A festival with a true independent spirit, Slamdance Film Festival has recently found a new home in Los Angeles, where it will return next month. Running in-person from February 19 to 25, 2026, and virtually from February 24 to March 6, 2026, on the Slamdance Channel, the lineup has now been unveiled.
Featuring 141 films, 50 of which are World Premieres, hailing from over 50 countries, the program was selected from 10,000 submissions, 28% of which were submitted by LA-area filmmakers. As in previous years, all films selected in the Narrative Features and Documentary Features competition categories are directorial debuts without U.S. distribution, with budgets of less than $1 million.
“At a moment when our industry is facing real uncertainty, Slamdance remains deeply committed to supporting filmmakers and bringing our community together,” said Peter Baxter, Co-founder of Slamdance. “This year’s Slamdance program celebrates filmmakers from across the globe and the discovery of new artists who shape our cultural future. By offering free industry programming and creating space for meaningful conversation, we’re supporting artists, sharing new ideas in filmmaking, and working together to strengthen independent film.”
This year’s lineup includes Narrative and Documentary Features in competition as well as Spotlight Features showcasing premieres from established directors. Also unveiled are episodes, shorts across multiple categories—narrative, documentary, Unstoppable, animated, 99 Specials, experimental, Project Involve, and Revolution—as well as the innovative DIG (Digital, Interactive, Gaming) program.
Explore the lineup below and learn more about accessing films here.
Narrative Features:
Danny Is My Boyfriend (Made in LA) (USA)
Directors: Mechi Lakatos, Lucy Sandler
Producers: Lucy Sandler, Mechi Lakatos, Rachel Brunner, Joey Fitzsimmons, Trace Le
Cast: Lucy Sandler, Mechi Lakatos, Brooke Smith, Rachel Brunner, Maleah Goldberg, Michelle Thompson
After discovering they’re dating the same man, a recovering codependent living with her mother and a socially awkward babysitter fumble their way through a series of misguided schemes, enlisting a parade of eccentric and unqualified accomplices in a half-baked mission to get revenge.
Dump of Untitled Pieces (İsimsiz Eserler Mezarlığı) (Turkey) – North American Premiere
Director: Melik Kuru
Producers: Hilal Şenel, Fahriye İsmayilova, Simla Güran (co-producer)
Cast: Manolya Maya, Ekremcan Arslandağ, Tuğrul Tülek, Tülin Özen, Ceylan Özgün Özçelik, Emrah Özdemir, Okan Avcı, Cüneyt Yalaz
Facing imminent eviction, an idealistic young photographer and her hapless roommate attempt to sell her work to galleries for the first time, embarking on a bumpy journey through the collapsing art market of Istanbul.
Matapanki (Chile) – North American Premiere
Director: Diego “Mapache” Fuentes
Producer: Tomás Santelices
Cast: Ramón Gálvez, Diego Bravo, Antonia McCarthy, Rosa Peñaloza, Rodrigo Lisboa
After obtaining superpowers that are activated by alcohol, a young punk will try to make a change in society, but due to a serious mistake, he will end up unleashing an international conflict against him.
TEN WILL (Made in LA) (USA) – World Premiere
Director: Max DeFalco
Producers: Max DeFalco, Cheyenne Slowensky
Cast: Mikul Robins, Donna Dymally, Alicia Hecht, Terrell Lamb, Kathleen Deming, Sonny Frank, Peggy Fields Richardson, Harvey Fisher
When his van breaks down, a recently released convict tears through the streets of LA, colliding with everyone in his path in a desperate attempt to register on time as a sex offender.
THE KEY (LA CLEF) (France) – North American Premiere
Director: Paul G. Sportiello
Producer: Emilie Huynh
Cast: Sylka, Bruno Clairefond, Alain Guillot, Dorothée Deblaton
The True Story of Real Hidden People.
The Old Man and the Parrot (El Viejo y La Cotorra) (United States) – World Premiere
Director: Gabriel de Varona
Producer: Kevin Ondarza
Cast: Ruben Rabasa, Serafin Falcon, Rene Lavan, Isabella Bobadilla, Mia Rose Chamaro
With a taxidermy parrot and pistol in hand, Praxi, breaks into the home of a mute spiritual guru who trapped his lover’s soul inside the parrot years ago. Praxi must convince the guru’s estranged daughter to guide her father in freeing his lover’s soul in this darkly comedic tale of love and the afterlife.
The Plan (Made in LA) (United States) – World Premiere
Director: Jessica Barr
Producers: Jessica Barr, Alexander Spenser Gould, Sarah Whelden, Kelly Wilcox / Executive Produced by Madhouse Films and Firestarter Productions
In one unbroken take, a group of disillusioned young adults readies themselves for an irreversible act they believe will change the world.
Three Colors: Pan-African (Made in LA) (USA) – World Premiere
Directors: Elijah Davis, Allison A. Waite, Tyler Ocasio Holmes
Producers: Elijah Davis, Dami Olatunji, Jack McMann, Joseph Agboola, Ben Ephraim, Christen Vanderbilt Ellis, Asar Saint Lamont, Jaala Alston, Amy Roach
Cast: Loretta Devine, Bashir Salahuddin, Peyton Alex Smith, Sibongile Mlambo, Stephen Bishop, Lathan Ava, Kimrie Lewis
A college football star scrambles to save his career after a devastating injury fractures his self-worth; an African immigrant mother evades deportation as an unlikely group of heroes rally around her; the star of a Black family sitcom questions his role as the studio forces his show into racist caricature to boost ratings.
Tony Odyssey (Made in LA) (Antônio Odisseia) (Brazil) – World Premiere
Director: Thales Banzai
Producers: Thales Banzai, Camila Cornelsen, Mario Peixoto
Cast: Kelson Succi, Iraci Estrela, Sandro Guerra, Antônio Pitanga, Leci Brandão, Teuda Bara, Luiz Bertazzo, Chico César
Tony and his best friend, Ivy, rob the bar where he works and steal a new drug that takes them into a surrealist Brazilian odyssey to meet God.
WHISPERINGS OF THE MOON (Made in LA) (Hong Kong, Cambodia, India) – North American Premiere
Director: Yuqing Lai
Producers: Siddartha Jatla, Lily Yang, Esther Li
Cast: Sopheanith Thong, Deka Nine
Nisay, an actress haunted by loss, returns to Cambodia and to Thida — a love once forbidden. Bound by the weight of family and society, their passion survives only in memory and performance, until it must fade away.
