An archived home movie about a baby who seems to be able to solve anything. Corey Podell, directing nearly 30 years ago, presents “Natalie Saves the Day,” created on a family camcorder in 1996 and finally edited in 2023. Shot almost entirely within the interiors and exteriors of a suburban home, ...

A strange and hostile girl is visited by universal love in its personified form. Ava Hase directs “A Person Named Universal Love,” a dark comedy that looks at a young woman’s relationship with a persistent, unconditionally loving being. Universal Love, played by Oscar Falcon, comes knocking at Av...

For one night only, a raggedy group of circus performers are upended by a train crash and stranded in Walpole, Maine. In “Circus 196977,” a mysterious documentarian encounters the group in a large barn and tracks their medley of song and dance. The film features avant-garde dance sequences paired...

An office worker calls into a radio show to set the record straight about the nine to five work day. Sasha Lebedeva’s two-minute film, “Eight to Five,” observes an unsettled man during his lunch break airing a grievance about the Dolly Parton song/film, “9 to 5,” and the “real business world.” Co...

In the old American South, a misplaced black teen with a white adoptive family becomes curious about her roots after hearing birds for the first time. Shannon M. Sutherland directs “They Flew Like Blackbirds,” a magical-realist drama set in the deep south in the early 20th century. Found as a bab...

After a failed suicide attempt that happens to coincide with the January 6th Capitol riots, a young black woman faces an atmosphere of white liberal hysteria. Nadira Amaris directs “January 6th,” which captures a dichotomy of moods within Gen Z circles through a lens of racial and personal issues...

A troubled teen has one last night out with friends before her life is changed forever. Maddy Rose Figueredo’s “Swan Song” follows college student Aubrey as she navigates the social gymnastics and vices of a hard-partying friend group. Feeling sick after drinking too much, Aubrey goes to the bath...

A glance at the day-to-day happenings and peculiar inhabitants of a park in Russia. Zhenia Kazankina directs “Continuity of Parks,” a 16mm experimental piece shaping Greek mythological figures into everyday park-goers. Hecate looks for Cerberus after leaving it off-leash; the Moirae gossip while ...

The chat-room of an online porn-forum transforms into a techno-feudal court. Dana Greenleaf directs “Areyouwinningson?,” where private chats and searches personify into a 3D cyberspace. Subjects of his kingdom, the users, come to a mysterious ruler, a forum admin, to seek their fetishistic desire...

A father in rural Pakistan comes to a realization during the morning routine with his family. Maazin Kamal directs “Morning Without Light,” a black and white observational narrative of a small family living in isolation from the modern world. The father starts his day early by rinsing off at a cr...

Dawn has troublesome sex with her lover and childhood friend. Charlie Stuip directs “Sweethart,” an experimental narrative piece following a couple in their 20s as they encounter disconnects in the bedroom. When Dawn’s boyfriend, Mike, struggles to satisfy her desires for a rougher kind of sex, D...

On a bender through the clubs, poetry readings, hotel rooms, and bars of NYC, the self-proclaimed ‘Audrey Hepburn of the Lower East Side’ hops around in search of love, cigarettes, wine, or whatever else keeps the train moving. The edgy video blog, “A New York Muse,” directed by Nicole Crowley, t...

Three siblings invite an Argentinian man to spend the day with them at their pool. “La Piscina” is a bawdy, off-the-wall farce by the Brooklyn comedy group, Simple Town. After convincing Tomas to stay the night in their pool house, they spend the next day drinking beers, playing with swords, and ...

Struggling to fit in at a sleepaway camp with a group of white girls, 11-year-old Aaliyah Khan tries to befriend a new arrival. Samina Saifee’s “AmeriGirl,” nuances the coming-of-age realities of assimilation and conformity to American beauty standards. After being unembraced by two fellow camper...

After being fired as a school administrator, a man turns to modeling to spread the word of God. “Seth’s Prayer,” directed by Danny Scharar, is a ludicrous comedy about unblinking faith and Christian ambition. Canned from his job for trying to indoctrinate children with his religious beliefs, Seth...