasy peace. The man emerges from the forest transformed - scarred, but finally reconciled with his own shadow.

A poetic psychodrama about fear, self-denial, and the fragile act of making peace with one’s inner darkness.

FAME

Directed by: Jacopo Sala

Country: Italy

In a jazz club on the edge of town, Anna dreams of stepping into the spotlight — but that light belongs to Lola, the trio’s magnetic lead singer. As tensions simmer beneath the surface, ambition and desire blur the line between reality and imagination. In the shadows of the stage, Anna must find the courage to claim her voice and face her ambition.

And The Winners Are…

0% Lemon

Cutting

A Part of Me