NFFTY 2025 Festival Guide

THURSDAY, APRIL 3: Opening Night 7:00PM THURSDAY, APRIL 3: Opening Night Party at MoPop 9:00PM

Uptown 1

Uptown 2

Uptown 3

10:00AM 11:00AM 12:00PM

Friday, April 4

1:00PM

Crowdfunding 11:15AM Breaking the Mold 12:30PM

2:00PM 3:00PM

Experience Points (XP) 2:45PM

4:00PM 5:00PM 6:00PM 7:00PM 8:00PM 9:00PM

Other Venues Speed Networking at the Cornish Playhouse 9:00AM

9:00AM

Beer Tasting (21+) 5:00PM Happy Hour Shorts 6:00PM

The Proof is in the Concept 12:45PM Familial Frames 2:15PM

The Art Life 11:45AM

Channel Surfing 2:00PM

Puget Sound All Girls Film Event at VERA Project 10:45AM

Wired In 4:30PM

Experimental Visions 7:00PM

Friday Spotlight 8:15PM After Hours Absurdity 9:45PM

10:00PM

10:00AM 11:00AM 12:00PM

Saturday, April 5

1:00PM 2:00PM 3:00PM 4:00PM

Growing Through It 11:00AM All Around Us 1:15PM

Seismic Soundtracks 3:30PM

5:00PM 6:00PM

Feel the Yearn 5:45PM

7:00PM 8:00PM

Sunday, April 6

1:00PM 2:00PM 3:00PM 4:00PM 5:00PM 6:00PM 7:00PM 8:00PM 9:00PM

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Memory Lane 2:15PM

Pitch Comptetition 4:00PM Be a Good Sport 6:00PM

Night Terrors 9:00PM

10:00PM

12:00PM

Rewriting in the Edit 1:45PM

Faces Places 11:45AM

Centerpiece 7:45PM

9:00PM

11:00AM

Morning Medley 11:15AM

48 Hour Film Off 11:00AM Local Legends 1:00PM Keynote: Sav Rodgers 3:15PM

Reel Impact 11:15AM

Filmmaker Mixer at KEXP 9:00PM

In Absentia 12:00PM

Having a Body is Weird 1:30PM Choose Your Own Adventure 2:30PM Gray Areas 3:45PM

Closing Night 5:30PM Awards 7:30PM Closing Night Party at House Studios 8:30PM

The world looks a lot different than it did when NFFTY launched its first festival back in 2007. After featuring countless program blocks centered around coming of age stories, perhaps it was only a matter of time before we found NFFTY itself entering adulthood!

A lot of our high school filmmakers make plans for college when they turn 18, oftentimes enrolling in some of the great film schools we have partnered with over the years. We at NFFTY have been fortunate enough to spend the past 18 years at one of the greatest film programs of them all: encountering firsthand the art being produced by the best young filmmakers from all around the world. If only it counted for course credit…

Where do we go from here? We remain steadfast in our commitment to providing an inviting, inclusive space for filmmakers from all walks of life to have their art featured at the cinema. The community grows stronger every year, a network of fearless artists who joyfully cheer each other on and champion the work being done. Filmmakers: your stories matter, and if nothing else we hope you walk away from this weekend with renewed confidence to continue on your filmmaking journey.

We consider it a great privilege to present these 240 short films, representing work from 32 countries and 28 states.

Whether you are a film fan experiencing NFFTY for the first time or a NFFTY veteran who was there on that fateful kick off screening in 2007, we hope you walk away inspired by the talent on display. Welcome to the family!

Ryan, Amy and the NFFTY Programming Team

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Presenting Sponsor & Official Editing Software

Platinum Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

Producing Partners

Funders

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Merch Support NFFTY with our limited-edition NFFTY 2025 merchandise!

With our hybrid festival, there are now two ways to grab your new NFFTY threads — online at our Bonfire store https://www.bonfire.com/store/nffty/ or live in Seattle at our festival hub. We’ll have limited edition designs available at each, collect em all!

Enamel Pin $10 T Shirt $30 April 3-6, 2025

April 3-6, 2025

Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

nffty.org

nffty.org

5x7in Sticker Sheet $4

Funders:

Funders:

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Presenting Sponsor:

11x17in Poster $5

Presenting Sponsor:

STUDENTS PAY LESS

TO WATCH MORE MOVIES

START WITH 60 DAYS FREE

THE SUBSTANCE CORALIE FARGEAT

mubi.com/nffty

Jury Members Narrative

Carlos A.F. Lopez

Imani Davis

Natalie Harris

Maddy Szmidt

Julia Elihu

Hannah Peterson

Sav Rodgers

NFFTY ‘18, ‘19, ‘22, ‘23, ‘24

Narrative (Student)

NFFTY ‘18, ‘19, ‘22, ‘24

Documentary

Katelyn Rebelo NFFTY ‘20

Daniel Garber

NFFTY ‘19

Celia Beasley

JoeBill Muñoz

Leo Pfeifer

Documentary (Student)

NFFTY ‘20

NFFTY ‘12, ‘13, ‘14, ‘15, ‘16, ‘17, ‘18, ‘20, ‘22

Animation

Barb Hoffman

Tiffany Lin

NFFTY ‘18, ‘19, ‘20, ‘22

NFFTY ‘19, ‘20, ‘22, ‘23, ‘24

Gabrielle Selnet NFFTY ‘24

Lucas Marchi

Hannah Baek

Johanna Xue

Animation (Student)

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NFFTY ‘20, ‘24

Experimental

Shayna Nowicki

Philip Thompson

Leonardo Pirondi

Kamila Kuc

Aileen Ye

Isidore Bethel

Sky Iraheta

María Alvarez

Neema Sadeghi

NFFTY ‘24

NFFTY ‘23

Experimental (Student)

NFFTY ‘23

Music Video

NFFTY ‘15, ‘16, ‘17, ‘18, ‘19, ‘20, ‘24‘17, ‘18, ‘20, ‘22

Music Video (Student)

Maria Akay

Hadley Hillel

NFFTY ‘11, ‘12, ‘14, ‘15, ‘16, ‘17, ‘18

Jonah Haber NFFTY ‘22, ‘23

Episodic

Kayla Yumi Lewis

Samuel de Ceccatty NFFTY ‘14

Francisco Cabrera-Feo

NFFTY ‘22

Maya Vyas

Fiona Kida

Kat Montagu

NFFTY ‘20

Story Starts Here

NFFTY ‘24

NFFTY ‘20

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Jury Nominated Screenplays and Films Narrative

Documentary (Student)

AWIT NATIN (OUR SONG) Pacqui Pascual

AFTER THE STORM Sungbin Moon CSULB

ENDLING Kelly Yu HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Maria Paula Quesada Quiros I DIDN’T LIKE YOU Parker Fenady MODERATOR Eli Staub THE SPHINX Jesse Padveen Narrative (Student) EL ALMA DE LA SED Colleen Ryan SCAD HASTA LA RAÍZ Nuria Schettino González Chapman JANUARY Jetske Lieber Netherlands Film Academy MY CHILD Deniz Akyurek Emerson ODESSA, TX Alex Shuryepov Witt Chapman YAJÑOPAVĪTA Rahul Koul & Ford Cowan Vanderbilt Documentary EVERYWHERE I LOOK November Nolan FIELDS CORNER POET Martin Lee & Airham Almonte RUTH Lucas Salm-Rojo

EVEL Thibeaux Hirsh Wesleyan SOMEWHERE OUT THERE Julio Aceituno & Barkın Öztürk FSU STAY OUT OF THE SUN Nidhi Kumar, Zola Franchi & Vivienne Ayres Chapman TAINTED BY THE VISUAL Laura Calzada MetFilm School London THE CANADIAN DREAM Ilse Moreno Humber College Animation LOST MEDIA Rebeca Spiegel MOTHER TONGUE Shriya Surana PROPAGATE Mika Lim SIL-TTEU-GI Yezy Suh VAGUELY REFLECTING IN THREE DIMENSIONS Skye Schoenhoeft

Experimental ABSOLVE AT THE WATER Maia Helvy MAL-AMOR Joshua Stoker SO LONG Joe LaFrance & Brenden Mascherino THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING Nathan Cowles THE END OF A VASE Gabi Fedoroff THE LAST THING I THINK I SAW Justin Kaminuma Experimental (Student) DETACHED CITY Mia Sato O’Neal CSULB HOW TO SMELL WITHOUT A NOSE Esther Kong Pratt Institute IN MEMORIAM Sarah Jean Williams & Luna Garcia NYU

Animation (Student) BUBBLE BOY Cameron Carr NFTS

UNDER THE OVERPASS James DeLisio UCSD

CITY BIRD Sunny Rae Keller Emerson

WHEN I SEE ROSES I THINK OF YOU Jordie Simpson Seattle University

MANNIKIN PARADE Phoenix Park USC

VOICES OF THE ACADEMY Latoria Hicks

NONO Aerin Wu USC

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PAPER SWORDS Anjali Pulim School of Visual Arts

LIGHT SLEEPER Luke Donovan Toronto Metropolitan University

SMALL HAIR 할머니 Audrey Song

WHEN WE MOVE Jasper Fletcher & Lukas Fletcher

OROBORO Huijun Wang USC

Music Video

Music Video (Student)

Episodic

BREAK A LITTLE SWEAT Elise Schatz

AIRPLANE Amanda Chen USC

CULTURE WAR Celi Mitidieri Ringling

CARD DECLINED FOR PIZZA & WINE Sonora Grace Wright Scottsdale Community College

DEARBORN Skylar Kim NYU

COLLEGE GIRL Helena Augsberger LACHSA

TOP VOICES Isabelle Leonard USC

CLONES/CLOWNS Christopher Consoli DEVON AGAIN - DEEP & STILL CAN’T DRESS MYSELF Justin Nguyen, Ethan Frank, Devon Again & Zayd Ezzeldine HEAVEN Luciana Baldovino STAINLESS Benjamin McGregor UALREADYKNOW Minerva Navasca

FIRE FOR YOU Victoria Mezquita NYU HIT THE WIND Ama Buzo NYU

The NFFTY Screenplay Competition: Story Starts Here Every great film owes its success to the quality of its story. The NFFTY Screenplay Competition: Story Starts Here is an opportunity for tomorrow’s best storytellers to get constructive critique on their script before entering production. A big congratulations to this year’s finalists!

Pilot Script

Short Screenplay

ALL GODS GO TO DEVIN Tira Olkdari

COW Julia Hogg

SMITTEN Rachel Othon

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT... YOU’RE A GREAT SINGER! JT Trinidad

THE LAWS OF NATURALIZATION Shea Formanes

XENA Ethan Hawthorne-Dallas

Help to decide who walks home with an Audience Award by casting your vote!

There will be one Audience Award selected from each screening in the festival. If you have our virtual pass and are viewing online, simply vote for your favorite directly on the screening page! The cut-off for voting on all virtual screenings is 6:30 PM PT / 9:30 PM ET on Sunday, April 6.

