Official Selection & Winners

Winners LIFF 2023
Best International Feature Documentary:
Hidden Master : The Legacy of George Platt Lynes – Sam Shahid
Best International Short Documentary:
Fairy Fingers – Siham Kortas
Best Feature Script:
Her Whisper
Best Diversity Award:
Dora – Julian De La Chica
Best Web Doc:
Beyond the cup
Best International Short Fiction:
Lior – Scott Glassman
Best Local Short Documentary:
Kaab El Day’a – Georges Abi Ramia
Best Actress:
Agatha Ezzedine – A night Of Gharam
Best Actor:
Ziad Seaibi – A Moment Between Silence and Chaos
Best Director:
Perla Eid – Pieces Of Time
Best Cinematography:
Firas Itani – Lower Ground
Best Art Direction:
Zeph Tanos – Sperm
Best Local Short Fiction:
Thorn – Pauline Nawwar
Best Editing:
Sorry About Dreamland – Amir Sarkis
Best International Feature Fiction:
Frame – JP Charlebois
Best Narrative:
Failure – Nadine El Sayegh
Best Local Feature Fiction:
Tnaash – Boudi Sfeir
Best Local Feature Documentary:
Tilka – Myriam Geagea
Best Sound:
Illegal – Rami El KHoury
Best Local Medium Length:
Agony – Karim Chreyteh
Best International Medium-length Fiction:
The Monk and the Forest – Benjamin Schryver
Best International Medium Length Documentary:
My Dad: His Remarkable Life – John Kuri

Best Local Short Fiction
(In and Out of competition)

