The Famous Box Trick

A young woman struggles with her fractured home life, failing to find common ground with her volatile yet emotionally repressed mother. Longing for a maternal figure, she continues to be haunted by visions of a mystical woman, and soon, dream intertwines with reality as she discovers a deeper connection to the mysterious lady of the woods.

Nine-year-old Fox was born into a family of Mexican-American witches living in a trailer park in Georgia. Fox dreams of becoming a Baptist preacher. The only problem is, she might just be the most powerful sorceress of them all.

"Chasing Stars" tells the magic journey of a young girl, who’s looking for her home and own place in the world. The journey takes place in the Arctic and the main character is helped by a very special friend, a Beluga whale.

Jack adheres strictly to his routine, as dictated by his phone. When a friend at work tries to free him, his phone fights back.

Minh lives in a village where every child is born with a tree on their heads, except for him. On graduation day, students who have turned 18 will get their tree cut to signify adulthood. Problems arise when Minh’s sister decides to keep hers.

The video documents a one-man re-creation of the fabled archer’s feat. In it, an armor-clad protagonist emerges from the pastoral landscape to attempt the seemingly heroic act of shooting a can off of his own head by firing a BB gun at a polished piece of marble. Much like Don Quijote’s epic charge at a windmill that he believes to be a giant, the protagonist is attempting a challenge that a spectator would perceive as both inconsequential and potentially self destructive, since he is essentially shooting at himself. However, unlike Quijote, and unlike Tell, the protagonist is aware of this danger and protects himself from the ricocheting BBs with a suit of armor. The armor and the gun, which can be seen as past and present representations of masculine power, actually undermine his image as a heroic man by revealing his vulnerability. This is especially true in the case of the armor since its purpose is to protect him from his own inaccuracy.

On a tabletop mountain a mahout and his strange herd make a surprising and never-ending journey.

Anouk, a little orphan, meets the Grim reaper and becomes a fan. A love that the servant of Death will have to cope with.

A man dying of thirst descends further down a labyrinth consisting of nightmarish Bosch-esque creatures.

Prisoners, two sisters share their life in a strange place. The mundane routine, along curiosity, will bring Prita to break the boundaries of the secure place.

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?

A toad bikes back home in order to water his plants.

The iconic “Jingle Bell Rock” scene from Mean Girls was transformed into an animated music video. Cady and the plastics bust out the moves in this holiday special with grooves by Safari Riot. Don't miss this short film filled with holiday cheer and Mean Girls easter eggs. So FETCH!

After his village is attacked, a cowboy steals a black sphere. The mysterious object changes hands and it finally arrives to a bandit camp. The Indian girl who is carrying the sphere is captured and tied to a big cross. The cowboy confronts the bandits, in the attempt to have the sphere back, but they are all distracted by the arrive of the obscure owner of the craved object. The fight is ruthless, dramatic. Only the girl tries to escape, but she will have to meet her fate.

An emotional and generational conflict between mother and son in the twenty-first century, except for one detail: Mother is none other than death.

A sinister fairytale depicting the lives of two brothers and their daily suicide attempts.

A woman’s face disappearing behind, and emerging from, a pair of hands. Flashing lights. An empty building full of dark hallways. Designs drawn in the air with light and long-exposure cinematography.

A young woman wonders through a forest when she encounters a light, suddenly she feels drawn into it.

La Bleue