If you are attending a screening in person, our lovely volunteers will have an iPad available in the theater at every screening for you to cast your vote.

Voting for Closing Night ends at 6:30 PM PT on Sunday, April 6.

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MORE INFO AT MOPOP.ORG/SFFSFF

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How to NFFTY

How do I attend the festival?

NFFTY is happening in-person AND online. We recommend you purchase an all access pass to get the most out of your NFFTY experience. Passes and individual tickets are available for purchase in advance at NFFTY.org or in-person during the festival.

The in-person festival events run Thursday, April 3 - Sunday, April 6, 2025 with almost all screenings and discussions taking place at the SIFF Uptown Cinema at 511 Queen Anne Ave N, Seattle (unless otherwise noted).

Virtual viewing

For those purchasing our virtual festival or all access pass, NFFTY’s virtual festival runs April 3 - April 13, 2025 and takes place on the Eventive platform. You can find the full lineup at watch.nffty.org.

All screening blocks listed online will become available in our virtual catalog at the time that they premiere live in Seattle.

To access virtual screenings starting April 3, simply “unlock” the screening of your choice with your All-Access, Filmmaker or Virtual Pass. Passes are good for one unlock per screening. Once a screening is unlocked, you will have five days to begin watching, and 48 hours to complete watching once you have pressed play.

All virtual content will be available online until Sunday, April 13 at 11:45pm PT.

What should I wear on the red carpet?

Dress however your heart desires! NFFTY’s red carpet is known for its vast range in style. Whether you want to show up in a ball gown or jeans, you will still fit into the NFFTY vibe.

Where can I find my red carpet and other NFFTY photos?

NFFTY posts all of our professional photos taken throughout the weekend. Our festival archive will house our program guide, photos, and more at nffty.org/festival-archive.

Where do I find the ratings or content warnings?

NFFTY features independent short films from all over the world, as such they do not undergo a rating system like a traditional movie. While our films are made by young filmmakers, nearly each screening block contains content that is not suitable for younger viewers. We suggest parents and guardians review the film synopses in these screenings to determine if it is suitable for their families. If you have additional questions or concerns about a screening or the subject of a film please find a staff member in person or online via info@nffty.org.

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Workshops and Panels WORKSHOP 9:00AM, Friday, April 4

Speed Networking

The Cornish Playhouse Start your weekend off right at this beloved NFFTY tradition! Connect with like-minded individuals, gain valuable industry insights and build meaningful professional relationships at this exciting opportunity for young filmmakers and industry professionals. Community building starts here!

PANEL 10:45AM, Friday, April 4

Puget Sound All Girl Film Challenge

VERA Project The mission of the Puget Sound All Girls Film Challenge is to give young women filmmakers in the PNW the opportunity to create films that showcase their perspective and screen them at high profile events.

Helping to connect students with women in the media industry, the day will feature an engaging keynote presentation, a film screening, a professional panel, and a wealth of networking opportunities with over 20 professionals from a variety of roles in the film and media industry.

WORKSHOP 11:15AM, Friday, April 4

Seed&Spark: Crowdfunding to Build Independence

SIFF Uptown 2 One of Seed&Spark’s cornerstone workshops, this session lays out the steps toward a successful crowdfunding campaign, as well as a career-long action plan most likely to create a lasting, flourishing, direct relationship with your audience. You’ll learn how to find and activate your audience, structure your crowdfunding campaign and pitch video, pick the right goal and incentives, and much more beyond marketing the campaign itself. Because after all, it isn’t just about crowdfunding: it’s about career building. Your career starts here!

WORKSHOP 12:45PM, Friday, April 4

The Proof is in the Concept

SIFF Uptown 2 Some of the most beloved feature films and television shows started out as shorts films! What’s the secret sauce in a proof of concept short?

How do you balance making a satisfying film while also leaving it openended enough to leave the audience wanting more? Hear directly from Imani Davis, Founder and Lead Programmer of PROOF Film Festival (the only festival dedicated to showcasing proof-of-concepts) about what it takes to make your short film stand out amongst the others. This engaging workshop will outline various approaches, common misconceptions, and action plans to find success when setting the stage for your first feature.

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MASTERCLASS 1:45PM, Saturday, April 5

Rewriting in the Edit: Celia Beasley

Presented by:

SIFF Uptown 2 You have the final draft of the script, production has wrapped, but did you know you’ll still be writing the movie in the edit suite? In this engaging masterclass, experience a rare look into the workflow of accomplished editor Celia Beasley. Through select sequences in LANE 1974, Celia will showcase how bringing a sense of exploration helps scenes evolve from the script stage through post production. Additionally, Celia will illustrate the way audience attention can be framed within a character’s headspace through a rare glimpse of footage from the hit Netflix series PENELOPE (Sundance 2024).

COMPETITION 4:00PM, Saturday, April 5

Post Production Pitch Competition

SIFF Uptown 2 Join us for our third Pitch Competition! Six finalist projects, all works in progress directed by filmmakers 24 years old and younger, have been chosen to pitch for up to $4,000 in finishing funds. This is an opportunity for filmmakers to pitch in front of industry professionals and receive feedback on their work as they put on the finishing touches. Come get a sneak peak at these future projects in the pipeline before they premiere! Past winners have screened at Sundance, Toronto, Locarno, and more!

Presented by:

MASTERCLASS 3:15PM, Sunday, April 6

Sav Rodgers: Getting Personal with Your First Feature

SIFF Uptown 1 Join acclaimed documentarian, Executive Director of the Transgender Film Center, and NFFTY alumni Sav Rodgers for a thought-provoking presentation on telling deeply personal, emotional, and vulnerable stories with your first feature. Drawing from his own experiences directing his acclaimed film debut, “Chasing Chasing Amy,” Rodgers explores the unique challenges and transformative power of putting personal narratives on screen. Whether you’re an aspiring filmmaker or an experienced storyteller, this keynote will equip you with the tools to tell your unique story with authenticity, empathy, and power.

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A High School for Filmmakers

ARTS ACADEMY

interlochen.org/film FILMMAKING & ANIMATION

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48 Hour Film Off

Presented by:

High school teams compete to make the best possible film, from conception to post-production, in just 48 hours.

Films screen during the NFFTY festival, and winners are awarded based on a combination of audience voting and jury deliberation. The winning school gets a cash prize to help support their film program!

Watch the films in-person on: Sunday, April 6, 2025 11:00am SIFF Uptown 1 Cinema All submitted films will screen in our virtual festival from April 3 - April 13, 2025 PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS Ballard High School Chaminade College Preparatory Cleveland STEM High School Cumberland Valley High School Fairmont Prep Academy Garfield High School Lake Washington High School Lewis & Clark High School Liberty High School

Mount Si High School Newport High School Nova High School Queen Margaret’s School Sehome High School St. Margaret’s Episcopal School Tahoma High School The Center School Ingraham High School

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Opening Night Thursday, April 3rd Speeches | 6:30pm, Uptown 1 Screening | 7:00pm Party | 9:00pm, MoPOP

Presented by: NFFTY is back for our 18th year! Join us in celebrating an inspirational program that fuels our fervor for the fruitful future of film. An introduction to the breadth of talent and stories you’ll find at NFFTY, this collection of shorts is guaranteed to get you creatively calibrated for a worthwhile weekend.

Bubble Boy

Cameron Carr - 24 UK A non-verbal autistic boy with a deep desire to communicate creates a world through drawing in this colorful musical.

When We Move

Jasper Fletcher - 20, Lukas Fletcher - 21 MA, USA The youngest kid in a combined family of nine navigates moving houses for her very first time.

Documented over the course of a year by her oldest brothers.

Yajñopavīta

Rahul Koul - 22, Ford Cowan - 22, Haneol Lee - 21 TN, USA While preparing for a sacred Hindu thread ceremony, an Indian American college senior struggles to open up to his mother.

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Sil-tteu-gi

Yezy Suh - 18 CA, USA Growing up 6,000 miles away from her grandparents, a filmmaker reflects on the stories that are getting lost over time and the feeling of her culture being uprooted.

Hasta la Raíz

Nuria Schettino González - 22, Isaac Michael Ybarra - 24, Ariana de Leon - 21, Alaina Stehlin - 21 CA, USA In 1856, at a Mexican rancho in Los Angeles, a Tongva woman fights for her land and daughter when the ranchero’s wife leaves to defend her land grant.

Awit Natin (Our Song)

Pacqui Pascual - 23, Annie Cui - 23, Carolyn Chen - 23, Nikko Wisner - 24 NY, USA When their father dies during their mother’s hospitalization, a Filipino family bands together to hide the truth.

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The Art Life Friday, April 4th Screening | 11:45am, Uptown 3

Terpsichore

Abigail Cunningham - 22, Kaeley Beam - 20, Grace Lavery - 21 GA, USA An exploration of the artistry of dance, unveiling the dedication behind turning physicality into poetry.

Hip Hop is a Home

Adora Midderhoff - 21, Jherrisha Barr - 22, Kaiyla Wriddley - 23, Gizmo Lawrence - 17 | IL, USA A short film showcasing the intergenerational power of hip hop to build bonds, create community, and heal in Chicago.

Terry’s Little Village

Jack Kukolic - 21, Emmy Pitschner - 20, Brandon Wickson - 20 | Canada As Meadowvale Village and its historic charm crumbles under growing development, Terry Wilson creates a heartfelt tribute to the village in his very own backyard.

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Let’s get creative! These inspiring portraits of artists working across different mediums explore the passion, cultural heritage, and individual struggles behind their unique vocations.

King of Super 8

Anthony Wegner - 24, Charlie Hill - 24, Max Mezo - 24 | Canada Delve into the world of Experimental Toronto filmmaker John Porter.

Amaranthine Divine Kg Giroux - 20 | NY, USA An investigation of the relationship between art, trauma, and love through the life and legacy of late Baltimorean artist Les Harris.

Thunderbird and Killer Whale: S-hwuhwa’us & Qul-lhanumutsun Jason Cheng - 18 | Canada Stz’uminus Master Carver John Marston embarks on a journey to revitalize the traditional art of canoe carving in his community.

Epiphany Kate Mai Man Xu - 17 | China A documentation of the endangered cultural heritage of the art of making Lion Dance Heads across generations, celebrating the legacy of female craftsmanship.

Timeless Voices

Christine An - 21, Rongsha Meng - 22 China In the deep mountains of southern China, the Dong (侗族) chorus sings the struggles, resilience, and spiritual healing of Aunty Yang’s life journey.

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Breaking the Mold Friday, April 4th Screening | 12:30pm, Uptown 1

Throw out the artificial intelligence machine; put that prompt in the hands of an adventurous NFFTY filmmaker!

You’ll see the language of cinema being reinvented in front of your eyes, just like it is in this screening of eclectic and experimental cinema.