Project Title	Synopsis	Directors
Fig.5	“figure 5” is a visual explanation of something, of itself.	Nataly Chehade
Kasra Dameh Skoun	a short film, covering autistic people and their circle’s needs. Rania, a young woman, struggles to get her mother’s attention. The mother’s death leads to a deeper, more empathetic relationship between Rania and her brother, who deals with severe  autism. Autistic people may not be best at expressing by words, whoever, one thing is sure, they do know how to love! this short film is a visual metaphor of the reality we are missing out on.	Pauline Gaby El Nawwar
mahkoum	Each of us is a homeland with its own laws and rules… A world where our lives come as tourism, how many days or how many months do you come to noon and spit out… and a world when you are an immigrant from a second country and come to live on our behalf… and a world competes as the wedding of our republic.. And a world that comes to solve its problems for us… So protect yourself because you are a homeland for many people…	mario antoine sankary
Talk to me	Farid, who works abroad, locks himself on the last day of his stay in Beirut in his son Rawad’s room, to find what he is hiding there. Separated by a locked door, the dysfunctional dynamic between them intensifies, and the past resurfaces.	Ribal Chedid
Shattered	When everything is repaired from the outside, what do we do about the broken parts inside? This is the story of Yasmine. She often takes refuge in her imagination. After the Beirut explosion happens though, her coping mechanism does not work so well anymore…	Elyssa Skaff
Kindred	Carlos, a 24-year-old young man, had recently just lost his father and is faced with life-changing events and responsibilities that he had never faced before with the help of an enigmatic mysterious person named Nick who claimed he was also close with Carlos’ father as well.	Jad Chatila
Sorry About Dreamland	Sorry About Dreamland is about Dreamland, a Motel and a brothel in which the owner records his clients until a night he uncovers deeply hidden secrets happening in between the walls of the motel.	Amir Sarkis
Le Poussin et les Sourcils	Peacefully living together, Mira, a child psychologist and her boyfriend Wael, a struggling writer, get into a two-folded dilemma after sensing some odd events concerning one of Mira’s patients.	Rami Samir Salloum
The Mail Thief – Short Film By Abbas Abbas	Katie, a lady who likes to steal letters and correct their spelling mistakes, is surprised by a strange message from a young girl that brings back memories of her past.	Abbas Abbas
TOUCH	It’s the story of an abandoned paper house that comes back to life and livens the family that used to live within.	Karen Hamad
Lower Ground	When a concierge begins to prepare dinner for his nephew, a resident demands his immediate assistance. The concierge finds himself torn between attending to his employer’s never-ending requests and the boy’s growing hunger. Left unsupervised, the boy sets out to make his dinner, ultimately taking a drastic turn..	Firas Itani
Autostrade Beirut	Lama comes back to Beirut after a trip to France and sees her city in ruins due to the August 4th blast. Once home, she struggles trying to find a way to break up with her boyfriend whom she lost feelings for. Lama finds herself at crossroads between what was then and what is now.	Pedro Hasrouny
ملكي NOT YOURS	15 years later, Jad faces a self confrontation and blames himself for not being able to protect it, from the recurring sexual abuse by a family member.	Lama Mohamad Youssef
The Lump	A young woman self reflects to her first ever anxiety attack.	Rouba Noureddine
A Letter	On a sunny day in mid-November 2021, sixty-years-old SALAH’S life changed completely. While shaving his beard he falls down. His sun gets him a nurse to stay home with him because he’s busy and can’t take care of his dad that his life changed and now, he’s on the wheelchair. The presence of Nay the nurse in Salah’s life was something very important because she was everything for him. Nay was lonely her mother and sister are dead and she don’t know anything about her father Salah was like her father and her family.	Farah Nabil El-Bitar
Maman le Film	Lebanon, Mother’s day. Joey (20 years old) is preparing a surprise diner for his mom who is always abroad. But today is a special day because she is here, but not willing to stay till the evening, until they celebrate. Tortured with the idea of her leaving again, Joey tries to convince her mom to stay. But the mother is here for another reason: pushing her son to tidy his house and to accept change, for he might need to accept her death as well.	Nadim Chidiac
Shi msh mazbut	A look around an apartment that serves as a melting pot for young deranged minds.	Hugo Hochar
Beyond the Sea	Rebecca, a twenty-for years old woman, lives with her mother in Beirut. Single mother, she struggles to bond with her son, Elias. The day before his sixth birthday, Elias asks if she can take him to see the sunset by the sea. Reluctant, Rebecca is forced to face the memory of a traumatic event that has been haunting her for years.	Melinda Delaloye
Sawwer
Awal Marra
Dahra
Ihtira’a	After seeking emotional refuge within a secluded eroding hotel, a family is at crossroads between continuing to live in coexistence within dynamics of violence or choosing to break past their trauma.	Sabina Botros
Refraction	Refraction is an artistic exploration of a human state of mind, as a varying interface in an arbitrary spatial venture, in search of identity.	Sabina Botros
Another perspective	Following a major traumatic event that led her to develop a compulsive-hoarding disorder, Yasmina  attempts to get along better with life anew. Inadvertently,  she sinks down the spiral of denial and rage just as she tries to catch up on the many concerns sent in by someone from the past.	Abir Hijazi
SHELL	Jamil is a traumatized man, will he become like his father, or will he end the loop?
SHELL	Jamil is a traumatized man, will he become like his father, or will he end the loop?
Saudade	Mariam is reconstructing the ruins of her house between fragments of Beirut City and echoes of her memories.	Robert Minassian
seahorse	In a  different world, ADAM and HAYAT are faced with a twisted reality that is bigger than both of them. How will a man and a woman cope with a life threatening decision?	Rawan Selim El Chami
The Sea Within	A young middle eastern woman goes through an emotional journey while trying to reach the “sea” to explore her inner self. Only to be challenged by her own consciousnesses and others.	Rena Elias
Khalil	After Khalil saves a fish, he tries to find a safe spot for it in his house whilst hiding it from his father. Khalil and his mother are victims of domestic violence, which makes the fish his only escape. Will he save it?	Sarah Safieddine
SPERM	John was harassed by a priest at his monastic school at the age of 10, who overcame it by purifying the priest’s sins at the age of 20.	Joseph Tanos
Can We Go Again?	Leah, a cinema student, decides to tell her brother’s story through her final film project.	Lourdes Francis
Dear spectator, I hope this film finds you well.	The movie is about a girl who is living her normal life. But this one time we accompany her into her dissociative episode, unlocking past traumas.	Bina Sakr
Alopecia	Confused about her illness for which she cannot find a cure, Hanin cannot live her love story with a boy normally after an accident that happened to her years ago caused her to lose her hair.	Charbel Tony Hajj Moussa
The Thread of Remembrance	When the present moment is caught between sharpness and degeneration, a young woman and her grandmother attempt to keep alive the legacy of memory through the poignancy of remembrance	Stephanie El Khoury
Tramway Beirut	It’s 1992, in a small Lebanese village, Joe, an eight-year-old kid, loved to listen to his grandmother’s stories about Beirut, as she used to live there in the 60s. Since his family did not own a car, and his father only went there by bus for work, Joe dreamt of the day when he’ll be able to go and see it. When a big shift happens in Joe’s life, he runs away to find a city that doesn’t look anything like the city that his grandmother told him about.	Geovany Fayek Mounzer
Thorn	Not all that glitters is gold..When a sinner longs for the innocence in him, despite the liberation of the body, the soul remains shackled in search of itself..Resisting the pain becomes a pleasure!	Pauline Gaby El Nawwar
