Section A – 1 pm-2:30 pm

Wake Up

Director:  Ewurakua Dawson-Amoah

Writer:  Jon Wakins

Producer:  Parco Richardson, Issa Rae, Talitha Watkins, Deniese Davis, Jamari Perry

Genre:  Narrative Short, 14:24

Alana is a brilliant young researcher stationed at Safe Guard Six, a remote facility dedicated to studying an alien threat known as the Mantis Drone. When the base is unexpectedly overrun by real drones, Alana sets out on a desperate mission to rescue her brother Jeremy, who she believes is trapped somewhere inside.As she navigates the crumbling corridors and evades the deadly drones, the boundaries between memory and reality begin to unravel. Flashbacks from her childhood bleed into the present. Eventually, Alana reaches Jeremy, only to uncover a devastating truth, he died years ago, and Safe Guard Six is a manifestation of an old game they used to play. What began as a rescue mission becomes a reckoning with grief, memory, and the lengths the mind will go to protect itself.

Wallpaper

Director:  Issraa ElKogali Häggström

Writer:  Issraa ElKogali Häggström

Producer:  John M. Wahl

Genre:  Narrative Short, 8:17

Joy, a Black immigrant woman, and her White husband Jack have just moved to an old house in the Swedish countryside, seeking solace after a shared trauma. But as Joy immerses herself in writing, the house reveals unsettling secrets—strange noises, shifting shadows, and messages hidden behind the wallpaper—that threaten both their relationship and their lives. In this tense psychological horror short, isolation, identity, and the unseen forces that prey on fear and grief collide. Not everything buried stays hidden. Inspired by The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Issraa Elkogali Häggström’s own experiences.

What We Carry

Director/Writer:  Karl-Mary Akre

Producer:  Priscilla Gutierrez

Genre:  Narrative Short, 14:27

Stranded in the rural American South, an Ivorian couple must fight to escape an unknown predator.

The Bathroom

Director/Writer:  Marjuan Canady

Producer:  Marjuan Canady, Erica Baca, Eleshia Simms-Harris

Genre:  Narrative Short, 5:45

The Bathroom explores three women who attempt to wash their hands in a public bathroom. For two of them, the automated sinks refuse to work, while for another, the water flows with ease. What begins as an ordinary inconvenience transforms into an unsettling encounter with something larger, as the empty bathroom itself reveals a hidden presence lingering just beyond perception.

S(HE) CAME ONE DAY

Director/Writer:   Jalysa Conway

Producer:   Jalysa Conway, Brian Michael Smith, Denny Dugally

Genre:  Narrative Short,  15:00

In a dust storm-ravaged future, Dr. Gwen Azzi has survived three years completely alone, sealed inside a government research station and clinging to one rule: don’t let anyone in. But when a desperate stranger appears at her airlock begging for help, Gwen makes the one choice she can’t take back. Now, she finds herself trapped with a man who may be her only real chance at human connection…or the reason she doesn’t survive the night.

Under Her Skin

Director:  Shihan Tan

Genre:  Narrative Short,  13:45

A professional cosplayer mother uses fantasy to shield her daughter—until reality forces her to take off the mask.