Again and Again

Moving Room

Edith Chang - 20 | CA, USA A lonely man builds a machine to live within the flickers of his happiest memories. Through a blend of super 8 film and digital footage the past and present, the real and the imagined, begin to blur.

Gyani Pradhan Wong Ah Sui - 23 | MA, USA Karma, an international high school student from Sikkim, struggles to fit in and hold onto his cultural identity when he is stuck at home for the day with his host sibling.

Prisoner Of The Soul

Austin Nginga - 20, John Mark Chege 20, Betty Njambi Kimani - 23 | Kenya A raw look at what it feels like to be completely stuck and the quiet fight to break free.

The Saxophone

DEAR ISHAN

Ashish Prasai - 19, Alexandru Vesa - 19 Ireland In the wake of Ishan’s passing, Ashish grapples with grief as he immerses himself in the recollection of cherished memories, finding solace in the melodies of his late brother’s guitar.

Connection: Human Paradox

Nathan Campbell - 19 | NY, USA A man stumbles upon a saxophone.

What might he find...inside?

MAL-AMOR

A Daisy Of Copper

Acirema

Preston Lyman - 18 | MT, USA This piece takes you on a journey into an uncanny environment where the lines between technology and organic life begin to blur.

Liberty White - 18, Ren Meyers - 19 | WA, USA Acirema reimagines America’s anthem through a Black lens, transforming its familiar pride into a distorted siren— haunting, dissonant, and surreal.

Joshua Stoker - 24, Shane Hecksel - 24, Ian Zych - 24 | GA, USA A lost man awakens to find his former muse beckoning him into the forest, where he must confront the haunting symbols of their eroding relationship.

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Alexa Whyte - 20, Apollo Bual - 20, Maggie Brill - 24 | NY, USA This dance film, set amidst the hustle and bustle of New York, captures the deep longing for connection in an era where hyper-independence has become the norm.

Umbral Cloak Cade Savage Schwartz - 16 | CA, USA A rock climber comes into contact with a creature and a force beyond and above him that opens a doorway to transformation and the mythological.

Just Listen

Sundiata Gittens - 19, Zachary Ramseur - 18 | NY, USA Marcus uses music as a way to push his day forward. That is until he is forced to take heed to the things surrounding him.

Traveling In Tracy

Kate Henderson - 19, Solomon Le - 19 Canada Tracy leaves her neglectful home only to discover she can’t escape the inevitable corruption of feminine youth.

Rain Craig Renaud - 24 | Canada As the city is engulfed by a major flood, Cain attempts to reach his hospitalized brother by any means necessary.

The End of a Vase Gabi Fedoroff - 23 | CA, USA This experiment in projection art recounts a ceramic vase’s journey from a childhood home in New Orleans through the devastation of Hurricane Katrina until its eventual demise in a mundane accident.

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Channel Surfing Friday, April 4th Screening | 2:00pm, Uptown 3

Ever wish you could cycle through channels to discover exciting emerging creatives? NFFTY has you covered! No remote control (or clicker) necessary, just sit back and enjoy the various styles and modes these filmmakers are working in.

Rhythmic Exercise with Priadi

Voices of the Academy

Portrait of Vince

Echo Equinox

Have You Seen Me?

Cutting Parallel

Cedric Christophorus - 22, Felisitas Stella - 24, Victoria Gunawan - 23, Owen Nathanael - 22 CA, USA We invite you to the world of early 2000s satellite television in Indonesia, with all its nostalgia, charm, along with its hidden flaws.

Jack Cosgriff - 20, Anna Dedecek - 21, Nicole Wittusen - 20, Lilli Bruksås - 23 CO, USA An exploration of love across space and time between Nova and Echo Equinox, an astronaut marooned at the edge of the universe.

Dearborn

Leila Bustami - 22, Sarah Whittum - 22, Skylar Kim - 24, Zhanel Ibragimova - 21 NY, USA A young woman, expelled from college and forced to return home to her tightknit Arab community, tries to restore her reputation. However, complications arise when she becomes entangled in an alien conspiracy.

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Latoria Hicks - 21, Calyn Ashe - 21, Grace Myers - 19 | MS, USA Three professors explore the history, significance, and ongoing challenges of African American Vernacular English in higher education and the United States, reflecting on its cultural impact and the fight for linguistic acceptance.

Aranza Bergés - 22 | Canada In a city where young girls keep going missing, one’s paranoia increases as she feels she is being stalked from the shadows.

Corey Joon Clark - 23, Robert Celestine - 22, Vince Brown - 23 | IL, USA A meditation on spirit, determination, and Black identity; the reflections between the world that defines us and the world we define for ourselves.

Shira Baron - 23, Lucia Agajanian - 24 IL, USA Evicted from his barber shop and living “couch to couch,” aspiring rapper Cyrus must grapple with his fraught history with his father and navigate his uncertain future.

Familial Frames Friday, April 4th Screening | 2:15pm, Uptown 2

James

Sit yourselves down and prepare for a feast of family films.

From supportive siblings to complicated intergenerational relationships, this screening will leave you with a lot to chew on. We hear it’s good for your digestion!

My Baby, My Doll

Samantha Schofield - 22, Marianna Kaimakliotis - 22, Ava Burka - 22, Trevor Scholl - 23 | NY, USA After arriving home for her sister’s birthday, a young woman struggles to share that she’s pregnant.

Growing Pains

Anne Di Martino - 20 | HI, USA A heartfelt autobiographical short film narrated by an older sister, who takes the audience on an emotional journey into her family’s life.

Small Hair 할머니

Ān-dé-lǔ

Angelita

Audrey Song - 16 | CA, USA A filmmaker attempts to piece together who her grandmother is through family memory and archives.

Alan He - 22, Makayla Leilua - 22, Rachel Chung - 22, Ethan Wen - 21 NJ, USA A young Chinese-American baseball player must confront his internalized racism after his overbearing father comes to his rescue.

Emilie Brøndrum Tinghede - 18, Molly Ulvsrod Koldsø - 17, Lauge Lynge Dahl Winther - 19, Gustav Schneider - 18 Denmark A young girl finds out that she is pregnant. In an attempt to be independent from her sister, she tries to keep it a secret.

Amira Stone - 23 | MN, USA An intimate attention to transformation in body and culture endured across oceans and time. From granddaughter to grandmother: what lives and dies at the other end of sacrifice?

Miles & Ellen

Aidan J. Stebbins - 21, Abby Pellien - 22, Shannon Edgar - 21, Fox Hughes - 21 CO, USA A young participant in competitive target shooting is given a new pistol on his birthday by the person who’s been instructing him: his mother.

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Experience Points (XP) Friday, April 4th Screening | 2:45pm, Uptown 1

New Level Unlocked! Confronting adulthood can be daunting, but each new experience offers an opportunity for evolution. These films capture the raw, brutal, beautiful, and unexpected moments that shape our identity and help us find our voice.

Auen tshil, auen nil (Who are you? Who am I?)

2008

My Child

Frédérique Picard - 22 | Canada A young Indigenous woman is preparing to leave her community. This departure makes her reflect that with the move into adulthood, she feels as much a stranger in her village as in her new town.

Maya Weldon-Lagrimas - 22, Dalin Nelson - 24 | CA, USA A woman recounts her experience living in a dysfunctional queer household while California repealed gay marriage during the 2008 election.

Yours and Mine

The Hickey

The Lame Shall Sing

Glint

Meek

Quinn Yurasek - 18, Cooper Walton - 18, Quinn Pedersen - 21 | NY, USA A girl studying in New York City gets knocked up and has to figure out how to tell her mom.

Sayna Fardaraghi - 23, Julian Wolf Stoller - 20 | UK As the fear of her impending adulthood becomes louder, a sedentary girl is asked to go to a party.

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Mir Mengi - 21, ZJ Wang - 20, Luis Figueroa Caunedo - 21 | NY, USA Pavel finds himself in the middle of a fall afternoon that slowly reveals the uncertainty of his future, dissolving into a mark on his neck by night.

Hannah Sperling - 21, Sadie Kopacz 20, Karen Han - 21, Avani More - 20 NY, USA An eighth-grade girl on the cusp of selfawareness gets more than she bargains for after she steals her first bra.

Deniz Akyurek - 21, Mason Grammer - 22 MA, USA A recent college grad must confront fear of adulthood, childhood nostalgia, and the supernatural entities which pursue him through the halls of his old elementary school.

Kit Baronas - 22, Kirc Cohen - 23, Pietro Russolo - 24, Mohammad Zakizadeh - 24 Canada Ashamed to sing, a choir boy finds his true voice in the underground punk scene.

Wired In

Presented by:

Friday, April 4th Screening | 4:30pm, Uptown 2

Moderator

Eli Staub - 21, Sofia Uribe - 22, Evie Masters - 22 | CA, USA The day in the life of a social media content moderator as she faces her daily onslaught of disturbing content -based on true, anonymous stories.

Mannikin Parade

Phoenix Park - 19, Angel Noriega - 18, Sophia UY - 19 | CA, USA The future of advertisements strive for a complete distortion of reality, turning the world into an overwhelming parade.

This one is for the terminally online. Those who don’t touch grass. Folks that use ‘skibidi’ on the daily. The dopamine drip of new technology lives rent-free in our brains—IYKYK. So log off from doomscrolling and lock in on some NFFTYcoded brain rot with these fantastic films!

THE MECHANIZATION OF A MAN

Decksdark

Eion Nunez - 17 | CA, USA After being diagnosed with terminal insomnia after a failed experiment to achieve eternal life, Cillian attempts to find another way to connect with his past.

Kane Wilson - 21, James Freeman - 24, Carmela Schönenberger - 24 | UK In a dystopian realm where consciousness is encased within neural implants, Logan, a solitary Decksdark, finds himself intertwined with an ethereal entity.

The Iron Mountain

Pulpitum

Yishan Yang - 16 | China In 2035, Xu Fang’s idyllic mountain retreat with her husband, Yang Shu, shatters when she discovers he is a humanoid with a mechanical heart.

Caleb Reese Paul - 16 | NY, USA Determined to find her missing sister, Claire investigates her small town’s mysterious church rituals and battles fragmented visions, cryptic encounters, ever-present surveillance, and a dangerously unorthodox society.

The World is on Fire and I Just Wanna Dance

Paulette Argeres - 24, Madison Wolfe 21, OJ Parker - 21 | LA, USA During the apocalypse, two best friends meet up in a virtual reality to fulfill their final desires together.