Illegal	Ali lives with his mother in a poor neighborhood in Dahyeh (suburbs of Beirut).  After being fired from his job at a local shop, Ali struggles to make a living to help his mom with the house finances. Just like many of his peers, Ali finds refuge in illegal money exchange. With this new “job”, come new temptations, including drug dealing. How will Ali’s story unfold in a world of poverty, despair, and lawlessness?	Rami El Khoury
Not Far From Here	While attending an ‘Education and Peace’ conference in Beirut, Ramy unexpectedly crosses paths with his former love interest Farah. Although she’s pressed for time, he persuades her to have a brief catch-up at a nearby coffee shop. However, as Farah follows Ramy in her car, they get stuck in a massive traffic jam due to an unexpected detour.	Jihad Saade
Out of Combat	Armed with a CAMERA and PRESS vests, two journalists embark into covering breaking news at Lebanese-Palestinian borders.	Jaafar Fadi El Assal
Daughters of Mary	As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Noura (Stephanie) is no longer employed. She finds it difficult to find a new job because of her visa requirement status. The situation becomes complicated when she discovers that she has only three months to find a job as her residence permit goes expired in the European union.	Ahmed Seddiek
Legal rights	After one year of Beirut explosion, Layla wake up from her coma to find herself divorced and her child gone with his father	abed al hadi ziad al deiry
Farewell	the film deals with the story of a boy in war, whose father fights on the frontline, leaving him a game that reminds his son of him. Upon hearing the sound of shelling, the boy rushed to search for his father and the film was made at that time to search on the battlefield.	Joseph Abi Ramia
I’ll call you in a few	During his night shift break, Karim, a suicide hotline operator, is in the toilet talking to his best friend Nour who is having a breakdown over the phone. As the break ends the hotline  phone starts ringing. Karim goes back to his desk telling Nour that he must answer the call. Nour hangs up pissed off where Karim answers the other phone call. Yet he tries to stay connected to Nour by sending him several unanswered messages. Eventually he receives a message from a common friend that Nour got into an accident. Shocked and devastated Karim leaves the call rushing to the toilet with a surging breakdown taking over.	Carmen Sarieddine
My Toy	Sarah and Salem are arguing about the toy, but at the end, there is another purpose behind while meeting Their parents.	Mazen Haj Kassem
I know Everything	An unexpcted text message interrupts Samer’s unusual dream. The message says, “I KNOW EVERYTHING”. Helplessly, Samer tries to track down the number of the unknown sender throughout the night. Is he scared of revealling something he did? Don’t we all have something to hide?	Rony Moukarzel
Wars Never End	Years after the Lebanese civil war, a Lebanese journalist uncovered information about Lebanese leaders and politicians during the civil war. He insisted on publishing it,  which puts  his life in danger. Note: this movie is a 24 minute one-shot.	Ralph Rabih Haddad
SaltWater	Ziad, a 24 years old socially disturbed sad person, living in a shell created by his own anxieties, struggling to adapt. As he tries to break from his keep, he realizes that it’s too hard, a struggle, so he gets back to his locale, his fish, best-friend and his alcoholic tendencies.. basically his routine.	johnny Najem
Fill	Lama, a Lebanese waitress in her 20’s, finds out that her lover is leaving the country for good. After her night shift, an odd encounter with a man takes an unexpected turn.	Christelle Nasser Abdo
A Moment Between Silence and Chaos	Parents Fadi and Maya, alone for the first time in 20 years after their kid Ghadi has left the country, try to still feel involved in their child’s life while also confronted with the reality of their relationship.	Omar Ziad Seaibi
Coalescent	Sophia is a 20-year-old girl under daily medication. When she decides to stop taking her pills, her reality starts unveiling while she realizes that her life was a complete lie.	Ryan Kay
Pieces of Time	Yasmine a 9-year-old girl, who loves to film on her little camera, retraces back memories together on their road trip to their olive tree land, many events happen, good and bad. Then a change happens, we realize that the dad was watching memories of his dead daughter. He goes on a walk with an empty mind yet full of suicidal thoughts thinking of suicide, however, when on the edge of the cliff he hears his daughter’s voice and back off.	Perla Fady Eid
Select Your Player	The Line between Virtual and Reality becomes dangerously blurred and cycled and the mission is one “ Elimination”	Mahdi Olayan
Gaia	In this compelling short film, we witness the journey of Gaia, a young girl struggling with derealization, a dissociative disorder that leaves her feeling disconnected from reality.	Aya Daniel Daajeh
Finding the Beat	“Finding the Beat” is a poignant and uplifting film that follows the journey of Tamer, a father whose relationship with his son, Sam, is challenged by their differing perspectives and Sam’s passion for birds and music. As Tamer grapples with understanding and accepting Sam’s unique abilities and needs due to him being autistic, his dedicated and loving wife, Mira, stands by his side, determined to bridge the gap between father and son.	Tanya Krayem
TOUCH	It’s the story of an abandoned paper house that comes back to life and livens the family that used to live within.	Karen Hamad
In the Absence of Light	A failed actor in his mid-20s is torn between joining a burgeoning resistance movement to fight against a tyrannical enemy force or remaining trapped at home, bound by duty to his overprotective mother. As he grapples with his conflicting desires for freedom and acceptance, he must ultimately choose between pursuing his own destiny or sacrificing himself for a cause greater than himself.	Charbel Chouchany
Failure	In Miss Lina’s class, Ibrahim, an 11-year-old student, lacks motivation due to her strict teaching style. Miss Lina is known for her harsh critiques and grades, especially towards Ibrahim, who struggles academically. However, Ibrahim surprises everyone by displaying exceptional talent and determination in a chess competition.	Nadine Imad El sayegh
Water Drop	The year 2049, in a devastating earth with no human life, a young man is looking for water and a new life. In his hallucination he meets his deceased mother, who gives him hope and patience.	Leo El Ahmad
Puncture	In hopes of escaping the constant stress induced by his mother, young Karim spends most of his time doing drugs with his best friend Joe. What begins as chill and fun ends up leading to far bigger problems.	Mario Ghabali
Broadcast Reversed	“‘Broadcast Reversed’ is a mockumentary short film that incisively satirizes the media’s role in enforcing traditional gender roles and the pervasive practice of gender-based tokenism in Lebanese political appointments. Framed as an authentic newscast on a local Lebanese channel, the film opens with a striking headline story: the official appointment of a man as a minister. The narrative tracks the media’s coverage of this groundbreaking appointment in a reimagined reality, capturing the reactions from female government officials. Amid the unfolding broadcast, the male presenter boldly challenges the status quo, expressing his discontent with the biased representation live on television. As a result, ‘Broadcast Reversed’ emerges as a potent critique of media, tokenism, and entrenched societal norms.”	Alex El Dahdah, Taline Bedikian
Hush, يلاتنام	After her pregnancy, Yusra, a young mother-to-be, endured one of the most traumatizing experiences that a mother could go through.	gaelle elian hamawi
Crow Man	In the middle of the dark woods, next to a lake, a little girl and her grandpa live together in a small wooden cabin. The old man is ill and slowly passing away.  Death, a bizarre creature, is coming for him. The little girl knows it, and wants to confront death and kill it.	Yohann Abdelnour
WAR, EXPLOSION, DEPRESSION & OTHER TPES OF PILLOW TALK	Throughout her nights with her lovers, Rayane finds herself going through her stories of war, explosion and depression, something she is not truly aware of.	Pamela Saade

