(North) Hollywood (2019)

Echo

A reframing of the classic tale of Narcissus, the director draws on snippets of conversation with a trusted friend to muse on gender and identity. Just as shimmers are difficult to grasp as knowable entities, so does the concept of a gendered self feel unknowable except through reflection. Is it Narcissus that Echo truly longs for, or simply the Knowing he possesses when gazing upon himself?

Bubble Gummed Girl

Emma is addicted to chewing gum and in the middle of puberty, but doesn't really want to admit it. She doesn't want to do anything with her sandpit friend Lasse other than swinging, playing with her father's railroad world and chewing gum - nothing should change. But Lasse suddenly has a girlfriend and, even worse, he's also interested in sex.

Fuego Fatuo

Noé receives a call announcing that they have found a woman who is most likely his daughter who disappeared 15 years ago.

Traces

A young woman, captured on CCTV on a night out, describes her readiness for whatever fate has in store for her.

Noi Soli

A son loves his mother, because her hands were the first to welcome him. At her funeral, he steals the hearse and drives away. During the journey, the boy reminds the last weekend they spent together. Agnese takes care but doesn’t love, she’s lost in her thoughts and doesn’t let anyone get closer, not even Giulio. Two days to understand each other, two days to love each other, and to leave in the end.

First Act

Theatre students André and Gabriel drum up support for resistance against the dismantling of culture policies in Brazil.

Elisa

'Elisa' portrays the claustrophobic and extremely painful relationship between nine year old Elisa and her mother.

The Last Day of School

Edgaras and Migle are in a relationship that has Migle have the upper hand financially. Because of this, when Edgaras old friend offers the opportunity to make some money by smuggling cigarettes, Edgaras is tempted. But with a wonderful girlfriend, college around the corner, and so much that can be ruined if he and Viktoras get caught, will Edgaras go through with it?

Brown With Blue

A handyman and his webcam vixen girlfriend struggle with an addiction to cope with their past mistakes.

Feral

A disturbed young man pushes away his exurban family to seek wildness in the woods. The boy's urge for the primitive manifests in his bedroom at home and in a wild dog he follows through the countryside.

Delilah, Before

A young Singaporean woman, haunted by a dark past and teenage pregnancy, has to regain her mother's trust in her rehabilitation as she reassumes custody of her young child.

Birdboy

A terrible industrial accident changes little Dinki's life forever. Now Dinki's fate may ride on the wings of her eccentric friend Birdboy, a misfit who hides in the forest lost in his fantasies.

Francis

Francis is a short story written by american novelist Dave Eggers. This is the story of a young boy growing up in the suburbs of chicago. He spent his vacations in Quetico Provincial Park, up on the border of Minnesota and Canada. But he won't be going back any day soon, not after what happened to a girl called Francis Brandywine.

No Brakes

Johan sits on a small jetty by the lake, deep in thought - he is struggling to find the words to say, or the actions to take. Joined by friends Anton and Julie, the trio cycle through the Swedish countryside, and as the sun begins to set, more friends enter the fray, bottles of beer are opened and guitars thrum as the group party into the night. But Johan is still deep in thought. When the sun eventually rises, Johan's fears have long since faded away.

Oats & Barley

Oats and Barley follows a nervous, impressionable young boy called Jamie as he attends his first funeral. Although this isn't your average first funeral. As Jamie nervously arrives at the ceremony, it becomes clear that he is being coerced into a sinister family business.

Existere

Horacio, a lonely young man, cornered between his routine and disturbing dreams, stops and isolates, revealing a vital message.

Pavane

For over 30 years, Cora has woken up every morning at 4am to go work at the factory and raise her daughter, Alex, gone to Paris, much to Cora’s regret, to try and become a filmmaker. As Cora is about to retire, she would very much like Alex to finally abandon this risky choice, but Alex is preparing her first film.

Roberto the Canary

The death of Roberto, the canary, forces a family to come to terms with their own grief.

Indigo

After years of waiting for a signal from home, Takumi and his toy robot companion receive a message that they will be returning to their home planet.

Anime

Two hardy orphans survive upon the remains of a humanity that has left them behind.

Cuban Heel Shoes

Paco and José are two teenage boys living in a marginal neighbourhood of Madrid, a place hostile to each of their dreams. With serious family problems, and surrounded by an aggressive, macho, homophobic environment, they must lead a double life to hide the beginning of a love relationship and their passion for flamenco dance.

Two Friendly Ghosts

James Dean and Donald Turnupseed, the man whose car killed Dean, meet again for the first time... at the very same intersection where the accident occurred.

The Dark Night of the Soul

Ulises hasn't seen his friends since they graduated from high school. But now, walking to the reunion party, he is full of hope and joy to relive his past glories and rekindle the passion he had with Paulina, the girl he was always in love with but never dared to do anything with. But that will change tonight, which will surely be unforgettable.

Chipper

After receiving a mysterious letter, a wayward son returns to his childhood home to wrestle with a dark family secret.

The Last Image of Father

Dusan and Laza are traveling through Eastern Serbia to Belgrade. Terminally ill, Dusan has to find a new home for his son Laza, to whom Dusan is all he has.

The American Wake

A seventeen year old girl who has lived all her life on an island off the coast of Ireland is faced with the choice to remain there or emigrate to America.

Boy Saint

A sumptuous short film of friendship and adoration between boys, based on a poem by Peter LeBerge. Moments of joy, bonding and roughhousing on a school trip to the beach counterpoint one teen boy’s introspective sexual awakenings and questionings. Magnificent cinematography and editing create a visual feast that provides the imagery for a narrated poem by Peter Laberge alluding to early homosexual desires, but with Catholic overtones never directly expressed.

Blank Canvas

Two disparate strangers, a Gen Xer and a Millennial, form an unlikely bond on a rooftop after both experiencing traumatic situations.

Adult

Having enabled a loss that now torments her, a woman enters an adult store in search of redemption. Adapted from a short story by Christos Tsiolkas.

Cla'am

A dark, surreal comedy about a local man who becomes convinced that a vast conspiracy is behind the impossibly rapid gentrification in his London area. But is it all in his head, or is the truth even darker than he imagines? Cla'am is the debut short from Nathaniel Martello-White, one of the UK's leading young playwrights.

Fry Day

Set against the backdrop of the execution of Ted Bundy in 1989, the story centers around a 16-year-old girl named Lauryn who makes a little extra money by taking and selling Polaroids of the people who are camped out near the prison, celebrating the execution.

Billy Boy

In an era marked by the reign of fluid relationships, through apps and blind dates, Alejo seeks to fill his sentimental void by constantly changing sex partners.

Lucia, Before and After

After traveling hundreds of miles, a woman must wait another twenty-four hours before she can get an abortion.

The Music of Regret

Simmons, best-known for her photographs of miniature rooms populated by dolls and of oversized objects—such as a house, birthday cake, and pistol—balanced on female legs, both human and fake, brings these characters to life in a three-act mini-musical. The film is inspired by three distinct periods of Simmons’s photographic work: vintage hand puppets, ventriloquist dummies and walking objects enact tales of ambition, disappointment, love, loss, and regret. Working with composer Michael Rohaytn ("Personal Velocity") and cameraman Ed Lachman ("The Virgin Suicides" and "Far From Heaven"), Simmons’s puppets come to life in miniature domestic scenes that echo real life.

Escape

Awakening on the floor of a destroyed suburban bedroom, we discover a global invasion has begun and we are not alone in the house.