A Lovely Uncontrollable Thing

Ashley Seering/Documentary/11:05/Female Filmmaker/CA/United States

A Lovely Uncontrollable Thing offers a profile of artist Victoria Moore as she shapes a life grounded in nature, craftsmanship, and personal growth. Known for jewelry and tools created from self-forged Damascus steel, Moore’s work blurs the line between utility and art, strength and delicacy. As she transforms raw materials by hand, she also redefines happiness and success on her terms, proving that a meaningful life is built one piece at a time.

 

A Thousand Questions and One Miracle

Esther Wenger/Drama/28:01/Female Filmmaker/Austria

In the 1950s, young Eva is raised in a society where traditional gender roles define a woman’s worth. Struggling to fit into the mold expected of her and wishing to escape the pressure, little Eva longs to be invisible. As a young woman, she embraces life, enjoying love and newfound freedoms. Today, as an older woman, Eva realizes that the world overlooks the elderly. This short film humorously explores the cyclical nature of invisibility in a woman’s life from childhood to old age and shows how not being noticed any longer becomes a source of empowerment. 

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Archibald Wallace and the Whisky Theory

Brian Pennington/Comedy/4:56/MD/United States

This documentary from the 1972 Agricultural Archives investigates the peculiar discoveries of farmer Archibald Wallace. Scientific breakthrough of the century, or quantum fluke?  You decide.

 

Because Today is Saturday

Alice Eça Guimarães/Animation/12:24/Portugal

It's Saturday, and a woman struggles with the difficulty of reconciling her home life and her need to escape.

 

Becoming The Man: A Prequel

Michael Zolomij/Comedy/6:52/PA/United States

Becoming the Man: A Prequel is (as stated) the prequel to the award winning "RIP: Kevin The Man". This short comedy film finds Cevin (before receiving full "The Man" status) at a low and searching for his joy.

 

Cabbage

Emily Godson/Comedy/14:58/Female Filmmaker/Ireland 
Jack and his mother Fran, struggle to cope with the loss of Jack’s father. When Jack's Grandad recounts a curious tale about cabbages, a seed for reconciliation is sown. Cabbage sensitively navigates family dynamics after the impact of a difficult life event (death/suicide). It is a quirky, hopeful story about resilience and the cycle of life. 
 

Creator

Jon Pivko/Drama/13:58/NJ/United States

A short film where a young musician navigates the absurdity of the Information Age, as AI blurs the line between art and identity in unexpected ways.

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Dance Into the Day

Taney Basinger/Student Animation/1:37/PA/United States/Female Filmmaker

An elderly woman kick-starts the day by transforming her morning routine into a disco dance party.

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Dare to Declare

Chris Cotter/Documentary/14:16/PA/United States

The Dare to Declare video brings the Declaration of Independence out of the textbook and into the present by featuring students and community members reading its words aloud, highlighting how the nation’s founding ideals remain relevant, contested, and powerful 250 years later, and underscoring that democracy is not a finished achievement but an ongoing responsibility carried by each new generation.

 

Dark Orange

Zahra Azadpour/Animation/6:00/Iran, Islamic Republic of/Female Filmmaker
A young couple appears to live a peaceful life, yet beneath the surface their relationship is fractured. The woman struggles with the weight of a one-sided emotional bond and makes a final attempt to restore intimacy. Her partner dismisses her feelings, reducing their connection to physicality and treating her as subordinate. Disillusioned and depressed, she confronts the painful reality of emotional neglect. Ironically, he sees himself as a feminist and advocate for women’s rights, publicly condemning physical violence and participating in the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, while failing to recognize the harm within his own relationship.

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Deeply Darkly Drole

Mohamad Razazian/Drama/14:32/Iran, Islamic Republic of

A middle-aged bachelor lives with his difficult, ex-ballet teacher mother. Consumed by grief, he suddenly finds himself sobbing but not shedding tears. Between looking after his mother and painting, he tries to discover, by whatever means, whether his inability to shed tears is due to an emotional lack or something that lies deeper within him. The time for making crucial decisions has arrived.

 

Do Evil Thoughts Make an Evil Man?

Simon Stockdale/Drama/12:30/PA/United States

A man on his deathbed makes a horrible confession.

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Éiru

Giovanna Ferrari/Animation/12:59/Ireland/Female Filmmaker

Éiru is the smallest child of an Iron-Age clan. All she wants is to be a mighty warrior who is taken seriously by her kinfolk. But when the village’s well mysteriously dries up, only she is small enough to descend into the belly of the earth to investigate and bring the water of life back to her people. Éiru is the story of a child in search of a challenge, and a goddess in search of a champion.