Best Local Feature/Medium Length

Red Wax	It is one of those routine mornings, in 2014. It is Elie Oustakarian’s Goldsmith workshop, which is located in Bourj Hammoud; a Lebanese district, where most of the citizens are of Armenian origin. Elie Oustakarian, a skilled goldsmith jeweler, runs his own workshop in a suspicious manner. Tony, Garo, and Saro are his employees. Tony informs Elie that his former business partner, Ariss, is sent to prison. Sossy; a certified Syrian engineer from Damascus, escapes from war to find herself in Elie’s workshop. She tells Elie that she desperately needs a decent job to support herself and her son who is in Armenia. Elie agrees to give Sossy a chance. In addition, Garo informs Elie that their gold caster is being suspicious of them for reducing the gold karat. Elie asks for a new gold caster, but turns out that Bourj Hammoud has run out of skilled goldsmiths and jewelers because of the economic crisis in the country and the Arab world. Elie receives his first blow when he gets a message from Ariss, who is recently released from prison, through one of his former diamond setters. As time passes by, Sossy discovers that unusual things are happening in the workshop. Moreover, Elie gets another blow when he loses one of his important customers. Elies blames the mishaps to his employees. Unable to tolerate the unfairness, Sossy quits her job. Finally, Elie envisions a young man – a detective. He gets his final blow when the young man puts all the pieces together to find out that Elie is after the imprisonment of his former business partner, Ariss. In the end, Elie gets detained and his workshop is closed and sealed down with a red sealing wax.	Mardig Otjian
Elektra	Set in the desolate wreckage of Beirut’s Piccadilly Theater after decades of war, the film recounts three days in the life of a writer and actors. As they seek to revive the ghostly theater with a production of Sophocles’ “Elektra,” the actors witness the vivid dreams of the writer who has to confront the contempt and lies of the two-faced actors and ultimately her own murder.	Hisham Bizri
Tnaash	After the August 4th Beirut Port explosion a judicial reform brings about the first trial by jury in Lebanon where 12 citizens are about to decide the fate of an illegal Syrian refugee accused of brutally killing a social activist known for helping the damaged community after the blast, but will they be able to put aside their pre-existing issues to offer an impartial verdict?	Boudy Sfeir
Tripoli06	The film tells the story of a poor family who lives in Hayy El Tanak (the tin street), which is by far the poorest neighborhood in Tripoli. The family consists of a mother, a father and 4 children. The hero is a 12 year-old boy, he works in collecting aluminum drink cans in Tripoli streets in order to make some money to help his parents feed their children. The father keeps looking uselessly for a job while the economic situation gets worse. The film shows the family’s life along with some dramatic developments that hit the family when the father makes up his mind to migrate illegally by sea towards the Italian coasts along with his family. However the tragedy strikes when the migrants boat drowns and all the family members die except the boy who happens to be the film’s hero as he is rescued along with some other migrants by the Lebanese naval forces while the rescue operations continue looking for the dead migrants’ corpses.	Wassim Oraby
Agony	the last moments of a metastatic son furiously wishing to end his life to free his loved ones from the pain of seeing him suffer.	Karim Ibrahim Chreyteh
My Dunia	Based on true events, this feature film illustrates Dunia’s life. A woman who is seeking to live her life and enjoy her femininity despite her different looks. She embarks on a relationship with Mazen, a handsome guy, whose sexual life and behavior are a tribute to freedom. An unforeseen incident changes both their lives.	Marwan Miled Kassis

