Chhoti Gold

A man in need of help eventually receives it, whether he asks for it or not.

A research scientist explores the boundaries and frontiers of consciousness. Using sensory deprivation and hallucinogenic mixtures from native American shamans, he explores these altered states of consciousness and finds that memory, time, and perhaps reality itself are states of mind.

A tormented young woman haunted by a recurring dream is catapulted into a peculiar and deviant world where she is confronted by the duality of her existence.

Dealing with his pill addiction, Jinn suffers from vivid nightmares, featuring a monster that plagues his everyday life.

A former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his mother – the leader of a strange religious cult – and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name.

Trapped and alone, a young man must confront the pain he's ignored when he finds himself face-to-face with consequence.

Host Scott Forrest presents a curated compilation of eight independent short films in this rapid-fire science-fiction feature. Genres collide, narratives twist, aesthetics clash, and even humor, both campy and dystopian, showcase the vast creative possibilities of each story's individual world, offering the viewer a brief glimpse into the lives of every character's attempt to survive the otherworldly chaos around them. Released in 2001, the selected shorts span original creation dates of 1997 to 2001; most of the featured filmmakers also appear as themselves in short video interviews to talk about their inspirations, creative process and motivations while working on their individual shorts.

Dilution is an experimental short film that explores the transit between resistance and (di)ssolution, between holding and releasing and a path towards obsessive repetition. They are layers, exposed pores, matter that oscillates between remaining or disappearing. The sound is not a background, but a puncture: friction, tearing, water that drags what still persists. A sensorial testimony of what refuses to vanish completely.

Ethan and Sophie are a married couple on the brink of separation when, at the urging of their therapist, they decide to salvage their relationship by escaping to a beautiful vacation house for the weekend.

A teenage boy is forced into making a decision within 60 seconds between a possible death, or being pulled into an unknown reality.

A vain actor, his best friend, and an activist end up at a mutant freak farm run by a weirdo scientist.

Love blossoms secretly between two old women at an elderly care home while the specter of patriarchy looms large overhead.

As surreal as it is nightmarish. Ella's parents get into a nasty argument and leave her in a house with two unknown guests.

Through thread and textile, an Asian seamstress tries to escape from the factory.

A spiral of dreams and ages unravel as two celestial characters awaken and transmutate into a mythological being.

David Aames has it all: wealth, good looks and gorgeous women on his arm. But just as he begins falling for the warmhearted Sofia, his face is horribly disfigured in a car accident. That's just the beginning of his troubles as the lines between illusion and reality, between life and death, are blurred.

In the questionable town of Deer Meadow, Washington, FBI Agent Desmond inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The killer is never apprehended, and, after experiencing dark visions and supernatural encounters, Agent Dale Cooper chillingly predicts that the culprit will claim another life. Meanwhile, in the more cozy town of Twin Peaks, hedonistic beauty Laura Palmer hangs with lowlifes and seems destined for a grisly fate.

In a locked down train station, a homicide detective conducts an interview with a tormented monkey who is suspected of murder.

A disastrous one-night stand between strangers, Asha and Lucas, gets extended when a police lockdown traps the lovers in Asha’s Oakland apartment. As the night progresses, strange things occur, and nothing is as it seems. Asha and Lucas must survive the night without killing each other or falling in love.

An assassin goes through obstacles as he attempts to escape his violent lifestyle despite the opposition of his partner, who is secretly attracted to him.