Documentary Features:
50 Meters (Egypt, Denmark, Saudi Arabia) – US Premiere
Director: Yomna Khattab
Producer: A.A. Films
Cast: Yomna Khattab, Akram Khattab
Through a complex and emotionally layered father-daughter journey set in a Cairo community swimming pool, Yomna explores her existential questions surrounding career, parenthood, and mortality.
A Free Daughter of Free Kyrgyzstan (Switzerland)
Director & Producer: Leigh Iacobucci
Cast: Zere Asylbek
A fearless young singer challenges her oppressive culture through bold music videos, risking everything to amplify women’s voices despite dangerous opposition.
HOUSE 4 (Haus 4) (Germany) – World Premiere
Director: Philipp Schaeffer
Producers: Paul Hartmann, Franzis Unger
With exceptional access, HOUSE 4 documents a year in the life of inmates at Berlin’s youth prison — can therapy change their lives?
KINGS OF VENICE (Made in LA) (USA)
Directors & Producers: Sveinn Ingimundarson, S.D. Saltarelli
Cast: Scotty Freedman, Ernesto Russo, Sonia Ode Lucci, Carl Tabor, Brian Wan, Larry Nagler
As pickleball sweeps the nation, the paddle tennis diehards of Venice Beach dig in for one final, ridiculous stand.
Silver (Poland, Norway, Finland) – North American Premiere
Director: Natalia Koniarz
Producers: Maciej Kubicki (TELEMARK), PIRAYA, IV Films
A visual look at the inhabitants of the highest mine in Bolivia, whose deaths weigh as much as the mined silver, exploring human endurance, spirituality, and labor costs.
SNOWLAND (USA)
Director & Producer: Jill Orschel
Cast: Cora Lee Witt, Becca Fischer
A former child bride from a notorious polygamous sect escapes her dark past by creating a fantasy world as a way to survive.
The Bulldogs (USA) – World Premiere
Directors: Ori Segev, Noah Dixon
Producers: Drew Johnson, Alexander Hyde
Following a catastrophic train derailment, The Bulldogs follows the residents of a small rural community in East Palestine, Ohio, as they navigate an uncertain path to recovery.
The LeMieurs (USA) – World Premiere
Director: Sammy LeMieur
Producers: Collin Colaizzi, Sammy LeMieur
Cast: Beverly, Tim, Seth, Kyle, Steve, Mikey, Eli, Jim, John LeMieur
Fearing regret and desperate to keep hold of their history, the five sons of a small-town Minnesota matriarch must reconcile her aging, while her three grandsons running a funeral home face death head-on.
Spotlight Features (previously announced):
The Projectionist (USA) World Premiere
Director: Alexandre Rockwell
Producers: Quentin Tarantino and Jack Auen
Cast: Vondie Curtis-Hall, Karyn Parsons, Kasi Lemmons, David Proval, Kevin Corrigan, and Michael Buscemi.
A reclusive projectionist is haunted by a wrongful conviction and the loss of his wife. He lives in solitude inside a fading art house theater until one fateful night when his past resurfaces, forcing him to confront the truth, rekindle love, and find peace in the glow of the final reel.
Under The Rainbow: The Curious Crimes Of The Ruby Slippers (Made in LA) (USA) World Premiere
Directors: Seth Gordon and Nikki Calabrese
Producers: Seth Gordon and Nikki Calabrese
When the original Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz are stolen from a small-town museum in Minnesota, a maze of clues and calamities unfolds—colliding the heartland with Hollywood and big-time crime
Breakout Features:
11 (Philippines) – World Premiere
Director: Bebe Go
Producer: Martika Ramirez Escobar
Cast: Gabby Padilla, Tona Lopez, Joanne Cesario, Jao San Pedro, Vi-an Tan
When an ongoing apocalypse halts the production of Gabby’s new film, she escapes to see her artist friend Tona in La Union, a former booming beach town and strategic site for a US military base.
A Story About You (USA) – World Premiere
Director: Joseph E. Austin II
Producers: Denise Yolén, Jeremy Harris, Joseph E. Austin II, Shannon Wallace, Kimberly Hines Cast: Shannon Wallace, Pernell Walker, Denise Yolén, Monique Lindsey, Adwoa Duncan-Williams, Shiree Adkins
A man is forced to come to terms with his past as he navigates his week with various love interests.
BRB (Made in LA) (USA) – World Premiere
Director: Kate Cobb
Producers: Kevin Bigley, In The Rye Productions, Chicago Media Angels
Screenwriters: Michael Waller, Sydney Blackburn
Cast: Autumn Best, Zoe Colletti, Beth Lacke, Keith Kupferer, Richard David, Dan Haller, Cristian Lager
Set in the era of dial-up and AIM away messages, a love-sick teenage girl and her older sister embark on a road trip to meet her online boyfriend, spiraling into chaos as secrets are revealed.
CLOVERS (Made in LA) (USA)
Directors & Producers: Jacob Hatley and Tom Vickers
Cast: Jennifer Paschal, JD Cranford, Sharon McNeill
The denizens of a strip-mall casino in Asheboro, North Carolina endure two tumultuous years.
Santa Zeta (Spain) – North American Premiere
Director: Antonio Munoz de Mesa
Producer: Jordi Monedero
Cast: Nekane Otxoa, Africa Giron, Arlette Torres, Ivan Villanueva, Darci L. Strother, Izoko, Jordi Monedero
YouTuber by day, vigilante by night.
Zumeca (Dominican Republic) – World Premiere
Director & Producer: Maler
Cast: Angela Canó, Ruben Ochandiano, Miguel Dionisios Ramos
Based on the true story of the first Family of the Americas between a Taino and a Spaniard, which started the colonization of the “New World.”
Unstoppable Features:
Back On Track (United States of America) – World Premiere
Director: Peter Tkac
Producers: Peter Tkac, Peter Gilbert
Cast: Chris Rivera, Bri Solomon, Tamirat “T” Ives-Rublee, The Triad Trackers Wheelchair Basketball Team
After a random shooting left him paralyzed, Chris Rivera rediscovered life through the Triad Trackers, a wheelchair basketball squad that redefines success beyond wins and losses.
