Shorts Program 4: View Askew

In a hotel room, a woman in her 60s shares a surprising and provocative story of longing and unlikely connection.nAn artist and VFX instructor connects with her grandmother, Margie, in a documentary short on collecting, art-making, and obsessiveness as a way to enhance our realities.nA lyrical portrait of a long ferry ride where overheard conversations, pensive glances, and fragments of lives in transit come into view, as passengers cross from one riverbank to the other.nProlific background actor Jill Goldston takes center stage in this unique portrait.nLeaves, mycelium, and roots playfully examine how humans experience the world, and the (supposedly) silent watchers consider what language those swift blurs of human might possibly understand.nOn a remote island off the coast of Iceland, teenagers Birta and Selma take it upon themselves to counteract humanity’s damaging impact on nature; exchanging night-time parties for nocturnal puffin rescues, in a coming-of-age story for young adults and puffins alike.

Shorts Program 3: Out/Spoken

The Script explores the complicated relationship between trans and nonbinary communities and medical providers regarding gender-affirming care. The film invites its participants and audience to envision a liberated, gender-expansive future, beyond the rigidity of our current moment.nThis punk rock fairytale doubles as a portrait of Shoog McDaniel — a fat, queer, and disabled photographer whose work has transformed the way fat people view themselves and how a fat phobic society views fat bodies.nAs a young Chinese filmmaker returns to his hometown in search for himself, a long overdue conversation with his mother propels the two of them into a quest for acceptance and love.nMnM is an exuberant portrait of two emerging runway divas in the drag ballroom community, celebrating their joy, siblinghood, and unapologetic personas.