Canary in a Coal Mine (2023)

Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream

From 1970-1977, six low budget films shown at midnight transformed the way we make and watch films.

Peter Pan

This musical version of the tale of the boy who wouldn't grow up aired live on television on March 7, 1955. It was so popular that it was restaged the following year, and again four years later.

The Mercenary

When a mission in South America goes wrong a mercenary is left for dead, but he is nursed back to health and reborn with a new outlook on life. But his peaceful days are short-lived when mercenaries he used to work with cross his path again and he is forced to revisit and face his own demons.

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy

The Elric brothers’ long and winding journey comes to a close in this epic finale, where they must face off against an unworldly, nationwide threat.

Six Hours: Surviving Typhoon Yolanda

In the middle of a broadcast about Typhoon Yolanda's initial impact, reporter Jiggy Manicad was faced with the reality that he no longer had communication with his station. They were, for all intents and purposes, stranded in Tacloban. With little option, and his crew started the six hour walk to Alto, where the closest broadcast antenna was to be found. Letting the world know what was happening to was a priority, but they were driven by the need to let their families and friends know they were all still alive. Along the way, they encountered residents and victims of the massive typhoon, and with each step it became increasingly clear just how devastating this storm was. This was a storm that was going to change lives.

New

Outskirts of Moscow. A girl comes to an unfamiliar apartment to look after a dog. After a while, she realizes that the owner of the apartment has disappeared. She finds herself into a series of people that have been taking care of the dog for years in that same apartment, creating a weird community around this strange absence of the owner.

Battle Over Britain

A young pilot, fresh out of training, is called to join a Flight while they wait for the call to scramble. Throughout a single day, he witnesses the skies of southern England filled with deadly dog fights, and after every exhausting battle the men return to their dispersal hut, only to find another of their number missing. Unwilling to surrender, the pilot and his comrades unite to take to the skies once more, determined to defend not only the airfield, but their entire country.

Star

Follows a youngster Kalai and his aspirations of becoming a 'Star' in the Tamil Film Industry. Born in a lower-middle-class family, will Kalai overcome all his struggles to emerge as a Star?

Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead

A meeting in a London bus with jewel thief Lady Christina takes a turn for the worse for the Doctor when the bus takes a detour to a desert-like planet, where the deadly Swarm awaits.

Kleks Academy

A seemingly ordinary girl finds her way into the eponymous Academy to explore the world of fairy tales, imagination and creativity. With the help of a crazy, talented teacher, she develops her unique abilities and also stumbles upon a clue that will help her unravel the biggest secret of the family...

Hunters

As John T. Wrecker continues his task of protecting a group of refugees from a virus, the threat of something new and even more dangerous grows ever closer in the form of monstrous mutants.

Harry Potter: A History Of Magic

A thrilling journey through legends, belief and folklore, this film goes behind the scenes with the British Library as they search to tell that story through objects in their collection, in an ambitious new exhibition: Harry Potter: A History Of Magic. J.K. Rowling, who is lending unseen manuscripts, drawings and drafts from her private archives (which will sit alongside treasures from the British Library, as well as original drafts and drawings from Jim Kay) talks about some of the personal items she has lent to the exhibition and gives new insight into her writing, looking at some of the objects from the exhibition that have fired her imagination.

Matka

Set between the years 1958 and 1982, Matka tells the story of Vasu, who rises from poverty to create a powerful gambling empire in India, ultimately leading the nation into a battle with the government. Based on real events, the tale explores themes of love, moral choices, and the consequences of ambition.

Kamen Rider W Returns: Kamen Rider Accel

While settling into married life with Akiko, Ryu is brought into a case involving a woman named Katsuragi Aoi, a member of a pickpocketing ring with most of her teammates murdered from unknown masked vigilantes that Ryu fought as Accel. As the details of the case begin to unravel, Ryu is framed and Akiko believes that he may not be faithful to her. As the clock ticks down, Ryu must solve the case, clear his name, and save his marriage before everything comes to an explosive end!

The Symphony of Haruhi Suzumiya

The Symphony of Haruhi Suzumiya or The String Performance of Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮ハルヒの弦奏 Suzumiya Haruhi no Gensou), was an event featuring several songs and background music used in the The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya anime. All of the songs are performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and conducted by Phillip Chu, on April 29, 2009.

Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time

As the Twelfth Doctor nears regeneration, he stumbles on his first incarnation, also refusing to change. It takes a captain, a glass avatar and a familiar face to convince the Doctors the universe still needs them.