BRAILLED IT (Made in LA) (USA) – World Premiere
Directors: Salome Cummins, Isaiah Gauthier, David Grabias, Christopher Morgan, Brendon Schulze
Producers: Anne Edgar, David Grabias, Alison Kohlhardt
Cast: Salome Cummins, Isaiah Gauthier, Christopher Morgan, Lynn Wu, Brooke Petro
Blind and low-vision kids take control of the cameras and capture their own experiences at the annual Braille Challenge — a weekend of high-pressure competition and raw coming-of-age moments.
The Tallest Dwarf (USA)
Director: Julie Forrest Wyman
Producers: Lindsey Dryden, Shaleece Haas, Jonna McKone, Julie Forrest Wyman
Cast: Julie Wyman, Sofiya Cheyenne, Rebecca Cokley, Chandler Crews, Sarah Folkins, Matthew Jeffers, Katrina Kemp, Mark Povinelli, Aubrey Smalls
Visually striking, humorous, and touching, THE TALLEST DWARF is both personal and political – inviting audiences to rethink identity, disability, and what it means to belong in a world that wants to change who you are.
YOU LOOK FINE (Made in LA) (USA) – U.S. Premiere
Director: J. Snow
Producers: Aaliyah Williams, Marlon Wayans, Rick Alvarez
Cast: J. Snow
Trapped in a hospital bed during a sickle cell crisis, a comedian turns the camera on himself — and his disease — to document the brutal, funny, and deeply human story behind the pain no one sees.
Episodes:
Cat & Nat (USA) – World Premiere
Director: Aaron Hughes
Producer: Aaron Hughes
Cast: Natalie Labarre, Tom Bayne, Nina Kiernan, Susan Hwang, Nora Feher, Elise Raven, Jo Palazuelos-Krukowski, Aaron Hughes
Disturbing fortune cookie predictions send a girl and her cat into a surreal spiral.
Daddies Boi (Made in LA) (USA)
Director: Jason Avezzano
Producers: Louie Rinaldi (Executive Producer), Zoe Tyson (Executive Producer), Kimberly Parker, Gregory Kasunich
Cast: Louie Rinaldi, Zoe Tyson, Todd Sherry, Tarek Ziad, Milan Patel
As youth and options dry up for two aging sugar babies, they must plunge into the bizarre “desire economy” via a provocative app.
Disc (USA)
Director: Renzo Montoya
Producer: Renzo Montoya
Cast: Prentice Myles, Soulo Smith, Dominic Wong, Whitney Sarah Louis
A street rapper promotes his latest single in the Big Apple, but he is challenged by the arrogant competition around the block.
Puke Bitch (United States)
Director: Sam Tricomo
Producers: Sam Tricomo, Brandon Fecteau, Jaclyn Iskow
Cast: Kimberly Cruchon Brooks, Jaclyn Iskow, Brandon Engel, Jalen Wilson Nelem, Olivia Kiefer, Zakiyyah BG
Siblings Dove and Larry revel in wild nights and mocking their foster mother in a bleak small town harboring many connections to death.
Soft Boil (Made in LA) (United States)
Director: Alec Goldberg
Producers: EP: Camille Wormser, Alec Goldberg; Producers: Hannah Connery, Vivian Kerr, Clayton Susick, Don Ohmer, Drue Robertson, Hunter Milano
Cast: Camille Wormser, Madison Shamoun, John Gemberling, Vivian Kerr, Patrick Tabari
Soft Boil is a comedy about the chaotic life of Lulu, who takes a job as a nanny, only to discover that her new boss isn’t who she expected.
The Human, Will : Will’s Will (United States) – World Premiere
Director: Edward Bursch
Producer: Edward Bursch
Cast: Joe Pera, Will Sterbenz
A depressed insurance claims adjuster vows to exercise Free Will after his pet goldfish Frodo is shot and killed.
Vicky Wakes Up (Made in LA) (USA) – World Premiere
Director: Victoria Blade
Producers: Victoria Blade, Aaron Pagniano, Lisa Anderson, Sheila Kennedy, Dani Abraham, Maria Mercedes
Cast: Victoria Blade, Mario Silva, Yvonne Senat Jones, Matt Wool
Stuck in a dead-end office job, Vicky lives an uninspired existence until she’s confronted by a mystical pop star.
Narrative Shorts:
After That (在那之後) (Made in LA) (United States) – World Premiere
Directors: Xinhao Lu & Mufeng Han
Producers: Savory Liu & Yuqin Hong
Cast: Jim Lau
A man named Xinhao wanders the uninhabited city of the future. After memorializing his past, he disappears.
Beaks (Becs et Ongles) (France) – North American Premiere
Director: Xavier Demoulin
Producer: Melcoton Films
Cast: Lauréna Thellier, Raphaël Thierry, Michel Masiero
When 20-year-old Anaïs, burdened with debt, inherits her father’s last fighting rooster, she has no choice but to learn how to make it fight. And mourn the past.
Beneath the Night (Germany) – North American Premiere
Director: Maximilian Karakatsanis
Producers: Maximilian Karakatsanis, Linus Krömer
Cast: Peter Schneider, Daniela Holtz, Flavia Hunziker, Fehmi Göklü, Stefan Lampadius
A metro driver with colorful hair is unexpectedly chosen as the face of a public transport advertising campaign, blurring the lines between the visible and hidden. Shot on 16mm analog film.
Charlie is Not a Boy (Made in LA) (USA) – World Premiere
Director: Pol Kurucz
Producers: Judit Stalter, Pol Kurucz, Ernest Faisztl, Gabor Rajnai
Cast: Brooks Ginnan, Máté Mészáros, Gigi Spelsberg, Ágnes Bánfalvy
In a crumbling household ruled by a perverted father, a hushed soul clings to the magic of his eccentric grandmother until his safe haven unravels, forcing him to choose between the masks he wears and the truth of who he is.
Child’s Fare (United Kingdom) – U.S. Premiere
Director: Kirsty McLean
Producer: Kieran Pádraig Smyth
Cast: Neil Leiper, Kate Bracken, Amy Williamson, Isla Mercer
When lonely twelve-year-old Abby is left outside the pub by her dad, her feelings of rejection worsen throughout the day, leading to a violent outburst.
