6 minutes

Canada

Director Kaia Alexandra Fortis Scott

For Every Apricot is a short animated documentary that follows a story told by the filmmaker’s grandmother. As a young girl on Christmas Eve, she boards her first-ever plane alone, travelling in search of a rumoured “miracle drug” that could cure her father’s cancer. Blending live-action interviews, archival 16mm and 8mm family footage, and a range of animation techniques—stop motion, collage, and 2D—the film explores themes of aging, memory, and the circular patterns of life. As her grandmother reflects on her father’s illness alongside her own, Apricots becomes both a deeply personal family portrait and a universal meditation on resilience.

10 minutes

Chicago

Director Beah Travis

The anxiety of growing up threatens a young girl's world.

7 minutes

Illinois

Director Axel Aritzmendi

PULL LIST is a fast-paced dark comedy about two friends who are getting evicted soon. They form a half-baked plan to steal a rare comic book. What starts as a fun, simple heist quickly spirals into chaos.

3 minutes

Wisconsin

Director Sam Slowik

'Hang' is a stop animation short film created by Sam Slowik, a sophomore at Brookfield Central High School in Wisconsin. The 3 minute short film is shot at 15 pictures/frames per second and is made up of nearly 4,500 individual pictures with minor movements to the character for a fluid animation style.

'Hang' features the music of Milwaukee punk band, Band Crime. Work is always more enjoyable when you get to do it with good friends and loud music. Watch as Lego Man and Rig work on building the spaceship of their dreams while while rocking out to amazing music of Bad Crime. The spaceship hanger is officially rocking with with song 'Hang’.

10 minutes

Illinois

The Wild Mile is the first ever mile-long floating eco-park in the world. What is the history of this revolutionary park and what is the city of Chicago’s interest in the preservation of our wildlife eco-systems in the very famous Chicago river.

7 minutes

Director Kiana Pan

An elderly cobbler and a young shoemaker reflect on the labor, artistry, and shared humanity behind an item we wear everyday.

9 minutes

France

Director JOAN MARSHAL

Amid the indifferent hum of Paris, a refugee clown

in his 60s paints smiles for euros. Each

performance a silent requiem for the homeland

bombs stole. Stripped of everything but resilience,

he masks his pain behind greasepaint, his art a

fragile rebellion against oblivion. This is a story of

unseen lives: where survival dances on a tightrope

between dignity and despair, and humanity lingers

in the shadows. A silent film for those who still hear

heartbeats.

12 minutes

Chicago

Director Biography - Lucas Xavier Simes

The simple mistake of tossing wedding rings into a trash compactor spirals into a fight for survival when the best man dives in after the rings and finds himself about to be crushed.

BEST MAN. WORST MISTAKE.

5 minutes

California

Director Ben Smith

During an earthquake, two statues in an art museum finally hook up – defying the laws of religion, society, and physics. A story about love, lust, and the beauty that can be found in letting go.

13 minutes

Hawaii

Director Susie Kim

When 30-year-old single Sarah realizes she's in a totally different life stage than her married BFFs, she dives headfirst into the dating pool - on a mission to find "Mr. Just Right".

7 minutes

France

Director - Talhia Brom, Emilie Cayre, Dorian Condelis, Solène Corral, Brice Girardin, Ghita Hsaine, Ambre Kerbrat, Adrien Lhabitant, Héloïse Ogez

After the discovery of an ancient stone depicting a majestic flight of their ancestors, the last survivors of the species of dodos will try their hardest and craziest to fly, up to the last one...

13 minutes

New York

Director Biography - Maurice "Mo" Caicedo

A wildly inventive and darkly hilarious satire, Broken Glasses dissects the absurdity of trying to reverse-engineer love, proving that human connection isn’t something that can be programmed or optimized. With sharp wit and a deeply relatable emotional core, it explores the modern obsession with control… over relationships, technology, and even fate itself… only to reveal that the true magic of love lies in its unpredictability. Through a visually rich and nostalgic lens, Broken Glasses taps into comedy and heartbreak, making us laugh at the protagonist’s misguided genius while confronting his fears about the future of his commitments. In an era where digital perfection is the unknown, Broken Glasses reminds us that real love is, and always will be, beautifully imperfect.

13 minutes

Directed by Levi Michael Gillis

Sam and his friend hitchhike across the United States in 1961

6 minutes

California

Director Stephanie Williams

When needing to reveal her biggest secret to her normal fiancé, a witch turns to her fairy god mother for help only to be surprised by her fairy god bro.

