8 year old Briana vanishes from her bedroom without a trace one night. Her aunt Madeline and others involved in the ensuing search fall into harm's way as the mysterious forces behind Briana's disappearance are revealed.
In New Jersey, the Good Grief community focuses on a holistic way of dealing with grief, where children can give in to rage in ‘the volcano room,' and say goodbye to a dying teddy bear patient in ‘the hospital room.' Over the course of a year, we follow the weekly meetings and get close to Kimmy, Nicky, Peter, Nora, Nolan, and Mikayla and their close companion: grief. It is sometimes heartbreaking, but also humorous, to experience the questions about life and death through their open and curious minds. Grief is high and heavy as a mountain, but it helps you understand what has happened, and that death is irreversible.
Overwhelmed by grief following the death of his wife, Donnelly shares a train carriage home with a troubled young man identified only as the 'Kid'. As the Kid becomes more agitated and foul-mouthed, the journey takes on a violent and dangerous hue – for the bereaved Donnelly and for other hapless passengers on the train. Academy Award Winner: Best Live Action Short Film – 2005
After the death of her father, Alexis is left with unresolved anger and grief. As she reflects on her childhood and the painful memories that shaped her, she begins to see her father’s struggles in a new light, even if it’s too late to tell him.
A rapturous crime fable set in the Dominican Republic, Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias’ COCOTE follows Alberto, a kind-hearted gardener returning home to attend his father’s funeral. When he discovers that a powerful local figure is responsible for his father’s death, Alberto realizes that he’s been summoned by his family to avenge the murder. It’s an unthinkable act — especially for him, an Evangelical Christian. But as pressure mounts, he sees few ways out. Questions of faith, tradition and honor course through this electrifying film, which, seemingly at the speed of thought itself, jumps between film formats, colors, and aspect ratios, radically envisioning a community torn asunder by senseless violence.
The Boyajian family learned of 18-year-old John's death in the Persian Gulf War on Christmas Eve eleven years earlier and have not celebrated Christmas since. They have been so consumed by his death that they have forgotten the joys of the holidays, until a mysterious visitor enters their lives and rekindles the spirit of the season.
Life for a happy couple is turned upside down after their young son dies in an accident.
An old widower, Jasper, routinely makes coffee in two mugs and picks up trash around his community. Some of his more interesting finds speckle his home. His neighbors mostly disregard him. On one of his regular hunts, he chances upon an envelope. To his surprise, he finds old wedding photos and presumes the addressee, Angie, to be the bride. Determined to complete the delivery, Jasper follows a map to the address. When he finally arrives, his excitement is upended when Angie, now divorced, rebuffs him and the photos. He leaves her with an open invitation to his home, should she change her mind. The next morning, Jasper starts his routine-only to find Angie at his door. After a heart-to-heart on loss and new life, Jasper invites Angie to pick up trash with him. Together, they go.
A star athlete has to come to terms with her debilitating grief to regain her confidence and finish her race.
"Raggedy Anne" follows the story of a young girl, Anne, who loves to play with her Raggedy Ann doll along with her brother, Andy. When Anne grows up, she copes with his recent death through songwriting.
Robert Brammel, a private English teacher who develops an unusual relationship with a new student.
On the third anniversary of a cult's failed chemical attack on Tokyo and their subsequent mass suicide, family members of those affected gather at the cult's former base on the shores of a lake to observe the anniversary of their loved ones' deaths.
A grieving artist seeks redemption in an unlikely place, her loved one's crime scene.
Mécanique
Parallel stories connected through an intimacy with death. The living and the dead communicate through visions, memories and reality.
What would you do if only after the death of your husband, or your father, or your best friend, you found out that he had loved another man? “Tempo Rubato” is a story about two grieving processes—Ravi’s, who lost his first love to police violence, and Dora and Edu’s, who lost their husband and father, respectively. Tiago, Ravi’s childhood friend, visits his family after the funeral and brings with him two boxes full of videos that Ravi recorded throughout his youth, including a farewell video-letter to his family, in which he confesses the secret he kept his entire life.
Buddy Amaral, a successful and self-absorbed Los Angeles advertising executive, switches airline tickets with a stranger just before boarding a long-delayed flight so that he might enjoy an overnight fling with a pretty Dallas businesswoman. When the plane goes down, killing all aboard, Buddy's guilt soon turns into an alcohol problem. As part of his 12-step program, Buddy seeks atonement and decides to seek out the woman he thinks he's left a widow.
Jo's world is thrown into utter disarray when her wife Amanda passes away and she starts chasing a dream that she and Amanda had once shared - starting a family together. Jo asks her late wife's brother, Jamie, to be her sperm donor and craziness ensues.
Following the arrival of an unwanted guest, the tightly-knit bond between two sisters is put to the test when their idyllic playdate takes a dark turn. Supported by The Future of Film is Female, ALBION ROSE is a late bloomer's coming-of-age drama with hints of magical realism and dark fairytale elements that paint a delicate, yet emotionally charged portrait of sisterhood, loss, and the healing powers of fantasy.
Porcupine evokes the fragmented tale of a young man who breaks into an empty hospital to set up his online broadcast of poses and provocations; his audience includes real-life participants with anonymous tags like ‘bigballnz’ and ‘romeoazteca’.