Clarities (USA) – World Premiere
Directors: Daniel Jaffe & Michelle Uranowitz
Producers: Chloe Sabin, Daniel Jaffe, Michelle Uranowitz
Cast: Michelle Uranowitz, Nigel Defriez, Julia Crockett, Katie Porter, Michael Potts, Jayne Uranowitz, Nicolas Noréna, Matthew Wilkas
An ominous chain text spreads across the world as Earth’s first hotel rocketship prepares for launch.
Closer in Strife (Canada)
Director: Alec Nikoghossian
Producer: Alec Nikoghossian
Cast: Rosalia Evereklian Vassilian, Lilit Ani Jabrayan
A grandmother and her grandchild’s distant relationship is momentarily disrupted after an unforeseen devastation occurs in Beirut.
Crazy For You (Loquita por ti) (Spain)
Director: Greta Díaz Moreau
Producer: Pau Pérez Puig
Cast: Irene Balmes, Jon López
Rural Spain, Y2K. Alma is 16 years old and desperate to be seen by José, the star bullfighter, but it will be harder than she expects.
Deadweight (Dögsúly) (Hungary) – North American Premiere
Director: Bese Komáromy
Producer: Gábor Osváth
Cast: Csilla Pásztor, Gáspár László, Gergely Váradi, Bálint Kuttner
A young woman attempts to connect, even as bodies pile up, while something lurks behind her and eats everything.
Dyspepsia by Salty Biscuits (Jonmo Theke Jolchi) (Bangladesh) – North American Premiere
Director: Ahsabul Yamin
Producer: Emon Bin Anwar
Cast: Saroar Mim, Aung Shing Thowai Marma, Moin Khan
A paranoid young man, convinced a bug he swallowed is living in his stomach, embarks on a darkly absurd quest with his friend to find relief before his mind and body spiral out of control.
Fantasies of a Rescue Dummy (UK)
Director: Adrian Maganza
Producers: Adrian Maganza, Alisa Tritenko
Cast: Jack Worsnop, Ginevra Casati, Cary An, David Blair
A rescue dummy gets forgotten at the bottom of a swimming pool.
Harajuku, FL (United States / Japan) – World Premiere
Director: Andrés Gimenez
Producer: Lakshmi Ruiz
Cast: Orlando Urdaneta, Tomas Ryu Perez, Eric Taveras, Daniela Llanes, Eigo Tanaka, Eita Ishizaka, Mica Moses
Miami, Tokyo, expensive fish eggs, and father–son turmoil… in a blender.
In Another Life (Made in LA) (United States of America)
Director: Tristan Blue
Producer: Tristan Blue
Cast: William Robert Jackson, Tristan Blue
An elder queer hermit searches through coastal soundscapes in pursuit of a mysterious cave they believe will allow them to commune with a past self.
It Means Hope (Yani Omid) (Iran) – World Premiere
Director: Shadi Karamroudi
Producers: Shadi Karamroudi, Pooyan Sholevar
Cast: Shadi Karamroudi, Sonia Sanjari, Esmail Kamali Dehghan
An encounter between two women—one forced to appear in a confession video, and the other, a member of the video crew.
Jonathan (Belgium / Kenya / Ethiopia / South Sudan) – World Premiere
Director: Lieven Corthouts
Producers: Lieven Corthouts, Zippy Kimundu
Cast: Nyawel Maluth Meth, Nyabile Biel
After years of war, Nyawel, a South Sudanese woman living in Kenya, travels back to her hometown in search of her missing son and mother. On the long bus journey, she meets others with broken ties. As the landscape slips by, so does time, will she find them, or is everything already lost?
KARUPY (Canada) – U.S. Premiere
Director: Kalainithan Kalaichelvan
Producers: Shaista Roshan, Alison Almeida
Cast: Sumathy Balaram, Arrthami Siva-Kuruvinth, Smrithi Dhanasekar, Unnikannan S S, Umeash Siva, Ranjith Joseph
At her 65th birthday, Karupy makes an unexpected announcement: she will be ending her own life that very night, sparking a whirlwind of emotions amongst her family.
Levantamuertos: Cumbia for the Dead (Levantamuertos) (Mexico)
Director: José Eduardo Castilla Ponce
Producers: Magnolia S. Orozco Osegueda, Claudia Garcés, Jose Eduardo Castilla Ponce
Cast: David Illescas, Vitter Leija, Lyn May, Ruben Cristiany, Kala Martínez
With his unique gift of communicating with the dead, a cumbia-loving embalmer sets out on a highway road trip with a corpse, searching for the money that the deceased had hidden.
Lost Wax (Canada / Nigeria) – U.S. Premiere
Director: Omorose Osagie
Producers: Grace Shutti, Momo Spaine
Cast: Eyiyemi Olivia Rogbinyin as Osas; Wumi Tuase as Mercy’s Mom; Diana Egwuatu as Mercy; Pamilerin Ayodeji as Egie
When a young girl disappears from a Benin city apartment complex, a bronze caster is haunted by grief for this stranger in unexpected ways.
SPEEDY! (South Korea / USA) – North American Premiere
Director: OH Jiin
Producer: OH Jiin
Cast: Kim Gyuna, Lee Kyoung Hoon, Hong Sung Choon, Leem Seung-min, Ban Hae Young, Bae Yeonwoo
Seoul, 1989. Jung-min wants to become a speed-reading prodigy, just like Dong-hyun—the coolest guy in town, who can finish an entire book in just 60 seconds!
The Chair (Made in LA) (USA)
Director: Dustin Tan
Producers: Maleah Goldberg, Davin Tan
Cast: Al Warren, Jakob Longcob
A carpenter makes a chair for a customer, but it’s not a normal chair.
The Fan Man (Canada) – World Premiere
Director: Austin Hutchings
Producers: Zenna Davis-Jones, Liam Vanderploeg, Austin Hutchings, John Comeau
Cast: Nathan Hare, Fergus Moore, Elijah Freshco, Cleve Jones, John Comeau
A lonely tenant finds a man in his bathroom ceiling fan.
To All The Girls I Never Banged: I’m Sorry (United Kingdom) – World Premiere
Director: Harry Plowden
Producer: Harry Plowden
Cast: Joe Pass, Billy Hinchliff, Thomasin Lawson
A dark secret is exposed when Ed and Nath, two Brits abroad, compete for the same girl while leading a hostel bar crawl in Budapest.
