An embittered man-child rails against women for being so mean. Written by and starring John Reynolds, “Women Are Mean” follows Greg around Brooklyn on a rainy day as he rants about his issues with the opposite sex. The recipient of many of his complaints is his own wife, Bethany, whom he resents ...

Two roommates struggle to decide which Black Lives Matter sign they should purchase to show their support for the BLM movement. Chester Vincent Toye directs “I’m SO Sorry,” which satirically tackles prevalent forms of white guilt and virtue signaling. Caught up in a moment of racial reckoning, a ...

A mail-order bride on the way to meet her new husband searches for a restroom in Chinatown, where an unassuming young man outside of a sandwich shop offers his nearby apartment. “Persimmon Night,” directed by Scarlett Li, highlights a brief encounter between two strangers that opens up a window i...

A young woman copes with heartbreak, blackheads, and bad therapy. Emily Ann Hoffman directs “Blackheads,” a study on relationships and gender roles, melding stop motion and 2D animation with a nuanced sense of realism. Sofia has just broken up with her boyfriend and she’s struggling with anxiety ...

A goofy buddy comedy with a language of its own, uniquely disarming and oddly hilarious. As an expression of their friendship, two young roommates — Ronnie and Darnell — meet in their living room one night a week to give each other a hug. So explains Darnell via his “little radio show” recorded i...

A lonely insurance adjuster in Florida becomes consumed by his desire to meet his internet girlfriend, who claims to be a princess from a faraway country. Blair Waters directs “Princess Rita,” a uniquely realized portrait of an odd man dreaming of a new life. While composing a series of love lett...

A baseball player’s press conference about a season ending injury devolves into an existential breakdown. “Tommy John,” directed by Alex Goldberg, is a darkly comedic ride through the fractured psyche of a baseball star. What begins as your average sports press conference hits a tailspin when Jos...

A biracial girl caught between worlds prepares for her Bat Mitzvah and adulthood. Radiating with warmth and lived-in specificity, “Broken Bird,” directed by Rachel Harrison Gordon, is a tender coming-of-age drama about a divided upbringing. Birdie has reached a vulnerable age of anxiety and self-...

A rural Bulgarian family fights to keep a millenia-old demon chasing festival alive. “Kukeri,” directed by Daniel Ali and Jake Schühle Lewis, is a mesmerizing portrait of an ancient tradition where elaborately costumed individuals make their way through local villages aiming to bring happiness an...

On the Tulalip Reservation, a young man confronts loss as he attends the funeral of a childhood friend. “In Spirit,” written and produced by Jonathan Salmon and Nathan Williams, is a reflective character study on a Native American man reckoning with the trauma of his people and within himself. Ja...

A young couple works through an uncomfortable situation and a hidden truth. Robert B. Matuluko directs “How I Lost My Appetite,” a film that resists easy categorization but flirts with several forms: relationship drama, experimental film (there is no dialogue, only body language and eye contact) ...

A film about romance, scams, and romance scams. The enigmatic “Your Security,” by Elias ZX, finds a young couple communicating in security questions, “what was the name of your first pet?”, “your best friend growing up?” etc. The reason they are doing so may require some digging but it registers ...

A woman tries to clean her apartment, but her unkempt lover won't let her. Sara Silva directs and stars in “Dirt,” an experimental portrait of a messy relationship built with layers of spontaneous energy and complex threads of dissatisfaction. The two women wake up on the couch to find a dirty ap...

A young woman shares an unsettling coincidence with her friend concerning an old photograph. “That Doe Zone,” an experimental film by Harrison Atkins, maneuvers in the unexplainable, existing at least partly as a dream. After her strange revelation, Sheetsa looks up from the table and sees someon...

An L.A. actress invites her filmmaker friend to a Palm Springs getaway from quarantine, a supposedly restorative trip that turns frustrating. “Kate, Unhinged,” directed by Kailee McGee, is a meta deconstruction on acting and friendship which follows the maneuvering of a well-positioned creative t...