Charter Arts
NMIH
Touchstone
Charter Arts
NMIH
Touchstone
NMIH
Touchstone
Touchstone
VENUE: CHARTER ARTS | 321 E. 3RD ST.
Animation Block 1 Time: 5:20pm
Gruf and Me directed by Dovi Keich
2021 | 9 minutes | Animated Short
Gruf is a graffiti character that comes to life in animation. When he falls in love with the street artist who created him, Gruf desperately tries to find her in the shabby streets of Tel Aviv and discovers that inter-dimensional love is not easy.
One Last Wish directed by Galia Osmo
2021 | 10 minutes | Animated Short
The Fisherman and the Fish folk tale comes to life, in a bittersweet animation.
CYMK (Colors You May Know) directed by David Chai
2021 | 3 minutes | Animated Short
Inspired by the division of 2020; here’s a friendly reminder to please love one another and celebrate our differences.
Hanami directed by Lisa Maeda
2021 | 4 minutes | Animated Short
A young girl trapped in Japanese-American internment finds solace in painting flowers.
On/Off directed by Nicolás P. Villarreal
2021 | 7 minutes | Animated Short
Endless distractions threaten to destroy creativity.
Roberto directed by Carmen Córdoba González
2020 | 9 minutes | Animated Short
15 years have passed and Roberto is still in love with his neighbor, but she prefers to hide ashamed of her body. With his art and an old clothesline as the only ways of communication, Roberto has a plan to push his beloved to face her monsters at once.
Wings directed by Jill Yapsuga
2021 | 2 minutes | Animated Short
Set within the exhilarating and daring world of wing walking, “Wings” explores the power of possibility and the lasting impact one can have on others.
There Are Bunnies On Fire in the Forest directed by JLee MacKenzie
2020 | 4 minutes | Animated Short
A young girl gets in big trouble for kissing her friend on the cheek at school during the pandemic.
In Nature directed by Marcel Barelli
2021 | 5 minutes | Animated Short
In nature, a couple is a male and female. Well, not always! A couple is also a female and a female. Or a male and a male. You may not know it, but homosexuality isn’t just a human story.
Local Middle Schooler directed by Sanjna Bharadwaj
2020 | 11 minutes | Animated Short
A girl with magic eyelashes is exploited for them by her school, her community, and eventually the government. She battles the weight of the world with the weight of being a middle schooler.
The Amazing Adventures of Awesome directed by Allison Brownmoore
2020 | 6 minutes | Animated Short
A hand-illustrated animated film about a young autistic girl at the heart of a quiet revolution.
7 LB 8 OZ directed by Yoo Lee
2021 | 7 minutes | Animated Short
When a young mother moves into a Jersey City neighborhood full of long-time residents, her preconceptions are challenged by the neighbors who show her the value of community.
Let’s Go Through Customs! directed by David Pierce
2021 | 3 minutes | Animated Short
Let’s go through customs and see our dedicated agents at work keeping harmful party favors from crossing the border. Pick your microgenre and find out if these travelers have nothing to declare.
Don’t Be Scared directed by Richard O’Connor
2021 | 2 minutes | Animated Short
A family of birds looks for safety in a storm.
Homebird directed by Ewa Smyk
2021 | 10 minutes | Animated Short
Struggling to make it in a big city, a young artist finds herself retreating into the rose-tinted memories of the village she left behind.
Night of the Living Dread directed by Ida Melum
2021 | 11 minutes | Animated Short
When a power cut ruins Ruby’s bedtime routine, she finds herself haunted by some unwanted guests. The only way for Ruby to get a peaceful night of sleep is to confront her visitors.
VENUE: NMIH | 602 E. 2ND ST.
Documentary Block 2 | Time: 5:20pm
Dress A Cow directed by Dawn Luebbe
2021 | 10 minutes | Documentary Short
A meditation on cows…in costumes.
Lydia Emily’s Last Mural directed by Christoph Green
2021 | 21 minutes | Documentary Short
Lydia Emily, an LA-based mural artist who is living with progressive Multiple Sclerosis, paints her last mural in downtown LA.
