Espectros da Terra

Daydream Therapy is set to Nina Simone’s haunting rendition of “Pirate Jenny” and concludes with Archie Shepp’s “Things Have Got to Change.” Filmed in Burton Chace Park in Marina del Rey by activist-turned-filmmaker Bernard Nicolas as his first project at UCLA, this short film poetically envisions the fantasy life of a hotel worker whose daydreams provide an escape from workplace indignities. —Allyson Nadia Field

Borrowing its title from an experimental text by Walter Benjamin. Many years ago, the cities by the river were gripped by a contagion. Things started to change and everything slowly became something else. It was not clear if transformation was a symptom of the disease or a way to escape it. The contagion touched everything and everyone: animals and plants, stones and soil, men, women and children, their thoughts, their dreams, their memories. An old woman once told me how all memories turn into trees, I could hardly make out what she was saying. She said she could hear the trees singing: To be a body, to be any body. After the years of contagion ended, the cities appeared untouched. One had to look hard to see the traces of the previous time. If one could listen to the trees, what would they say? A way out, a way out?

An agoraphobic man traps himself in an astronaut costume to avoid the disastrous consequences of his condition

A young man addicted to sex, drinking and nightlife has a casual encounter and contracts a nasty, unknown bug. A surreal, horror comedy, a descent into sex, passion, violence, madness and redemption.

One man’s guilty conscience will soon breed a world of insanity.

Wallace and Gromit have run out of cheese, and this provides an excellent excuse for the duo to take their holiday to the moon, where, as everyone knows, there is ample cheese. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.

Brother gets evil revenge on his sister.

During an abortion, 17-year-old Yang gives birth to a live jellyfish in her bathroom.

When her imaginary friend is kidnapped, Olivia has to go on an epic quest to get him back.

A krautrock ghost story where a ghostly transmission implores the help of an occult-savvy pizza girl.

Damien returns to the water to re-kindle memories of his late father and him surfing as a boy. Past and present begin to blend in parallels under the water and Damien's mortality is further threatened by a stalking siren.

After a diving excursion in the middle of the ocean, Lindsey is viciously sexually assaulted by Bruce, her instructor. She fends him of and they fall overboard into the water. Bruce grabs her and sinks her to the depths of the ocean. In this spiral of violence, she has no way to breathe.

The hilarious downward spiral of a frustrated woman's night as she tries to relax at home after a hard day. The short is elevated by surreal animation, cringe worthy what if scenarios and good fashioned T and A.

Late night, a commuter bus was speeding along the coastal highway when, suddenly, a loud and panicky scream pierced the night’s silence. This wealthy and elderly lady had just woken to find her precious necklace stolen. What follows was a series of intriguing turn of events, chaotic mob justice, vengeful lynching, as the truth behind the theft unfolds. The film climaxes as the commuter bus went ablaze, burning and glittering against the pitch-dark coastal sky.

A bullied teenage girl leads a glee club on a trail of destruction against her high school enemies.

A king steals crowns from various other rulers.

A strange woman arrives from the North to a prehistoric village bringing some bad news...

A vibrant anthology of LGBTQ+ short films and music videos that delve into the complexities of youth, identity, and desire. This diverse collection showcases a range of cinematic voices—both emerging and established—exploring the exhilaration, vulnerability, and confusion of coming-of-age through stories that celebrate queer love, self-discovery, and the breaking of societal boundaries. Blending narrative shorts, experimental visuals, and music-driven pieces, the anthology offers an evocative, multifaceted portrait of innocence transformed.

8-year old Joshua has never left his home for dangerous creatures live outside their isolated farmhouse - the Gorgers. But when his father Aaron mysteriously disappears Joshua is forced to go outside. A decision that will change his life forever for something is closing in on the little boy. Fast.

Descending into a cave, two men seek answers to a book of unknown horrors. What will they find and will their sanity prevail?