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Happy Hour Shorts Friday, April 4th, Uptown 1 Beer Tasting | 5:00pm Screening | 6:00pm

NFFTY 2025 Happy Hour Menu: FRIDAY ONLY! 5pm: an irl pre-screening 21+ beer tasting featuring selections from Georgetown Brewing 6pm: a lively collection of shorts brimming with escapades -- from a love letter heist to a lucky lottery ticket PLUS a lawless apocalyptic game show, friends putting the fun in funeral, and more

Rock and Roll

Gratuity

Plantasy

How Ethan Fink Became a Millionaire

The Letter

Yarn Over

Rishabh Trivedi - 24, Justin Tang - 24, Jacob Staudenmaier - 24 | CA, USA Three friends crash their fourth friend’s funeral to spend a day with him as if he were still alive.

Heath Dunbar - 21, Macy Friday - 20, Zane Likosky - 21, Athul Obla - 21 CA, USA A drifting high school graduate is pulled into a dangerous plot by a wealthy teenage girl who asks him to help her murder her parents in exchange for a share of their fortune.

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Fiona Huxley - 22, Isabella Spagnoli - 21 CA, USA When Tammy, a single mother and waitress, receives a winning lottery ticket, her ex-husband tries to reap the rewards - by any means necessary.

Jonah Pagenhart - 17 | CA, USA Twin brothers Jake and Anthony go on a heist to retrieve a stolen love letter.

Peyton Tenison - 24, Juan Felipe Díaz 24, Sam Wolf - 24 | CA, USA When an agoraphobic plant-woman’s water supply is shut off, she must face the outside world or suffer the dire consequences.

Veronika Wielach - 21 | UK A widowed man finds solace in a local knitting group.

Beer Provided by:

SHEMERGENCY Paolo Accogli - 23 | Italy Sher is a transgender superheroine, guardian of the trans* and queer community.

Love’s Last Stand

Sam Stewart - 21, Rachel Brownlee - 21, Joy Heller - 22, Sophia Czertak - 22 CA, USA Two women on opposite teams of a dating game show realize they must win the show’s prize in an alternative way or risk facing the end of the world alone.

The Last Chapel Kate Saltel - 20 | CA, USA Mid-wedding at a Vegas-style chapel, a celebration comes crashing to a halt when the iconic, deceased pink poodle Poolvis Poodlepoodle’s greedy Estate steps in and shuts it down.

Gong Gong’s Bucket List

Caitlyn Phu - 23, Drake Konishi - 24 CA, USA Determined to help her ailing grandfather complete his bucket list, a girl hires a “surrogate body” for him to fulfill the final tasks that he physically can no longer do.

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Experimental Visions Friday, April 4th Screening | 7:00pm, Uptown 2

The Walls Were Blue

Finding that the material dictates the form, these short form artists use a variety of tools at their disposal to evoke the potent images and stories within them. Landscape studies, 3D rendered memories, multi-channel video, and various formats bring these visions to life.

Why Do Ants Go Back To Their Nest?

Alex Lo - 22, Justin Dong-Hyuk Im - 21, Sina Abadi - 21 | Canada An auto-fictional experimental film about the filmmaker digging a hole from Toronto to Hong Kong.

How To Smell Without A Nose

Alex Guerra - 21 | Guatemala The walls have been repainted and nobody is home. A lone tree stands overlooking the shadows left behind.

Light Sleeper

Longing For The Unfound

vaguely reflecting in three dimensons

Luke Donovan - 20, Natasha Ellis - 20 Canada Two dreamers collide on a quiet night.

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Jennifer Ross - 22, Chastity Yocum - 22, Boston Enderle - 23, Ella David - 22 KY, USA Alone in her relationship and afraid to leave it behind, distant Addie craves for something within her girlfriend to make her feel whole again.

Esther Kong - 22, Vivian Xiao - 20 NY, USA As a Joseon woman faces persecution, her nose is severed as punishment for alleged infidelity. Her fleeting death wish transcends through the history of Korean women from Joseon to the Korean War.

Skye Schoenhoeft - 22, Nina Tartibi - 22 CA, USA Moved into this apartment under extenuating circumstances, and life only got crazier from there. And then I graduated college and moved away before I processed any of it. Here is my processing.

Detached City

Mia Sato O’Neal - 22, Devanae Zuniga - 22, Brayden Rios - 24, Andromeda Viramontes - 22 | CA, USA A kaleidoscopic city symphony exploring the over-consumption of technology and human disconnection

Absolve at the Water Maia Helvy - 22, Mia Gant - 21 | GA, USA The powerful words of the late June Jordan’s ‘Poem About My Rights’ serve as a poignant backdrop to the vibrant lives of a group of black lesbians embracing joy and solidarity amidst the serenity of nature.

The Last Thing I Think I Saw Justin Kaminuma - 24 | MA, USA A hallucinatory journey through the eyes of a patient experiencing a deterioration of their senses and perception as they confront uncertainty, anxiety, and the fragility of memory and identity.

Thank you for Everything Nathan Cowles - 21 | AZ, USA A brother reads aloud two notes written in secret, at different points in time, for his sister: one after his old suicide note was discovered by his sister, the other after his sister’s own suicide attempt.

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Friday Night Spotlight Friday, April 4th Screening | 8:15pm, Uptown 1

Presented by: It’s prime time for a showcase! From laugh-out-loud chaos to quiet moments of self-discovery, this program delves into life’s unexpected twists and turns. A lineup of heavy hitters, you don’t want to miss this sensational screening.

January

Evel

Nono

Jestke Lieber - 24 | Netherlands A twenty-something’s new year begins with heartbreak. Freshly single, he struggles through various social moments and discovers he has to reinvent himself.

Thibeaux Hirsh - 22 | Jamaica Richard Reid, aka “Evel,” works at a crocodile sanctuary and tends to his beloved fighting fowls. He hopes to raise enough money to pay for his daughter to get her hair braided by entering his best bird El Chapo in a fight.

Aerin Wu - 24 | CA, USA After his birthday party, Nono waves goodbye to his friends. He suddenly feels very empty and disoriented.

Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday

Apollo

Swollen

Maria Paula Quesada Quiros - 23, Gabby Fiszman - 23, Doug Kerner - 23, Tre’len Johnston - 24 | CA, USA After her 23rd birthday ends with an existential crisis and a pair of pooped pants, Aly comes home to the only thing that could make matters worse...a surprise party.

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Giles Perkins - 24, Roya Alidjani - 24, Tiana Cantu - 23 | NY, USA A hesitant 15-year-old considers the sacrifice he needs to make for the approval of his older brother’s friends.

Roxy Sophie Sorkin - 23, Chelsea Eisen 24, Brian Niles - 24 | CA, USA Two bimbo besties, post plastic surgery, debate the need to call the local sexy police amidst a botched burglary for fear of being seen swollen, bandaged, bloody.

After Hours Absurdity Friday, April 4th Screening | 9:45pm, Uptown 2

You made it through a full day of screenings, but are you ready for the shot of adrenline this program will give you?

These gonzo pieces dive straight into the subconscious; come get a glimpse of images you will never forget.

Hamster Film

Tough Love

fifty-fifty

Freak

Dirty

the little fangirl

Marlena Lerner - 23 | CA, USA Amid chaotic Thanksgiving preparations, a neurotic teenager schemes to prevent her family from learning uncomfortable news.

Jaclyn Goldstein - 22 | NY, USA Fantasy blurs with reality when a girl sees her favorite popstar IRL for the first time.

Sweet Sorghum

Tortoise and Hare

Justin Cahyadi - 24, Breann Houghton 21, Blaze Richert - 21 | Canada There is no normal hamster death.

Aashish Joshi - 24, Nick Knezevich - 23 NY, USA A man-child taunts a stranger on the NYC subway to prove himself in front of his girlfriend, but what he finds funny is no joke to the stranger.

Clyde Petri is in Trouble

Luke Gresback - 24, Jacob Staudenmaier - 23, Chris Pickering - 23 CA, USA A terrible guy who lives to seek pleasure is forced to look inward when he smokes a moldy cigarette.”

Sophie Lynch - 22, Oisin McKeogh - 22 Ireland After accidentally killing one of her clients, a recently divorced housewife turned dominatrix must figure out what to do next - all while dealing with her manipulative teenage son.

Brendan Lee Hickey - 23 | NY, USA Three young men escape the busy world of that old city life, but the joyful reprieve of friendship and autumnal majesty isn’t all that awaits them.

Something else lurks deep in the reeds.

Laurence De Vera - 23, Rhain Alcoriza - 22, Icah Fidel - 21 Philippines A misguided prank causes Sari to choke on a goldfish and their outlook is fifty-fifty.

Two friends reevaluate their friendship as they wait for the hospital’s call.

Marcellyn Fisher - 24, Summer Muster 22, Billy Croston - 21 | ID, USA In this darkly comedic take on the classic Aesop fable, a miserable Tortoise will do whatever it takes to beat the arrogant, psychopathic Hare in a footrace.

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Growing Through It Saturday, April 5th Screening | 11:00 am, Uptown 1

Like a flower climbing up through the crumbling cracks of concrete sidewalk, sometimes it takes all you can muster simply to grow through it! These heartfelt films cover the challenges and triumphs that come with arriving at life’s turning points.

Prematho

Volador

I’ll See You In My Dreams

A Few More Minutes, Please

Taco Boy

Dropped

Harshith S. Kotni - 24, Julie Zhao - 24, NY, USA When a perfectionist teenage Bharatanatyam dancer is denied her Arangayram (recital), she must realize that impeccable technique alone is insufficient.

Dylan Scott - 20, Noah Manzoor - 20, Betsy Finlay-Sheil - 20 | UK A quiet nineteen-year-old struggles to order at a restaurant while grappling with the building pressure to choose a purpose in life.

Miguel Hernandez - 19, Kenny Acker - 22, Tessa Osborne - 24 | Mexico / MI, USA Mateo, an 18-year-old from Mexico, considers abandoning his life in America to return to the place he once belonged, but the presence of his new friends challenges him to accept a new reality.

Lizzie Han - 23, Aidan Lesser - 24, Anthony Wegner - 23, Stephanie Sakaki - 24 | Canada Seven-year-old Maggie desperately wants to get her elderly dog, Taco, a cake for his upcoming birthday.

Santana Aguirre - 23, Eve Robitshek 24, Alex Turner - 24, Sela Pierce - 24 CA, USA An aspiring pianist returns to her estranged family’s ranch for her father’s funeral. Upon arriving, she dreams of him and the life they lived together, forcing her to confront their complicated relationship.

Lucy Hirschfeld - 24, Maya Zaleski - 24 NY, USA A struggling actor gets dropped by his agent in the middle of teaching a master class to a group of children at his old Catholic Middle School.

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Morning Medley

Presented by:

Saturday, April 5th Screening | 11:15am, Uptown 2

Airplane

Amanda Chen - 21, Rebekah Chun 22, Becca Meza - 22, Eljin Yoo - 22 CA, USA Rosie, an imaginative yet clumsy dreamer, wants to achieve her dream by flying to outer space on a homemade airplane.

Snow Day!

Rise and shine! Start your screening-packed Saturday right with a collection of films brimming with heart, humor, and fun for the whole family.