Best International Feature Fiction

GOOD GUY WITH A GUN	Will Greenwood, a Chicago teenager forced to come to terms with his father’s violent death, visits a small town and finds solace in a group of local kids. When the town bully threatens Will’s new friend, how far will he go to protect him…especially with a gun?   It is a coming of age drama where young men and guns come crashing together….	John Mossman
UNVEILED	A Muslim woman (Farash) wears a mandatory hijab in public while secretly unveiling her true self in acting class. When her religious husband (Saeed) finds out, she is forced to choose between her faith and passion. Her freedom of choice comes at a costly price as their daughter (Maryam) is torn apart between the two.	Mostafa Keshvari
GUILLOTINE	THE GUILLOTINE was built on the ideals of The Enlightenment, an attempt to instill grace to an otherwise brutal expression of justice. Organized within 5 factual tales, we examine the Guillotine’s role in history, from The French Revolution to the Fall of Saddam Hussein. At times humorous and ironic, poignant and thoughtful, these stories also reflect the morality of their times, tracing the philosophical attitudes about capital punishment, and the power structure that allows it to be. From a necessary evil to cold-blooded amusement, the blade falls with no less detachment.	Ray Izad-Mehr
IMAN	Abdallah, an Arab Muslim civil engineer married to Irene, a Greek Cypriot woman, has to come to terms with his own responsibility in the collapse of a building in an Arab refugee settlement, which causes the death of 7 people. Having been radicalized, Iman and Leila, two young Europeans of Arab origin, are sent to Cyprus, with a secret mission. Michelle, a lonely 17-year old girl, child of a broken family, falls for Angelos, a handsome, domineering young man. Three stories, each involving characters whose actions may mean the difference between life and death, are defined by their search for redemption from their past, their guilt, their loneliness.	CORINNA AVRAAMIDOU, KYRIACOS TOFARIDES
It’s Spring…	Aram Amatuni is a retired special forces spy who has devoted his entire life to serving and protecting his country and to creating a lawful government.  His son, Gnel, is a successful businessman who to this day hasn’t forgiven his father for putting the needs of his country before the needs of his own family.  This conflict between father and son reaches its climax when Amatuni’s grandson, a talented violinist who has the opportunity to study in one of the best European music academies, inspired by his grandfather’s ideology goes against his own father’s wishes and enlists in the mandatory military service from which his father has freed him using all of his connections.   The unexpected war further severs the father-son relationship, leading Amatuni to take a road of no return.	Roman Musheghyan
Maya	Maya, a shape shifting soul collector seeks to lead a group of unsuspecting non-believers into the afterlife. As space and time become a blurred mirror of reality and Maya’s mysterious abilities take on a dark and ominous tone, fear becomes the only key to salvation. For this group of unsuspecting victims, their deepest terror becomes their only way out	Paul C Hemmes
The Whirlpool	Beauty Lyuba is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Her relationship with her husband has come to a standstill – she is tired of enduring bullying and insults, but cannot find the strength to leave. Together with her friends, Lyuba goes on a retreat in the Russian outback, where shamans perform secret rituals to help the wards face their fears. But it so happened that Lyuba’s main fear is a meeting with herself. And from yourself, unlike the clergy, do not run away.	Den Hook
BLACK MOON	The story of three siblings and the rebellion of a town to defend a river. An unexpected piece of news will make them make decisions that will change their destinies forever because what flows can be as appeasing as it is implacable.	TONATIUH GARCÍA
MURU	Inspired by actual events in 2007 New Zealand, Tearepa Kahi’s gripping feature stars Cliff Curtis as a Māori police officer torn between his obligation to his community and his duty to his badge, when government armed forces raid a remote Indigenous community accused of harbouring a domestic terrorist cell. This gripping action thriller is not a re-creation of recent history, but a response to historical oppression and state paranoia on the other side of the world, cast by the long shadow of 9/11. MURU is a Māori concept for ‘forgiveness’.	Tearepa Kahi
FRAME	Charles is a renowned photographer who has worked with the best, made his mark and who now works in his own photography studio that doubles as his apartment. All seems well, but something is missing. A craving he can’t satiate nor comprehend, which will inevitably take a toll on his morals, work ethics and sanity, without sparing those who have the misfortune of crossing his path.	JP Charlebois, MYRAI
WOMAN IN THE MAZE	A young woman rents a house in America’s largest ghost town, Jerome, Arizona for a business trip, but soon discovers that the house is cursed and traps any woman who enters it. The house transforms into a maze, making it impossible for the woman to escape. Will she be able to break the curse and escape the maze before it’s too late? or will she become the next victim of the cursed house?	Mitesh Patel
The Way		Tata Feodoridi, Konstantin Frolov
That Cold Dead Look In Your Eyes	Leonard and Marie were very much in love once. Not anymore. She wants him out of her apartment by the time she gets back from her trip to Stockholm. But Leonard doesn’t have many options. He’s a mediocre line cook at a struggling restaurant. During her trip, Marie’s father Dennis comes to stay in her apartment. He was a popular photographer at one time but now finds himself treading water in an ocean of irrelevance. Can Dennis turn his career around? He’s not a fan of Leonard and Leonard’s not a fan of his. Things are about to get tense and weird. Meanwhile, there are mysterious black boxes popping up all over the city. No one knows where they came from or what they’re for, but their presence seems suspiciously sinister.	Onur Tukel

Best Local short Documentary
(In and Out of competition)

