Pandemates
What happens when two friends decide to quarantine together during a worldwide pandemic. Will their contrasting personalities drive them crazy or will their friendship strive?
Director: Devin Redmond.
Pain
A girl is being cyber bullied, she finds a bottle of pills to find peace.
Director: Marian Reyes
Writer: Marian Reyes
Key Cast: Marian Reyes
pa-o-lah
pa-o-lah is a self-portrait poetic documentary about Paola Méndez Colón. In the film, Paola describes what it’s like to grow up so far away from family and her cultural roots. Navigating through the climax of her decade-old cultural identity crisis, she is faced with the urge to move out of the United States but not knowing where to go. As Paola prepares to graduate from college she is tempted with exploring Spain or coming back to her Puerto Rican roots. Seeking a place to thrive in. A place to call home. A place where she can go by Paola.
Director: Paola Méndez Colón
Key Cast: Paola Méndez Colón, Maribel Colón Vélez, Delia Vélez Pacheco
OPUSXTRAVELXART Xhibition, Reina Mar
Moe the Mos travels to Teaneck NJ to meet vocalist Reina Mar on the eve of her self-titled debut EP. Her Ted-X talk combined with his visits to Cuba, the two reveal Reina’s storied lineage and bright future.
Director: Maurice Porcher
Writer: Maurice Porcher
Key Cast: Reina Mar
On the Other Side
A young woman gains perspective on America’s immigration problem through her own family’s struggles.
Director: Michelle “Pastel” Villalba
Writer: Michelle “Pastel” Villalba
Oda a los Frijoles / Ode to the Beans
A literary and visual rendition to beans, this experimental short merges a cooking recipe with archival footage of immigrants and fieldworkers.
Director: Karolina Esqueda
Writer: Karolina Esqueda
Nuestro Rostro (Our Face)
The filmmaker explores her relationship to make-up, an art that she believes can empower herself and others.
Director: Damaris Calderon
Writer: Damaris Calderon
Noche loca
Three girls have a road trip adventure when their car breaks down and they come across some undocumented people. When dealing with this their differences lead to a disagreement. After realizing they were genuine people their mindset on poor people changes.
Director: Julio Cesar Gonzalez
Writer: Julio Cesar Gonzalez
Key Cast: Alma Pamela Nino, Pedro Garcia
Nobody/Trust Nobody
Love “Nobody” like the one you trust, but “Trust Nobody” like the one you love.
Director: Daniel Osorio
No Human Being is Illegal
Director: Samuel Villagra-Stanton
Ni Yankwik Xinachtli
A film of Indigenous generational knowledge on medicinal plants and alternative medicine and how the seed is reflective of the person and the prayer of the universe.
Director: Axayacatzi Kuauhtzin
Writer: Axayacatzi Kuauhtzin
Key Cast: Minnie Ferguson, Patricia Ferguson
Movement
Experimental film
Director: Gregory Ayriyan
Writer: Gregory Ayriyan
Moonlight the Monster and the Fashion Show
Moonlight is a monster girl who likes fashion design. She made her great idea come true and attended the fashion show. Her mom got a big surprise!
Director: April Yu
Mis Rizos
In this short poetic documentary, I challenge how curly hair is perceived in the Dominican community and how I was raised to think about it by my own Dominican mother. As young girls, we’re often told that we should tame our hair so that it’s easier to manage and as we grow older we realize, this is what our mothers learned from their mothers and that this issue spans over many generations, something my generation is trying to break.
Director: Anne Fernandez
Writer: Anne Fernandez
Key Cast: Laurie Fernandez
Memory Gap
As Mili prepares for a date with her husband, she blissfully unaware of how dangerous the outside world has become. Despite her sons’ best efforts, she is determined to meet with her husband.
Director: Eduardo Calero
Writer: Eduardo Ruben Calero
Key Cast: Catherine Geller, Miguel Wilson, Kyle Portela
Marvelous Butterfly Garden [Maravilloso Mariposario]
Maravilloso Huerto de Los Niños is a children’s community garden in Barrio Almirante Sur, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. The project was developed after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in September of 2017. The children of this community are learning what it means to be as self sufficient as possible and trying to figure out what we can do to survive and thrive in a post-Maria Puerto Rico. The children’s food and butterfly garden aims to revitalize our land, grow our own food, engage in small conservation efforts and be more resilient to future challenges.
Director: Lin Yvette Benitez
Key Cast: Jonuel Rodriguez, Amanda Sofia Quintero
Mariachi Amatitlan
A brief look into the world of a young Mariachi Band.
Director: Alex Oviedo
Mari & Roni
Two sisters reminisce over childhood adventures, proving some bonds can never be broken.
Director: Nicholas Ortiz
Writer: Aamira Martinez
Key Cast: Aamira Martinez , Miriam Morales
LOLI
DREAMer Insta-Model Loli, works her first Fashion campaign in Los Angeles but in order for her to finish the photoshoot, she must prove her legal status. Will Loli the chihuahua get deported to Mexico or will she live the American dream?