LAIKA

Yann Carrillo - 19, Angel Noriega - 19 CA, USA Cosmonaut extraordinaire Laika blasts into space! When her mission goes awry, she is forced to confront the nature of her own existence.

Disappearing

Kiara Lin - 22, Max Lee - 21 | CA, USA When a spunky 8 (and a half) year old is moved across the country, homesick, she’ll go through ANY length to make it snow.

Mia Đurkan - 14, Ema Novosel - 14, Lara Đurkan - 17 | Croatia A short film that takes you into the realms of the subconscious and gives you the impression that, just like in dreaming, you have generated the images yourself.

Photograph

Balloon Girl

Peer Langenheim - 19, Rio - 20, Nikolai Chalkidis - 21 | Germany The girl with the analogue camera and the boy in the red sweater are living in their own worlds. A chance encounter leads to the search for a shared reality.

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Dale Burgess - 16 | FL, USA A lonely boy with his head in clouds sends daily letters through a bucket and rope to a girl who lives in a hot air balloon.

Newman’s Block Hudson Hillin - 14 | CA, USA A successful teenage author with a serious bout of writer’s block turns to his famous author father for guidance.

Out of the Ink Kat Wright - 18 | FL, USA After a frustrated artist gives up on their project their sketch comes to life to finish the job.

Berry Good Documentary Anvi Dayal - 15 | CA, USA A middle school math teacher transforms his school by creating a garden.

A Different Frame of Mind

BABO

Annika Kim - 18 | MN, USA A girl tries to find her own color through the frames of the different identities she holds in her daily life.

Jane Helen Lee - 16 South Korea (Republic of Korea) Belle, a bullied tween, discovers a small dog that only she can see.

Reel Wisdom

Propagate

Ollie Cunningham - 17 | CA, USA A young fisherman’s frantic struggle to outdo an old man’s effortless success leads to a humbling realization.

Mika Lim - 20 | CA, USA In a barren technological future, a thief sneaks into a super-advanced computer to steal back the spirit of creativity.

Summer Before Prague

Sprouts

Leesha Grant - 14 | Canada Leesha is the very first Cree female goalie to be invited to play in the Premier Ice Prospect U15 in Prague. This is a snapshot of her summer training before the big leap.

Aneta Vašková - 18 | Czech republic Childhood turned into reality.

Daily Reminders Chengyu Li - 17 | OH, USA A reminder dedicated to everyone: be kind!

The Chase Kat Dubrow - 17 | CA, USA In her first queer relationship, a woman becomes entangled in a seductive game of pursuit, where love, desire, and power shift unpredictably between hunter and prey.

Beyond The Reins

Magill Moyes - 20, Jesse Roberto-Biggs - 20, Samuel Parnahaj - 20 | Canada In a society that often marginalizes those they consider different, a spirited 16-year-old girl with an intellectual disability defies expectations as she dives into the world of horseback riding.

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Faces Places

Presented by:

Saturday, April 5th Screening | 11:45am, Uptown 3

It Was Really Great

Martina Inostroza - 12 Czechia An old lady reminisces about life in Smilovice while her granddaughter dreams of exploring beyond.

Sombras Del Pasado

Samuel Correa - 20, Juan Martinez - 20, Ariya Beckler - 22 | FL, USA From Colombia’s darkest corners to Florida’s sunshine, Claudia, an ordinary mother with an extraordinary past, casts shadows on her uncertain future: the elusive American dream.

The Canadian Dream

Ilse Moreno - 24, Mateo Zambrano - 24, Ismail Alberto Ali - 23 Canada & Mexico A poignant glimpse into the harsh realities of migrant farm workers in Canada through one worker’s journey and his daughter’s perspective.

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Cruise lonely long haul highways in your big rig, protect your favorite underground boxing gym from displacement, or perhaps search the landscape of memory to understand the space of the past in these distinctly regional documentary portraits.

Per recordar (To remember)

Created collectively by a group of filmmakers between the ages of 16 and 23 Spain A portrait of youth, of characters who think, dream, yearn and trust. A portrait of Barcelona, too: the ​​ city they share.

Roads Between Us

Matthew Donkers - 20, Molly Ruby - 19, Jesse Telfer - 21, Luke Otter 23 | Canada A retired truck driver reflects on a life spent on the road while his children explore the emotional toll of his absence, honouring the unsung heroes who keep the world moving.

Everywhere I Look

November Nolan - 24, Cory Griffin-Fiorella - 24, Maggie Brill - 24 | IL, USA A young trans woman travels back to places she visited as a child with her estranged mother, reflecting on memory, loss, and grief.

BMCLD Shreela Agarwal - 24 | India Amidst Mumbai’s relentless pursuit of progress, a boxing club fights to preserve its legacy against the backdrop of urban redevelopment threatening its existence.

Sharing Knowledge - Sanikiluaq, NU Knowledge Keeper Charlie Takatak

Jason Masty - 11, Simon Novolinga - 11, Tamasi Sala - 11 | Canada Charlie Takatak takes viewers on a trip to harvest mussels on the Belcher Islands in Hudson’s Bay in negative 50 degrees and shares knowledge of the floes and ice safety, and his life.

This film is dedicated to the memory of Tamasi Sala who left us too soon.

All Around Us

Presented by:

Saturday, April 5th Screening | 1:15pm, Uptown 1

Atlas

Winter wildfires and dark waters; the world looks a lot different than it did when NFFTY kicked off the first festival 18 years ago. This screening promises to be restorative, flaming the fire of your eco-friendly hearts to help us create a more sustianable world.

The Deer Divide

Nate Markquart - 22, Chloe Prahl - 24, Peter Yinzhi Pan - 20, Angel Mendoza - 21 CA, USA Opposing views around the proposed management of Catalina Island’s non-native deer species spark conflict among a tight-knit community.

At The Riverbank

Max Hendrickson - 19 | Ireland A grand cosmic exodus of the flora and fauna of the Earth.

Go Down River

Under the Overpass

Sierras

Frank Parkinson - 22, Okyoung Noh - 21 MI, USA A young investigator uncovers the dark legacy of PFAS contamination in local waterways, revealing a nationwide crisis lurking in our bloodstreams.

Low Country Fishin

Angelina Plowe - 17, Burke Sullivan - 17, Annabelle Leonard - 17, Liam O’Dell - 17 GA, USA Local fisherman Garrett Ross explores his relationship with fishing and the Lowcountry region of Savannah, GA.

Matthew Wisdom - 22, Ally Smith - 22 CA, USA As the world grows arid, a young girl searches for water to heal her injured father.

James DeLisio - 21 | CA, USA A flock of Cliff Swallows oscillates between their nest along the Interstate 5 Freeway, and the San Dieguito River.

Matthew Wilbur - 19, Adele Adams - 19 MT, USA A short look at Yellowstone National Park through 16mm film.

Beef For Climate

Where We Once Roamed

Mona D’hertefelt - 21 | Belgium Panic rises on a meadow when four cows are confronted by a billboard with the hard truth: they are the cause of global warming.

Madee Sabatier - 22, Ruthie Weeks - 21, Rebecca Greenwood - 21 | MT, USA After decades of colonialism left the Blackfeet Nation without their sacred animals, redemption begins to show itself through the renewal of freeroaming bison.

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Memory Lane Saturday, April 5th Screening | 2:15pm, Uptown 3

Splash Back

Yufei Xiao - 22, Rachel Wu - 24, Yang Liu - 24 USA On a humid summer day, a young masseuse recognizes her client as a childhood friend during a foot massage service and enters a flashback of their withheld memory.

A Life Well-Lived

This program dares to venture into Long Term Memory, examining the fallible, fickle, and fascinating nature of the human mind. Reflect, reminisce, and ruminate with the subjects in these temporal tales.

L’Île sans morts (The deadless island) Jules Vésigot-Wahl - 24 | France Annick lives with the memory of her husband Loïc, lost at sea 40 years earlier. One day, the corpse of a young sailor washes ashore.

So Long

Athena Cheris - 21 | CA, USA Ronald Chase, a 90 year old filmmaker and teacher, hangs the obituaries of his dead friends and mentors on his wall. This ritual reveals his insights on life, death, and art.

Joe LaFrance - 21, Brenden Mascherino - 22 PA, USA Within the fading echoes of their once-intimate bond, a long-time married couple parts ways with the familiar comforts of their home and the memories held as the move into the final chapter of life.

Our Unforgettable Fellow

When I See Roses I Think of You

Victor Stoll - 23 | Brazil After many years estranged away, the last heir of a Lebanese immigrant family returns to her childhood estate.

Jordie Simpson - 21 | WA, USA An abstract reflection on grief, growth, and how we choose to remember our loved ones.

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Lost Media Rebeca Spiegel - 24 | Canada In an alternate reality where Laika the Soviet space dog survives her mission, Amandine rushes to rescue her.

Mother Tongue Shriya Surana - 15 | CA, USA A visual letter to the filmmaker’s Nani, or maternal grandmother, that serves as a space for her to explore the too-familiar, diasporic feeling of losing a language.

Live From the Clouds Mackie Mallison - 23, Athan Le - 19 | TX, USA An immersion into the intimate memories and imaginations of four women in the director’s Japanese American family, where everyday anxieties are ruptured by dreams of financial freedom and homecoming.

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Seismic Soundtracks Saturday, April 5th Screening | 3:30pm, Uptown 1

Now That’s What I Call NFFTY 18! A treasure trove for the musically inclined, this vibrantly visual playlist will have you grooving into your Saturday evening.

Whitworth - World War

ualreadykno

Heaven

Growing Pains

Sofia Cordoba - Normal

IN FEAR ETC.

Melt - The Neverminds

LAMBA

Coraline

Noah Berghammer - 24, Owen Ragland - 22, Dominic Mauro - 21 NY, USA Sometimes, being in a relationship can feel like a war.

Giovanna Trujillo - 24, Caro Knapp - 24 CA, USA Feeling frustrated with the growing pains of life, Trousdale takes out their frustration in the boxing ring.

Angela Wang - 23, Ginny Kim - 22, Spencer Wither - 23 | Canada A group of friends explores carpe diem, connection with one another, and turbulence.

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Minerva Navasca - 22, Sasha Argirov - 24 Canada A man engulfed by heartbreak. His search for closure leads him down the road to madness.

Carter Beardmore - 23, Cate Christiansen - 23, Alexandra Mettler - 23, Sofia Cordoba - 23 UK Filmed on a British football pitch, the music video lightheartedly imagines the potential for women coming together.

Seyi Kaja-Gbadegesin - 24, Somadina Onuoha - 24 | Nigeria A couple’s aggressive argument before a rave, leads to a chaotic emotional outbreak and further destructiveness.

Bridge Taylor - 22, Luciana Baldovino - 24, Sonali Chugani - 23 | CA, USA Diving into a world that confronts the harsh reality of reaching a dead-end in a relationship, this piece acknowledges that fighting for a one-sided love is futile.

