By the Pool (2016)

Do the Right Thing

Salvatore "Sal" Fragione is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.

The Secret

Marie, who works as a successful door-to-door encyclopedia salesperson, has been married to her husband Francois for 12 years and has a two-year-old son. Though she is relatively content with her life, she feels something is wanting. Enter 50-year old African-American Bill. Initially she is annoyed by his insouciance, but she finds that she is irresistibly attracted to him. Soon the two are in the midst of sordid illicit affair. She knows little about her new lover, and he seems uninterested in learning about her, but the long sessions of lovemaking are something else entirely. Feeling out of control, Marie is increasingly repelled by her own actions. Psychologically, she struggles to reconcile her torrid encounters with Bill and mundane domestic chores such as bathing her son. Moreover, she finds herself incapable of hiding her adulterous behavior, rather she comes home with scratches and hickeys all over her body, to the devastation Francois.

The Dive

Thirteen years old and on the edge of adulthood, a boy on a diving board faces the unknown.

Kissing Drew

Inside a drab middle school in 1992, a sexually-confused eighth-grader attempts to regain his dignity after being bullied by a sex-obsessed 'cool kid' whom he privately fantasizes about.

Champion

He had a dream: a kite. He presents his childhood toy-airplane to a boy and flies its kite which didn’t want to take wing, and… flies himself.

Monkeylove

In the evocative landscape of wintry Hokkaido, Monkeyboy (a young man in a monkey suit) searches for his stolen heart – but even the serene beauty of a mountain cannot redeem the failed connection.

The Kite

A short coming-of-Age film about two boys, first love, and a kite that reunites them 20-years later.

Loop

Everything seems to be stuck in an endless loop. Everything seems to be stuck in an endless loop. Everything seems to be stuck in an endless loop. Everything seems to be stuck in an endless loop...

An Ode to Solitude

Exploring the duality between friendship and loneliness, this intimate narrative short tells the story of David, a bright young boy struggling with a broken home life, as he tries to reconnect with his childhood best friends as they search for something to do in their small suburban town.

A Piacere

A violin student wrestles with her motivations for studying what she loves.

Andy

After being accused of sexually assaulting a girl at a party, Andy uses a public twitter confessional to rewrite his story.

Senko

A Japanese family is confronted with the mother's disease. The profoundly symbolistic images of this short film show us how Yù and his father perceive the possibility of the death and how it affectsa young boy and his vision of life.

El balancín de Iván

Ana is a woman of thirty-something, goes back to the house where she spent of her childhood during the Argentine dictatorship.

Sipping

Santiago and Jared , two teenagers of opposite personality spend an afternoon together looking for ways to overcome their differences. After an act that begins as a game their senses will find the space to coincide.

Missy’s Tale

Film highlighting the impact flooding can have on homes and families, from the perspective of Missy the cat

ViewFinder

A student film in which an emotionally troubled teenager meets a spiritual being named Corinthians, and is shown the existence of love. The trouble is, he won't hear Corinthians' words.

Bathed in Light

Two teenage couples are spending a weekend together in a house by the sea. When new feelings develop, the dynamic quickly changes.

My Friendship

Bank and Jack grow closer over time, but just as they part ways, Jack shares a secret that leaves a lasting mark.

Two Nights

Over two nights, a young Chinese immigrant has sexual encounters with two very different men. Consequently, he has to choose between the one he wants or the who wants him.

The Little Match Girl

An impoverished girl tries to sell matches on NYE. Shivering with cold and unable to sell her wares, she sits in a sheltered nook. Striking a match to keep warm, she sees things in the flame.

SNAP!

The film deals with loss of innocence and the danger of exposed secrets.

Lukas by the Sea

During a seemingly endless night, a young man attempts to find a real connection with whomever he encounters.

By His Will

Elisha, a young religious teen dealing with his attraction to men, is torn between two worlds — the religious world from which he comes and the secular world that attracts and seduces him. He goes through a shaky journey that has him facing a decision that will shape his life.

The Last Rung on the Ladder

A man, upon learning of the suicide of his sister, flashes back to a summer when they were kids and he saved her from falling from a dilapidated ladder.

The Last Rung

Larry deals with his sister's disappearance, and discovers what he is, and isn't responsible for, as he searches for her.

The Old Man

Vaiva dreams of living in Spain with her Spanish boyfriend. Before leaving for the foreign country, she needs to save up some money for her new start and begins working as a nurse for a bedridden man in a remote village of Lithuania. Time passes by slowly here, and the Spanish lover doesn’t pick up the phone for days.

Eddie

Deep underground, a lone scientist mans a discarded research facility struggling to deal with extreme boredom, a desperate voiceless companion and a mystery he'd really rather not have to solve.

Hudson Geese

A goose remembers his last migration.

The Water Diary

A story through a child's eyes about living through a drought.

I don’t know if i'll have to say everything again

A short film that presents a small excerpt of the family life between a homosexual son and a mother diagnosed with Alzheimer's. The film presents Fernando's conflict in his search for acceptance and recognition from his mother, which is made difficult by the difficult progression of the disease and, possibly, by a veiled prejudice.

Atoms

Hugo, 34, an educator at the boarding school, finds is daily life disrupted by Jules, a provocative teenager.

BEE, My Friend

Zhi Xuan is a new teacher at her alma mater. One day, her troubled student, Zhe Yu commits a misdemeanour which reminds her of a past mistake. Zhi Xuan is determined to help her student solve his family problems, and also seeking redemption for herself.

Light

Haunted by trauma and trapped in sex work, Light meets Shuo, an undercover cop who offers him shelter. But healing isn’t easy—can Light choose a new path?

The Dreams Of Lonely People

After twenty years in prison, a man returns to his homeland to wait for death in peace. His world is completely changed when he accidentally meets a character from the magical world of nature.

Tomer & Elias

Coming of age film about Sven, a boy who feels trapped in his own family which only consists of duos. His brother Alex in return tries to keep Sven by his side through the same methods his parents use.

Cocoon

In the heat of a shimmering Berlin summer, Nora spends her days as a third wheel to her older sister Jule and her best friend Aylin. When Romy comes onto the scene, a friendship blossoms. Nora instantly falls for her, opening up a whole new world and unexpected summer of love.