Lower Grand directed by Jeff Dorer
2020 | 10 minutes | Documentary Short
The secret life of a street known from movies, television shows and commercials.
Miss Alma Thomas: A Life in Color directed by Cheri Gaulke
2021 | 20 minutes | Documentary Short
Alma W. Thomas, a Black woman artist, broke color barriers on and off the canvas, yet did not receive national attention until she was 80, six years before she passed.
Dance With Me directed by Gabriel Diamond
2020 | 5 minutes | Documentary Short
Imagine putting on a blindfold on a busy street corner and inviting strangers to dance with you. That’s what Gabriel Diamond did in Berkeley in 2018. Two years later he finally got the courage to revisit the footage and create this touching short documentary about the potential of strangers to meet in unique ways using the power of dance and trust.
Video Visit directed by Malika Zouhali – Worrall
2021 | 23 minutes | Documentary Short
Each week, scores of people visit the Brooklyn Public Library to see their incarcerated loved ones via a free video call. “Video Visit” tells the story of two mothers and their sons, and the librarians who negotiate daily with the Department of Corrections(and a growing for-profit prison telecoms industry) in an effort to keep the families connected.
Dieorama directed by Kevin Staake
2019 | 10 minutes | Documentary Short
By day, she visits morgues, observes autopsies, and studies pictures of crime scenes. By night, she turns nightmarish imaginings into precise, red-splattered miniatures.
VENUE: TOUCHSTONE | 321 E. 4TH ST.
Animation Block 2 Time: 5:20pm
Bird directed by Wu-Ching Chang
2019 | 5 minutes | Animated Short
The girl suffers from a feeling of great discomfort that comes without warning, like an uncontrollable disaster. When the panic is accompanied by a flapping of wings, a chaotic, dissociated journey into her unconsciousness begins.
Blue Cooler directed by Laura Margulies
2021 | 8 minutes | Animated Short
An oil painted animated short film that captures small moments of life in Hawaii through a montage of richly painted and colorful brush strokes, sounds, and images.
Annah la Javanaise directed by Fatimah Tobing Rony
2020 | 6 minutes | Animated Short
In 1893, a 13-year-old girl came to work for French painter Paul Gauguin as his maid and model. They called her Anna la Javanaise. This is a reimagining of her story.
Forgotten directed by Mawrgan Shaw
2021 | 4 minutes | Animated Short
Offering a window into the isolation the elderly face when living alone, ‘Forgotten’ is a timely exploration of loneliness.
The One, The Ones, and the Won directed by Wally Chung
2021 | 1 minute | Animated Short
Living in the big city, a man’s sleep is interrupted.
House of Memory directed by Sofía Rosales Arreola
2020 | 13 minutes | Animated Short
An old man lives in a film library made up of memories captured in celluloid that he carefully preserves. When these tapes begin to deteriorate, he will do everything possible to save his memory.
Confusion will be my Epitaph directed by Marine Beasse, Corentin Cormont, Benjamin Germe, Hadrien Maton, Arnaud Mege, Coline Thelliez
2021 | 6 minutes | Animated Short
A lonely little girl shares her daily life with illness.
Prince in a Pastry Shop directed by Katarzyna Agopsowicz
2020 | 16 minutes | Animated Short
A philosophical parable about a couple eating cakes in a cafe that touches upon fundamental issues that are close to everyone – the elusiveness of happiness, the fact that we are not always able to perceive it, let alone experience it as fully as possible.
Pigeon directed by Sang Joon Kim
2021 | 6 minutes | Animated Short
Joe is having a bad day. But now he is at the brink of becoming a part of the world that makes bad days.
In the Mountains directed by Wally Chung
2021 | 5 minutes | Animated Short
A couple goes on a hike and runs into some trouble.