The Comedian

An aging comic icon, Jackie Burke, has seen better days. Despite his efforts to reinvent himself and his comic genius, the audience only wants to know him as the former television character he once played. Already a strain on his younger brother and his wife, Jackie is forced to serve out a sentence doing community service for accosting an audience member. While there, he meets Harmony, the daughter of a sleazy Florida real estate mogul, and the two find inspiration in one another, resulting in surprising consequences.

Mantra Warrior: The Legend of The Eight Moons

A story inspired by the original RAMAYANA, retold in a futuristic universe, involving brave warriors who possess ancient powers from another dimension.

way

San Francisco filmmaker Konrad Steiner took 12 years to complete a montage cycle set to the late Leslie Scalapino’s most celebrated poem, way—a sprawling book-length odyssey of shardlike urban impressions, fraught with obliquely felt social and sexual tensions. Six stylistically distinctive films for each section of way, using sources ranging from Kodachrome footage of sun-kissed S.F. street scenes to internet clips of the Iraq war to a fragmented Fred Astaire dance number.

The Grotto

Four bodies are found at a cave accident and forensics point to the only survivor as the culprit. He denies guilt, accusing his wife of committing the crime. But how is this so? She is one of the deceased.

Blood for Dust

Reckless Ricky makes serious money dealing illegal weapons throughout the tri-state area and loves to flaunt it. Traveling salesman Cliff, covers the same territory Ricky runs guns through. Desperate to find some financial relief for his struggling family, Cliff agrees to partner with Ricky, to commit cross-state drug and gun deliveries for a mid-level American cartel boss John. When a simple exchange turns into a bloodbath after Ricky kills everyone in a territory grab, the pair find themselves in a pressure cooker situation where unlikely drug dealer Cliff must fight as hard as he can to stay alive.

Return of the Killer Shrews

A reality TV crew charter a boat to an island for filming, one which the boat's captain had been to before and attacked by giant shrews, more than fifty years earlier.

A Scooby-Doo! Christmas

On the way to Daphne's relatives' condominium, the Mystery Inc. gang detours through the town of Winter Hollow, where the vengeful Headless Snowman has destroyed the town's Christmas spirit.

Adanis: Kutsal Kavga

Plot unavailable

Teach Me If You Can

The three teachers Svetlana, Sandrine and Taslima teach children and young people in places that are hardly accessible for “normal” lessons - in a nomad tent under the snow cover of Siberia, in a hut in the bushland of Burkina Faso and on a school boat in Bangladesh. They share a common goal: to enable their students to have a better future through education.

When You Hear the Bells

In Afghanistan, "batchas" are young male prostitutes who live under the protection of a master in a house where they are trained to dance dressed as girls for a men's audience. Veteran dancer Saman starts worrying when he sees Bijane, the new recruit, who has been chosen to replace him. Despite his jealousy, he must initiate Bijane into the art of the Batcha dancing.

Nowhere to Go

The runaway high school students, Hyeon-su and Dong-gyu, are helped by Min-jung who is a member of the so called runaway family. Hyeon-su asks to go to a runaway family’s residence, but Dong-gyu opposes it, and Hyeon-su and Dong-gyu feel for each other as they depend on one another. Dong-gyu frankly confesses to Hyeon-su, but Hyeon-su denies his feelings and leaves Dong-gyu to head for the home of runaway family by himself.

One Fine Day, a Hairdresser

How do you ask a wild, impetuous hairdresser on a date if you're a pathologically timid philosophy student with no social skills?

The Private War of Joseph Sargent

Porn Star Grayson Lange along with Addison Graham and Robby Valls star in a film about two mercenaries on a secret mission in the jungles of South America. Once captured, their last night together will reveal dark secrets and create sexual tensions. So much so that it will cause unforeseen collateral damage that stretches well beyond the jungle. This highly provocative and erotic film was part of Eroddity(s) 2. Now re-worked as a stand-alone short the film seems to take on new meaning.

Private Life: Kyle Ross

Welcome to the Private Life of Kyle Ross. In this intimate documentary, you'll get to know the boy behind the star. From his corporate gig at Helix Studios to the dissolution of his high profile relationship, nothing is off the table. Intent on bending stereotypes and gracefully aging in an industry that celebrates youth, Kyle shares the work that goes into maintaining an image while simultaneously shedding it. After all, he's always enjoyed a contradiction.