A Letter	On a sunny day in mid-November 2021, sixty-years-old SALAH’S life changed completely. While shaving his beard he falls down. His sun gets him a nurse to stay home with him because he’s busy and can’t take care of his dad that his life changed and now, he’s on the wheelchair. The presence of Nay the nurse in Salah’s life was something very important because she was everything for him. Nay was lonely her mother and sister are dead and she don’t know anything about her father Salah was like her father and her family.	Farah Nabil El-Bitar
Cha-nel	When one door closes, other channels open. In a country with political unrest, facing the worst economic crisis in modern history, traumatised citizens, where most of the beaches are privatised by warlords and corrupt politicians, from the heart of the Mediterranean, comes a family man with big dreams and his love to wind surfing and his country Lebanon; Should he leave or should he stay?	Richard Antoine Mattar
One Cedar At A Time	One Cedar At A Time is a short documentary about a group of passionate locals in the town of Ehden, North Lebanon – who have been planting Ehden’s mountains with Cedars for the past 30 years.	Emilio Bou Onk
Strings Of Hope	Why do we feel tied to Lebanon, despite everything pushing us away? The objective of this documentary is to try and understand our complicated ties to Lebanon and discuss the ever-present question in our heads: should we migrate elsewhere or remain here, despite all hardships? It highlights how people feel about living in Lebanon today, following the events of this year and culminating in the explosion of the Port that rocked Beirut on August 4th. It explores some individuals’ relationship with the country, how they are surviving, and what their thoughts are on migration as a solution	Ghenwa Mroueh
I am waiting for you	In a room, a group of women (and one man) sit waiting. Some have been waiting for weeks, others for years, still others seem to have been waiting forever. They wait patiently and impatiently, nervously and calmly, hopefully and resignedly. How does cancer impact upon one’s relationship with oneself and with others – doctors, husbands, lovers, children, fellow sufferers? Why is women’s cancer so often defined as a period of interminable waiting with neither beginning nor end? Why do we insist on perceiving it as “end-of-life” narrative rather than a journey towards recovery? That disease, that thing, the bad disease: these are just some of the terms we use to name and shame cancer and cancer patients in the Arab world. Wasafuli al-Sabr ( I am Waiting for You) aims to break the taboos we have put in place vis-a-vis cancer, to contemplate our fears and disavowals and to listen to experiences we have for long rendered unspeakable.	Paloma Yáñez Serrano, Benjamin Llorens Rocamora
Sobhiye	Shot between October 2019 and August 2021, this video documentary is an amalgamation of the series of events which occurred in Lebanon, revealing an open-ended economic crisis compounded by corruption, negligence and inaction. The short film follows the daily life of five individuals located in Tripoli, Bekaa and Sour to shed light on the various personal hardships caused by the tumultuous socio-political crises that have unravelled in the country. Inspired by Armenian filmmaker Artavazd Peleshian’s ‘distance montage’, the documentary borrows the collision of disjunctive shots to create an irregular movement in the composition. Through this method of recounting, the work grants the viewer secondary and even tertiary modes of assimilation. By delving into topics such as uncertainty, political oppression, violence, social upheavals, learned helplessness, and tragedy, the film sutures metaphorical links of current events to labor, highlighting the instability of both cultural heritage and political regimes in the region.	Ramzi Mallat
O’ud	“Oud عود” documents the rise of the late refugee artist “Mohammad El Agha” in the Palestinian Folk Band “Hanin” and his personal connection to the filmmaker.	Ghassan Fadi Sidawi
Limbo		Leah Yared
The Eye Yearns	A film about the struggle between wanting to stay in the past; remembering one’s home with the knowledge that the memories made can’t be relived, the hostility of the present, and dealing with an inevitable future.	Habiba Ferkh, Tala Amer
Leila and the Cigarette	n 2011, Leah decided to go to Lebanon to film with her grandmother. Two weeks after the shoot, her grandmother died of metastatic lung cancer. It took her 12 years to get the courage to revisit their last conversations. Through memories and poems she draws the portrait of her grandmother in homage to her unique character.	Leah Manasseh
Against The Government	An incredible uprising in Lebanon, brought people such as Alee Al-Haybe to the streets of Beirut to resist the brutal life in the country and fight against the ruling oligarchy.	Omar Bsat
8 Points	“Birth is not a beginning  and death is not an ending. They are merely points on a continuum.” – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross	Vanessa Abdel Aal
Istachadat	In the midst of a city’s relentless movement, one may struggle to preserve a constancy of personal identity. Tara is a young filmmaker living in the vibrant city of Beirut. Struggling to define her identity, she takes to the streets and attempts reaffirm her unique and collective identity with captured sceneries and conversations with her parents and strangers.	Tara Khazen
To Jeddo, with love	A visual letter dedicated to my late grandfather Mounir who saw nothing but beauty in this world.	Yara Matilda Melki
Faceless	The journey of Garbis Pamboukian’s father, Jean Pamboukian, and the aftermath of the chaos that happened during the Armenian genocide in 1915. Lost identities, and unknown truths that will be buried in the ground forever.	Rita Alexanian
Now What?	In my new documentary Now What? (وهلأ شو؟), I sat down with Ariana Sursock, a survivor of the August 4th explosion that happened in Lebanon in 2020, to talk about her devastating experience.	Maya Ali Ezzeddine
THE PERFECT PICTURE	In order to try and fix a traumatic event that has been disclosed for a year and a half, Hala decides to reside away from her parents for an entire week in a singular closed space. After preparing it, she invites them. She insists on revisiting and disclosing the incident by overcoming her fear of communication with her parents, but things absolutely do not go as planned.	HALA EL KOUCH
21 FEBRUARY	A series of unfortunate events reshape the life of Ingrid for the past 25 years. However, in 2022 she ends up discovering their hidden miraculous cause in her visual self portrait.	Ingrid El Zoghby
Reverse side	This film was shot in Lebanon in the summer of 2022. As you know, over the past years, this country has experienced a lot of hindering: a large-scale explosion at a major port, political inconsistencies, inflation, crisis. People who once could afford everything, now cannot even insure their basic needs , not to mention those whose financial situation before the crisis was below average. The hero of the film Abu Salim who was also in the center of events that took place during these past years. Abu Salim is 46 year old man who has been working as a taxi driver for the past ten years in Tyre his hometown in an area where poverty takes place.  You will be able to see from his point of view the situation in Lebanon through the eyes of a local resident.People who once could afford everything, now cannot even insure their basic needs , not to mention those whose financial situation before the crisis was below average. The hero of the film Abu Salim who was also in the center of events that took place during these past years. Abu Salim is 46 year old man who has been working as a taxi driver for the past ten years in Tyre his hometown in an area where poverty takes place.  You will be able to see from his point of view the situation in Lebanon through the eyes of local resident.	Hassan Sharif Al Sayed Hussein
Radio and a cigarette	Every day, Uncle “Nageeb” sits with his needle and thread and listens to the radio; his constant companion. He then starts his work of making horse harnesses while simultaneously sharing several chapters of his life with us.	Mhamad Hamadan Eidy
The Woman Pastor	In a community of a Muslim majority, the first woman pastor in the Middle East leads a parish in one of the poorest city of the Mediterranean, in the heart of Tripoli, North Lebanon.	Julien Kobersy
Still Grieving	Left in a 400sqm house, a grieving sixty-year-old lady is forced to let go of her memories and her father’s legacy.	Carl Haddad
Silent Soul	“Silent Soul” handles many topics that we are experiencing in our Lebanese society these days, but most importantly the importance of reading and connecting it with the Beirut explosion. Join Issa Jomaa “Abou Yafa” a Theatrical director and his friend Nabil Wayzani, a Poet, as they reflect about what is needed to achieve a better society and spreading awareness.	Jawad Jabado, Mohamad Beirouty
The Marble	‘The Marble” is a short documentary that highlights the reality of an underrated and neglected sport in Lebanon, skateboarding, yet a coping mechanism and an escape for the young talented skaters from the harsh reality that they live in. It showcases the obstacles that they face with the government and the problems that they face while looking for skating spots.	Anita Saad Al Mourany
Astray	A first person, observational documentary aiming to discover and reconstruct the city’s story through a day in its life, while wandering through it and examining its spaces.	Marianne Joseph Fayad, Clara Ziad Massaad
Al Mawed	On the 14th of February, 1985, and after the Battle of Alman (Lebanon)  took place, many fighters were lost in this battle and their fate is not known until today. Mustafa tries to trace the fate of his brother, who was one of the missing in this battle, exploring the aftermath of the absence of his brother “Mohamed”, this documentary explains the family’s lack of knowledge, about determining the fate of her son, Mohamed who has been absent for more than four decades.	Ibrahim Al Mawed
Wild Ammiq	showcasing wetland in Bekaa Valley	Malek awad
kaab l dayaa	“kaab l dayaa”: A Glimpse about people who live into  Remote Village” is a captivating documentary that uncovers the stories of individuals living in a secluded community. Through intimate interviews and stunning visuals, the film explores their past challenges, present dreams, and the simplicity of their lives. It highlights the universal desire for fulfillment and resilience in the face of adversity. “kaab l dayaa” is a celebration of human experiences, urging viewers to reflect on their own lives and find beauty in the simplest moments.	georges elias abi ramia, sarah charbel abboud
Shazaya al zakira	This story talks about siblings who decided at the time of Lebanese war to be volunteers in the Civil Defense and Amel Foundation instead of fighting in their country. Undoubtedly, this matter affected their mental health, and for the first time they decided to talk about the difficult moments they lived through at that stage.	Farah Sawli
Cope To Die	After the death of his close uncle, Ali Akil goes down a path of continuous self-destructive coping mechanisms and indulgence to clear his guilty conscience after his relationship with his uncle turned rough during his final days. He shares his story in this film as a final attempt of redemption and to reconnect with his late uncle	Ali Chawki Akil

