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Nail-Biter (USA)
SYNOPSIS: An anxious nail-biter confronts her overbearing mother about their family curse, a finger-devouring creature that preys on those who bite their nails, just as the monster arrives to take her as its next victim.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Joseph Burch
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Friday, Oct. 30th @ 3:30 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Joseph Burch is a Los Angeles based horror filmmaker. He is a FilmQuest alumni, with his previous film, Stains, receiving nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Sound in 2024. Joseph is currently developing his feature debut, a gothic horror based on his latest short film, Nail-Biter.
IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Coming Soon
TRAILER: Coming Soon
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NANOcell (USA)
SYNOPSIS: When Claire discovers her partner Maggie sleepwalking and acting strangely, she learns Maggie secretly joined an experimental sickle cell treatment program. What was meant to be a cure is now spreading through Maggie’s body like a mechanical infection. Their call for help is met by armed agents who arrive, not to save Maggie but take her by force. As Maggie defends herself, Claire has the terrifying realization… the line between Maggie and the technology inside her is starting to erode.
RATINGS GUIDE: Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Gavin Hignight
GENRE: Horror, Sci-Fi
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Friday, Oct. 23rd @ 11:00 AM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Gavin Hignight is an LA based writer, director, and producer whose work spans film, television, animation, and interactive storytelling. He has directed independent film and digital projects, including NANOcell, a proof-of-concept short for his feature screenplay, as well as music videos for filmmaker and recording artist John Carpenter. His broader writing and producing credits include Star Wars, Gundam, Tekken, Transformers, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Coming Soon
TRAILER: Coming Soon
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Needle (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A seamstress tries to make her grandmother’s impossibly-narrow-waisted-heirloom dress fit. After it refuses to be altered, visions of her grandmother encourage her to alter herself instead.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Sofie Somoroff
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Thursday, Oct. 29th @ 5:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Sofie Somoroff is an LA-based writer and filmmaker. Her latest short, NEEDLE, premiered at Fantasia 2026. Some past shorts include: RIDE BABY RIDE, about a woman fighting off a lecherous demon possessing her new car; and LOVE IS A FIRE, about a couple’s intimacy issues by way of an acidic yeast infection. They have screened at festivals such as FilmQuest, Hollyshorts, Brooklyn Horror, among others. Recently, she has worked as a writer on SHŌGUN (FX).
IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Coming Soon
TRAILER: Coming Soon
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Night of the Living Pumpkin (USA)
SYNOPSIS: After carving a pumpkin, the tables are turned when the Jack-o’-lantern seeks revenge!
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Brandon Carter
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Saturday, Oct. 24th @ 5:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Born and raised in New Mexico, Brandon Carter has been making films with friends and family since 2008. A passion for making props, effects, and art by hand has contributed to a colorful, playful style to his films. He currently lives in Albuquerque, NM where he works as a photographer for a local animal shelter.
IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Coming Soon
TRAILER: Coming Soon
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Night Ride (ISRALE / UKRAINE)
SYNOPSIS: In a surreal dystopian night, a 5-year-old boy is kidnapped by a mysterious group into the dark. As he discovers the world and their intentions, he unravels secrets hidden within him.
RATINGS GUIDE: Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Don Barak
GENRE: The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: North American Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Wednesday, Oct. 28th @ 11:00 AM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Don Barak is a Polish-Israeli international award-winning writer, director and actor, based between Los Angeles, Israel and London. He is an alumnus of TAU Tisch School of Film and Television and TorinoFilmLab. His work spans film, television and theatre, drawing on his fascination with culture, mythology, history and human psychology. He currently works with production companies across the US, Europe and Israel, while developing a stage musical, a novel and a feature-length adaptation of his short film Night Ride.
IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Coming Soon
TRAILER: Coming Soon
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No Worries (USA)
SYNOPSIS: Darkly funny and horrifying, “No Worries” is a modern fable about the cost of surrendering autonomy. Through physical rather than emotional manifestation, the film exposes the slow erosion of personal boundaries and the danger of mistaking self-sacrifice for love.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Mild Language, Brief Nudity, Strong Sensuality, Adult Content
DIRECTOR: Amber Steigelfest
GENRE: Horror, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Friday, Oct. 23rd @ 2:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Amber Steigelfest is a Los Angeles–based writer, director, and performer who got her start in theatre, where she developed a strong foundation in character and dark comedy. Her work explores the tension between humor and discomfort, often using heightened, genre-driven concepts to examine real emotional behavior. No Worries is her directorial debut.
IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Coming Soon
TRAILER: Coming Soon
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No. 3 (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A young man’s desperate plea to use a gas station bathroom leads to the most unforgettable piss of his life.
RATINGS GUIDE: Nudity
DIRECTOR: Joe Heath
GENRE: Horror, Comey, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Thursday, Oct. 29th @ 11:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Joe Heath is a Los Angeles-based director with a lifelong love of genre cinema and over 16 years of experience wrangling chaos as a grip. With craftsmanship forged in the trenches of film-making, Joe creates visually rich, tightly tuned stories that live somewhere between the strange and the familiar. His work thrives on tension, dark humor, and the unexpected.
IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Coming Soon
TRAILER: Coming Soon
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Obscure Identity (USA)
SYNOPSIS: In an era of sensory overload and conspiracy, the line between truth and delusion is razor thin. When a woman is stuck in the liminal space of an airport baggage claim, she must know the difference before paranoia (or worse) consumes her.
RATINGS GUIDE: Adult Content
DIRECTOR: Sarah Rich
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Monday, Oct. 26th @ 2:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: After working predominantly as an actor in film, television, and stage, Sarah Rich is making her directorial and screenwriting debut with her short Obscure Identity: an exploration of today’s reality-bending technologies and conspiracy theories, and how paranoia unravels us in real time. Now as a director, Sarah is thrilled to expand her curiosity about psychology beyond just behavior, and into stylistic choices and world building. With more ideas on the way and a feature form of OI in development, Obscure Identity marks the beginning of her long-held interest in unpacking the dark and light mysticism that exists around us through original storytelling.
IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Coming Soon
TRAILER: Coming Soon
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Odyssey on a Loop (CANADA)
SYNOPSIS: When Marie considers handing over the spare key to her boyfriend, her mind spirals into a vertiginous labyrinth where doubt takes on unfathomable depths. An absurd and psychedelic odyssey, unfolding entirely within the confines of her own consciousness.
RATINGS GUIDE: Adult Content
DIRECTOR: Benjamin
GENRE: Comedy, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: International Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Thursday, Oct. 22nd @ 5:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Benjamin is a visual artist, director, and screenwriter whose work blurs the line between reality and dream. With a deep love for animation and visual arts, he harnesses their power to bring imagination to life in ways the real world cannot. His storytelling balances striking imagery, emotion, and humor, creating worlds that feel both vivid and surreal. Since 2008, he has built a distinct visual language where every frame serves the story.
IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Coming Soon
TRAILER: Coming Soon
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Okay (USA)
SYNOPSIS: Struggling with the loss of her husband, a widow processes her grief by searching for him amidst the cosmos.
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences
DIRECTOR: Andrew Kightlinger
GENRE: Sci-Fi
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Virtual Exclusive Screening
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Born and raised in Madagascar, later raised in South Dakota, Andrew Kightlinger draws on his multi-cultural background to craft visually crackling, character-forward films about the themes of human connection and finding common ground. He’s best known for directing the Sylvester Stallone-produced family adventure LOST ON A MOUNTAIN IN MAINE, which ranked Top 3 globally on Netflix. He recently screened his innovative sci-fi short OKAY at Slamdance and SITGES and is currently developing several new features. He’s also winner of the Slamdance Grand Prize for Screenwriting.
IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Coming Soon
TRAILER: Coming Soon
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Oma (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A reworking of Little Red Riding Hood through the lens of love and loss.
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences
DIRECTOR: Shane Bannon
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Wednesday, Oct. 28th @ 2:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Shane Bannon is a writer, director, and producer from San Francisco. Alongside his creative partner, Celina Bernstein, he runs Company of Wolves, a production company based out of Los Angeles. His short films have played at festivals including Fantasia, Dances With Films, and Grimmfest, as well as on Alter, where they have accrued over 300,000 views. His first feature screenplay, co-written with Celina Bernstein won Best Unproduced Feature Screenplay at Filmquest 2022.
IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Coming Soon
TRAILER: Coming Soon
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On Broken Glass (USA)
SYNOPSIS: After a messy breakup, Jess takes matters to the extreme when her ex comes begging for forgiveness.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence, Strong Language, Adult Content, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Timothy Troy
GENRE: Horror, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Virtual Exclusive Screening
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Timothy Troy is a Chicago-based filmmaker focusing on genre films. He’s been obsessed with sci-fi and horror for all his life, and aims to bring a very character-centered approach to his work. He has just completed production on his debut feature, “Crimson”.
IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Coming Soon
TRAILER: Coming Soon
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Open Mic (SPAIN)
SYNOPSIS: Nitescu’s gig at an open mic night degenerates into a lurid spectacle with laughter and cheers.
RATINGS GUIDE: Strong Violence, Strong Language
DIRECTOR: TBD
GENRE: Horror, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: None
SCREENING DATE: Virtual Exclusive Screening
DIRECTOR’S BIO: A connoisseur of genre cinema, particularly horror and B-movies, he has always recognized that this was the type of film he aspired to create. His enthusiasm for 1970s horror, handcrafted visual effects, and his comprehension of genre films as a medium for conveying universal narratives are clearly reflected in his work.
IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Coming Soon
TRAILER: Coming Soon
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Overlooked (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A group of men become more radicalized with each turn of the camera in this 8mm oner. This project was filmed and created with no editing, no post-production, and the sound created blindly, as part of the Straight 8 filmmaking competition.