Elise Schatz - 23, Bamba Kimball - 23, Taraneh Tajdini - 24, Elise Jonke - 23 CA, USA Healing from trauma is a complex journey, but within lies the strength to embrace another dawn; what happens when you live to see that new day?

Caro Knapp - 24, Sonali Chugani - 24, Giovanna Trujillo - 24 | CA, USA Lyn Lapid spirals out at a party that she can’t seem to escape in her first single from her debut album, Buzzkill.

GENGAR!

Christopher Consoli - 22, Nathan Haydel - 20 NJ, USA Nate has hit a crossroad in life. In order to find his peace, he is taken on an adventure to face his fears, his anger, and most importantly, himself.

Stainless

Irish Goodbye

Caitlyn Phu - 23, Jason Quan - 24, Chris Pickering - 24 | CA, USA After falling for a criminal, a girl leaves her normal life to become his partnerin-crime.

All The Time Ethan Grossman - 23 | Netherlands Music by Mood Bored. Filmed in Tilburg, Netherlands.

BREAK A LIL SWEAT

Elise Schatz - 24, Nikki Ghalili - 23, Jaeden Gomez - 24 | CA, USA While on the night shift, a janitor is transported to a world of his own.

Come My Way

Benjamin McGregor - 24 | Canada Sam Darkoh goes Stainless.

Hit the Wind

College Girl Music Video

Fire For You

Ama Buzo - 23 | NY, USA Adrift in the middle of the ocean, writer’s block brings the artist to the Garden of Dreams, filled with dandelions. There, a dancer, a photographer, and a painter find strength in his music.

Helena Augsberger - 17, Max Schneiderman - 17 | CA, USA A high school boy is certain he’s meant to be with the college girl of his dreams - she just thinks they’re better off with a restraining order.

Amy Roach - 21, Jorge Jaén - 22, Zane Farmer - 21, Katherine Nerro - 21 | CA, USA Caught in a toxic relationship, Katherine Nerro reclaims her power by making her partner choose what they’re really after.

Victoria Mezquita - 22, Anastasia Mirabelle - 22, Kevin Feng - 22, Marcus Quinn - 21 NY, USA Karina is trapped in a seductive cycle, her movements dictated by an unseen force she can’t escape. With each eerie repetition, reality shatters, and freedom fades.

Card Declined for Pizza and Wine Sonora Grace Wright - 20, Roman Zen Treppa - 19, Cydney Mobley - 20, Barry Anderson - 23 | AZ, USA A girl finds out that her lover is cheating on her with another woman.

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Feel the Yearn Saturday, April 5th Screening | 5:45pm, Uptown 1

What Came And What Went

Asta Marie Liedman - 17, Marco Andersen - 18, Romeo Banjas Struve - 16 Denmark Gudrun experiences an attraction she hasn’t faced before. Now she must choose between her boyfriend waiting outside or this new side of herself.

CHERRIES

Emma Rosman - 23, Ella Knez - 22, Linus Mogensen - 23 | Sweden During the feverishly hot summer of 2018, Siri and Thelma navigate the highs and lows of their inseparable bond, filled with sun-drenched days, endless parties, and the bittersweet awakening of desire and change.

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We can’t put this one into words, you just have to feel it.

Come prepared to pine, ready for romance, and game to gaze at the lives of the longing.

COUNT MY LOV3

Ewa Japola - 21, Hanna Tarasiewicz - 22, Filip Cyran - 20 | Poland Sara, in search of love, wants just one thing: a phone number. Well, alright, a shoe size too. And a registration number.

Date of birth, body temperature, the number of teeth... Numbers don’t lie.

If We Met Now

Halen King - 24, Shani McKenzie - 22, Renée Foy - 23, Cam Barbeau - 23 Canada A transgender man confronts his cisgender boyfriend’s disapproval towards a gender affirming procedure.

The Perfect Past Misagh Karimi - 24 | Iran A young couple who have been in a long-distance relationship for several years meet again a few months after their breakup.

Nun’s Beach Kate diRienzi - 24 | NY, USA When introduced to her fellow nun’s family, Sister Flora questions her romantic relationship with Sister Muriel and her devotion to God.

Be a Good Sport Saturday, April 5th Screening | 6:00pm, Uptown 2

♫ Don’t mess with the flow, no, no / Stick to the status quo ♫ While going against the grain can be gnarly, the perils of peer pressure are apparent. This collection of shorts dives into the psyche, examining human nature, tradition and the intricacies of interpersonal relationships.

BOYS

Unveiling Hour

Scratch

Ride Or Die

RAPT

Sugar, Sorry

Jacob Staudenmaier - 24, Tate Study - 22 CA, USA An ill-fated meeting between two groups of dudes.

Cade Johnson - 16, Ryan Boulet - 16 TX, USA After the death of a local rider, professional motocross racer Brandon Hardin is forced to realize the dangers involved with the sport of dirt bike racing.

Zeynep Su Sezgin - 22, Deniz Gonel - 22, Mitchell Clark - 21 | NY, USA A Turkish immigrant family in New York grapples with unspoken tensions and cultural expectations that stifle their ability to connect.

Margot Budzyna - 22, Christian Tasiopoulos - 23 | CA, USA A young woman navigates a surreal audition process where her boundaries are tested in pursuit of a coveted spot in an elite acting program.

Taye Alvis - 24, Josh Willick - 24 Canada When his camera breaks during a game of basketball, Junior struggles to maintain his friendship with his fellow players.

Hannah Ignacio - 22, Michael Merlino 22, Austin Tong - 21, Claire Frankland - 23 CA, USA A Filipina-American girl faces two defining days: the anxious world of suburban Sunday school at age 6, and meeting her white boyfriend’s passiveaggressive parents at age 16.

Bury Your Nephew Yoni Ben-Haim - 24 | UK An uncle struggling to find common ground with his nephew eventually bonds with him over a morbid curiosity.

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Centerpiece

Presented by:

Saturday, April 5th Screening | 7:45pm, Uptown 1

I Didn’t Like You

We’re marking the penultimate day of the festival with a collection of filmmaking feats that quintessentially embody the NFFTY spirit. Join us for a screening of distinct and affecting stories that showcase the steady hands of the next generation of filmmakers.

Odessa, TX

Alex Shuryepov Witt - 22, Laura Kim - 21, Daniela Muñoz - 22, Graycen Skalecki - 22 CA, USA A Ukrainian grandmother suffering from dementia is transported back to moments of her life in the Soviet Union.

Fields Corner Poet

Parker Fenady - 23 | CA, USA As Emilia and Maxine spy on their best friend’s first date, they come to realize the chemistry might not be between the couple they anticipated.

City Bird

The Sphinx

Endling

Sunny Rae Keller - 21, Martin Li - 23 CA, USA After witnessing a tragic accident, a metropolitan pigeon spends the rest of the day questioning her life in the city.

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Jesse Padveen - 23, Solmund MacPherson - 24, Tobias Harrison - 23, Josh Willick - 23 Canada A locksmith’s date night turns into a waking, liminal nightmare.

Martin Lee - 21, Airham Almonte - 23 MA, USA An exploration of the graffiti of the elusive “Poet” in the neighborhood of Fields Corner, Boston.

Kelly Yu - 22, Connor Williams - 24 CA, USA A documentary crew interviews the man in charge of taking care of the last goldfish on earth.

Night Terrors

Presented by:

Saturday, April 5th Screening | 9:00pm, Uptown 2

These delightfully frightful flicks aren’t to be missed!

Whether you need to wash away your sins or a spot of puke on your sleeve, we know a machine that might do the trick... just keep an eye out for any leering janitors.

CLONES/CLOWNS

watching.

Ouija Marry Me?

Please Leave

Coach

Sisters of Salvation

Christopher Consoli - 23, Jasper Rogers - 20, Felix Bailly - 22 | NJ, USA A gang of masked kidnappers capture the duo Fifteenøeight and take them for everything they’ve got.

Riley R. Scott - 21, Steven Xie - 21, Camille Brimmer - 21 | CA, USA A late-night gas station stop becomes terrifying when a young woman’s path crosses with an unwelcome guest.

Self Clean

Jules Santamauro - 23, Luke Harris - 23 NJ, USA When Carrie, a religiously devout girl, takes her first time drinking too far, she must “wash away her sins.”

Tahina Tomaszek - 19, Clair Sciglimpaglia - 20, Stephanie Whiteman - 21 | WA, USA When the corrupted footage of a student film project is discovered near the woods of Lake Washington, it reveals a terrifying descent into madness as four college filmmakers’ production spirals into a waking nightmare.

Grace Stromatt - 24, Haley Salcido-Gronski - 23, Fernanda Vega - 23, Camille Remi Kirby - 23 CA, USA One night, Margot receives an interesting proposition through her Ouija board.

Orson Ford - 17 | CA, USA A janitor compulsively watches the coach of a high school basketball team. As her fixation grows, the boundary between observer and participant begins to dissolve.

Athena Stuebe - 20, Sydney White - 20, Isaiah Kollmansberger - 20 | CA, USA Haunted by her parents’ death, a 14-year-old girl at a remote Catholic school fixates on proving she’s chosen

by God, leading her down a chilling path of faith-fueled madness.

The American Bean

Strings

DC Dzoja - 23 | Canada After rejecting a marriage proposal, Eva finds herself increasingly tormented by a sentient can of beans.

Ava Pearson - 17, Nina Zandvliet - 18, Eleanor Smith - 18 | Italy During a summer trip to Sicily, Sally is confronted with her bestie’s volatile new friend Alex. Sally is strangely drawn to the traditional puppets decorating their villa, and the strings that bind the two friends threaten to rip them apart.

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Reel Impact

Presented by:

Sunday, April 6th Screening | 11:15am, Uptown 2

Did You Forget Mr. Fogel?

Culture War

Invisible in Malaysia

Transalpin

Max Karpman - 22, Franny Hill - 22, Kaylee Smith - 21, Seth Karall - 22 CA, USA When American teacher Marc Fogel is sentenced to fourteen years in a Russian prison, his family strives to remain united as they launch a campaign to bring him back home.

Ray Teoh - 21 | CA, USA, Malaysia Jaz and Julie, siblings rendered stateless

by Malaysia’s gender-discriminatory citizenship law, navigate life as invisible members of society.

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One of the best ways to support activists is to document the work they do! These socially engaged and invigorating documentaries are themselves an act of radical politics, shining light on personal, institutional, and international issues.

Celi Mitidieri - 21, Milena Montero - 24 FL, USA A small Liberal Arts College in Sarasota, FL finds itself in a culture war against the government for the basic right of educational freedom. Now, the community must learn how to find resistance amid a reality they didn’t sign up for.

Léo Gatinot - 24, Clara Nicolas - 24 France & Italy On the Franco-Italian border, a tunnel boring machine cuts through the mountain, drying up streams and fountains in its path. Transalpin is a descent from the snow-capped peaks to the valleys where the anger of the villages echoes.

