Film Invasion – L.A. & Lima

2026 Official Selection: Comedy – Short

Charlotte crosses time and space to be with her beloved himbo, Zack.

Program: Shorts Block 7 · Sat, Aug 22, 2026 · 7:00 PM

• Director(s): Jonathan Hammond
• Writer(s): Jonathan Hammond, Ryan Roach
• Producer(s): Martin Spanjers
• Key Cast: Emily Goss, Nick Ballard, Hale Appleman, Drew Droege, Amy Yasbeck, Jade Catta-Preta, Austin Basis, Suzy Nakamura
• Editor(s): Anjoum Agrama
• Cinematographer(s): Elle Schneider
• Production Designer(s): Maric Jach
• Sound Designer(s): Melody Gun
• Composer(s): Nick Byron Campbell

Language: English

Runtime: 18m

Country: United States

Synopsis: A fantastical romance across time and space.

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2026 Official Selection: Drama – Short

A story of loss, hope and the power of cycling. A ten-year-old boy transforms his small town streets into a Tour de France, chasing his dream that will define his future.

Program: Shorts Block 9 · Sat, Aug 22, 2026 · 8:05 PM

• Director(s): Damien Smith
• Writer(s): Damien Smith
• Producer(s): Andrew Wright, Alphonso McAuley
• Key Cast: Grayson Battles
• Editor(s): Damien Smith, ACE
• Cinematographer(s): Jonathan "JP" Park
• Sound Designer(s): Jon Title, MPSE
• Composer(s): Michael Yezerski

Language: English

Runtime: 12m

Country: United States

Los Angeles Premiere

Synopsis: Yellow Jersey is a heartfelt coming-of-age short film about grief, hope, and the healing power of community. Set in a small Utah town, the story follows a young boy struggling with loss who finds inspiration in the legendary Tour de France. Determined to bring that spirit to his hometown, he creates his own cycling race, discovering resilience, friendship, and a renewed sense of purpose along the way.

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2026 Official Selection: Horror – Short

What if enslaved people came back from the dead as zombies but only ate white people?

Program: Shorts Block 1 · Fri, Aug 21, 2026 · 7:00 PM

• Director(s): David Dylan Thomas
• Writer(s): David Dylan Thomas
• Producer(s): Stephanie Malson, Maurice Gaston
• Key Cast: Davon Cochran, Walt DeShields
• Editor(s): Raquel Davis
• Cinematographer(s): Jalen Ramseur-Williams
• Production Designer(s): Jai Monee
• Sound Designer(s): Timothy Day
• Composer(s): Gangstagrass

Language: English

Runtime: 12m

Country: United States

Synopsis: True story, beneath Washington Square, an urban park in Philadelphia, lie buried the bodies of hundreds of enslaved people. What if, one night, they all came back as zombies, but they only ate white people?

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2026 Official Selection: Screenplay – Screenplay – Feature Film

Ceremony: Screenplay Awards Ceremony · Sat, Aug 22, 2026 · 6:00 PM

When his brother makes a decision that breaks open his life and leaves Taylor utterly alone, he ventures into the chaos of discovering and owning his queerness.

• Writer(s): Daniel Talbott

Language: English

Country: Not Specified

Los Angeles Premiere

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Taylor lives on his own in the house where he was raised, His parents both gone. He travels far out of New Orleans each week to care for his wayward older brother Cody—their family a tightly closed island of two. When his brother makes a decision that breaks open his life and leaves Taylor utterly alone, he emerges from the smallness of his existence and ventures into the chaos and swirl of the French Quarter and greater New Orleans, whose eclectic inhabitants, lost souls,

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.

Program: Shorts Block 3 · Fri, Aug 21, 2026 · 9:10 PM

• 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

Program: Shorts Block 6 · Sat, Aug 22, 2026 · 6:10 PM

• 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

Ceremony: Screenplay Awards Ceremony · Sat, Aug 22, 2026 · 6:00 PM

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.

2026 Official Selection: Comedy – Short

Two mom friends struggling to recover from the dirty little secret that pregnancy left behind, make an unusual pact.
The Hole Truth : Sometimes you find out who your real friends

Program: Shorts Block 9 · Sat, Aug 22, 2026 · 8:05 PM

• Director(s): Christine Lakin
• Writer(s): Alison Whitney
• Producer(s): Alison Whitney, Natasha Goss, Leah Bleich
• Key Cast: Alison Whitney, Natasha Goss, Mindy Sterling, Ron Funches, Horace Dodd
• Editor(s): Davey Robertson
• Cinematographer(s): Davey Robertson
• Production Designer(s): Marisa Papavero
• Sound Designer(s): Alex Bologne
• Composer(s): Gabriel Mann

Language: English

Runtime: 18m

Country: United States

Synopsis: After cleaning up Jonah’s Birthday Party, mom Natalie and her friend Amy, collapse into the couch where they confess that since childbirth, both have experienced terrible hemorrhoids. Natalie’s are back and so bad that she’s certain she needs surgery. The ladies decide (after a thorough inspection of each other’s) that they will have surgery on the same day, and go on a well-deserved Girl’s Trip to “recover” away from their families at a gorgeous AirBnB in Malibu. How bad

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2026 Official Selection: Screenplay – Screenplay – Feature Film

Ceremony: Screenplay Awards Ceremony · Sat, Aug 22, 2026 · 6:00 PM

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,

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.

Program: Shorts Block 8 · Sat, Aug 22, 2026 · 8:00 PM

• 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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