A little girl receives a letter from Santa Claus in this short and sweet holiday film from director Eric Paschal Johnson, co-director of “Observatory Blues”. Over a series of richly melancholic 16mm compositions of a young girl lugging a Christmas tree through fields and forests, Santa narrates a...

Several hours of unanswered texts and phone calls have everyone at a Christmas party wondering: where is Kim Bush? Filmed in Gulfport, Mississippi, and starring real-life sisters Courtney and Gabe Bush (playing themselves), “Kim Bush’s Abduction,” is a rolling mix of mystery and comedy, brimming ...

A man with a broken arm looks for the perfect Christmas gift. David Cardoza and Griffin Conner direct “The Christmas Kid,” a festive character-study of a Manhattan gent told through run-and-gun photos and an affable voice over. It’s the morning of Christmas Eve and Gordon arises from bed in his N...

A semi-recovered kleptomaniac goes home for the holidays and is joined by an unlikely guest. Kate Adams and Max Azulay direct “Carmen and Moony,” a romantic comedy where antics, bits, and banter unravel at the dinner table and beyond. It’s a snowy winter day and Carmen is returning home to celebr...

Jess is alone in Tarpon Springs, Florida on Christmas Eve. “Storms Named After People,” directed by Sarah Ballard, is a poetic glimpse into the headspace and disaffection of a young woman skulking around a small tourist town avoiding her father. She tries to delay and defer — instead of returning...

New to Los Angeles, an aspiring music supervisor dreams of leaving his soul-sucking day job and establishing a new relationship. An easygoing comedy that tracks a couple days in the life of a well-meaning, self-described “idiot” during the holiday season in L.A. | Written and directed by Marcus J...

A Christmas movie about family, the Apocalypse and an immaculately pregnant man. “Clean Blood” is one of the strangest shorts you’ll ever see. It’s a blood-soaked affair with an outlandish premise but just as defined by an ultra mundane family argument. Written, directed and produced by Jordan Mi...

A young man writes to his maybe-lover from his uncle's castle complex. Fergus Campbell directs, animates, and narrates “Telling George" and “Telling George Again,” two animated films composed as adult storybooks about a young man’s romantic experiences with art, literature, and recreation. Moving...

A dispirited young musician living out of her car comes to a crossroads when she reconnects with an ex-girlfriend for one night. Chloe Jury-Fogel directs “Five Song Tour,” a portrait of solitude and longing set around Christmas that highlights the flip side of holiday frivolity. Making her way t...

Gilbert refuses to have a sad Christmas this year. NoBudge regular Alex Kavutskiy directs “Gilbert’s Little Christmas,” an L.A. holiday comedy which monitors an aspiring entrepreneur (his big idea is hamburgers on a stick) that’s lost all hope after being dumped on Christmas day a year ago. Gilbe...

Jack returns home to find his family has sold their house without his knowledge, perhaps because he’s no longer the Jane they all know. Lio Mehiel directs and stars in “Disforia” (Heidi Hartwig co-directs), a psychological horror about coming out as trans, a haunting vision of alienation and dist...

A young woman drifts through a series of wintry adventures after leaving her backyard and heading into the woods. A lovely stop-motion animation by Evie Metz and Nick Daly, “Snow Angel” envisions a magical place where you can ride a reindeer, or ice skate on a pond encircled by giant sunflowers. ...