Director: Fernanda Tapia
Writer: Fernanda Tapia
Key Cast: Chala Savino, Carlo Mendez, Eric Sweeney, Fernanda Tapia, Gaston D’Agrivieri, Kara Dyan Whitfield, Candelaria Garcia, Justin Ramos
Lessons From My Mother
This film follows widowed mom, Esther, and her daughter, Fer’s, quirky misadventures to rebuild a family after death. Fer guides us through her mother’s lessons on dating men as she fails at finding the right date herself. These failed attempts land them chasing financial stability instead at the funerals of freshly widowed rich men. All the while Fer has a secret of her own, she’s gay.
Director: Aurora Jimenez
Writer: Aurora Jimenez
Key Cast: Angeli Zaldivar, Kriss Dozal, Alejandro Patino
La Voodoo Femme
Director: Kristin Quintanilla
La Presentación
Sofia, struggling to practice her school presentation, seeks help from her sister, only to be questioned by her mother who offers to help instead.
Director: Jasmine Garcia
Writer: Jasmine Garcia
Key Cast: Sophia Correa, Milly Cabrera
Kingdom of Insects
Director: Gregory Ayriyan
Writer: Gregory Ayriyan
Just keep breathing
Shows the reality of how depression affects current youth.
Director: Matthew Santiago
Writer: Matthew Santiago
Just If this
In the dance and party environment in the house of the Báez family. Marcos answers the questions to his father Felipe, but Marcos goes into a trance of memories about his relationship with Rosa, the girl with whom he has a relationship that ended before that party of the new year. When the conversation with his parents ends, Marcos says goodbye, Felipe and Carmen dance to the rhythm of a bachata ending the night.
Director: Esteven Garcia
Writer: Esteven Garcia, David Skup
Key Cast: Daneurys Guzmán, Lucely Pepín, Mónica Volonteri, Rafael Taveras
Imagination
Director: Isabel Camacho
Writer: Isabel Camacho
Key Cast: Samantha Camacho
It Happened One Day in East LA
How would someone from the 1960’s react to photos of modern day America?
BEN, a high school photographer in civil rights era Los Angeles, struggles with being part of the social justice movements around him. He would rather focus on his photography. That is until a magic camera reveals to him the bigger picture he needed to take part in the largest student demonstrations in U.S. history, the 1968 East LA walkouts.
Director: Victor R. Aguilar
Writer: Victor R. Aguilar, Roxanne Joseph
Key Cast: Danny Cano, Daniel Leiva
IDENTITY
Where do I belong?
Why do they label us?
Director: Rahil Heidari
Writer: Rahil Heidari
In New York City, I Cried
In an intersection between durational performance, documentary filmmaking, and visual poetry, strangers move amidst New York—performing actions with unseen beginnings and unseen ends.
Director: Luca Sierra
A Life Stolen
The story of a mother and a daughter who leave their home in Guatemala and arrive at the U.S but are separated at the border. The mother of the girl struggles to find ways to be reunited with her daughter.
Director: Lisa S. Cerda Fernández
Writer: Lisa S. Cerda Fernández
Key Cast: Silvia Aideé Taziri, Gabriella Mendoza
Chicago
A short film describing the streets of Chicago through the eyes of a young man.
Director: Mildred Amador
A Mexican at USC
A young man tells the story of his dad attending USC as an undocumented immigrant and the challenges he faced along the way, but that didn’t stop him from graduating.
Director: Emiliano Torres
Writer: Emiliano Torres
Key Cast: José de Jesús Torres
A Miracle of Love
After an accident riding a bicycle at age seven, this child must live with the consequences of handicap by surviving the accident. His adult life is presented and as day-to-day he tries to have a good quality of life with all the conditions that he developed due to not having part of the frontal bone.
Director: Josue Vera
Writer: Josue Vera
Key Cast: Jean Rodríguez
A United Nations Experience
A young woman lends insight on her sister’s experience of traveling to New York City and attending one of the biggest indigenous United Nations conferences and how it changed her sister’s life. As a 16-year-old participant in the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues with her school, she soon realized that many indigenous communities across the globe face a lot of similar obstacles and challenges within their communities.
Director: Malinalli Pérez
Writer: Malinalli Pérez
Key Cast: Salma Pérez
Act I
Act I covers a lot of issues that young adults struggle with today. In order to solve these problems, we must bring them to light. This film will give you an understanding of life through our eyes and the emotions that come with it.
Director: Eliora Vera Enríquez
Writer: Eliora Vera Enríquez
Key Cast: Eliora Vera Enríquez, Anna Elizabeth Warntjes, Anna Grace Van Aartsen, Matthew Langholdt, Jaina Groen
Adulting
A millennial woman unknowingly interviews for a job at a cult.
Director: Nicholas Ortiz
Writer: Aamira Martínez, Claire Buckingham
Key Cast: Aamira Martínez, Claire Buckingham
After the Equinox
After two ex-classmates bump into each other at the park, one of them may or may not be trying to scam the other with an investment opportunity.
Director: Alvaro Franco
Alone
A young woman is battling with her depression during a pandemic. She must face her fears to stop pretending she is okay and make the difficult decision that she needs help.
Director: Melissa Carvajal, Devin Redmond
Writer: Melissa Carvajal, Devin Redmond
Key Cast: Melissa Carvajal, Sonia Carvajal
Amongst the Shadows
A WW2 veteran turned detective investigates a classic case of adultery that subsequently unravels into something much deeper and unusual than expected.
