Category: FI-LA 2026 Official Selections

2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Horror

The safest places have become the most deadly.

• Director(s): Sam Balcomb
• Writer(s): Sam Balcomb
• Producer(s): Andrew Vogel
• Key Cast: Courtney Bandeko
• Editor(s): Jesse Soff
• Cinematographer(s): Sam Balcomb
• Production Designer(s): SiggySooky
• Sound Designer(s): Rainfall Films
• Composer(s): Jeff Dodson

Language: English

Runtime: 8m

Country: United States

Los Angeles Premiere

Synopsis: Madalyn wakes up to find a wedding ring on her finger and a stranger’s belongings in her home. Something is very wrong, and as her world spirals around her on the Fourth of July, Madalyn discovers that no one is safe.

Visit this Official Selection’s Instagram →

Visit the official website →

2026 Official Selection: Horror – Short

An ancient blood feud between two gangs of rival mimes escalates to horrifying new heights when they discover their mimed weaponry has – extremely bloody – real world consequences

• Director(s): Tommy O’Rourke
• Writer(s): Tommy O’Rourke
• Producer(s): Josh Sathre
• Key Cast: Kelsey Gunn, Derek Loughran, Omar Heyward, Katie Orr, Ari Fromm, Sika Lonner
• Editor(s): Jon Gollner
• Cinematographer(s): Zachariah Dalton
• Composer(s): Adam Chavez

Runtime: 12m

Country: United States

Synopsis: In this completely silent horror/comedy film, the Deburau and Marceau mime families have had a blood feud since the dawn of time but managed to keep a tenuous peace – until now

Click here to watch the trailer →

Visit this Official Selection’s Instagram →

2026 Official Selection: Arthouse/Experimental – Short (under 20 mins), Sci-Fi – Short

A trans-dimensional visitor lands in the desert and gathers specimens, only to find the one that could set him free.

• Director(s): Mark Steger
• Writer(s): Mark Steger
• Producer(s): Mark Steger
• Key Cast: Mark Steger, Paul Donald, John Grady, Jimbo Matison
• Editor(s): Mark Steger
• Cinematographer(s): Mark Steger, Kyoko Takanaka(additional Cinematography)
• Production Designer(s): Mark Steger
• Sound Designer(s): Mark Steger
• Composer(s): Robert Crouch

Language: English

Runtime: 10m

Country: United States

Synopsis: Imago is an experimental odyssey of a trans-dimensional being who lands in the desert and gathers curious specimens. The symbiotic visitor may represent the larval stage of a more developed entity that requires an outside stimulus to complete its metamorphosis – and set it free.

Click here to watch the trailer →

2026 Official Selection: Screenplay – Screenplay – Pilot/Series

In a near future where wealthy parents genetically enhance their kids, modified and natural-born teens navigate high school, class warfare, identity, and the cost of perfection.

• Writer(s): Matthew DeJohn

Language: English

Country: Not Specified

Visit this Official Selection’s Instagram →

A dark comedy set in a near future where wealthy parents genetically enhance their kids, an ambitious freshman Claire enters high school determined to take her place among the elite “mods.” But as status, class, and grotesque side effects collide, her family’s choices begin to threaten the perfect future she thought she was promised.

A dark comedy set in a near future where wealthy parents genetically enhance their kids, an ambitious freshman Claire enters high school determined to take her place among the elite “mods.” But as status, class, and grotesque side effects collide, her family’s choices begin to threaten the perfect future she thought she was promised.

2026 Official Selection: Comedy – Short

When his estranged mother crashes his holiday orgy, a detached young man must fake a normal, loving relationship over dinner.

• Director(s): Idan Argov
• Writer(s): Idan Argov
• Producer(s): Idan Argov, Noa Gur Itzhak
• Key Cast: Idan Argov, Ricki Hayut, Gil Seri Levi
• Editor(s): Itamar polivoda
• Cinematographer(s): Sefi Elisha
• Production Designer(s): Shira Haimoff
• Sound Designer(s): Shelly Bar-On
• Composer(s): Omer Teper

Language: Hebrew

Runtime: 19m

Country: Israel

Los Angeles Premiere

Synopsis: On the eve of a holiday, Dor’s plans for a wild orgy collapse when his estranged mother shows up unannounced. Mistaking one of his hookups for a serious boyfriend, she turns the evening upside down. As the three sit down for a painfully polite holiday dinner, Dor and his mother have to finally face what tore them apart.
A bittersweet comedy about shame, masculinity, and family expectations.

