Part of this year’s Where I Belong (Identity) Shorts. Iranian-American filmmaker Andy Sarjahani and his childhood friend Bubba Samuels go on a wild hog hunt in their native Ozarks where unexpected conversations unfold that have a lasting impact on their friendship.

Part of this year’s Where I Belong (Identity) Shorts. A pop culture essay film on the makeover movies we grew up loving—and all the ways they taught us that we needed to fix ourselves.
For more than a hundred years, movie makeovers have promised audiences that with a little help, any ugly duckling can transform into the belle of the ball. Why has this trope continued to capture our imaginations? And what has it taught us about ourselves? Featuring clips from nearly a hundred films, MAKEOVER MOVIE immerses us in the candy-colored, kinetic, and kaleidoscopic world of the makeover montage. Alongside these iconic images, the director and her friends—all women of color and/or queer women—share personal reflections on the racialized, heteronormative, and contradictory beauty standards at the core of the movie makeover.

Part of this year’s Not-So-Short Shorts. SHE MARCHES IN CHINATOWN is an inspiring story about belonging, identity, sisterhood, leadership, and a community that has flourished among a diverse group of women with backgrounds that represent a variety of sexual orientations, races, and ages. It is about a group that thrives despite being in a neighborhood targeted by hate and discrimination. As one superfan puts it, “Please don’t go away – Seattle needs you!”

Part of this year’s Emotional Spectrum (aka Devastation) Shorts. Recorded in secret in Iran at the height of the women-led uprising, this documentary short follows an Iranian medical resident who risks her life to protect a fellow doctor from arrest by the country’s secret police.

PRE-FEATURE TO “New Wave”: To share his culture through food, Chef Tim Ma must defy monosodium glutamate's unsavory reputation.