Surreal and provocative, artist-filmmaker Neil Kendricks experimental short film, "Book of Skin" reimagines the myth of Pygmalion with a gender-bending twist as an artist's fantasies and nightmares expressed in her drawings suddenly appear as shape-shifting, phantasmagoric images on the body of an artist's model during a life-drawing session
Yield To Its Gaze Director Anders Elsrud Hultgreen Norway, 6 min
Since the dawn of man, light orbs have been observed in the night. From rainforests to sand dunes, they have been interpreted as spirits, fairies, demons, and UFOs. Despite modern science, the phenomenon remains unexplained.
Cruce del Coyote Director David Stout United States, 3 min
Coyote is our guide slipping effortlessly between worlds, between dimensions, shares allusions to rising temperatures that manifest in bodily, environmental, and social inflammation. Symptoms that coalesce in the vivid hallucinations of a fever dream state that include midnight immigration raids, urban madness, and lucid encounters with the infinite
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Anguilla Director Max Mistry United Kingdom, 15 mi
A cosmic meditation on obsession, discovery, and the fragile boundary between genius and madness.The story follows an amateur scientist as he nears the end of his lifelong research into eels—creatures he believes hold the key to the origin of all life in the universe.
Director Vance Mellen Mellen United States, 10 min
A senile old man wakes up after falling into an abandoned potato cellar. Trapped in the pit, the old man is tortured by the voice of his long-gone wife as he desperately schemes to make his escape.
Minutes ll Seconds Director Anthony R. Page United States, 20 min
As Desi faces the prospect of celebrating her birthday sequestered from her childhood self, she embarks on a non-linear surrealistic adventure into the depths of a forest and a nightclub. Little does she know, her quest for self-discovery and curiosity inadvertently unleashes a deadly force, Seraphine, setting off a chain of events that challenge her perceptions of reality and identity
DOCUMENTARY PRESENTATION
SCIFI AND HORROR
Peter Gabriel's "Secret World" Director Daniel Corey United Kingdom, United States, 7 mi
Created for Real World Records' 5050 video project, "Secret World" is an official Peter Gabriel release produced and directed by award-winning multimedia artist and musician Daniel Corey
The Planet That Doesn't Exist Director Nadav Embon Israel, 8 min
Prof. Star L'Etoile 23 years old has discovered a planet, which earned her, a statue, three medals, and the position as head of astronomy world wide
OUMUAMUA Director Iker Iturria Spain, 8 min
Kai, a young survivor of humanity’s collapse, transfers his consciousness into an android to reach Oumuamua, the ship where exiled androids still carry the memory of the world that once rejected them, before the final impact.
The Inspector Director Jandro Spain, 12 min
A fake gas inspector visits vulnerable elderly people to take advantage of them. It is now the turn of Carmen, a charming grandmother who keeps great antiques.
The Tahquitz Myth Director Harrison Pierce United States, 20 min
A Palm Springs college student sets out to disprove an ancient Coachella Valley myth... only to discover a terrifying truth...
Safe + Sound Director Rob Kotecki United State. 18 min
A young woman unravels the mystery behind the miracle cure for her father's mental illness.
Deep Clean, Director Lisa Franek United States,5 min
Cerulea Director AJ Lambert United States, 16 min
Interior Images Director Didier Navarro
United States, 23 min
Caroline, unstable and desperate to reunite with her daughter, is offered an experimental neural implant to stabilize her mind or else lose custody, but when she begins receiving messages that her ex is taking her child, her paranoia sets off a chain of events leading her toward a truth
Demons and Saviors
Director Jessica Spinelli
United Sates, 5min
Father John, a devoted priest, begins to lose control as dark thoughts and fantasies begin to prey on his suppressed desires. While in his church, he experiences disturbing visions that twist the sacred into something seductive and corrupt. As his internal struggle intensifies, his reflection reveals a growing evil presence,
Guuse
Directors Dave Nair, Samuel O'Sullivan
United States, 3 min
Four friends go camping in the woods only to find themselves entangled in an ancient, evil version of a beloved children's game.
