Essentially Painless

A wild, wallifornia-style quirky film.

Meowth and Wobbuffet sit on a cliff near a crystal cave, with Meowth thinking about how beautiful Meloetta is. Suddenly, Meloetta flies past, searching for something, then flies off. Meowth and Wobbuffet take off after it.

The before and after of a break-up between a young couple, told from both perspectives.

A Hamlet-inspired tale of two sisters running their late mother's business. When one sister has a run-in with her (presumed to be dead) mother, chaos ensues.

A self-involved but seductive beauty engineers his two lovers to fight over him. And we mean, really fight.

A nice guy who always finishes last discovers a potion that helps him turn the tables on the rude, stick it to the inconsiderate, and maybe overcome his own meekness.

Meeper and the ChubbChubbs go to the North Pole; when Santa Claus is injured and can't deliver his presents, he is replaced by Meeper.

In the 1970s, child prodigy Lucien Spelman was billed as the youngest professional Classical/Flamenco guitarist in the world. A documentary crew has caught up with Lucien as a middle-aged man who has laid down his guitar to immerse himself in the competitive brutality of mixed martial arts. Lucien falls under the tutelage of an 'energy manipulator' he meets online, and when a seedy fight promoter allows Lucien to buy a shot at redemption both student and teacher realize that there is much more to the fight game then they anticipated, and just maybe more to themselves as well.

In this psychological thriller, we dive into the mind of a middle-aged man named Norman who suffers from schizophrenia. Reality and unreality are in a constant battle within his mind. As the events unfold there is a glimpse of hope underneath his suffering.

A handful of Sally Cruikshank’s characters come to life once again to explore a gallery celebrating her career highlights.

Notodofilmfest short.

A comedy film directed by Frank Richardson

After getting on the "dance cam" at a professional sporting event, Drew quickly loses his mind along with his sense of reality.

Mary Lou is unhappy in love and decides to reconnect with her religious roots by marrying a practicing Jew. In order to get married, she has to pass the Shidduch test, which will determine whether her life will be a success or failure.

A mysterious remote falls from the sky.

A young couple plans to spice up their love life when their friend, Holly, comes over for dinner.

Enby, a 20 something human living in East Van has finally found the words that match their identity. Ironically it's been their nickname all along. Enby has come to realize that in order to thrive as their authentic self they must carve out a path that doesn't conform to the traditional gender binary. Now they must negotiate explaining this to their family while simultaneously taking the first steps to building a life in which they feel comfortable in their own skin. Confusion, misunderstandings and awkwardness ensue, what's an Enby to do?

On his 25th birthday, The Kid, an unpublished novelist, finds himself in a dark bar, drinking alone, and experiencing a quarter of a life crisis. He strikes up a conversation with The Bartender, an older veteran of the bar, who is the only person remaining after last call. Venting to The Bartender about his current existential crisis they both end up drinking together, but when The Bartender goes to make sure everything is cleaned up for the night, he returns with a .38 Special Snubnose Revolver, also known as a "Saturday Night Special", and informs The Kid that someone must have left it behind. The two speculate where the gun could have come from, all the while they continue to drink, which makes things quite chaotic once the Kid decides to pick up the gun.

Joe McDoakes and his wife go apartment hunting.

In this comedic short, Joe McDoakes attempts to save his five-year marriage to Alice.