Director: Fernando Tosetti
Writer: Daniel Barajas
Key Cast:Tom Ledford, Mckenzie Mcneil, Alex P. Jackson
Amor Encerrado
Amor Encerrado is a Spanish animated short film about a passionate Janitor who finds himself at the center of a Telenovela wedding scandal with his cleaning supplies.
Director: Nory González
Writer: Nory González
Antoni Gaudi: In the Concrete Jungle
This short, cheery documentary explores the design and engineering genius of the world-famous Spanish architect, Antoni Gaudi.
Director: M Carpenter
Writer: M Carpenter
Key Cast: M Carpenter
Bad Bugs
10-year-old Bryn made a claymation movie about the importance of using “natural solutions for your bug problems” – something she’s passionate about. The idea came after one of her “grub hunting” sessions (she loves gathering grubs for the birds and lizards). She loves gardening almost as much as animation, so it was a perfect fit. The animation was awarded the “Grand Recognition Award” at the “Ivie Awards” in San Diego California. The video is currently being shared by many in the gardening community, who are encouraging Bryn to enter the film into festivals (because it’s both educational and hilarious). Thank you for your consideration.
Director: Bryn Wright
Writer: Bryn Wright
Key Cast: Bryn Wright
Behind the Mask, Survivors
This documentary is based on real life. The story of a journalist in the pandemic named Paulina Aly. She has a non-profit foundation called “Sobreviviras, survivor” and serves the minorities on the streets of Miami, homeless, families with low income. She collects money from the social media community to do these activities. The pandemic affects too much because as long as the TV was “staying at home”, the government took to the streets hundreds of people for not being able to pay the rent. Everything becomes difficult. Going out to give them food and clean clothes every week, with a double mask for protection, Paulina Aly is a cancer survivor. Life changes for Paulina in March 2020 is in full production with a famous guitarist when President Donald Trump declares a STATE OF EMERGENCY in the United States. The depression is increased every day by the loss of friends at the hands of the covid-19 virus. She is strong but collapses. The ending is positive as the work of Paulina is well known in Miami and other countries for its altruism.
Director: Paulina Aly, Atiat Cari Aly, Ramadan Aly
Writer: Paulina Aly
Key Cast: Paulina Aly
Black is the New Brown
When Olivia lands the job of her dreams, as a casting associate, she is given the difficult task to cast Hollywood’s next big Latin Star. Can she overcome her own prejudice and look past the industry’s stereotypes and set expectations of what it is to be Latin, especially Afro-Latino?
Director: Jeffrey Guerra Hunt
Writer: Lorena Jorge
Key Cast: Laura Patalano, Symie Dahut, Ruth Golsteyn, Jonathan David, Yissendy Trinidad, Adalgiza Chermont, Sarodj Bertin
Bloodline
An intimate documentary about my family’s history living in Brownsville, Texas
Director: Raul Mendoza
Writer: Raul Mendoza
Key Cast: Erick Mendoza , Virginia De La Garza
Block Makes a Difference
Director: Kristen Quintanilla
Writer: Lorena Jorge
Key Cast: Olivia Garces, Ruby Griffith, Amalia Ortiz, Anna Isabel Hernandez, Paulina Montalvo, Sarah Tijerina, Nick Rodriguez, Nat Lopez-Ramiro, Dalex Zanteno, Ava Keel, Hannah Wilder
Blossom HIll
A group of individuals involved in a vaccination conspiracy leaves no man unvaccinated, including Shawn.
Director: Adrian D. Aguaristi
Writer: Adrian D. Aguaristi
Key Cast: Jorge Valencia, Noor Gill, Andrew Valentino Orellana, James Rain
Break In
Director: Lahoucine Boussaber, Marcia Alessandra Cervantes
Writer: Marcia Alessandra Cervantes
Key Cast: Marcia Alessandra Cervantes, Jennifer Whitman, Marvin Curry, Greg Salsich, Helen Salsich, Marcio Cervantes
Bugbear
Bugbear is a short film about the intersection of paranoia and identity, and how it takes form in the home.
Director: Gabrielle Esperanza Vines
Writer: Gabrielle Esperanza Vines
Key Cast: Tori Vinson, Julia Enright
Chickens Playing Chicken
On a sunny day in beautiful Hawai’i Kai, two naughty roosters play a game of chicken while crossing Kawaihae Street. Cockle-doodle-doo!
Director: Yayoi L Winfrey
Collapse
Can’t Dance Crew
An offbeat young girl enters a dance competition to fulfill her dream as a choreographer and creates a crew of underdogs to perform with her, even though she can’t dance.
Director: Irais Cardenas, Dallas Harden
Writer: Irais Cardenas, Dallas Harden
Key Cast: Cassidi Mignuolo, Marvin Pabellano, Aryana Santos, Matt Groove, Josh Stephenson, Josiah Cajudo, Kathy DiStefano
DAD-rahpy – EP 1
DAD-rahpy – EP 1 follows two Afro-Latino fathers who randomly met on a bench at a children’s park.
Director: Rick “Wind” Herrera, Alexandra “Cloud” Gutiérrez
Writer: Rick “Wind” Herrera
Key Cast: Jerry Diaz, Rick “Wind” Herrera
CUCA
A professor and animal lover begins a strange relationship with a bug. The bizarre friendship becomes more interesting when they learn to communicate with each other.