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Erlkönig

Morgan Middleton & Charlie Driscoll/Art/Exp/6:25/United States/Female Filmmaker

In a powerful exploration of racial and health disparities, classical music takes center stage when a father and son confront the ominous figure of Der Erlkönig, the whisperer of death.

 

Excuse Me

Lena Louise Streitwieser/Drama/7:38/Washington, DC/United States/Female Filmmaker

Ignored because of her age, 50-year-old Amanda leaves a coffee shop on her way to a job interview without the last chocolate croissant, but maybe something even sweeter.

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First Nations: Finding the Chickasaw

Sarah Flower/Documentary/5:14/United Kingdom/Female Filmmaker

The extraordinary discovery of pre-American War of Independence documents relating to the Chickasaw Nation in the great libraries of the United Kingdom has uncovered a treasure trove of previously unseen material.

 

Forevergreen

Nathan Engelhardt & Jeremy Spears/Animation/13:03/United States

An orphaned bear cub finds a home with a fatherly evergreen tree, until his hunger for trash leads him to danger.

 

Forget Me Not 

Christopher Lee Slater/Student Drama/14:42/United Kingdom/Student Filmmaker

As a wife prepares for her anniversary dinner, she is confronted by a stranger who begins to unravel the world around her. 

 

Gallina

Fernando Reinaldos/Drama/16:30/Spain

In rural Spain, ten-year-old Pablo loves spending time at his granny’s countryside home, playing with his younger sister Alba and his best friend Martín. But everything changes when Martín pressures him to betray his family, leaving Pablo to question where he truly belongs. 
 

If Cities Could Dance: J-Setting Atlanta

Fr3deR1cK Jerome Taylor/Art/Exp/5:12/GA/United States

J-Setting: The Acrobatic LGBTQ Dance sensation that traveled From Southern Historically Black Colleges to the Clubs of Atlanta | KQED Arts

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Leaf

Horatiu Carpiuc/Drama/19:49/Romania

A single father’s surprise for his 14-year-old daughter turns into a tense confrontation when he discovers her with an older boy, forcing them to confront their bond.

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LGBT Equality Alliance

Pier Nicola D'Amico/Documentary/5:58/PA/United States

This short documentary highlights the LGBT Equality Alliance, the organization behind Phoenixville Pride, and their year-round work supporting and uplifting the local LGBTQIA+ community. Through interviews with Alliance members and footage from Phoenixville Pride, the film explores how grassroots organizing, visibility, and intentional community-building create safer, more inclusive spaces. Showcasing Pride as both a celebration and a commitment, the documentary captures the heart of an organization dedicated to advocacy, connection, and belonging beyond a single event.

 

Life Support

Jamon Tolbert/Drama/10:32/Canada

Inspired by true stories, an emergency doctor struggling under the weight of life and death decisions must confront his own hidden traumas as he teaches a young medical student what it truly means to save a life. Told with raw intensity and emotional depth, Life Support has won multiple jury awards for Best Short Film, Best First Time Filmmaker, & Best Performance. It offers a rare glimpse into the world of emergency medicine, where every choice can mean the difference between life and loss. 
 

Living With María

John Barnard/Comedy/9:50/Canada

A newly emigrated Latina woman struggles with her loss of culture, her inability to work in a new country and her husband's lack of empathy. Cleverly, she manages to transport him into an alternate dimension, wherein they both inhabit a 1950s film from the Mexican golden age of cinema.

 

MAGNET BRAIN

Kurt St. Thomas/Comedy/7:55/DE/United States

MAGNET BRAIN is a dark comedy mockumentary about billionaire George Romero, who founded TMS, a company that uses magnets to bring the dead back to life. With zombies stepping in to fill the workforce gap, things get complicated—especially with PETZ (People for the Ethical Treatment of Zombies) voicing their concerns. MAGNET BRAIN was created in just 48 hours for the Baltimore 48 Hour Film Project!

 

Mom

Rick Barnwell/Drama/5:00/MD/United States

A woman on her deathbed uses her remaining strength to perform a simple act of motherly love.

 

N.C. Wyeth: The Giant

Erik Freeland/Documentary/6:01/PA/United States

A short documentary about the commissioning of a painting by the great illustrator and muralist, N.C. Wyeth by  graduates of Westtown School to honor the loss of one of their classmates, who died at a young age. After 100 years, the painting has become a touchstone for the school and a symbol of the power of education and imagination.

 

No Feedback

Benjamin Ryan/Comedy/7:37/Australia

While a team of professional bank robbers wait for the heist to begin, their nerves and egos clash as their penchant for improv and killer impressions threaten to unravel their meticulously laid plans.

 

Octopus

George Dogaru/Drama/15:27/Romania

A young boy’s imagination begins to blur the lines of reality, leaving the adults around him uncertain about what’s real. As his uncanny abilities begin to grow, they’re forced to ask: is it a gift—or a curse?