To Continue Knowing (You) (Switzerland) – World Premiere
Director: Beth Barnes
Producer: Zurich University of the Arts
Cast: Isabelle von Stauffenberg, Jakob Fessler
As an irritable young couple travel home, a misunderstanding occurs and relationship issues surface.
We Used to Take the Long Way Home (Vietnam / U.S.A.)
Director: An Nguyen
Producers: Max Retik, Hoa Pham
Cast: Thao Hien, Cong Thanh, Thu Giang, Thien Hoang
Returning to Vietnam for the first time since middle school, a teenage girl reunites with old friends for a nostalgic summer roadtrip to ‘Lake Perfect’.
Documentary Shorts:
_____ in Paris (USA) – World Premiere
Director & Producer: Mark Elijah Rosenberg
Cast: Mark Elijah Rosenberg, Anonymous
When we took a trip to France to decide our future, I filmed everything but you—shielding our affair lest your husband find out. Do these secrets still sting?
Correct Me If I’m Wrong (如你所愿) (Germany, USA)
Director: Hao Zhou
Producer: Tyler Hill
Torn between love and tradition, a southwest Chinese family tries to purge a mysterious entity from their queer heir.
Domestic Demon (Ընտանեկան Հարաման) (Made in LA) (USA, Portugal) – North American Premiere
Director & Producer: Anahid Yahjain
Cast: Anahid Yahjian
A housebound mother’s hunger for agency and control among the mutating textures and temporalities of her home sets off an uncanny transformation.
For Every Apricot (Canada, Iceland)
Director & Producer: Kaia Fortis Scott
Cast: MaryBeth Ryan Larone
The unlikely story of a daughter in search of a ‘miracle’.
In Exchange For Flesh (USA)
Directors: Sandro Ramani, Corey Devon Arthur
Producer: Sandro Ramani
When two incarcerated artists secretly document a routine prison practice, they risk their lives to expose a state policy that blurs the line between safety and sexual abuse.
La Mayordomía (Canada)
Director & Producer: Martin Edralin
In Xochimilco, families wait decades for the opportunity to care for a Baby Jesus icon at home for one year.
Leveret Road (Rang du lièvre) (Canada) – US Premiere
Director: Tim Bouvette
Producer: Jeanne Gourd (Cadeaux Studio)
Cast: Jeanne Baribeau, Geneviève Allard, Daniel Baribeau
10-year-old Jeanne, diagnosed with dysorthographia, ADHD, dyscalculia, and a developmental coordination disorder, must still learn to succeed in school.
Mother’s Influence (UK) – North American Premiere
Director: Meg Wriggles
Producer: Léa Luiz de Oliveira
A young filmmaker tries to get a better understanding of her unconventional mother.
No Matter The Weather (Beau temps, mauvais temps) (Canada) – US Premiere
Director: Florence Lafond
Producers: Patrick Francke-Sirois, David Francke-Robitaille, Florence Lafond
Cast: Renée Lafond Matte, Monique Lafond, Florence Lafond
After Renée, 83, breaks her ankle, her granddaughter Florence steps in as her caregiver: an intimate reflection on aging, love, grief, and the heartbreaking awareness that their time together is slipping away.
Panther Pat (USA) – World Premiere
Director: Ashley Brandon
Producers: Dennis Hohne, Nevo Shinaar, Mark Mitten
Cast: Patricia Palinkas
In 1970, Patricia Palinkas became the first woman to play professional football. Panther Pat traces this high-stakes moment in sports history and the shattering of the gender barrier in America’s game.
Ramón Who Speaks to Ghosts (Spain, Canada, Mexico) – US Premiere
Director & Producer: Shervin Kermani
Cast: Pedro Moisés Herrera Concepción, Ida Joa Langer López, Tamara Batista Moreno, Tiziana Maio
After a volcanic eruption, Ramón walks the island of La Palma with his microphone, looking for ghosts.
STILL STANDING (USA)
Directors & Producers: Victor Tadashi Suarez, Livia Albeck-Ripka
After the Los Angeles wildfires leave thousands of homes contaminated with toxic ash, residents face an impossible choice: should they risk their health to return home?
SWEET WATER (Maya Hilwa) (Iraq) – World Premiere
Director & Producer: Ali Nabeel
Cast: Qisma
Sixty-year-old beggar Qisma wants to end her life. But her dog, Bobby, is holding her back.
The Good Farmer and the Failed Son (Ireland) – North American Premiere
Director: Ailill Martin
Producer: Peter Kilmartin
Cast: Jack Rogers, Bryan Rogers
A drag queen and his father consider the traditions around inheritance and what they may mean for the future of their family farm.
Animated Shorts:
A Bloody Situation (ميـمعة دمويـة) (UK, Palestine) – US Premiere
Director & Producer: Nerian Keywan
Cast: Aida Kaadan, Mouna Hawa
Through radio snippets and salon chatter, teen Nara meets Ms Moodswings, the personified menstruation blood blob. A tapestry of interrupted life, where growing up unfolds amidst implied socio-political chaos.
A Flame the Colour of Air (Canada)
Director, Producer, Screenwriter: Emily Pelstring
Cast: Jessica Mensch
A speculative vision exploring femininity and eroticism, based on the texts of a medieval Catholic mystic.
blinks in mimi’s singing voice (USA) – US Premiere
Director, Producer, Screenwriter: Natalie Xie
Cast: Christy Karacas, Isac Su
Sleep paralysis and glimpses of wonder.
Bootstrapping for the Boobied (USA)
Director & Producer: Stella Chen
Cast: Stella Chen, Keaton Jordan, Sharada Venkateswaran
Maxed out, burnt out, and sex-starved, Amber Su submits to a glamorous self-help guru whose mentorship transforms repression into possession, birthing a new self: the worksona.
Brain to Meninges (머리에서 뇌척수막까지) (South Korea)
Director & Producer: Chaehyeok Lim
After living with holes in my meninges for 10 years, I felt that there was a passage through which memories are passed between my brain and meninges. Through this, my memories flow by my brain like water.
Busy Bodies (Made in LA) (USA)
Director: Kate Renshaw-Lewis
Producer: Eric Ackerman
Screenwriter: Kate Renshaw-Lewis
Tiny workers run a domesticated factory under the supervision of giant hands. This absurdly inefficient yet fantastically convenient solution to disposable creation poses a question: how do we get rubber gloves?
How To Build A Sand Castle (UK)
Director: Nour Khamis
A shore, a call, a castle, and what is carried back.