#ShortFilm #CUCA #Drama #ScienceFiction
Director: Edmundo Barraza
Writer: Edmundo Barraza
Key Cast: Enrique Martin-Valdepeña
Detox
After her only true love left, Clara, the protagonist of this honest arthouse project, lived the most devastating experience of her life. Even though she tried to find her own ways of dealing with loneliness, nothing felt the same as it used to be when her girlfriend was around. Through powerful imagery and strong metaphors of love and life, Clara navigates the different stages of a detoxification process. What is she detoxing from? Can she detox people out of her live? What if the most distressing aspect of dealing with emptiness is facing that time might not heal everything and, after all, we might not completely recover from the loss of our only true love.
Director: Katherine Cattani
Writer: Katherine Cattani
Key Cast: Delfina Alden
Detached
After losing his adopted father to complications with the coronavirus, Jorge goes through a state of despair and resentment. He takes his anger out on his grieving stepmother, causing a strain in their relationship.
Director: George Ebro
Writer: George Ebro
Key Cast: Carlos Campuzano, Ingrid Reino, Jorge Ebro
Double Cultura
As the only English speaker of the house, twelve year old Marisol takes on the overwhelming responsibility of being her immigrant mothers translator. Much of her own life is disrupted to aid her Spanish-speaking mother, Gloria, navigate an English-speaking world. From fully translating medical terminology and being the bearer of bad news, Marisol is thrown into an anxiety-inducing situation being the sole channel of communication between Gloria and her doctor.
Director: Yessenia Sánchez
Writer: Yessenia Sánchez
Key Cast: Raquel Yañez, Debora Balardini, Xander Jackson, Michelle Reiss
Double-sided
Mr. López keeps up his traditional Dominican culture, despite moving to New York City at a young age.
Director: Raven Steele
Writer: Raven Steele
Dreamer
Lily Cruz, a DACA recipient, travels on a medical volunteer mission and upon returning to the USA a TSA agent isn’t so welcoming.
Director: Vergi Rodríguez
Writer: Vergi Rodríguez
Key Cast: Vergi Rodríguez, Linden Waddell, Rafael Noble, Avery Waddell, Jared Bell
Drugs and Chocolates
A kid selling chocolates door-to-door to raise money for a trip to Disneyland encounters a drug dealer as a potential customer.
Director: Edmundo Barraza
Writer: Edmundo Barraza
Key Cast: Hanif Mike Karim, Joaquin Vargas, Chance Falcon
#DanzaRestless
It is a collaboration composed of 4 audiovisual pieces that are articulated as postcards or impressions of the confinement. Four glances from four different choreographers who, separated by time and geographical borders, direct the movements of a single performer. The dancer, from the intimacy of his confinement, makes a time-space tour of his apartment, reinterpreting places and objects to transform them into the forced scene of this pandemic. A challenge for the interpreter, a Chilean dancer living in Tribeca New York, the center of the pandemic and the anti-racial outbreak, who alone had to juggle the technical and logistical tasks to record and rehearse the various choreographies that make up these works, sometimes all in the same day, turning his department into a creative experimentation laboratory where the body and its different dimensions take on an unusual thickness. With Symphony No.9 in D Minor, Op. 125, by Ludwig Van Beethoven as a tribute to the 250th anniversary of the German composer’s birth.
Director: Eduardo Zúñiga , Edgar Zendejas , Esdras Hernández , Sebastián Arias
Writer: Eduardo Zúñiga , Edgar Zendejas , Esdras Hernández , Sebastián Arias
Key Cast: Mauricio Vera, Julia Bengtsson
It’s OK To Love Me
This powerful new mini documentary/music video by Monkeys with Drums makes a provocative and timely statement about the collective evils in contemporary society. Racism, sexism, homophobia, animal abuse, police brutality and corporate/political corruption are all addressed in haunting images tied to intoxicating music. Beginning with an enchanting, hypnotic tribal rhythm, “It’s OK to Love Me” (Anthem for Equality), soon explodes into a compelling visual and musical spectacle as layers of abuse are exposed and solutions offered.
Director: Carlos Garcia
Writer: Carlos Garcia
Key Cast: Carlos Garcia, Andrea Walls, Gandalf Bock, Steve LaFleur, Amaku Ukpong, Aliceson SoulStar Soto, Kalimaya Herrera, Najla Raqs, Benjamynn Marantz, Alfredo Gormezano, Charlie Mort, Monk E.
End Violence Against Women
This short film has been made to raise a voice to protect women’s rights and to discourage violence against women. It is a bitter truth that even today, in different parts of the world, many people do not like or prefer that girls/women should get an education, do jobs, join different professional fields in the job market, or participate in any outside activity. Cultures, laws, systems, structures of different societies, and many other different factors also play a huge role due to which we see incidents of violation of human rights, domestic violence incidents, not encouraging women to get higher education, or do jobs, etc. Violation of women’s rights and violence against women can happen in different forms/ways. Basically, this short film touches on two main issues: 1- Violence Against Women, 2- Women’s Rights.
