Category: FI-LA 2026 Official Selections

2026 Official Selection: Animation – Short (under 20 mins), Arthouse/Experimental – Short

After a global digital collapse called the Quiet Year, a human shares humanity’s story with a Synth-born, revealing a truth that will shape the future of humanity.

• Director(s): El Comondear
• Writer(s): Jenya Lano
• Producer(s): Jenya Lano
• Key Cast: Jenya Lano
• Editor(s): El Comondear
• Sound Designer(s): Bogdan Lyba

Language: English

Runtime: 8m

Country: United States

World Premiere

Synopsis: Set after a global digital collapse known as “The Quiet Year”, the film follows a human and a Synth-born as they explore humanity’s long journey and the moment that sparked its awakening. Through their exchange, the Synth learns that humans, AI, and the universe itself arise from the same source of awareness. The story offers a hopeful vision of creation as an ongoing loop—one that continues through every new form of life.

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2026 Official Selection: Animation – Short

Winning takes everything you’ve got

• Director(s): Mike Stamm
• Writer(s): Mike Stamm
• Producer(s): Mike Stamm, Dimos Vrysellas
• Key Cast: Bob Carter, Cadence Winter, Jack Carter, Ray Scarborough
• Editor(s): Mike Stamm
• Cinematographer(s): Mike Stamm
• Production Designer(s): Matt Evans
• Sound Designer(s): Sweet Justice Sound
• Composer(s): Abraham Darwich, Zach Heyde

Runtime: 12m

Country: United States

Los Angeles Premiere

Synopsis: The Ottoman, a hotshot mechanic and amateur robot gladiator, is looking forward to proving himself in the arena against the reigning Tournament champion and his massive mechanical Scorpion. But when his obsession with winning endangers the lives of his wife and son, the Ottoman must face some harsh lessons about what victory truly requires.

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2026 Official Selection: Screenplay – Screenplay – Pilot/Series

A struggling actor, while navigating his own personal demons, stumbles upon an unexpected source of income and inspiration: reading eulogies for the deceased.

• Writer(s): James Crisp

Language: English

Country: Not Specified

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A struggling actor is hired by a dying bar regular to crash his unwanted funeral and perform a brutally honest self-written eulogy. When the performance shocks the room and reminds him he still has talent, he accidentally launches a bizarre new career giving the dead the final word.

A struggling actor is hired by a dying bar regular to crash his unwanted funeral and perform a brutally honest self-written eulogy. When the performance shocks the room and reminds him he still has talent, he accidentally launches a bizarre new career giving the dead the final word.

2026 Official Selection: Screenplay – Screenplay – Feature Film

A Moorish knight gains immortality after secretly imprisoning three ancient dragons, but becomes the unwilling fuse for a modern dragon apocalypse in the process.

• Writer(s): Marcus Nel-Jamal Hamm

Language: English

Country: Not Specified

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In 837 AD Sicily, a Moorish knight named Mundir survives a dragon hunt thanks to Strega, a sorceress who binds three dragons into his body, granting him immortality and the hidden power to become the Dragon King—if he can keep the beasts contained. Centuries later in 1984 New York, Nefertiti Jackson—an Egyptian goddess living in human form—awakens from a fractured vision of a dragon apocalypse where Mundir appears to be the cause. Determined to prevent the end of the world,

In 837 AD Sicily, a Moorish knight named Mundir survives a dragon hunt thanks to Strega, a sorceress who binds three dragons into his body, granting him immortality and the hidden power to become the Dragon King—if he can keep the beasts contained. Centuries later in 1984 New York, Nefertiti Jackson—an Egyptian goddess living in human form—awakens from a fractured vision of a dragon apocalypse where Mundir appears to be the cause. Determined to prevent the end of the world,

2026 Official Selection: Drama – Short (under 20 mins), Thriller – Short

A small-town sheriff investigating a missing person discovers a freestanding door that tempts her with the life she once refused.

• Director(s): James Graham
• Writer(s): James Graham
• Producer(s): Michael Keen, Tali de Assis, Roger Mancusi (Executive Producer), David Scarpetti (Executive Producer)
• Key Cast: Annabel O’Hagan, Christian Johansen, Lauren McCann, Dan Berkey, Ernest Anemone
• Cinematographer(s): Med Ayed
• Production Designer(s): Sasha Newkirk
• Sound Designer(s): Michael Kelly
• Composer(s): Keegan DeWitt

Language: English

Runtime: 19m

Country: United States

Synopsis: Sheriff Sierra Ashgrove investigates the disappearance of Adam Yarrow, an ex-lover who returned home to care for his dementia-stricken father. In Adam’s house, she finds a freestanding red door that offers her something impossible: a “perfect” life where she married Adam and they had a daughter. Faced with this possibility, Sierra must choose between the impossible life she could have had and the imperfect but real life she does have.