Hungry Hollow (USA)
Director: Sarah Ruyle
Cast: Sarah Ruyle, Phillip Walker
A girl left for dead gets devoured by forest spirits.
ima wa ima (now is now) (UK, Taiwan, Hong Kong)
Director & Producer: Greg Keung Chun Yam
Cast: Hebe – Ting-Jui Chen, Mike – WeiFan Wang, Brocaster – MCJJ
An office worker’s encounters with a caterpillar unlock childhood memories, looping through time, blending the mundane and the magical.
One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six (淼淼) (Made in LA) (USA) – North American Premiere
Director: Yingdan Lai
Producer: Kangmin Kim
Cast: Jenny Jingyi Wang, Zhen Li, Lydia
In a confined world of discipline, a girl’s quiet longing unfolds through a box of chocolate, where desire and control begin to dissolve.
Play Fight! (USA)
Director & Producer: Katrina Larner
Cast: Anna Macleod, Jewel Lee-Johnson, Sophia Gatti, “Creature”, Katrina Larner
Five little girls play games, tell secrets, run, jump, and giggle… and jump and jump and jump and jump and—
Starlit (Made in LA) (USA) – World Premiere
Director & Producer: Shannon Lee
Cast: Molly Blakowski, Shannon Lee, Alan Jennings, Beth Murphy
Three teenage girls sneak out into the night to meet up with a crew of energy drink bootlegging aliens.
Tears (Rozdarcia) (Germany, Poland) – North American Premiere
Director: Paulina Ziolkowska
Producers: Karsten Matern, Piotr Szczepanowicz
A film about the impossibility of making a decision. A world filled with possibilities and a lost woman who may not want to choose at all.
Transitional Object (USA) – World Premiere
Director: Shayna Strype
Producer: Steve Cossman
A young girl’s beloved stuffed snowman guides her through imagined landscapes of memories, fears, and dreams.
Wan Wan (USA, Japan)
Director & Producer: Mayuko Kobayashi
Cast: Noriko Ooshima
A film about a grandmother, a little boy she named Neepo, fireworks, and a magical flying dog.
Witness: An Organima Film (Canada)
Director & Producer: Nik Arthur, Ben Wittkugel
Meticulously hand-animated with organic matter, the film renews our child-like ability to see hidden life in small universes.
Spotlight Short:
OKAY (Made in LA) (United States) – World Premiere
Director: Andrew Kightlinger
Producer: Lila Yacoub
Screenwriter: Andrew Kightlinger
Cast: Kathleen Quinlan, David Warshofsky, Amy Huckabay
Struggling with the loss of her husband, a widow processes her grief by searching for him amidst the cosmos.
Experimental Shorts:
Climate Control (USA, Germany)
Director: Sarah Lasley
Producer: Nicola Waugh
Doc Cast: Hannah Huber, Branden Brown, Andres Barajas, Mallory Merlo, Luke Wilson
A director making a documentary about the perils of fossil fuel extraction is subverted by an AI agent that wants to tell a generic love story.
Diana & Minerva (Italy) – World Premiere
Director: Francesca Occhionero
Producer: -orama
Cast: Chloe Crawford, Patricia Bermúdez, Diana Arevalo De Barrenechea, Minerva Juarez De Facundo
In a retro pink Mexican kitchen, the never-told encounter between mythological goddesses Diana and Minerva resurfaces in two contemporary women whose drifting voicemails unravel a new debate around empathy, civility, and the natural world.
Ghost of Home (家的幽灵) (China/USA) – World Premiere
Director: Chen Xie
Producer: Guang Ren
Cast: Meiyue Huang, Qingsheng Xie, Chenke Xiao, Feiping Huang
On the day my grandfather’s spirit was to depart and enter his new home, I began searching for the traces he left behind through different visual forms.
I Was There (UK, Poland)
Director: Kamila Kuc
Producer: Reed O’Beirne
Cast: Kamila Kuc
A haunting exploration of familial bonds, intergenerational memory, and the enduring impact of shared narratives. Filmmaker Kamila Kuc steps into the emotional stream of inherited family history as the lines between documentary, testimony, and fiction blur.
I would have liked to make a different film (Ich hätte lieber einen anderen Film gemacht) (Germany) – North American Premiere
Director: Suse Itzel
Producers: Academy of Media Arts Cologne & Suse Itzel
How can I talk about sexual violence? How can I live after a childhood full of violence? How do I remember?
Now That We Are Sending You to The End (United States) – North American Premiere
Director: Blake Knecht
Producer: Isaac Knecht
Cast: Finley Berkabile
A young girl predicts the end of time as the desert begins to disappear, and direct-on-film techniques parallel the landscape’s collapse.
SOMEONE TO STEAL HORSES WITH (USA, Italy) – North American Premiere
Director: Dylan Pailes-Friedman
Producers: 56 Bones, Il Varco Cinema
Cast: Masaki Ishikawa, Anna Lawrence, Tino Martyn Kellighan, Corey Hughes, Cara Jocelyn Delevingne
A horse reflects on memory, disturbing the daily routines of citizens in Los Santos, San Andreas, during the press release for his new book “Someone to Steal Horses With.”
Whose Woods Are These (USA)
Director: Kate Nartker
Producer: Kate Nartker
A haunting family mystery unfolds through woven fabric, exploring memory, heritage, and the connection between cloth and narrative.
Unstoppable Shorts:
BEAR (Scotland, UK)
Director: Kate Hammer
Producer: Isabella Bassett
Cast: Kate Hammer, Hannah Jarrett-Scott, Susannah Laing, Joshua Haynes
When Jude wakes up and remembers she has a job interview that she’s already late for, she must try to get across town to land the job, along with the giant, sentient teddy bear that follows her everywhere.
Becoming Ollie (England) – World Premiere
Director: Annalise Valentino
Producer: Annalise Valentino
Cast: Ollie Robinson, Lisa Robinson, Matt Robinson, Victoria Kendrick-Mcgavigan, Poppy Parker
At age nine, a childhood stroke reshapes a family’s world; creating a film together gives two siblings a way to share what had previously been difficult to explain.
BLINDSIDED (Made in LA) (USA)
Director: Patrick Hogan
Producer: Ana Krista Johnson
Cast: Crystal Loverro, Florence Wilder, Jaime Lewis
The most terrifying things are the ones we don’t see coming.