Director: M Riz
Writer: M Riz
Key Cast: Maryam, Maeesha, Dr. Z, M Riz
Expectations of an Unforeseeable Future
We see the thought process of two individuals before a date.
Director: Carlos Fernando Godinez
Writer: Carlos Fernando Godinez
Key Cast: Aidan Steckley, Rachel Halili
Ezra! Run!
Ezra is someone who doesn’t have much self-worth and definitely keeps to himself. Jade on the other hand is a strong individual who exudes confidence. These two would probably never cross paths normally, but on this night they get caught up in a life or death situation that depends on Ezra finding some belief in himself in order to live.
Director: Kevin Reese
Writer: Kevin Reese
Key Cast: Ali Akbari, Madelaine Lamah, Tyler Fox, McKenna Flory
Father Daughter
It’s another typical day for eighteen-year-old Maria while she is at school. She doodles in English, dozes off in Spanish, and picks a fight…again. It’s the same old same old. Someone gives her a hard time for being Cuban, so she gives them a hard time. This time around though, Sister Margaret, the all girl’s Catholic school principal and old school nun, really isn’t having it. She calls Maria’s parents, Celia and Eduardo, and has them pick her up. But when it comes to finding peace and controlling herself, will Maria side more with her mother’s solution, or her father’s? Celia decides that she will cure her daughter’s wild ways by taking her to church. Her father, Eduardo, a former Cuban boxer turned repairman, is determined to show her how to fight the right way and show her how boxing can be a way of making peace and finding one’s faith. Will Maria find peace and faith in boxing, or will she return to her fighting ways?
Director: Sophia Costanzo
Writer: Sophia Costanzo
Key Cast: Carola Di Franco , Shira Alon , Bud John Phineas
Fighting for Environmental Justice: The Health Crisis at the US-Mexico Border
The film documents how the San Ysidro border community is threatened by air pollution stemming from traffic at the US-Mexico border port of entry. The documentary highlights community efforts to mitigate this environmental injustice following a major federal expansion of the border crossing in 2019.
Director: Ilan Jinich
Writer: Ilan Jinich
Key Cast: Alejandro Amador, Sarina Vega
Flori’s day
A lonely woman would like to share her birthday’s joy with somebody.
Director: Farideh Kakavand
Writer: Farideh Kakavand
Key Cast: Mitra Akhavan , MarK Willams, Ali Azizian
For Martí
Identity, solitude, bullying, and immigration. Various conflicts of modernity are presented through the eyes of a young Hispanic girl, born in the United States, who just wants to escape from a world that is constantly making her feel lonely and different from her peers. She takes refuge in the poetry of Cuban icon, Jose Martí.
Director: George Ebro
Writer: George Ebro
Key Cast: Andrea Saiz, George Ebro, Ibis Ebro, Jorge Ebro
Fricasé
Living in a dystopian regime where undocumented immigrants are persecuted, two sisters, stuck in hiding, take a risk to preserve a family tradition.
Director: Taly Uriarte
Writer: Taly Uriarte
Key Cast: Sofia Insua, Sofia Renee
Gentrification
A young woman reflects on how gentrification has changed her neighborhood and wiped out the people who have worked there and lived there for years.
Director: Samira Barragan
Writer: Samira Barragan
Great
Soul Gemz Entertainment artist Yung Musa lifts his voice for this Anti Bullying Video/PSA Campaign .and the anti -bullying anthem, “Great”. According to Yung Musa, it was conceived as a message to kids. “I wanted to tell kids that they can achieve anything they set out to do. As the chorus of the song explains. I got goals, I got visions, watch me go watch me get it.”
The video was shot on location at a fitting location, Medgar Evers High School in Brooklyn New York.
Director: Al Wright
Writer: Al Wright
Key Cast: Yung Musa
Hey Joe
Hey Joe provides a glimpse into the life of a Mexican-American teenager whose daily routine is interrupted by law enforcement. My short film is loosely based on my father’s experience with police harassment and racial bias in the late 1960s. The film explores the idea that systemic racism continues to be a significant issue in our country, impacting people of color in real and painful ways. The titular character, Joe, is a fieldworker, friend, and warm person, who unfortunately struggles with the fact that he cannot change an immutable characteristic (skin color). It is this physical characteristic that makes him a target of discrimination.
Director: Miranda Montenegro
Writer: Miranda Montenegro
Key Cast: Christian Rodríguez, Gil Rebollar, Matt Dessert, Tim Cochran
Hirviendo
A Latina daughter confronts her machista father about attending a faraway college while cooking caldo.
Director: Wendy Medina Herrera
Writer: Wendy Medina Herrera, Karla Sánchez
Key Cast: Karina Hurtado, Oscar Sánchez
Hope Unleashed
Sister Pauline Quinn started the first prison dog program at the Washington Corrections Center for Women in 1981 as a way to help others heal as she did by helping abandoned dogs. In this film, she re-visits two prisons, the original Women’s prison, as well as The Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Inmates, some who identify as murderers, find redemption and healing by training service dogs for veterans and first responders suffering from Post-Traumatic-Stress Disorder (PTSD). Hoping for future careers, both women and men felons train and work as dog groomers and assistance-dog trainers. In-depth interviews with inmates, wardens, veterans, those in need of a service dog, as well as Sister Pauline, describe in moving detail how these programs have changed their lives for the better. Filmed at the Washington Corrections Center for Women, and the Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Director: Tula Asselanis
Writer: Tula Asselanis
Key Cast: Sister Pauline Quinn
Hunger
In a society where everyone lives inside their own little world, someone dares to break the status quo.