Best Local Feature Documentary

Behind the Shield	Behind the Shield is a 57 minutes video installation that paints a filmic portrait of the city of Beirut over the past three years. The work documents key moments in the country’s recent history – from the October Revolution to the port explosion of August 4th – while also shedding light on the mundane and commonplace facets of everyday life.	sirine fattouh, Sandra Fatté, Victor Bresse, Chrystel Élias
out of history	The historian (fictional character) chooses to dive in the life of Adham Khanjar to get to know and present his life stages. That is through personal interviews, and visiting the places where he lived and struggled.  A journey that asks many questions, and especially of the role of the French in enhancing sectarian conflicts, and about the capture of Adham Khanjar from the French and the possibility of renowned resistance names were involved in this process	Ali Yasser Nahleh
Tilka	Tilka is an intimate portrait of five women navigating multiple crises in Lebanon: prolonged economic collapse, a global pandemic and the aftermath of the Beirut port blast. Najah, Tima, Naim, Rania and Fida meet in March 2021 for an artist’s residency in the mountains outside Beirut, coming together to create an original piece of theatre. As the country grapples with the collapse, they weave together a story inspired by their experiences as women fighting against the odds for their rights.	Myriam Geagea
HER INK	As Lebanon faces a devastating economic crisis, its citizens lose access to electricity, transportation, water, and healthcare. In response, Joa Antoun begins offering free tattoos to breast cancer survivors who have undergone  a mastectomy, treating her clients’ breasts as a canvas for incredible pieces of art. Although tattoos are still considered a taboo in much of the Middle East, Joa and the women who come to her for help allow these tattoos to become a tool for healing and transformation.	Jay B. Jammal
The Cypriot Maronites	This documentary revolves around the Cypriot Maronites from the Turkish front of Cyprus, in the villages such as Assomatos, Kormakitis, Karpasha & Aya Marina. Maronite is a religious rite coming from the region of Mount Lebanon. The name derives from Saint Maron, whose followers could maintain their own identity but still are dependent of the Catholic Church of Vatican.  The Maronites came from the Levant to Cyprus since more than 1200 years.  Their numbers started to drop since 1974, after the arrival of the Turkish military base to the north of Cyprus, where only the elderly remained. We shall be talking about this community, their attachment to their gradually disappearing language and decreased number, and their Maronite traditions deeply-rooted in their hearts, trying to save their identity through the time.	Carmen Labaki