Coming

Blending surrealism with relatable social and sexual anxieties, a woman and her talking vulva get ready for a date.

Stray

Set in a parallel universe where the sexual bias favors homosexuals, Eric, a struggling heterosexual, admits himself into a straight conversion camp. What begins as a cure to his deviant lifestyle, becomes a journey of self acceptance.

PYOTR495

Set one evening in present-day Moscow, 16-year-old Pyotr is baited by an ultra-nationalist group known for their violent abductions and attacks bolstered by Russia's LGBT Propaganda Law, but Pyotr has a dangerous secret.

Pocket

Spend a year through the ups and downs of the life of an American teenager, told entirely from the perspective of his iPhone.

Red Dirt

About a man, his car, and a struggle against outback Australia and its denizens. The film follows the story of Blair, a young business man, on his way too the deal of a life time, a deal that will set him up for life. However, much like many well laid plans, his journey goes horribly wrong, but he ends up gaining more than money could ever buy.

Six Coups

An interesting assembly of people decides to play a deadly game of greed for a suitcase full of money.

I Am Easy to Find

A life in one-hundred-sixty-four moments.

A Lantern in the Night

Emiko, a young Japanese girl, discovers the secret behind the most respected tradition of her village.

Barakafrites

Gus Patatax runs a chip shop in space. In front of him is a huge Fast Food. Gus must satisfy his only client, the competitor opposite. The latter wants to humiliate Patatax and disrupts the gravity machine of the fries stand; it forces Patatax to cook in "zero G".

The Hunter

In this stop motion sand animation, a lone hunter undertakes a search for a missing boy deep in the snow covered mountains. THE HUNTER premiered at SXSW in 2012, has featured in competition at over 50 international festivals and won several awards including the AFI/ AACTA in 2013.

In Seventh Heaven

Sofiane lives in a high-rise block at the edges of Paris. A violent young man, he tries to be like his gang of friends. However, Sofiane is attracted to guys. Through his contradictions, he embodies the confusion of today's idle young people who have lost their bearings and live withdrawn into themselves.

Rong

Late night in Jakarta, a woman walks home alone and becomes a man's sexual harassment target, but things take an unexpected turn when the hunter suddenly becomes the hunted.

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Two

Marcel the shell is out of sight.

Blue Bedroom

June has had the same dream every night for the past three months. Lorelai is worried something bad is going to happen. Things get weird.

Viqueens

After their husbands’ defeat, a group of viking women decide to fight the Scottish enemies to provide for the need of the clan.

As Sombras Cantantes

Wachiwi and her little brother Peopeo live alone inside a fenced garden. While Peopeo dreams of novelty, Wachiwi determines the boundaries that should ensure their protection.

Eden

A restless young man roves in the gay hotspots of a metropolis. Anonymous places dressed in mirrors, intense colors and kitschy decors are the landscape for this stranger in search of comfort, connection and himself.

Margo & Perry

A disillusioned twenty-something woman spontaneously gets a job babysitting a precocious nine year old, but not everything is as it seems.

Techniquement Si Simple

Plot unavailable

Busco Empleo

Mariana is looking for a job after being fired, but she will learn to value herself as a person.

Shabbat Dinner

Shabbat Dinner is boring as usual for William Shore. His mother has invited two crazy hippies and their son and is doing her best to show off, his father is drunk and berating their oddball guests, and he doesn't have much in common with their son Virgo. That is, until Virgo tells him that he has just come out as gay.

MAN

An animated short film looking at man's relationship with the natural world.

Fashion Film

Plot unavailable

Fabrizio’s Initiation

In the heat of summer, Fabrizio is desperate to find the right time and place to make out with Nadia, his longtime girlfriend. With frustration building because his best laid plans are constantly getting interrupted, he comes up with a novel solution — but it will take more than just one teen boy to make it happen.

Small Talk

When an old friend enters her hair salon, a local hairdresser tries to talk to him about his life since their departure while cutting his hair, unaware of his dark secret.

Totally N Utterly

Two maneaters collect the souls of their friends at a house party for Satan

Alone

Kaya Torres is circling a black hole in a pod, with no one coming, no one to help. She's Alone.

First Date

An ex-con will stop at nothing to keep a date with the underage boy he met online.

Spokane

Two guys bail on a wedding, head to a strip club, and end up in a hotel room...

A Piñata's Life

A piñata experiences the same fateful day over and over again, on which it is bought by a girl and finds death at her garden party. Shocked, the piñata tries to break out of this eternal cycle.