A Real Lady Killer - A serial killer desperate to find true love finally meets his match. Directed by Alexandra Hensley (00:11:08) World Premiere
Blindsided - A blind schoolteacher struggles to survive through a nightmarish night when an alien spaceship crashes and unleashes a monstrous predator. This unique horror short film features an all low-vision cast and places the audience in the POV of a blind protagonist who is only able to hear what happens around her. Directed by P Patrick Hogan (00:07:54) New Jersey Premiere
CAROUSEL - Charlie is a circus clown celebrating his birthday alone when he receives a mysterious gift box harboring an antique zoetrope. The toy, at first amusing, quickly brings about supernatural terrors that spin Charlie's world into mayhem. Will he be able to escape the chaos, or will he whirl deeper into darkness? Directed by Christopher Kosakowski (00:08:00) East Coast Premiere
Chokin' - A mysterious figure pulls time backward and a suicide is undone. What was broken is made whole, what was wounded is healed, and lives are restored. Having been pulled backward through time and made a witness to their own death along with all it caused, this person who gave up their life is forced to confront the hate they feel for themselves and the love they feel for their family. A fantasy story about depression, addiction, and the fragile hope of redemption. It's a symbolic tour of how our darkness, like a parasite, moves from host to host. It's a puzzle box with crumbs of detail and meaning that the observant viewer can sew together to deduce what more story there is outside of the frame. It’s an ambigram that unfolds both forward and backward—a fractured dream that, in the end, the viewer pieces together alongside the witness. The song—written, performed, and produced by Kai Straw—and the video—written, edited, and shot by him—comes together as a uniquely singular vision. It is a sketch drawn visually and musically with one voice. Produced by Kai Straw (00:04:45) New Jersey Premiere
Dirty Girl - After a fun night out abruptly ends due to her period’s early arrival, WOMAN is forced to walk home alone. Along the way, she’s approached by a stranger, a guy who “just wants to help.” As her symptoms intensify on her long journey home, it becomes more difficult to keep the stranger’s overtures at bay, culminating in an explosive confrontation and a complicated sense of relief. Directed by Emily Faris, Mia Fraboni (00:12:06) US Premiere
Helga - Austria, 1939. Fifteen-year-old Helga lives with her father while around them, the city of Linz has fallen under Nazi control. Ignited by a personal tragedy, Helga embarks on a quest for revenge, triggering a bloody and irreversible series of events. Directed by Isabel Perry, Adam Yates (00:15:40) East Coast Premiere
Making Beauty - A young artist tries to beautify the world. But in the wake of loss and change, her pursuit of perfection takes a savage turn. Directed by Tammy Salzi (00:13:06) New Jersey Premiere
Night is for Screaming - In this chilling horror film, the darkness becomes a hunting ground as night falls and terror awakens. Directed by Vincent Morano (00:09:42) US Premiere
No Nation - In a climate-decimated future where the sun has turned lethal and the world’s remaining resources are nearly gone, humanity survives underground, governed by violent tribal rituals used to settle disputes and maintain control. When a young woman makes a desperate, high-stakes gamble to change her fate, she is forced into a brutal contest where survival comes at an unimaginable cost. Tense, tragic, and unsettlingly timely, the film confronts the collapse of society, the weaponization of ritual, and the thin line between order and cruelty—speaking chillingly to today’s most urgent sociopolitical anxieties. Starring Katie Burton (At Last), Ashley Romans (Y: The Last Man, The Pitt), and Clint Jordan (Bliss). Directed by Jeffrey Elmont (00:17:00) East Coast Premiere