Painting Resistance

Dylan Clarke - 16, Aesha Gluck - 17, Nofa Ouali - 13, Cormac Kelly - 15 CA, USA An exploration of the life, work, and motivation of the San Francisco-based muralist, Chris Gazaleh.

In Absentia Sunday, April 6th Screening | 12:00pm, Uptown 3

Dear Etoile

Explore the temporal, physical, emotional, and mental impacts an absence can have on someone through these intricately woven touching tales.

Until He’s Born

Victoria Pham - 17 | CA, USA A mother recites her last letter to her daughter. A daughter dreams of her last memories of her mother.

Qingxuan Wang - 18, Yimeng Wang - 20, Chris Wang - 21, Jay P, - 21 | China After the only boy accidentally “killed” an unborn brother during the one-child policy period, an encounter between him and a little boy dissolves his years of guilt.

Canicas

Red Prior

Chris Martinez - 21, Veronica Hein - 21 NY, USA A distraught teen attempts to track down her recently-deceased father’s missing cat, only to unearth a devastating family secret in the process.

Sophia Lin - 20, Cierra Gladden - 21, John D’cruz - 21 | MD, USA After giving away her young daughter, an incarcerated immigrant mother begins to make sense of her guilt when she connects with a kindred inmate.

Holding You With Shaky Hands Jiaying Lin - 21 | China Following the death of her grandfather, Jiaying Lin documents her family in Shanghai as they navigate traditional rituals of mourning.

Touching Darkness Jamaica Kindlová - 22 | Czech Republic A blind boy bravely discovers the world – his inner one and the one around him.

Gone Egill Nielsen - 20 | Iceland A woman named Brynja frantically searches for her 7-year-old daughter after she doesn’t return home from school on time.

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Local Legends Sunday, April 6th Screening | 1:00pm, Uptown 1

John Van Deusen - Before You Fade Away

No matter if the mountain is out or not, our region features fearless filmmakers who show up to tell their stories! Come check out some of the best emerging artists Cascadia has to offer working in various genres and styles.

Love, Aunt Wendy

Hooyo Macaan (Sweet Mother)

Isla McNae - 16 | ID, USA How Aunt Wendy learned from her life alongside horses and dogs, and how they have helped her and the people around her.

Mawahib Ismail - 23, Alec Morrison - 23, Chloe Jiselle - 23 | CA, USA Despite her poetic way with words, recent graduate Samira can’t seem to find the right ones to stand up for herself against her mother’s constant dismissal and disappointment. This results in a dance-off, the massive consumption of goat meat, and a kid figuring out how to want herself.

Squid

RUTH

Asha Mary Oli Mallick - 14 | WA, USA After starting work at a new office job, a task to report to a door is much more challenging than expected...

Lucas Salm-Rojo - 18 | WA, USA A small character study on Ruth Barton and her experiences in the arts and in life.

Punch-Drunk

Jacob Hoxie - 22 | WA, USA Haunted by his past while also simultaneously trying to reconnect with it, a mysterious creature roams the woods, preying on an unsuspecting family.

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Ellie Nishino - 17, Elena Miller - 14, Ava Carlson - 13, Journey Morrison - 24 WA, USA At the homecoming dance, Mirabelle desperately tries to fit in with a clique of mean girls before discovering the power of self-acceptance and the courage to defy conformity.

Kindred Spirits

Mia Cullivan - 21, Grace Chuka - 21, Ava Keresztes - 21 | OR, USA Mia returns to her childhood love of rock hunting and the ocean while navigating sobriety, college life, and the search for a community where she can truly belong.

the decision, the reaction Daniel Heechan Lim - 18 | WA, USA A cinematic take on the viral “college decision video.”

22 Nate Markquart - 22 | WA, USA Every day, 22 veterans commit suicide in the United States. A northwest-based organization reconnects veterans with their community through outdoor experiences to inspire hope back into their lives.

Love Transforms Dani León Herrera - 23 | WA, USA An autobiographical documentary that follows the journey of a Mexican immigrant family adjusting to life in the U.S. as young adults and first-time parents.

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Having a Body is Weird Sunday, April 6th Screening | 1:30pm, Uptown 2

I REALLY LIKE YOU TOO

Riley Street - 24, Wylie Soltes - 24 CA, USA Bebe lets it all out.

Somewhere Out There

Julio Aceituno - 20, Barkın Öztürk - 21 FL, USA Charlie Brouwer, a Virginia sculpture artist, shares his experience of becoming legally blind later in his career. Unexpectedly, he finds acceptance through an unlikely muse.

Old Goat Teddy Alvarez-Nissen - 23 | CA, USA A family struggles to care for their aging grandfather who has turned into an animal.

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In this corporeal close up, the body takes center stage.

From stories involving involuntary physical responses to outside influences and perceptions that shape our sense of self, the films in this program center the somatic and the toll time takes on our physical framework.

OROBORO

Wet Noodle

Huijun Wang - 24 | CA, USA An exploration of existence that unfolds through the metamorphosis of a character as she journeys through the evolving environment.

Julia Lalonde - 22, Sydney Beaton - 21 Canada 13-year-old Evelyn longs for the attention of her class crush. When she notices his fascination with their female teacher’s bouncing chest, she determines that boobs are the key to his heart.

Type of Rain

Nos Entrailles (Inside Us)

Saskia Steinberg - 24, Madison Hookway 24, Scarlett Gardner - 24 | UK In the wake of the death of her closest friend, a teenager searches for a new ally: cold water.

Stay Out of the Sun

Nidhi Kumar - 21, Zola Franchi - 20, Vivienne Ayres - 21 | CA, USA A visual scrapbook of individuals’ memories of colorism, recounting the messages they received about skin tone during their youth and examining how these experiences have left lasting imprints on their lives today.

Sarah Bordji - 24 | France Once upon a time in a small village there was Lina, cornered with domestic tasks, and her sister Madeleine, living a carefree life. One day, Lina has a strange encounter that makes her darkest wish come true…

Choose Your Own Adventure Sunday, April 6th Screening | 2:15pm, Uptown 3

You’ve got this, Allie!

Presented by:

These emotionally-action-packed films will have you fixated from the first frame! Seeing these stellar stories on the big screen as they bring battles with inner and outer demons to life is more than worth the cinematic stress.

Help Me!

Eleanor In The Evening

Seven Xyst - 24 | NM, USA A woman in crisis gets unwanted counsel from a strange figure lurking in her imagination.

Giran Findlay - 22, Lina Li - 24, Sebastian Marin - 23, Stephanie Sakaki - 23GA, Canada When a young woman returns home to her estranged parents, a buried secret threatens to unravel the fragile reunion.

The Entomologist

Little Candy Girl

In Memoriam

Munchies

El Alma de la Sed

Wren Petkov - 23, Michelle Saal - 22 Ireland An uncertain young girl takes a leap and finds herself alone in a big city, surrounded by strangers for the first time in her life. But are we ever really alone in a crowd?

Nikki Ghalili - 23, Paige Broman - 22, Lauren Chappell - 23, Tate Stüssy - 23 CA, USA Faced with an indeterminate divorce and a disillusioned daughter, Rita must navigate a Virginia winter armed with nothing but her chronic depersonalization and a rather unusual cockroach problem.

Brittany Young - 24, Jaelyn Ellis - 23, Cassie Greer - 23 | CA, USA After lighting up and getting the munchies, a group of vulgar teenage girls with a complicated history stumble into a botched robbery at their local convenience store.

Una Smoole - 21, Nikki Ghalili - 20, Tom Bolles - 21 | CA, USA A miniature girl who tap dances in candy machines runs away with a curious and charming rescuer, only for her to realize that she must be the one to save herself.

Colleen Ryan - 21, Alexander Daniels - 22, Carmen Halphen - 22, Brenden Mascherino - 21 | Panama Luis, a child of a lower income family In Panama during their impedimentary water crisis, hears the Legend of an ancient spirit that could bring nourishment to the people of a struggling community as long as they believe.

Sarah Jean Williams - 22, Luna Garcia - 24 CA, USA A girl follows her sister into the afterlife to have one last conversation.

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Gray Areas Sunday, April 6th Screening | 3:45pm, Uptown 2

WARNING: Films in screening may be more morally ambiguous than they appear. With certainty, you’re bound to feel uncertain while watching the characters in this screening encounter disconcerting crossroads and examine the complicated motives for their choices -- how riveting!

The River Between Us

Top Voices

James

Write To Exist: An Exploration into Austin’s Graffiti Scene

Canis Lupus

VISA

Sophia Lafaurie-Muñoz - 21, Alex Miranda - 19, Myra Soto - 21, Emelin Vivar - 22 Dominican Republic After crossing the border river, a Haitian boy and a Dominican boy accidentally meet and become unlikely friends.

Mia Daniela Alejo - 21, Nick Stoner - 20, Xayda Garza - 21 | TX, USA Three graffiti writers in Austin, Texas share a common goal: cover as many walls, buildings, ditches and underpasses with their selected aliases in multi-colored aerosol paint.

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Isabelle Leonard - 22, Juliette Boland - 21 CA, USA While contestants compete to achieve their dreams on a singing competition TV show, a fading celebrity judge must square off against a ruthless, up-andcoming producer for control of the show’s future.

Victoria Capitano - 19, Jonathan Kirkpatrick 20, Beckett Hobbs - 19, Luca Bevilacqua - 19 MA, USA At a parole hearing for his older brother, a traumatized young man struggles to reconcile memories of the brother he loved with the crimes he committed, questioning if he can ever forgive him.

Tayler Gilbert - 22, Courtney Rowe - 22, Brittny Antillanca - 21 | MO, USA When James, closeted preachers son in Missouri, decides to runaway. A deer collision forces him to confront cycles of generational trauma, identity, and faith.

Chi Tran - 22, Skylar Kim - 23, Jason Wang - 21 NY, USA Faced with deportation at the end of his work permit, an Asian immigrant tries to get hate-crimed to secure a green card.

Closing Night

Presented by:

Sunday, April 6th Screening | 5:30pm, Uptown 1 Award Ceremony | 7:30pm

While the weekend is coming to a close, the future of film holds endless possibilities. To cap off the 18th festival, join us for one final film program filled with seminal stories to creatively propel you on your journey through your next project and beyond.

Devon Again - deep & still can’t dress myself

Salem on the Road

Justin Nguyen - 21, Ethan Frank - 22, Devon Again - 23, Zayd Ezzeldine - 21 CA, USA Devon does a live performance in an empty swimming pool.

Étienne Galloy - 23 | Canada During a major depersonalization episode, Salem embarks on a solo biking journey on the road 132 all across the Gaspé Peninsula, with the intent of ending her life where the Land ends.

George Petrou - 22, Laura Calzada - 20, Geraldine Piong - 23 | UK An exploration in how the experience of sound changes throughout the process of vision loss, using visual and aural language to interpret the subjective experience of blind individuals.