Allwell Ogini – Jolly directed by Maciek Albrect
2020 | 4 minutes | Animated Short
Afrobeat Afro-Fusion Hip-Hop Music Video
Mr. Rabbit’s Doll directed by Arvin Medghalchi
2021 | 12 minutes | Animated Short
The doll was the only companion of Mr. Rabbit’s lonely night which turned his chance of finding true love into a disaster.
Demi’s Panic directed by Bill Plympton
2021 | 10 minutes | Animated Short
Animated short film about Demi, a Latina in NYC whose nightmares foreshadow an unprecedented storm, transforming her city & her life. Inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Seine’s Tears directed by Yanis Belaid, Eliott Benard, Nicolas Mayeur, Etienne Moulin, Hadrien Pinot, Lisa Vicente, Philippine Singer, Alice Letailleur
2021 | 9 minutes | Animated Short
17 October 1961, “Algerian workers” got down in the streets to protest against the mandatory curfew imposed by the police prefecture.
Independent Ukraine directed by Maciek Albrecht
2022 | 1 minute | Animated Short
No synopsis.
VENUE: CHARTER ARTS | 321 E. 3RD ST.
Time: 7:20pm
Peace by Chocolate directed by Jonathan Keijser
2021 | 100 minutes | Narrative Feature
After the bombing of his father’s chocolate factory, a charming young Syrian refugee struffles to settle into his new Canadian small-town life, caught between following his dream to become a doctor and preserving his family’s chocolate-making legacy.
VENUE: NMIH | 602 E. 2ND ST.
Time: 7:20pm
Terrible Children directed by Shanti Thakur
2021 | 56 minutes | Documentary Feature
The filmmaker discovers a story about her father from a letter that remained unopened for 20 years. She tells his lyrical nightmares and archival dreams about religious war, love, and redemption across India, Denmark, USA and Canada.
VENUE: TOUCHSTONE | 321 E. 4TH ST.
Miscellaneous Block Time: 7:20pm
You and Me Before and After directed by Madeleine Gottlieb
2020 | 11 minutes | Narrative Short
Two adult sisters who love each other learn to like each other while getting their first tattoos. Stuck side by side in the chair with nothing to do but talk, they are forced to confront a shared history that’s as painful as it is hilarious.
Cupids directed by Zoey Martinson
2021 | 10 minutes | Narrative Short
What is the most important thing on the last day of school before summer break? If you’re Mia, Natalie, and Jabari you frantically search for a date for Ms. Cheryl, the most beloved bus driver of all time! This love letter to New York’s essential workers captures the whimsy of a child’s imagination as they try to save Ms. Cheryl from a lonely summer void of school children, destined to a life on the sofa surrounded by cats.
Frank & Emmet directed by Carlos F. Puertolas
2021 | 12 minutes | Narrative Short
“Frank & Emmet” tells the story of two life-long friends and show business partners who, after weeks of drifting apart, sit together to have a much-needed conversation. Their friendly dialogue takes a turn when they address head-on the one thing they’ve never talked about: one of them is a puppet.
CYMK (Colors You May Know) directed by David Chai
2021 | 3 minutes | Animated Short
Inspired by the division of 2020; here’s a friendly reminder to please love one another and celebrate our differences.
Sunshine directed by Martha Goddard
2021 | 10 minutes | Narrative Short
A distraught woman has a chance encounter at a cafe which changes her life.
An Irish Goodbye directed by Tom Berkeley and Ross White
2021 | 23 minutes | Narrative Short
Set against the backdrop of a working farm in rural Northern Ireland, ‘An Irish Goodbye’ is a black comedy following the reunion of estranged brothers Turlough and Lorcan following the untimely death of their mother.
Roy directed by Ross White
2021 | 15 minutes | Narrative Short
Trapped in a lonely existence, reclusive widower Roy passes the days by cold-calling strangers from the phone book, looking for brief moments of companionship. But when he accidentally calls adult hotline worker Cara, an unlikely friendship is born that will help them both rediscover the joy of life.
Don’t Be Scared directed by Richard O’Connor
2021 | 2 minutes | Animated Short
A family of birds looks for safety in a storm.