Everhand (United States)
Director: Shane Hillier
Producers: Sarah Beth Budd, Lee Cleaveland
Cast: Sarah Beth Budd, Lee Cleaveland, Ron Williams
When a one armed farmer orders a mysterious machine, he and his wife must face off with a company rep in order to reclaim their humanity.
explant / implant (USA)
Director: Josh Weissbach
Producer: Josh Weissbach
A lifetime of surgeries continues with an upgrade in battery life and a downgrade in scar tissue when the filmmaker has his original pacemaker replaced after sixteen years.
Familiar Stranger (UK)Doc
Director: Ace Mahbaz
Producer: Sophie Stacey
Cast: Rachel Shenton, Duffy
First date. Unexpected Plot Twist.
Girl Of Wind (吹梦无踪) (China) – U.S. Premiere
Director: Nanxi Yuan
Producer: Wu Yujie
Cast: Yangyang
Yang Yang, a solitary deaf girl with a passion for free climbing skyscrapers, lives in a silent world without wealth or power, driven only by her untamed and free spirit.
Going Nowhere Fast (Made in LA) (Canada / USA) – World Premiere
Director: Dylan Paffe
Producers: Dylan Paffe, Andres Torres, Sofia Bonami
Cast: Margo Mooney, Austin Robert Smith, Patrick Trudeau
Three adults living with disabilities navigate an unconventional love triangle in this bittersweet portrait of resilience and connection.
HERE WE ARE AGAIN (Made in LA) (United States of America) – World Premiere
Directors: Hughes Ransom, Justin Lee
Producers: Veronica Kompalic, Gia Rigoli
Cast: Eros de la Puente, Shiv Nadkarni, Lizzy McGroder
A depressed man decides to finally get out of bed, except his bed won’t let him.
Murphy’s Ranch (Made in LA) (USA)
Director: John Michael Riva Jr.
Producers: Indeana Underhill, Hosea Chanchez, John Michael Riva Jr.
Cast: Lee Pugsley, Hosea Chanchez, Edward Fletcher, Jack Doke
A routine pool-cleaning job leads two brothers into a hidden compound where curiosity quickly becomes a threat.
The Bear Hunt (Australia) – North American Premiere
Director: Lily Drummond
Producer: Sarah Moulton
Cast: Alexandra Davis, Lauren Koopowitz, Chrissie Page
A 12-year-old’s attempt to make her teddy bear “normal” before her birthday becomes a poignant journey toward embracing difference.
The Knight (Australia) – North American Premiere
Director: Lotte Sweeney
Producers: Morgan Wright, Ben Golotta, Lotte Sweeney, Maiah Stewardson
Cast: Isadora Sweeney, Sidney Debba, Tamara Lee
Claude has urges that need to be explored – in private. A hot, disabled teenager concocts a world of medieval pleasures in her bedroom.
Unlimited, Forever and Ever, No Matter What (United States) – World Premiere
Director: Jayme Coveliers
Producers: Mitchell Camarda, Kaustubh Singh, Kamal Sehrawy, Jesse Schroeder, Sofia Voss
Cast: Lisa Coveliers, Adelaide Leonard, Mitchell Camarda, Elizabeth Robbins
When a chronic pain flare-up throws her life off balance, a former athlete must decide between muscling through or putting her daughter first.
99 Special:
DEAD GRANDMA (USA) – World Premiere
Directors: Rachel Kempf & Nick Toti
Producers: Rachel Kempf & Nick Toti
Cast: Dawn Linneman, Barron Scott, Ashley Rae Spillers
Grandma died at the worst possible moment.
Monkey Bar (Canada)
Director: Mya Van Dyk
Producer: Jacinta Gaspar
A sad monkey grapples with their harsh reality while having a smoke.
Paul’s Portrait (Made in LA) USA) – World Premiere
Director: Andrea Gonzalez Mereles
Producers: Rebecca Blumhagen, Andrea Gonzalez Mereles; Associate Producer: Jessie Epstein
Cast: Paul Chiou, Kun Sheng Hou
Paul has a physical disability: he’s paralyzed from the neck down. He cares about helping others and works on digital accessibility.
Pickup (Пикап) (Russia, USA) – World Premiere
Director: Viktoriia Lapushkina
Producers: Anzhelika Tokar, Viktoriia Lapushkina
Cast: Elizaveta Ishcenko, Arseny Sergeev, Evgeniya Lazareva
Trying to complete a pickup-class assignment, a shy girl slips past her confident rivals and ends up on a rooftop smoking area where she finds a guy about to jump.
Staring Contest (USA) – World Premiere
Director: Courtney Sposato
Producers: Mark Sposato, Courtney Sposato
Two friends are having a staring contest when something enters and everything changes.
The Stars, and All the Planets and the Moon (USA)
Director: Shayna Strype
Producers: Lisa Cisneros, Mark Roberts
Cast: Mark Roberts
A man reflects on losing his best friend.
Three Thousand Five Hundred (Trois mille cinq cent) (Canada) – World Premiere
Director: Jèrèmi Roy
Producers: Jèrèmi Roy, Camille Demers-Lambert, Patrice Lavoie
Cast: Rose-Anne Lavoie, Patrice Lavoie, Camille Lavoie-Beaudoin
When the housing market comes knocking on a cardboard house door.
You, Rock (Made in LA) (USA)
Director: Daniel Maggio
Producer: Leo Lauchere
Cast: Leo Lauchere
An angry man makes an important discovery while skipping rocks.
Revolution Short Film Program:
an excision spell (USA)
Director: Kearra Amaya Gopee
Producer: Kearra Amaya Gopee
Cast: Kearra Amaya Gopee
an excision spell (2020) is an intra-communal call to arms and self-determination in the face of white supremacist violence.
ANIMIST UNCONSCIOUS (Turtle Island / Lenape Territory)
Directors: Zion Estrada, Emanuel Admassu
Producer: Zion Estrada
When sound, abstraction, and LiDAR imaging awaken Metro Atlanta’s animist unconscious, a displaced landscape is compelled to reckon with its histories of erasure as Black life resurfaces through animist persistence and collective splintering.