Director: Enrique Pilozo-Liuxander Ricardo Silva
Writer: Enrique Pilozo-Liuxander
Hype Your Hood: Calaca BK
David Hurtado owns Calaca BK, an exciting and authentic Mexican restaurant in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. But David has faced struggle and uncertainty as a small business owner, along with thousands of others in the city, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the story of David and how one small business can positively impact an entire neighborhood. Support your local small businesses!
Director: Christian Moreno, Lyanne Alfaro
I can read your mind
Music video directed by Doña María produced by DM the NO music, LLC
Director: Doña María
Writer: Doña María
I Knew Her As Mandy
Based on a true story. A daughter recounts gradually losing her mother to addiction. Her memory takes us through when it began to go bad as a child, to good memories of her mother’s vanity in spite of being a tough mechanic. The mother eventually loses her soul completely and trades the daughter’s virginity up to repay a drug debt. The daughter leaves her abusive household with her caring father after the incident without letting him know what happened.
Director: Aurora Jimenez
Writer: Aurora Jimenez
Key Cast: Aislinn Cossio, Shanna Forrestall, Lynnea Morales
I Am Soil Breaking Off
Videopoetry: A metaphor about national identity and migration as a mangrove seed and its journey.
Director: Paloma Sierra
Writer: Paloma Sierra
Key Cast: Andrew Edwards, Dusty Sanders, Sebastian Gutierrez
I’m Fine…
A documentary that begs the question, does anyone care about depression?
I Love You, Sophia
A young woman, Sophia, suffers from chronic thoughts of her past, present, and future. Will this psychological condition tear her down from the inside out or is the little effort of communicating with her future self exactly what she needs. Actually, is communicating with our future selfs what we all need to live philosophically balanced life?
Director: Adrian Daniel Aguaristi
Writer: Adrian Daniel Aguaristi
Key Cast: Marisa Alexandra, Germaine Gaudet, Kris Lash
Partir es Morir un Poco
“To leave is to die a little” talks about the struggles of being a Latina woman under Trump era. Two Latinas tell their stories of how they fought and continue to fight for their freedom in this country; going over their dangerous border crossing journey and ending with how much they miss their country of origin to a point where being “homesick” is a word too small for what they feel.
Director: Christopher A. Cerda
Writer: Christopher A. Cerda, Lisa S. Cerda
Pushed Out
Oakland in the 80s and 90s was not a great place as crime and violence ravaged the city. But as the years pass the city becomes more and more modernized and safe due to gentrification. At a glance, it looks like these new changes are all great but once you look closer you see the damage gentrification has had on Oakland natives.
Director: Dennis Martin, Thomas Williamson
Writer: Dennis Martin, Thomas Williamson
Quell
Quell is an experimental surreal film of a person experiencing an episode of dissociation or depersonalization disorder.
Director: Zach-Sabel De Kercadó
Writer: Zach-Sabel De Kercadó
Key Cast: Leanza Altidor
Remember
How the 2016 election has impacted me and my mom and how I’ve learned to cope.
Director: Wendy Cantoran
Writer: Wendy Cantoran
SanFer
A pilot about a young Mexican boy growing up in the hood and trying to decide between a future on the streets or pursuing his one true passion, the piano.
Director: Jose Aguirre
Writer: Jose Aguirre
Key Cast: Armando Broncas
Rememory
‘Rememory’ tells the story of Sarah and Tom, two High School students who break up in the midst of their graduation. Each left to their own, they head to separate Universities, miles apart, hoping for a fresh start only to find themselves restrained by the memories of each other. This is not a love story – This is the story of love.
Director: Andres Irias
Writer: Andres Irias
Key Cast: Dani Jo Towle, Greg Wave, Brooke Hall, Keon Gaynor, Maria Meneses, Amanda Ribnick, Roger Torres
Romance
Henry is a 20 year-old American studying Georgian folk music.
He is gay and has a strange habit. At night he likes to sing in the park for his amusement. One night, this strange habit gets him into an adventure where he will be a hostage, victim, fiance, sweetheart, knight and participant in a strange exotic tradition and finally the gay boy’s humanity character saved one girl’s Life.
Director: Giorgi Tkemaladze
Writer: Virginia Kochan
Key Cast: Tako Elizarashvili
Save our Planet
Human activity is wreaking havoc on this planet due to mankind’s over-dependence on the environment, which have contributed to global warming, habitat destruction, the “sixth” mass extinction, and overexploitation of resources. However, it is still not too late for people to take action, but it requires that everyone must cooperate, including world leaders. If everyone gets on the same boat, humanity can unite together to save this planet of ours.
Director: Matthew Agustin
Writer: Matthew Agustin
Key Cast: Matthew Agustin
Scissors
A short surreal film.
Director: Gregory Ayriyan
Writer: Gregory Ayriyan
Key Cast: Alisa Prada
Señora Océano
A poetic short focusing on ocean conservation.