Click here to watch the trailer →

Visit this Official Selection’s Instagram →

Visit this Official Selection’s Facebook →

2026 Official Selection: Comedy – Short

A woman organizes a cabin getaway for her friends to debut a new comedy character that will change the course of their lives forever.

• Director(s): Jared Bronen, Alex Guaglianone
• Writer(s): Jared Bronen, Alex Guaglianone
• Key Cast: Marina Gasparyan, Jared Bronen, Margaret Burrus, Anthony Jackson, Kate Shine
• Cinematographer(s): Aidan Macaluso
• Sound Designer(s): Somepoint Sound

Language: English

Runtime: 8m

Country: United States

Los Angeles Premiere

Synopsis: A woman organizes a cabin getaway for her friends to debut a new comedy character that will change the course of their lives forever.

Click here to watch the trailer →

Visit this Official Selection’s Instagram →

2026 Official Selection: Music Video

A haunting meditation on a life well lived, where the weight of excess slowly gives way to the fragile line between fulfillment and self-destruction.

• Director(s): Jessica c Moncrief
• Writer(s): Jessica c Moncrief, Soda Gardocki
• Producer(s): Jessica c Moncrief
• Key Cast: Soda Gardocki, Vanessa Burgundy
• Editor(s): Jessica c Moncrief
• Cinematographer(s): Jessica c Moncrief
• Production Designer(s): Jessica c Moncrief and Vanessa Burgundy
• Sound Designer(s): Jessica C Moncrief
• Composer(s): Soda Gardocki

Language: English

Runtime: 3m

Country: United States

Synopsis: Accompanying an original song by Punk/Americana legend Soda Gardocki, this music video reflects on a life shaped by experience and excess. Set within a custom designed world lit primarily by practical lighting and candlelight, the film unfolds through evocative imagery that blurs the line between pleasure and reckoning. Conceived, produced, lit, shot, directed, and edited by Jessica Moncrief.

Visit this Official Selection’s Instagram →

Visit the official website →

2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Horror

• Director(s): Brenden Hubbard
• Writer(s): Brian Barnes
• Producer(s): Mylissa Fitzsimmons, Parth Marathe, Damon Russell, Brenden Hubbard, Bennett Krishock, Bryan Matthews, Shawn Christensen
• Key Cast: Ionie Nieves, Alejandro Rose-Garcia
• Editor(s): Josh Earle
• Cinematographer(s): Jack Mannion
• Production Designer(s): Christina Coleman
• Sound Designer(s): Nick Messitte
• Composer(s): Darren Morze

Language: English

Runtime: 16m

Country: United States

Synopsis: From the Academy Award winning team behind "Curfew." Still reeling from an incredible loss, a father (Shakey Graves) and daughter cling to a bedtime routine keeping them safe in a town where an unfathomable horror visits its inhabitants night after night.

Click here to watch the trailer →

Visit this Official Selection’s Instagram →

Visit the official website →

2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Horror

Imagine you could become rich with with the push of a button – there’s just one small, tiny catch…

• Director(s): Ben Rejzer
• Writer(s): Ben Rejzer
• Producer(s): Gabrielle LeBlanc
• Key Cast: Garrett McKenna
• Editor(s): Ben Rejzer
• Cinematographer(s): Jens Ericson
• Composer(s): Jon Monroe

Language: English

Runtime: 16m

Country: United States

Synopsis: When posed a with a simple choice – get rich, but be hunted forever – a young man must fight sanity and survival under the careful watch of an tiny, striped tormentor.

2026 Official Selection: Drama – Short

An aspiring writer uses increasingly desperate and unconventional methods to overcome a crippling ailment – writer’s block.

• Director(s): Dave Rosas
• Writer(s): Dave Rosas
• Producer(s): Dave Rosas, David M. Rosas
• Key Cast: Dave Rosas, Mason Bancroft, James E. Clark, Daniel Maggio, Jessica Rosas
• Editor(s): Dave Rosas
• Cinematographer(s): Dave Rosas
• Production Designer(s): David M. Rosas
• Sound Designer(s): Dave Rosas

Language: English

Runtime: 15m

Country: United States

Synopsis: An aspiring writer uses increasingly desperate and unconventional methods to overcome a crippling ailment – writer’s block.

Click here to watch the trailer →

Visit this Official Selection’s Instagram →

Visit the official website →