 

Panic Switch

Cameron Red Howe/Student Animation/5:18/PA/United States

Stop motion animation of a standup performance telling the story of the speaker, a highschool teacher, managing his class when a student finds a bag of weed. His class gets excited and speculates about who the drugs could belong to until the culprit returns to try and find the bag. 

 

Papillon (Butterfly)

Florence Miailhe/Animation/15:00/France/Female Filmmaker

In the sea, a man swims. As he does, memories come to the surface. From his early childhood to his life as a man, all his memories are linked to water. Some are happy, some glorious, some traumatic. This story will be that of his last swim. It will take us from the source to the river - from the waters of childhood pools to those of swimming pools - from a North African country to the shores of the Mediterranean - from Olympic stadiums to water retention basins - from concentration camp to the dream beaches of Reunion.

 

PIEGIRL

Daniel Quiyu/Documentary/5:38/NJ/United States

Chelsea Frost, better known as "PIEGIRL", brings the feeling of nostalgia one slice of pie at a time. But this is not your grandma's pie. It is an adventure of flavor, friendship, and joy. 

 

PIG

Jorn Leeuwerink/Animation/8:16/Netherlands

A big group of animals makes itself dependent on a power grid, hooked onto the socket-shaped snout of a single sleeping pig... How long will that last? 

 

Playing God

Matteo Burani/Animation/8:58/Italy

A clay sculpture comes to life in the darkness of a workshop, surrounded by strange creatures...

 

Pour Concrete in my Wound

Max Benner/Art/Exp/8:42/PA/United States

 

Prayer of the Sea

Martin Gerigk/Art/Exp/6:30/Germany

A composer recounts a dream from his youth that inspired the slow movement of his first string quartet, Prayer of the Sea. The dream, depicting a peaceful dissolution into the sea and wind, symbolized his future death. Decades later, rediscovering a drawing from the quartet's premiere - perfectly capturing the dream’s essence - revived its emotions. Now older, he reflects on the dream’s message: a serene acceptance of life’s inevitable end. Prayer of the Sea is an audiovisual elegy offering a calm perspective on the universal experience of passing.

 

Retirement Plan

John Kelly/Animation/7:17/Ireland

Dissatisfied with life, Ray (Domhnall Gleeson) dreams of the beauty and joy he’ll find when work finally ends.

 

Rodrigo

Jacob Vaughan/Drama/18:30/GA/United States

Feeling adrift in the quiet exhaustion of marriage and parenthood, a couple buys a live-in AI domestic to help keep their lives afloat — only to discover that “Rodrigo” might be a better partner than either of them.

 

Run Rabbit

Adam Danger Smith/Drama/27:30/FL/United States

A man on the run races against time, each step pulling us deeper into his desperate journey. Taut, urgent, and unflinching, this short film keeps the destination hidden until the very end.

 

Rush Order | Drive! CalGal Drive!

Kris Theorin/Animation/1:31/PA/United States

In the cyberpunk future of NeoCalifornia, when you order food you want it delivered RIGHT NOW! Thankfully GrubRush has psychocycles standing by, ready to bring you your order no matter how many traffic jams, police drones, or car chases they have to go through to do it!

 

Sit with Me While I Die

Brian Russell/Drama/19:22/CT/United States

A priest must reconcile his lifelong dogmatic views on suffering with real life pain, examining how we will die, the intersection of faith and death, and specifically with how we may, or may not, be called to suffer at the inevitable end. Set against the backdrop of medical aid in dying, and death with dignity.

 

Street Muse

Beth Cloutier/Art/Exp/5:03/CA/United States/Female Filmmaker

Overlooked by passersby, two homeless women forge an intimate moment recalling how it felt once to be beautiful. A sleeping drunk wakes to join them, finding dignity in the soaring lines of the Puccini aria through which they share their stories. 

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Such A Pretty Girl

Deborah Puette/Drama/6:16/United States/Female Filmmaker

Meg has returned to her childhood home to help her aging father. But when her twelve-year-old uncovers a long-forgotten relic from her past, Meg must decide in a matter of moments who she'll protect: her parent or her child.

 

Tarik Shah - Don't Play Like Them

Barry Rubinow/Documentary/24:59/CA/United States

Tarik Shah is a supremely talented jazz bassist, a beloved teacher of music and martial arts, a trusted friend and mentor to many. How did he end up being entrapped by the FBI and locked away in solitary confinement for over 2 and a half years.....unjustly imprisoned for 15 years? Meet this incredible American and hear his remarkable story of resilience and triumph of the human spirit.

 

The Boy with White Skin

Simon Panay/Drama/14:41/France

Entrusted by his father to a group of gold-miners, an albino child embodies all of their hopes.