6 minutes

Director - Carlos Lerma

A young man rumored to be a vampire for never swimming at pool parties must confront the real reason he doesn’t: he doesn’t want to be shirtless in public. And after a new pool party invite comes in the mail, he must fight or flight.

15 minutes

Chicago

Director Sharon Samuels

A young architect at a significant career crossroads is tasked with helping his father clean out the attic of his childhood home. While sorting through an old trunk, he discovers valuable family heirlooms. These include several journals that bring up questions about his family's past that he never knew to ask. As he uncovers the legacy embedded in these pages, he confronts truths about his family's past and his outlook on his own path forward.

4 minutes

Director Erin Greenwell

Grief is soothed by the neighborhood stray cat, Shadow

8 minutes 

Canada

Director Sergine Dumais

Luke is the world’s greatest escape artist. But can he escape an uncomfortable conversation with Camille? She wants to define their relationship, but Luke instead uses his skills to sneak out of the room. Camille uses her skills to chase after Luke, strip him of his powers, and force him to be honest with her.

3 minutes

Illinois

Directed by Rebecca Chivers

After finally being presented with the opportunity, a vampire hunter realizes killing the vampire she has been chasing all these years may not be what she wanted after all.

10 minutes

New York

Director Claire Englebienne

On a cold New York afternoon, Edward, a homeless man, is shooed away from a sidewalk by Marcel and Emily, a wealthy couple on their way to the airport. When they accidentally drop their apartment keys, Edward seizes the chance to sneak inside and enjoy the warmth and comfort. But his break-in takes an unexpected turn when Marcel returns with his mistress, and Edward uses the evidence to blackmail him into a secret deal.

15 minutes

Argentina

Director Sean Daniel Quinn

Jack, an American transplant, moves into a historic Buenos Aires apartment with his pregnant Argentine wife, Alba, hoping for a fresh start. But eerie visions—ghostly neighbors, echoes of a deadly fire, and disturbing parallels to his abusive childhood—begin to fracture his grip on reality. When he discovers a woman and child seemingly trapped in 1938, doomed to perish in flames, Jack becomes obsessed with saving them. The more he intervenes, the more time distorts around him—until he realizes he’s not just witnessing history… he’s part of it.

“Contrafrente” is a haunting psychological thriller about intergenerational trauma, the illusion of control, and the terrifying realization that some cycles may never be broken.

5 minutes

California

Director Olivia Jean Hamilton

In 2025 we're no longer scared to come out as Bisexual to the straights, we're nervous to tell our judgmental gay friends. The Closet is a fun and quirky short about Olympia coming out to her closest friends.

10 minutes

Director Timothy Troy

After a messy breakup, Jess takes matters to the extreme when her ex comes begging for forgiveness.

3 minutes

Missouri

Director Riley Flynn

Explore the cultural identity of Kansas City through how we deface it through the graffiti known as stickers.

12 minutes

California

Director Vince Dixon

As Max prepares to eulogize his sister Chloe just minutes before her funeral, he wrestles with the anger, frustration, and grief of losing her to an overdose, attempting to understand who Chloe was.

2 minutes

Director Biography - Kipp Norman, KC Norman

Waste a little bit of your life watching this ode to wasting your life.

9 minutes

New York

Director Biography - Eden Ohayon, Alexandra Nedved

We meet Maeve, a British expat living in Brooklyn, moments before undertaking the noble endeavour of the world’s oldest profession: shagging an old guy for cash. She links up with Frank (Larry Pine; Succession), her sugar-daddy-to-be, at a slinky restaurant on the Upper West Side hoping to secure the bag. Over the course of the evening, she’s surprised at how much they have in common—and she even begins to enjoy his company. When she makes her move, Frank breaks down in tears, revealing that it’s the one-year anniversary of his wife’s death. Once they confide their loneliness in each other, they forge an unlikely friendship.

7 minutes

Illinois

Directed by David Bradburn

A horror movie spoof about a couple trying to decide what to do for the weekend.

6 minutes

France

Director - Oriane Azzhiri, Sarah Balanger, Alex Bruneau, Eva-Luna Delmas, Emeline Guidé, Clara Maynard, Tom Perrony, Elie Plisson

After an intriguing radio announcement rewarding the most ridiculous death with his head engraved on Mount Rushmore, Kurt and Freddy, two gas station owners try their luck, to the detriment of a scout camp located not far from them...

13 minutes

Chicago

Director Larry Ziegelman

Jacob has kept his childhood trauma a secret from his wife until today, when he surprises her with a nighttime trip through a cemetery to confront the grave of his recently-deceased childhood bully. What begins as a difficult journey into the past becomes an unexpected opportunity for catharsis, connection, and, of course, childish revenge.