Unholy

After The Storm

The Curtains Glow At Night

Daisy Friedman - 21, Isaak Popkin - 22 NY, USA Noa, a chronically ill girl goes to her family’s Passover Seder for the first time since being put on a feeding tube for a gastrointestinal illness.

Sungbin Moon - 23, Nicklas Beijer - 23 CA, USA A filmmaker calls her now-sober mom, who lives halfway around the world, to confront their traumatic past. This mini-documentary explores the raw realities of addiction, the complexity of motherhood, and the healing power of distance and movie-making.

Tainted by the Visual

Skye Schoenhoeft - 22, Casey Donlan 23, Zanna Hocker - 22, Lucian Patton - 22 CA, USA When Wren comes home from college, they discover a ghost in their childhood bedroom.

Paper Swords Anjali Pulim - 21 | NY , USA On a classic summer afternoon, two sisters ponder life, death, and everything in-between.

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NFFTY by the Numbers 240 Official Selections 28 States Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho

China Canada Colombia Belgium Brazil Croatia Czech Republic Denmark

Illinois Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi

Missouri Montana New Jersey New Mexico New York Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania

32 Countries Iran Dominican Republic Ireland England Italy France Jamaica Germany Kenya Guatemala Malaysia Iceland Mexico India Netherlands Indonesia

Tennessee Texas Virginia Washington

Nigeria Panama Philippines Poland South Korea Spain Sweden USA

Programming Team Amy Williams Ryan Saunders Romina Estrada Stella Naymik

Salome Seifu Han-’Naeh Belser Kevin Conner Gabriel Morales

Lake Neill Chloe Rankin Theresa Robinson Camila Rodríguez-López

Screening Committee Abby Wright Alan Mckenzie Alex Guerra Alexandria Thompson Aminah Alhamdu AnaMichele Morejon Andreana Loukidis Annabelle Augustine Benjamin Alan Radetski Cameron Eader Catherine T. Nguyen

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Celeste Yeany Chloe Wang Cole Pepin Colin Sevely-Ortiz Elijah Carnazzo Ella Fields Emma Ciprian Emma Eastham Greg Arietta Isabel Roney Isabelle Hahn

Jaelyn Ellis Jessica M. Ortiz Morales Julie Johnson Leka Gopal Lorenza De Benedictis Louisa Chard Marguerite McHenry Marvin Sommer Nithin Kumar Oliver Woolridge Olivia Jensen

Jessica Stossel Tahina Tomaszek

Paula Milenkova PJ Knapke Ruby Martin Seth Dacio Sidharth S Nair Skya Theobald Sofi Alihaji Sophie Vernon Tris Arthur

Special Thanks NFFTY is grateful to the following persons who have contributed since our past festival edition, without whom we would not be able to produce NFFTY 2025: Ogugua Agu Ben Andrews Peter Barnes Kate Becker Virginia Bogert Iona Brindle Donna Brown Susan Buster Thomas Kara Ceriello Nancy Chang Frank Clark Kevin Conner Monique Courcy Joe Dockery Warren Etheredge

Audrey Fan Rebeca Fons Adrienne Fox Maureen Gans Griffith Gustafson Frank Harris Jesse Harris Hannah Hoose Al Hillel & Sue Wiedenfeld Don Jensen Melissa Jurcan Carl Kadie & Nancy Vaeth Erin Katz Todd Kaumans

Wistar Kay John Kim Amy Labenski Stefanie Malone & Shannon Snider Peter McKeon Alan Nay Christopher Newell Paris Nguyen Lesley Pfeifer Julie Railey Remick Railey Virginia Rathburn Jocelyn RC Bryan Roth

Frankie Rubio Molly Saunders Zoe Schwartz Kim Schwarzkopf Kyle Seago Philip Seneker Jennifer Senkler Dave Siegfried Shannon Snider Brent & Courtney Stiefel Jai Suh Laura Williams Argilla Ray Woodhouse Anne Yurasek Patrick Wright

Additionally, we would like to thank the following funders and agencies who have given support: 4Culture ArtsFund City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture City of Seattle Office of Economic Development Climate Pledge Arena Community Fund

Harley Soltes Charitable Fund The Norcliffe Foundation Scan Design Foundation Washington State Arts Commission Washington State Department of Commerce

Lastly, we are grateful to the contributions of the following individuals and organizations who are making this year’s edition possible: All of our industry presenters and screening hosts All of our NFFTY 2025 jurors All of our NFFTY 2025 volunteers All of our interns from the past year All of our curatorial and distribution partners Our NFFTY Alumni Advisory Board Our NFFTY Industry Advisory Board Our Community Partners, including host venues VERA and SIFF Scan Design Foundation and Station Next Seattle Office of Economic Development All of Our Friends at SIFF, especially: Carley Callahan Tom Mara Beth Barrett Andrea Stuart-Lehalle Betty Tweedy The Entire SIFF Projection Team

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Screening Committee and Staff NFFTY is a program of The Talented Youth, a 501c3 non-profit

Ryan Saunders Managing Director

Amy Williams Program Director

Theresa Robinson Program Coordinator

Salome Seifu Programming Intern

Stella Naymik Programming Intern

Romina Estrada Marketing Intern

Lake Neill Programming Intern

Additional NFFTY Production Team Venue Manager/Senior Programmer – Kevin Conner Story Starts Here Intern - Shivum Saha Marketing and Ops Support - Theresa Robinson Festival Design – Kaitlin Martin Trailer Editor – Amy Williams Event Management – TokitaBethune Board of Directors Robert Bojorquez — President — Media Producer Alex Johnston — Secretary — Filmmaker, Scholar & Media Educator, Seattle University Julie Railey — Treasurer — Development Finance Stefanie Malone — Producer Tirsh Murray — V.P., Group Director Laura Williams Argilla — Product Management Executive Rebecca Fons — Director of Programming, Gene Siskel Film Center Board Emeritus Jesse Harris - Founder Jocelyn R.C. - Co-Founder Kyle Seago - Co-Founder Alumni Advisory Board Noah Wagner – President Adam Hersko-RonaTas Barb Hoffman Laura Holiday Tiger Ji Dennis Kim

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Dan Lesser Tiffany Lin Morgana McKenzie Leo Pfeifer Lindsay Sunada Vitória Vasconcellos

The Story of NFFTY Alexander Zorn 2007Jesse Harris realizes the need for an organization to support young filmmakers and joins with Jocelyn R.C. and Kyle Seago to launch NFFTY as a one-night festival with 14 films, and to form a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, The Talented Youth.

2008-2009 NFFTY expands to a three-day event, screening 113 films with over 4,000 in attendance, and launches year-round programming, NFFTY 365. In 2009, NFFTY begins accepting international films.

2010 NFFTY expands again to become a four-day festival, featuring 190 films from 33 states and 16 countries and additional networking opportunities for filmmakers. A 48-Hour Film Contest is added to the festival weekend.

2011 Now the world’s largest film festival for emerging filmmakers, NFFTY 2011 screens 225 films, adds even more programming and opportunities, and is attended by over 200 filmmakers and an audience of 8,500.

2012 NFFTY adds the Future of Film Expo trade show to the festival and features eight panels, 14 workshops, and over 30 exhibitors. Festival attendance exceeds 10,000.

2013 NFFTY features 215 films from around over 30 countries and launches NFFTY Creative, connecting brands with NFFTY alumni to work on original projects.

NFFTY alumni are now working for prestigious companies such as Pixar and HBO. 2014 NFFTY launches a Young Women in Film initiative, a year-round effort to address the issue of gender inequality in film. Of the 214 films that screen, over 40% are directed by women. NFFTY alumni produce award-winning original content and a national televised commercial as part of the NFFT Creative brand, which connected companies with NFFTY filmmakers.

2015 NFFTY kicks off this year by increasing the age limit to 24 years of age in an effort to better support emerging filmmakers. NFFTY features a record 248 films from 30 states and 25 countries, with over 12,000 in attendance and 48% female-directed films. The festival adds its Works-In-Progress event and launches the NFFTY Alumni Advisory Board. NFFTY alumni produce a documentary as part of NFFTY Creative, garnering both ADDY and Telly Awards.

2016 The 10th anniversary festival includes 227 films from 24 countries, as well as an inaugural screenwriting competition: Story Starts Here. NFFTY takes its first steps into VR/360° with a panel and product demos. Starting to be recognized as one of the leaders in the film festival world, NFFTY is named “One of the 50 Best Festivals Worth the Entry Fee” by MovieMaker Magazine, TeenTix Best Film Organization,

and one of FilmFreeway’s Top 100 Rated Festivals.

2017 NFFTY forges into its second decade with the largest festival yet, featuring 257 films from around the world. NFFTYX launches with a full VR/360° event featuring a boot camp and screening gallery. The Story Starts Here Screenplay Competition and Works In Progress round out a wildly successful year!

2018 Moving to a fall festival, NFFTY received over 1,300 submissions, screening 266 films from 24 countries and 24 U.S. States. In partnership with Oculus, NFFTYX creates an entire VR/360° gallery with NFFTY Official Selections from filmmakers. Over 50% of NFFTY 2018’s Official Selections are directed by female or nonbinary identifying filmmakers!

2019 NFFTY doubles its workforce development events at the festival, and co-produces the 2nd Annual Film Career Day with the City of Seattle, including a keynote from Oscar-winning NFFTY alumna Rayka Zehtabchi. Now 13 years strong, NFFTY has developed robust juries across eight competitions, with 31 jurors from film studios, festivals, and other positions of influence in the industry.

2020-2021 With a global pandemic, NFFTY 2020 pivots to a virtual festival, expanding to 10-days to include all of the livestreamed and on-demand programming.

For the third year running, 50%+ of selected films were by female/non-binary filmmakers, and over 40% of films were by non-white filmmakers. 2021 saw the launch of new programs, including an inaugural National Youth Filmmaker Summit and a reimagined Film Career Day. 2022 For its 15th festival, NFFTY returned as an inperson event, screening over 250 short films from around the world. Thirteen workforce development sessions were held for youth and young adults. The full, hybrid festival lasted for 11 days. In the fall, NFFTY launched our first ever Pop-Up in LA. The 4-day event showcased films from the 2022 and 2020 editions of the festival, including some that never had a chance to play on the big screen.

2023 Expanding its geographic reach, NFFTY featured over 32 states in the official lineup. Surpassing our equity goals, over 50% of the represented filmmakers identified as non-white for the first time at NFFTY. Robust professional development sessions charted the journey from short film to features, character creation, and self distribution strategies.

2024 The seeds planted over the years keep sprouting! Two NFFTY alumni compete in the same category at the Academy Awards for Best Documentary Short. One of these filmmakers, Sean Wang, was welcomed back to the festival to participate in a “From NFFTY to the Oscars” keynote

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