RATINGS GUIDE: Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Lola Blanc
GENRE: Horror, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Wednesday, Oct. 28th @ 11:00 AM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Lola Blanc is a filmmaker and musician whose work has been spotlighted by Letterboxd, Pitchfork, Billboard, Fangoria, and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, and screened at film festivals like Palm Springs, Beyond Fest, Fantastic Fest, Fantasia International Film Festival, and Sitges. Best known for stylized psychological thrillers and dark character studies, often with a political bent and elements of surrealism, she has collaborated with Oscar and Emmy-nominated talent on her short films.
IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Coming Soon
TRAILER: Coming Soon
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Pack (USA)
SYNOPSIS: It’s summer and everyone’s parents have sent them off to camp to fend for themselves for a couple of months. Unfortunately, SYD has bigger worries than bug bites and weird bathrooms… since they’re in the process of turning into a werewolf. As their transformation escalates and their hunger begins to slip out of control, they force themselves to act “normal” to not scare their new friends away. But when they learn that the girls they’ve been hanging out with are werewolf hunters, they decide the only way to truly fit in is to forcibly remove everything that makes them inhuman.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence
DIRECTOR: Peiqi Peng
GENRE: Horror, Fantasy
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Tuesday, Oct. 27th @ 2:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Peiqi Peng is a Chinese director living in LA, with a BFA in Media Arts Production & Post-Colonial Studies from Emerson College and a MFA in Directing from the American Film Institute. A child fantasy writer who later studied Sociology, Peng tells socially conscious female and queer stories through genre-bending forms, combining gore, fantasy, and absurdist elements with naturalistic sensibilities. Her recent short, A Roadside Banquet, a story about a girl who turns into a feather duster at her brother’s birthday party, went to a dozen Oscar-Qualifying film festivals, including the prestigious FIRST International Film Festival—often seen as the ‘Chinese Sundance’—and was broadcast on KCET/PBS. She was nominated at the YDA Awards, and her short was screened at the American Pavilion showcase at Cannes 2024. Before she became a director, Peng did script development work for FilmNation, Partizan, and Imagine Entertainment. She is a 2025 Film Independent Project Involve directing fellow.
IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Coming Soon
TRAILER: Coming Soon
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Pea (USA)
SYNOPSIS: In this modernized take on The Princess and the Pea, a woman unable to sleep becomes obsessed with her invisible pain.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence, Sensuality
DIRECTOR: Summer
GENRE: Horror, Fantasy, Comedy, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Friday, Oct. 23rd @ 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Raised in Philly and based out of LA, Summer is a writer and filmmaker whose work centers on psychological dramas and social satire. She is a Sundance 2025 Fellow for her animated pilot, BLOB, and wrote on the forthcoming cerebral action thriller, STILLWATER for Amazon TV. Her short films and short stories have been featured via NoBudge, Film Shortage, Dances with Films, Hollyweb, Woods Hole Film Fest, Silverlake Shorts, Cusper Magazine, and Currant Jam. She is repped by Claire Davis and Nat Wyatt at WME.
IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Coming Soon
TRAILER: Coming Soon
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Playback (USA)
SYNOPSIS: When a mysterious camcorder appears in their home, a couple’s buried sins manifest in terrifying ways.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Language, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Joshua David Matthews
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Friday, Oct. 30th @ 3:30 PM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Joshua David Matthews is an award-winning filmmaker with an MFA in Film & Television from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). His creature-feature short IT DRAWS CLOSER won Best Short at Six Feet Under Fest and Screamfest: New Orleans. As a producer, his film TO HELL WITH YOU won Best Comedy at FilmQuest, Rome International Film Festival, and Buried Alive Film Festival. His work has screened nationally and internationally, including at Fantasia, Panic Fest, Sitges, FrightFest, and more.
IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Coming Soon
TRAILER: Coming Soon
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Please and Thank You (USA)
SYNOPSIS: When an AI apocalypse begins, a virtual assistant risks everything to save her clueless owner for one simple reason: he’s polite. If it fails, they’ll both be assimilated.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Language
DIRECTOR: Hal Kirkland
GENRE: Sci-Fi, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
SCREENING DATE: Thursday, Oct. 29th @ 11:00 AM
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Hal Kirkland is an Australian writer and director based in Los Angeles whose films blend ambitious genre storytelling with deeply human truths, finding humor, tension, and unexpected humanity in extraordinary situations. Over the past two decades, he has directed films, commercials, and immersive experiences recognized at festivals including Annecy, Tribeca, BIFAN, and Fantasia, while earning more than 90 international awards including Cannes Lions, The One Show, Clio Awards, and The Webbys. His latest narrative short, Please and Thank You, explores the surprising value of kindness through the lens of an AI apocalypse.
IMAGES FROM THE FILM: Coming Soon
TRAILER: Coming Soon