Director: Omar De León
Writer: Omar De León
Sea Souls
A lonely little ghost is visited by a mysterious diver. A film made in 2 weeks.
Director: Angelina Chang
Writer: Angelina Chang
Shooting Star
Sometimes God ask us to do things that may be a little uncomfortable for us. Sort of like the things he ask these guys. Noah to build the Ark on dry land miles and miles from any type of rivers or seas. And like Moses when he led Gods people out of Egypt and then he came face to face with the Red Sea. This one I really love Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the burning furnace. All these things was uncomfortable for these guys but in the end they was rewarded. And just because they believed in something greater than their little moment of being uncomfortableness. Now here my story. “Women’s Basketball Association Hall Of Fame” is now under renovation and hoped to be finished by February 2021. Here you will be able to learn the true story of where the WNBA came from. And finally learn about the pioneer efforts of the WBA, their players, coaches and the vision that GOD gave me in bringing women’s professional basketball here to the United States. This museum The Black Archives Of Mid-America at 1722 E 17th Terrace Kansas City Missouri 64108 will be open to all during its regular business hours. We look forward in seeing you there one day in the near future.
Director: Lightning N Mitchell
Writer: Sandra K Mitchell
Key Cast: Lightning N Mitchell
Tejano
While out of town at a family gathering in South Texas, an awkward Mexican-American, Mijo, is forced to tag along with his cousin to a local bar after butchering his Spanish pronunciation at dinner.
Director: Alexander Rosales
Writer: Alexander Rosales
Key Cast: Harold Fisch
Synchronic
Taking place during the height of the Christmas season, Synchronic follows a husband and wife, Colleen and Charles Martin, as their marriage drifts apart. While Colleen and daughter Philippa make a head start into Jojo’s shopping store, Charles stays behind attempting to find a empty parking spot. Their distance in this moment kickstarts a chain of life altering events as a stranger yet familiar man to Colleen threatens their livelihood with a weapon of the future, time reversal.
Director: Andres Irias
Writer: Andres Irias
Key Cast: Kate Lowry Brown, Matthew Palumbo, Peyton Welday, John Potvin, Octavius Prince, Matt Potvin, Quincy Perkins
Superheros in Scrubs
A nurse finds herself at her breaking point during a worldwide pandemic. It will take a random act of love, kindness and compassion to lift her spirits and push her forward.
Director: Devin Redmond
Writer: Melissa Carvajal, Devin Redmond, Sean Lennon
Key Cast: Melissa Carvajal, Jorchual Gregory Vargas, Oksana Derina
Street Crime
An earnest and quick story on crime in once modern day. A symposium on violence against the common man. The tragedy and reality of what is often hidden. Including body language that is pessimistic, hurtful and often forced on people until one snaps.
Director: James Buoen
Sonjia Remembers
A holocaust survivor pays her respects on Veterans Day as painful memories resurface.
Director: Beau Marie
Key Cast: Sonjia Brodecki, Bud Brodecki
Someone Worth Looking Up To
A visual diary.
Director: Joe Sald
Writer: Joe Sald
Key Cast: Sydney Price
Solamente
Carmen is a woman in her early 20’s struggling with heartbreak. She must decide whether to tell her father a secret about herself in order to find her own path toward acceptance. Latino Media Arts and Studies (LMAS) Award Recipient for Undergraduate Film (at the University of Texas at Austin).
Director: Carolina Bayon
Writer: Carolina Bayon
Key Cast: Juleeane Villareal, Victor Santos
SIN
After a serious accident where “Pacey” loses his family, he begins to see visions with the message “it’s coming”. Struggling to understand this distressing message, he experiences the darkest state of his reality.
Director: Daniel A. Colón
Writer: Daniel A. Colón, Alexander Mcmillan, Eli Santa
Key Cast: Luis Hernandez, Rebecca Orengo, Gian Díaz, Jonathan Lopez, Emanuelly Colón , Hector Pagan, Jose Zavala, Daniel Colón
The Addiction
The intimate story of a woman’s fight, internally and externally, with addiction.
Director: Ernest Hernández
Writer: Ernest Hernández
Key Cast: Kim Hopkins
The Air I Breathe
Kimberly chose to submit a film entitled “The Air I Breathe” to raise awareness that the community within her family is in one of the most polluted cities in the United States. “The Air I Breathe” is a short documentary set in Wilmington, California, exploring our relationship to our natural environment, pollution, and the air we breathe.
Director: Kim Chairez
Writer: Kim Chairez
The Ban
“The Ban” is a short documentary that is a kind of personal experience, tries to depict some troubles that were created by Travel Ban regulation which was signed by the president of the United States
Director: Farideh Kakavand
Writer: Farideh Kakavand
The Call
A prominent lawyer is startled by a phone call at his house.
Director: Marco Arias Anduze
Writer: Marco Arias Anduze
Key Cast: Diego Arias Carballo
The Dark Side of The American Dream
This is a documentary presenting the struggles of Monse Soria and growing up as a DACA student in the United States. Immigrants come here for a better life in the United States but that’s not how it always goes. This documentary tells three stories about the challenges and struggles people go through for the privilege to work and live in this country.
Director: Jackie Guzman
The High Tea
A story of a female acting student facing challenges of boundaries, developing discomfort and, experiencing harassment enforced by a male counterpart.