 

The Corona Collection : Louis Armstrong's Neighbors

Charanya Ramakrishnan & Regina Bain/Documentary/17:36/NY/United States/Female Filmmaker

'The music was great. But the man was even greater' - James Blake, Louis Armstrong's Neighbor - The legendary Jazz icon, Louis Armstrong, called Corona, Queens:  his home, and the neighbours: his people. This iconic mini-documentary brings to life Louis and Lucille Armstrong through the voices of their neighbors. Through oral histories gathered from the Corona community and beyond, this mini-documentary preserves cherished memories, heartfelt stories, and neighborhood histories, offering a unique and intimate perspective on the Armstrongs’ lives in their own community. 

 

The Drive

David Arrow/Drama/12:20/NY/United States

It’s a warm November day in the early 1960s and Liz has just picked up the kids for her weekly carpool.  Little does she know that this will be a drive she’ll never forget.

 

The Girl Who Cried Pearls

Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski/Animation/17:36/Canada

A haunting fable about a girl overwhelmed by sorrow, the boy who loves her, and how greed leads good hearts to wicked deeds.

 

The Last Fry

Sam Zarrin/Drama/17:52/CA/United States

Bruce, recently diagnosed with cancer, is looking to create one final happy memory with his family, but the universe seems to refuse to let that happen.

 

The Long Walk for Water

Dr Greg Allgood/Documentary/13:54/CA/United States

Two humanitarians aiming to bring water to communities, join two Kenyan women on their 10 mile daily walk to fetch water for their families and cattle. Along the way they discover the devastating impact of this walk on the women's families, their relationships and their own lives and self-fulfilment.

 

The Pearl Comb

Ali Cook/Drama/20:33/United Kingdom

In 1893, a fisherman’s wife becomes the first person to cure someone of tuberculosis. A doctor, intent on proving a woman’s place is in the home and not practising medicine, investigates - only to discover the source of her unearthly power. 
 

The Prayer

Nivedita PohankarArt/Exp/14:49/India/Female Filmmaker

Young Nisha waits for a lifesaving ventilator bed for her brother during the covid pandemic. With no other solution in sight, Nisha prays for her brother's life. She has the most profound experience of the divine through her prayer and the manifestation of the experience is the much needed ventilator bed. In her state of relief, Nisha hears another prayer.

 

The Quinta’s Ghost

James A. Castillo/Animation/17:13/Spain

In 1819, an exhausted Francisco de Goya retires to “La Quinta del Sordo” to spend his final days away from public life and focused on his work. Unfortunately, in the deep solitude of that modest country house, the painter falls seriously ill. Closer to death than ever before, Francisco de Goya is visited by the ghosts of his past. Tormented by these visits and with his health rapidly declining, Goya paints the Black Paintings on the walls of his home as a last resort to drive the ghosts out of his life—losing almost everything in the process, including his sanity and nearly his life.

 

The Variety Club

Alex Nicoletti/Comedy/13:44/PA/United States

Desperate to grow up and leave a camp for kids with disabilities, a young woman with Down syndrome plots her escape with a potential suitor.

 

The Woman in The Room

Danny Donnelly/Drama/23:26/United States

"The Woman in the Room" is the story of a man burdened with his decision to end his mother's life. Is it murder or mercy. A thought-provoking look at end-of-life decisions and how one man deals with the guilt that comes with them. Screenplay based upon the short story "The Woman in the Room" copyright 1978 Stephen King; used by permission, all rights reserved.

 

Together We Thrive

Aurelien Tanguep/Documentary/9:53/PA/United States

A 10 minute film about the center illustrating its importance to the community through interviews, stories, and visuals. 

 

White Lettering

Judit Simon/Drama/13:12/Hungary/Female Filmmaker

October 23, 1956, Budapest. Zoli, a 25-year-old medical assistant goes to work to the Central Ambulance Service. This day he changes working day to night shift. He brought the old family ring with himself to propose to his girlfriend next day. Suddenly an emergency call comes, the one of the demonstrators was shot at the State Radio Building. Zoli changes his mind he does not go to his girlfriend, he decides to stay at Ambulance Station in order to serve as long as he can. 

 

White Meat: Appetizer

David Dylan Thomas/Comedy/11:49/PA/United States

True story, beneath Washington Square, an urban park in Philadelphia, lie buried the bodies of hundreds of enslaved people. What if, one night, they all came back as zombies, but they only ate white people?

 

Z-Mile

Greg Stees/Comedy/7:49/CA/United States

While dealing with the zombie apocalypse, aspiring rapper Merman works hard to take care of his ailing grandmother. Armed with a baseball bat and CD burner, Merman makes his way through the desert wasteland, but these trying times leave him questioning his career in music.