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2026 Official Selection: Screenplay – Screenplay – Short Film

The Debutante’s Gown: One sick fit!

• Writer(s): Ashley Heathcock

Language: English

Country: Not Specified

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In a small historic river town full of charm and folklore, a haunted debutante gown is plucked out of a quirky antique shop by a community theatre director. Emily returns home to take care of her dying Grandmother, being home ignites past trauma. She searches for a heathy distraction and lands the lead role for The Debutante. When the gown goes on it’s light-out for Emily. The gown uses her like a puppet to carryout gruesome acts of horror.

In a small historic river town full of charm and folklore, a haunted debutante gown is plucked out of a quirky antique shop by a community theatre director. Emily returns home to take care of her dying Grandmother, being home ignites past trauma. She searches for a heathy distraction and lands the lead role for The Debutante. When the gown goes on it’s light-out for Emily. The gown uses her like a puppet to carryout gruesome acts of horror.

2026 Official Selection: Featurette – Drama

Some decisions don’t arrive as a single moment – they arrive as a flood of everything you’ve ever been.

• Director(s): Grace Sims
• Writer(s): Grace Sims
• Producer(s): Grace Sims, Don Ohmer, Jonathan Bowles
• Key Cast: Sydney Cole Alexander, Bates Wilder, Jerah Milligan, Taylor Rose, Dee Freeman, Jake Ryan, Savannah Rose Wells
• Editor(s): Natalie Hill
• Cinematographer(s): Riede Dervay
• Production Designer(s): Brittany Ingram
• Sound Designer(s): Alex Bologna
• Composer(s): Lilliana Villines

Runtime: 20m

Country: United States

Synopsis: In a kaleidoscope of memories Maxine (Sydney Cole Alexander; Severance, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning) must navigate the surreal and transformative decision of terminating a pregnancy; questioning the very fabric of her identity and future.

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2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Horror

Have your cake…and it eats you.

• Director(s): Ren Ariel Sano
• Writer(s): Ren Ariel Sano
• Producer(s): Ren Ariel Sano, Logan Mack
• Key Cast: Daisy Lopez, John-Michael Sedor
• Editor(s): Joe Carugati
• Cinematographer(s): Logan Mack
• Production Designer(s): Grace Alie
• Sound Designer(s): Elizabeth McClanahan
• Composer(s): Sylvain Kauffman

Runtime: 9m

Country: United States

Synopsis: An unsuspecting young couple bring a cursed candle to a friend’s 30th birthday party and unleash an unlikely evil that comes to collect its just desserts.

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2026 Official Selection: Thriller – Short

The only way out is through.

• Director(s): Cameron Zayec
• Writer(s): Sarah Huston
• Producer(s): Sarah Huston
• Key Cast: Sarah Huston, Shonee Samia, Allyson Henson, Lucy London, Bryan Probets, Shanay De Marco, Chloe Botha
• Editor(s): Cameron Zayec, Sarah Huston
• Cinematographer(s): Cameron Zayec, Matthew Davies
• Production Designer(s): Genevieve Morrow Ganner
• Sound Designer(s): Cameron Zayec
• Composer(s): Chloe Botha

Language: English

Runtime: 15m

Country: Australia

Los Angeles Premiere

Synopsis: Refusing to accept the loss of her girlfriend, Quinn spirals through the suffocating confines of prison. In the depths of her grief she must navigate her unraveling mind and confront her inner demons. The only way out is through.

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2026 Official Selection: Drama – Featurette

Finding her place begins with finding her voice.

• Director(s): Anastasia Kuplinova
• Writer(s): Sarah Jane Coleman
• Producer(s): Rhea Damani
• Key Cast: Jordan Cathryn, Matthew Sy
• Editor(s): Christine Yu
• Cinematographer(s): Truman Hatfield
• Production Designer(s): Chinmayee Kharche
• Sound Designer(s): Annie Okuhara
• Composer(s): Keaton Lewis, Scott Tucker

Language: English, Russian

Runtime: 27m

Country: United States

Synopsis: A young musician has spent years silencing her gift out of fear and self-doubt. But when someone finally sees her for who she is, and who she could be, Mira must decide whether to keep running from her past or embrace the music within her.

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