I/O
Director Molly Vernon
United States, 3 min
On her eleventh birthday, gifted gamer Sky accidentally unleashes hybrid alien beings imprisoned for decades inside a Cold War–era program disguised as a video game. As civilization collapses and the creatures hunt humans for the dopamine that allows them to feel, Sky must survive the world she helped create—and find a way to close what she opened
The Prize
Directors Matteo Capatti, Lorenzo Mazzucchi
Italy, 14 min
During an electromagnetic storm, a struggling artist refuses a mysterious prize. From that moment on, reality begins to collapse identity, memory, and success are rewritten, forcing him to confront the true cost of his choices.
The Devil's Fork
Director Raymond Seabert
United States, 7min
Do not mistake obsession for choice. By the time the ritual is understood... it has already begun.
BRZK
Director Chandler Clarke
United States 18 min
A violent man undergoes experimental meditation to control his rage, only to unleash something that wants control of him.
Fake News Movie
Director Jeffrey Michael Bay
United States, 10 min
Based on SiriusXM's "Not From Space." While channel surfing you stumble upon a cable news broadcast with live coverage of alien contact but it's unclear whether one of the channel's sponsors is involved. Starring Tom Mustin, Emmy-winning news anchor ABC-7 Denver.
Find and Seek
Director Rachel Dwornick
United States, 20 min
Annie and Lucas need to find a new apartment. Upon their hunt they settle for a place that seems too good to be true, as Annie witnesses hauntings that Lucas does not seem notice. As they settle in, Lucas becomes fascinated with an old puppet show that parallels to the couple's eery experience and tests their relationship.
Swipe
Director Patia Prouty
United States, 5 min
A single woman is terrorized on a dating app by a match who will not go away.
Dagon
Director Logan Fry
United States 6 min
A young man saling in the Pacific is captured by the German navy. When he escapes, he finds himself stranded on a strange mud plain. He succumbs to the heat but is eventually rescued. In his ensuing delirious dreams, he thinks back on the strange beasts at the bottom of the ocean, and of Dagon, who will now lay him out and end his life
Imposter Syndrome
Director Jackson Sui
United States, 6 min
A commercial food stylist arrives to work on set, only to find that she must confront a sinister yet strangely familiar stylist who has taken her place.
project Aeterna
Director Dennis Sungmin Kim
Seul, South Korea, 16 min
In chasing eternity, the protagonist learns a truth that guides her for the rest of her life: that a life fully lived is only possible in the presence of its own ending, and that science and technology find their truest purpose not in defeating death, but in sustaining the cycle of life that gives it meaning.
INTERNATIONAL SCI FI AND HORROR SHORTS
7pm-9pm
CYBERPUNK AND HARD SCI FI
9pm-11pm
Long Long Time Director Perry Kroll United States, 5 min
A stranded traveller, ensnared out of space and time, glimpses a fractured path to salvation
The Last Plate Director Jovan Hodges United States
In a city where driverless rides have become the new normal, people begin vanishing without a trace. At first, the disappearances seem unrelated—until a team of unlikely heroes discovers the horrifying truth.
The Human Equation Director Karney Hatch Spain, 20 min
Superintelligent AI has taken control of the world's nuclear arsenal, and now one scientist has been summoned to meet with an AI android to learn the fate of the human race.
Strive Director Jussi Rautaniemi Finland , 15 min
In a machine-addicted future, 17-year-old Toni craves something real. He joins a deadly street race, challenging fearless driver Max, unaware of the bond they share. A gritty coming-of-age thrill ride.
Update
Director Luca Violante
Italy, 20 min
Year 2039. The jobs of the twenty-first century no longer exist. UPDATE, a revolutionary AI, has replaced the entire human workforce, giving people back the time they have always wished for — time to do whatever they want. And yet, for many, that time feels empty.
Aura
Director Konrad Kultys
Poland, 12 min
During a spacewalk, astronaut Alex observes a stellar anomaly that signals an impending catastrophe. Or could it be merely a remnant of one that has already occurred?
Ghost in the Glass
Director Chuck Griffith
United States, 20 min
In a sterile biotech office on the eve of return-to-work, Mac, a mid-level manager, is chosen to test an experimental AI patch designed to sharpen executive performance. As it embeds itself into his daily routines, the program begins to blur his instincts, desires, and memories.
Writer's Block
Director S. Christian Roe
United States, 12 min
Mary is a writer. She has just written a book hailed for its exquisite explanation of the human experience. But Mary knows what the rest do not: she did not write it. Victor (AI) did. Now, in the wake of its sublime success, Mary must decide if their collaboration will continue.