Director: Carmanie Bhatti
Writer: Carmanie Bhatti
Key Cast: Carmanie Bhatti, Joshua Reyes
The Message
The Message is about inspiring Chicano youth in underserved, low-income neighborhoods to make more positive decisions when confronted with challenging life situations.
Director: Daniel Osorio
The Mucker
The Message is about inspiring Chicano youth in underserved, low-income neighborhoods to make more positive decisions when confronted with challenging life situations.
Director: Gregory Ayriyan
Writer: Gregory Ayriyan
The Porns
2022: North Korea has established full diplomatic relations with the United States. The Lims, the family of the first North Korean Ambassador to the United States, find their newfound freedoms difficult to comprehend, and for their teenage son… impossible to resist.
Director: Adam Juegos
Writer: Jeff Juegos
Key Cast: Jee Heng Liao, David Dotterer, Wataru Nishida, Audrey Yeoman, Jess Renee, Sarah Jayne Rothkopf, Sui Nakashima, Kochatorn Boonmark, Jasmina Makota, Mallory Moser
The Replacement / El Reemplazo
An aging hit man is about to be replaced by a younger novice, unbeknownst to both men, the boss has a different plan. Enough twists and turns to keep the audience interested.
Un viejo sicario esta a punto de ser reemplazado por un joven novato, lo que ambos no saben, es que el jefe tiene otros planes bajo la manga. Este corto tine un par de giros inesperados, que mantendran a la audiencia en expectativa.
Director: Enrique Pilozo
Writer: Enrique Pilozo
Key Cast: Ishmael Delgado
The Threat of Ozone Depletion PSA / La Amenaza del Agotamiento del Ozono PSA
This is a Spanish-language PSA (Public Service Announcement) (with English subtitles) explaining the threat and implications of the depleting ozone layer to our planet and ourselves and what we can do to curb this problem.
Director: M Carpenter
Writer: M Carpenter
The Spiritual Warriors: Danza Omecoatl
Holding fast to ancient and ancestral Aztec roots, Danza Omecoatl is a group of individuals that keep ancient traditions alive to this day. They all hail from El Paso, Texas, a west Texas city on the international border of Juarez, Mexico and Las Cruces, New Mexico. This tight knit group considers each other family, and are one with the Earth. They keep native spiritual dances alive. They have intriguing personal stories, gorgeous ceremonies and beautiful dances.
Director: Christina Pietrowski
Writer: Christina Pietrowski
The Seeds of an Uncertain Land
With dirt under their nails, dedication, science and indigenous knowledge young Puerto Rican farmers return to their ancestral lands to bring food security to their struggling communities after hurricane Maria left many hungry‚ and they’re vowing never to see another person go hungry again.
Director: Jake Price
Writer: Jake Price, Aris Mejías
Key Cast: Suley Angelica, Ian Pagan-Roig, Gabriel Delgado, Yami Callazo, Ivonne Ariana, Stephanie Monserrate
The Williamsburg Italian Feast
I grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn going to the Italian feast every year. I felt the need to create a piece that openly appreciates the feast as I’ve never seen anything publicized about its legacy or how much its means to those who participate. Especially with last year being the first year they had to cancel due to COVID since World War II, I feel as though it was extra special that I create this documentary.
Director: Erica Star Domena
Writer: Erica Star Domena
Key Cast: Mateo V., Norman López, Annika Hernández, Marc, Ashley, Anthony Amore, David Crane, Jason Wallin, Lauren Lefkowitz, Miles Hardamon, Layla
Time
After trying their luck at rock and roll fame, 4 friends embark on a hilarious journey to get their fame and fortune.
Writer: Mario Luis Telles
Two Girls and their Misogynist School District
Youth examine systemic misogyny in their school district and how they believe students have been discriminated, silenced, and harassed by site administrators and district officials. This film seeks to illustrate how districts often treat their students and the filmmakers hope that this film encourages youth from around the world to use their voices to break down the systems that they believe are seeking to oppress them.
Director: Aubrie Cortez, Aidan Mondo
Writer: Aubrie Cortez, Aidan Mondo
Valiente (Brave)
When Victor’s partner arrives at his house for what seems to be a perfect date, he finds the courage to disclose his HIV status.
Director: Miguel Melo
Writer: Miguel Melo
Key Cast: Miguel Melo
Virgo’s Knowledge
A student-made short documentary about a man starting off with a dream and making it his reality.
Director: Nathanial House
Key Cast: Geovante Baugh
Walk
Walk is a short animated film about the powerful effect of nature on mental health, especially in a pandemic era.
Director: Claudia Romano
We Were Kids
Celeste, a Latina teenager, loses her childhood innocence and comes to terms with her status as a person of color after an adult pulls his gun on her best friend.
Director: Matias M.R.
Writer: Matias M.R.
Key Cast: Raquel Dominguez, Zaire Pezo, Chelsea Matus, Brian Park
YESno
Daniel decides to undertake a phone addiction therapy hosted by Anne who designed a game-like tasks to understand and overcome addictions of her four patients. Throughout the story they realize they put their friendships, careers, social acceptance on risk to spend more time on their phones. The only key to the way out of the therapy is to understand and explore the boundaries of their addiction.