VENUE: CHARTER ARTS | 321 E. 3RD ST.
Drama Block | Time: 9:20pm
Burros directed by Jefferson Stein
2021 | 14 minutes | Narrative Short
Set in southern Arizona, twenty miles from the Mexico border on the Tohono O’odham Nation, a six-year-old Indigenous girl discovers a Hispanic migrant her age who has lost her father while traveling through the Tohono O’odham tribal lands into the United States.
Dalía directed by Brúsi Ólason
2020 | 16 minutes | Animated Short
A distant father and his six year old son connect as they put a horse out of its misery.
Relict directed by Ilya Polyakov
2021 | 8 minutes | Narrative Short
A tormented old man wrestles with his demons, which manifest themselves in terrifying ways.
Brother Troll directed by Gudmund Helmsdal
2021 | 30 minutes | Narrative Short
Once upon a time in the Faroe Islands, two lone brothers struggle to save their fragile relationship after the sudden loss of their older brother.
Over directed by Ellie Kline
2021 | 9 minutes | Narrative Short
When she becomes pregnant unexpectedly, recently-bereaved young adult Greta is caught between unresolved grief and the pull of her own future.
When You Clean a Stranger’s Home directed by Sharon Arteaga
2020 | 7 minutes | Narrative Short
A cinematic essay where a first-generation high school student describes what her and her mom learn about people when cleaning their homes. House decor and items left around convey a privilege that unveils her imagination, jealousy, and frustrations.
Game 11 directed by Vernard James
2021 | 10 minutes | Narrative Short
The lives of a promising young basketball player, a remorseless killer, and his reluctant friend intertwine in two stories of competitive sport and murder.
VENUE: NMIH | 602 E. 2ND ST.
Time: 9:20pm
A Cartoon of a Cat Sleeping directed by Randall Christopher
2022 | 7 minute | Animated Short
A 7-minute comedy which unfolds entirely in one shot with no edits, cuts, or camera movements. As the story gets more and more chaotic, one big question looms: Will the cat ever wake up?
Cat Daddies directed by Mye Hoang
2021 | 89 minutes | Documentary Feature
A heartwarming collective portrait of eight unique men whose love for cats has changed their lives, from internet celebrity to occupational therapy – and in the case of one disabled homeless man, a reason for hope.
VENUE: TOUCHSTONE | 321 E. 4TH ST.
Time: 9:20pm
There’s Something in the Silence directed by Mike Castro
2020 | 8 minutes | Narrative Short
Erin’s new hearing aids have been picking up voices and sounds she’s unable to explain. In an attempt to quiet the voices, she confronts them head on – only to find there may be something more sinister lurking in the depths of silence.
The Last Marriage directed by Johan Tappert & Gustav Egerstedt
2021 | 16 minutes | Narrative Short
A comedy about how the meager everyday life continues even after the zombie apocalypse.
Sirens directed by Rita Baghdadi
2022 | 78 minutes | Documentary Feature
On the outskirts of Beirut, Lilas and Shery, co-founders and guitarists of the Middle East’s first all-female metal band, wrestle with friendship, sexuality, and destruction in their pursuit of becoming thrash metal rock stars.
VENUE: TOUCHSTONE | 321 E. 4TH ST.
Time: 11pm
Pumpkin Boy directed by Trent Shy
2021 | 2 minutes | Narrative Short
This Halloween…he’s born.
This Feels Right directed by Jonathan Thomas Coleman
2021 | 9 minutes | Narrative Short
A bickering couple get lost on a dead-end road and stumble into a horrifying time loop that will change their lives forever. A comedy.
Guts Directed by Chris McInroy
2021 | 8 minutes | Narrative Short
A guy with his guts on the outside of his body really wants a promotion.
Stunt Rock (Restoration) directed by Brian Tenchard-Smith
1978 | 91 minutes | Documentary Feature
While working on a TV show in Los Angeles, famed Australian stuntman Grant Page helps an up-and-coming fantasy-themed rock band develop special effects and dangerous stunts for their act.