Dying to Sleep

Four inner-city Black women, determined to end their constant struggle, decide to live by one rule — get what you want or die trying. So the four women take back their lives and take out some banks in the process.

Loosely based on the Charles Dickens' classic novel, "Great Expectations" is a sensual tale of a young man's unforgettable passage into manhood, and the three individuals who will undeniably change his life forever. Through the surprising interactions of these vivid characters, "Great Expectations" takes a unique and contemporary look at life's great coincidences.

Homicide detective John Hobbes witnesses the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese. Soon after the execution the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese's style.

A Taiwanese-American man is happily settled in New York with his American boyfriend. He plans a marriage of convenience to a Chinese woman in order to keep his parents off his back and to get the woman a green card. Chaos follows when his parents arrive in New York for the wedding.

For centuries, a secret Order of priests has existed within the Church. A renegade priest, Father Alex Bernier, is sent to Rome to investigate the mysterious death of one of the Order's most revered members. Following a series of strangely similar killings, Bernier launches an investigation that forces him to confront unimaginable evil.

Benjamin and Dom have been best friends since they were kids. On their last night together, Dom plans to send Benjamin off with a pocketful of cash. All he has to do is deliver a package over the border for a friend...

Fernando, a lonely and tormented man, gets a job as a night watchman in a warehouse close to being demolished. The building is huge, with several floors and wings interconnected by a confusing network of corridors and stairs. One night, Fernando hears strange noises and finds a gate open that should be closed. From that moment on, nothing will be the same.

A sensitive girl is sent to an all-girls boarding school and develops a romantic attachment to one of her teachers.

In the Yorkshire countryside, working-class tomboy Mona meets the exotic, pampered Tamsin. To seal their friendship, Mona introduces Tamsin to her born-again Christian brother and helps her spy on her adulterous father. Bound together by their secrets, the two girls see their friendship deepen and enter into dangerous waters.

In a world governed by commerce, Ricky and Kate, dedicated employees, find their lives forever changed when they encounter the enigmatic stranger G. As they navigate the realm of commerce, their paths intertwine in a surreal dance of love, loss, and redemption. G's presence, amplified through the pervasive influence of globalized television, casts a spell that reverberates beyond Ricky and Kate, impacting the lives of those who bear witness to their intertwined destinies.

After having successfully eluded the authorities for years, Hannibal peacefully lives in Italy in disguise as an art scholar. Trouble strikes again when he's discovered leaving a deserving few dead in the process. He returns to America to make contact with now disgraced Agent Clarice Starling, who is suffering the wrath of a malicious FBI rival as well as the media.

Lena, a 40-year-old actress freshly divorced, is determined to rebuild her life. Embracing change, she quickly plunges into the vibrant nightlife of Warsaw—and into the arms of Kundel, a young, charismatic student. Their relationship is a passionate explosion where the boundaries between intimacy and desire begin to blur. Meanwhile, Lena’s ex-husband Jan, a respected lawyer, struggles to accept the end of their marriage.

A stranger with a mysterious past witnesses an airplane crash, and sets out to save the only survivor...a nine year old girl. Out-numbered, out-gunned, and relentlessly hunted for a crime he did not commit, the stranger must escape an army of blood-thirsty bounty hunters, as he desperately searches to save the injured child.

Old college chums get together for a weekend reunion that is bound to open old wounds and perhaps heal them. New romances find a spark while old ones rekindle.

Inhibited by his conventional life, a man named Jay is forced to confront his darkest secret when having to choose between a life of normality and authenticity.

TV producer Kei and her recently retired comedian boyfriend Yoshi are working to conceive their first child as they consider marriage approaching mid-thirties—a process complicated by the fact that Kei has continued taking contraceptives. Annoyed by Yoshi relaxing into domestic life and slacking off at his part-time job, Kei has finally worked around her male colleagues’ obstruction to spearhead an innovative web series guest hosted by rotating everyday people. She invites Shiori, a young trans man working for her office’s delivery service and moonlighting as a bartender at an LGBTQ-inclusive space, to kick off the program. However, as Kei pushes forward, she reaches a breaking point.

Whilst house-sitting in a secluded home in Scotland, Aarya, an expressionist painter, is gifted a red scarf sent by her aunt from Pakistan, and becomes haunted by a Churail; a demonic and malevolent South-Asian Witch.

Guttman's best short film, Afflicted tells the story of a young, closeted Israeli man who visits a drag bar one night in search of sexual expression.

The story of Lily, a girl with a secret, on the cusp of becoming a young woman. With her best friend, the fiercely loyal and flamboyant Simon, she navigates the treacherous waters of school life. When a misunderstanding with the beautiful and popular Violet leads to a vicious attack, Lily is faced with the greatest challenge of her young life.

Giuseppe, 33, is still struggling to build his life in a small Italian town where he has to hide his homosexuality. With a Polaroid in hand, he decides to leave for Berlin to find Peter, a summer love he has never forgotten. The shock of a cosmopolitan city is nothing compared to the moment he realizes that the German artist has a "normal" family. For him this represents the possibility of 'losing' himself and meeting Marco, who takes him around all night to arrive at dawn to the conviction that love is the only strength to find one's identity. "Polaroid" is one of five short film segments in an omnibus feature titled "A Quintet".