Party Invitation
Director: Chelsea Hall
Country of Origin: United States
Premiere: World
Synopsis: An introvert struggling with how to connect with others composes an unusual invitation to an elaborate house party but then has second thoughts.
Patch
Director: Meg Cook
Country of Origin: United States
Premiere: Tennessee
Synopsis: Patch draws inspiration from textiles, translating woven patterns into animated movement. Using cut paper, it explores pattern, movement, and play, echoing the tactile qualities of textile-making. The animation unfolds like a living fabric—shapes shifting, interlocking, and unraveling in continuous transformation.
Preparing for the Worst
Director: Taylor Parris Benjamin & Megan Jensen
Country of Origin: United States & Czech Republic
Premiere: Tennessee
Synopsis: Freja’s prepared a perfect meal for a first date, but when the boy she’s invited over starts to act strange, things take a dark turn.
Primetime Mr. President
Director: Saif Alsaegh
Country of Origin: United States & Czech Republic
Premiere: Tennessee
Synopsis: Only a few weeks after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, former President George W. Bush gave a televised speech on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln declaring that his country had prevailed. Primetime Mr. President analyzes the speech, dubbed as “Mission Accomplished,” through the lens of what Iraqis had endured and would endure as a result of the war and its aftermath, from horrible insurgency, civil and sectarian wars, political corruption, and the overarching sense of death and despair.
THE SCHISM & THE BUTTERFLY
Director: Joseph Taglieri
Country of Origin: United States
Premiere: World
Synopsis: What happens when social norms decay? When the machinery of power turns neighbors into enemies? YARA is a young woman who believes in equality for all. When a fascist LEADER is informed of her godlike powers, he seeks to make her a weapon of the state. He poisons her MOTHER in a bid to force the child to access her powers. When Yara attempts to resurrect her mother, she actually summons a life force using her mother’s corpse to warn her she must fight for justice.
Something Wrong
Director: Paola Termine
Country of Origin: France
Synopsis: Blanche refuses to let her mother sell the piano. This piano belonged to her sick sister. While her mother seems to act as if nothing happened, Blanche tries her best to keep Anna's memory alive.
The Tempest
Director: Diego Müller
Country of Origin: Brasil
Synopsis: Amid isolation and the promise of an unexpected change, two lives marked by loneliness cross paths, revealing affection, healing, and belonging.
Truckee's: The Truck Stop Beaver
Director: Madeleine Hicks
Country of Origin: United States
Premiere: World
Synopsis: When lifestyle influencers Zoe and Will secure a brand deal with Truckee's, a popular gas station chain featuring a beloved beaver mascot, they'll soon find out this will be their final rest stop.
Weak in the Knees
Director: Shivers & Viking
Country of Origin: United States
Premiere: Tennessee
Synopsis: The story of a masked killer who was eventually feared by all.
WHY-EEELA
Director: Ian Gibbins
Country of Origin: Australia
Premiere: Tennessee
Synopsis: The Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhyncus funereus) has a distinctive, relaxed loping flight and a loud plaintive call: ""why-eeela, weee-la"". It feeds on the seeds of diverse trees including eucalypts, banksias and hakeas. Much of this habitat has been destroyed or degraded by human activity. However, the cockatoos are often seen around the outer suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia, feeding on seeds in the cones of introduced Monterey Pines (Pinus radiata) planted along roadsides and in parks and gardens.
In this video, a yellow-tailed black cockatoo searches for food and missing companions in urban deserts, as we hear fragments of its calls...
The Witchening
Director: MK Kopp
Country of Origin: United States
Synopsis: A babysitter dismisses a child's bedtime story about a vengeful witch, but soon learns it's all true...