Auras (Made in LA) (Tibet / India / Mexico / Turtle Island) – World Premiere
Director: Tenzin Phuntsog
Cast: Tenzin Phuntsog
an experimental self portrait
DZATA: The Institute of Technological Consciousness (South Africa)
Directors: Francois Knoetze, Amy Louise Wilson, Russel Hlongwane
Producers: Francois Knoetze, Amy Louise Wilson, Russel Hlongwane
Cast: Thulisa Mayalo, Jacques Lukoji, Anesu Alex, Philimon Rukodzi, Ragel Mahera, Peacemore Patsika, Nicole Goto, Gomez Bakwene
In fabricating a fictional institute and its archive, the artists explore and imagine vernacular technological practices operating across the African continent.
I AM (Nigeria / Ghana / Turtle Island)
Director: Ijeoma Iloputaife
Ijeoma Iloputaife’s filmic poem attesting to autonomy, spiritual expansiveness, spacetime and belief in one’s self reflects on life over the sounds of Fela and the Africa 70 while luxuriating in the aesthetic beauties of nature.
maono mzimi / unbroken spaces of vision (Canada / Uganda)
Director: Sonya Mwambu
Cast: Sonya Mwambu
Maono Mzimi is a 30-minute 16mm and digital hybrid performance in which loss is explored through space and motion.
Nsala (Democratic Republic of Congo) – U.S. Premiere
Director: Mickael-Sltan Mbanza
Producer: Petna Ndaliko
Colonialism, Extractivism, Body and Land
You Do Not Exist (Made in LA) (USA) – North American Premiere
Director: Dwayne LeBlanc
Producer: Dwayne LeBlanc
Cast: Barrington Darius, Maurice Powell, Andrea Ellsworth, Cam Lee
A young man lingers in his yard beneath the flight paths of South Central Los Angeles, listening to planes overhead as he reflects on distance, memory, and the worlds just beyond his reach.
Za Mwezi (Made in LA) (Turtle Island / Tovaangar) – North American Premiere
Director: Matazi Weathers
A true happening of some things i remember in ritual or songs of the mind and moon mesmerize in the hypnosis of orbit
DIG – Digital Interactive and Gaming :
A Voice from the Hut (USA, Nepal) – World Premiere
Director & Producer: Prashanna Subedi
Cast: Medhavi Pandit, Sophiya Karki, Rachit Pandey, Sukriti Dhungel, Kshitij Kayastha
A talented 13-year-old village girl dreams of winning a music contest hosted by her idol, but is isolated in a hut by tradition during menstruation. She must find a way to reach her idol with her singing.
Before Closure (遗忘清单) (Made in LA) (USA)
Director & Producer: Haocheng Liu, Bryan Sng
Cast: Kehara Edirisinghe, Emanuel Pangilinan-Lane, Lydia Jialu Li, Morin 默伶
While Murph is moving out of her apartment after ending a long-term relationship, she finds a box of her ex-boyfriend’s old things and sorts through them to find closure.
Corpse Pose (Made in LA) (USA)
Director & Producer: Sean Hucknall
Cast: Jaed Footitt, Brendan O’Brien, Auden Day, Roy Gentes, Kadence Johnson, Ivka Boguszewski, Nick Gordinier, Ethan Richmond
An experimental musical following a heartbroken man’s nocturnal odyssey.
The Time Before (UK) – North American Premiere
Directors: Leo Metcalf, Mike Golembewski (Interactive Design)
Producer: Leo Metcalf
Cast: Anouk Lawless-Monnot, Simon Chambers, Bean Downes, Leo Metcalf
Caught between waking life and dreams, Olly delves into his childhood memories, navigating fantastical dream worlds his sister created to shield them from family strife.
This is buzz (Made in LA) (USA)
Director: Mark Pellington
Producers: Mark Pellington, Liza Hughes, EB George
Cast: The Edge, Adam Clayton, Chris Gore, Michael Franti
A mind-blowing music documentary about the first immersive TV show on MTV when MTV was cool.
WebDoc Memoria Rocas (Forging Dreams) (Chile)
Director & Producer: Ivan Torres Zagal
Cast: Ana Becerra, Cosme Caracciolo, Jorge Silva, Miguel Lawner, Javier Rebolledo
MemoriaRocas uncovers the silenced history of a former Chilean detention and torture center, tracing the origins of state repression during Pinochet’s dictatorship through an immersive interactive documentary experience.
Shorts curated by Film Independent’s Project Involve to showcase at Slamdance 2026:
In Sickness and In Health (Made in LA) (United States) – World Premiere
Director: Alexandria Collins
Producer: Masora Fukuda
Screenwriter: Montserrat Luna-Ballantyne
Cast: Yumarie Morales, Rufino Romero, Luis Fernandez-Gil
While on a romantic getaway to reconnect as a couple after her husband’s grueling exorcism, a devout wife must confront her fears that the ritual failed and her husband is still possessed.
Keepsake (Made in LA) (United States) – World Premiere
Director: Ritvik Dhavale
Producers: Eduardo Ayres Soares, Connie Qin
Screenwriter: Bushra Burney
Cast: Nida Khurshid, Anna Khaja, Behzad Dabu, Samiya Khan
A year after her father’s passing, Saira tries to connect with her mom and brother but struggles as they seem to have moved on without her by starting a Pakistani Drama podcast.
Pack (Made in LA) (United States) – World Premiere
Director: Peiqi Peng
Producer: Aishwarya Sonar
Screenwriter: Jax Ball
Cast: Kory Mann, Amalya Barseghyan, Saffron Rose, Erika Marks
A young werewolf tries to befriend a group of werewolf hunters while keeping their identity hidden.
Seaweed Snacks (Made in LA) (United States of America) – World Premiere
Director: Sylvia Ray
Producer: Andrés L. Correa
Screenwriter: Brandyn Johnson
Cast: Patrick Cage II, Kamal Bolden, Jaxon Compas, Cambridge Compton, Taehee Kim
A hard-edged dad just wants to survive another birthday party, but when a try-hard super dad won’t take “no” for an answer, things get real awkward…real fast.
Tradwife (Made in LA) (United States)
Director: Jacob Combs
Producers: Casey Naranjo, Jaycie Luo
Screenwriter: Laura Hunter Drago
Cast: Madeleine Arthur, Alex Rich
An actress turned tradwife influencer finally finds her dream audience, but when a troll exposes the cracks in her picture-perfect marriage during a livestream, she stages a high-stakes dinner that might just save her show–or end the act for good.