Lebanese Expat Award

My Dad: His Remarkable Life	The life of multi-Oscar® winning set decorator / designer Emile Kuri told by his youngest son John. Emile Kuri, a Lebanese motion picture talent whose parents immigrated to Mexico from Beirut in 1900, is the first Lebanese motion picture talent and first person born in Mexico to be awarded an Oscar®. (8 nominations, 2 Oscars®.) Immigrating to the U.S. for schooling his career path began in St. Louis, MO when he was hired at 15 1/2 years of age to do English / Spanish translations of business correspondence with Latin America, this for the Hamilton Brown Shoe Company. The revolution in Mexico caused the Kuri family to immigrate to Los Angeles and there Emile discovered his sense and ability with design, from storefront windows to home furnishings and ultimately to large scale projects. As he entered the movie industry he was rapidly discovered and within a few years began doing major films for Hal Roach, David O. Selznick, Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Capra, William Wyler, George Stevens, George Cukor, and his final two-decades with Walt Disney – from “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” to “Mary Poppins,” along with all decorating for Disneyland and Disney World Florida. In July of 1955 Emile Kuri was named “Art Craftsman of the Century – The most talented American designer of Syrian / Lebanese origin” by the American Federation of Syrian-Lebanese Clubs. His portrait was featured on the back cover of Aramco Magazine, March / April 1975 edition.	John Kuri
The Mysterious City of Baalbek	Oliver goes on adventure to discover the mysterious City of Baalbek, Lebanon’s greatest Roman treasure that is counted as one of the best preserved Wonders of the ancient world. Oliver learns that not all questions can be answered about this breathtaking ancient city but appreciates the grandeur of this stunning monument.	Oliver Hamm, Genwa Rafeh
La Coppola	This short documentary tells us the story about Stefano, an Italian immigrant from Sicily, and his journey on opening a family owned pizzeria in the heart of Redfern!	Kaitlyn Moghabghab
Hijra	A 50 year-old Lebanese woman has recently immigrated to Montréal, driven by the harsh socioeconomic situation in Beirut. As she settles in her new apartment, she fills her big, desolate living room with thoughts that oscillate between past and present. Haunted by her most recent memories of Beirut, she is barely able to process the transition she’s going through.  In defiance of her loneliness, she speaks to the viewers through the eye of the camera, as she searches for someone to talk to beyond the fictional boundaries of her world.	Jacob Mahfoud
Seduce Reuse Recycle	A gay couple goes through the phases of a toxic relationship.	Kareem Jrab
A Night of Gharam	Iman, a niqab-wearing woman, is fed up with her cheating husband. At a shopping mall an opportunity presents itself for her to impersonate another man’s wife. This takes her on an unexpected adventure of self-realisation.	Michael Gamarano Singleton

Best International short Fiction

Beneath Her Lipstick	Torn between an absent, abusive, and unfaithful husband, and a mysterious and charming man, a young woman passionately in love, struggles for the survival of her marriage.	Ahmed MESSOUDI
NO KEY	In his desperate search for a way to escape his cruel life on the streets of Casablanca, Amine, a young thief, finds a sealed jewelry box that represents his ticket to a brighter future in Europe. But when rival gangs discover his treasure, he must face his demons and fight in a hostile landscape to keep his dream alive.	Walid MESSNAOUI
Azizam	Iran in 1971. Two young students from opposite ends of society meet by the sea in a time where revolution hangs in the air. Bijan (Shahrooz Mahmoodi), the son of aristocrats close to the regime of the Shah, prepares to leave for college and feels the pressures of a future already decided by his powerful father. He meets Layla (Rana Ghiassi), a girl from the wrong side of Tehran, who forces him to question everything. Their bond will challenge class and social divisions in a world soon to disappear. “Azizam” is an intimate window into a moment of history that continues to cast a shadow in our time.	Alci Rengifo
Field	“If you love freedom, don’t unveil me.”  “For here there is no place that does not see you.” Your look has ignited a gaze, a gaze that melts into the object of the gaze, confusing the perceiver with the perceived. As particles enter us and our particles spurt out, we disentagle and radiate ourselves – flickering in fire, dispersing in water, shouting into the wind, buried in the earth, diving with fish, soaring with birds, licked by dogs, perfused with electromagnetism. They we become, and the world we thus shall be.  A chaotic field awakens four kinds of emotions that have this in common: they are full of contradictions; they are ambiguous and indeterminate; they seem real but are fictions. A man attends his classmates’ reunion at a scorchingly hot open-air barbecue stand. He is delighted to meet his first love from 20 years ago, but gives up his desire to have sex with her.  A woman, anxious to see her critically ill friend, flags down a passing car, but changes her mind after an entire day of driving through the rain. A woman meets her long-time boyfriend for a tryst in a hotel room. Assailed by a fierce wind, she intends to break up with him, but does not have the strength to do it. A drunken man calls his wife from a dusty, gritty vacant lot on the outskirts of a city. He mentions death in passing, then decides to kill himself.  “We have returned there where we had never been.”  “We are in the midst of an adventure, and are forever heading towards it.”	Meijing Lü
EN ROUTE	Three friends are walking along a road. Between one who takes advantage of this desert path, the other who becomes sad, and the third who gets angry, tension builds between them, giving way to reproaches… However, things are not that simple!	Munir Abbar
Kasra Dameh Skoun	a short film, covering autistic people and their circle’s needs. Rania, a young woman, struggles to get her mother’s attention. The mother’s death leads to a deeper, more empathetic relationship between Rania and her brother, who deals with severe  autism. Autistic people may not be best at expressing by words, whoever, one thing is sure, they do know how to love! this short film is a visual metaphor of the reality we are missing out on.	Pauline Gaby El Nawwar
Abyssal Zone		Antonis Kitsikis
Earth is Never Dry	A Bosnian immigrant working in an abattoir tries to protect his 8-year-old daughter from the harsh reality of their everyday lives.	Nikola Vučinić
All Jokes aside!	This comedy film short ‘Ashes to ashes’ opens with a young man named Scott who is seated in a family room and is waiting to speak to a man, Matthew.  For Scott, it is not the curfew his girlfriend Sophia has that’s the issue.  It is passing the interview with her dad Matthew who is a tough Detective that has eleven (11) other children that is the true barrier.” ‘All Jokes aside’ and it is from the television pilot screenplay called ‘Daddy’s Dozen’ created and written by award winning screenwriter, actor, director, and producer George Zouvelos © Fiat Lux Pictures and Film Studios, Inc. DBA Fiat Lux Studios 2022, New York City.	GEORGE ZOUVELOS
Kingdom of Strangers	On the Pacific coast of Los Angeles, Ali and Yaffa struggle to remember the Arab Mediterranean cities they have left behind.	Randa Ali
The Chromakey Man	Dan always wanted to be an actor, but instead of achieving his dreams, he ends up a chromakey technician on movie sets. Covered in a bright green suit from head to toe, he is stuck in a rut until he gets offered an audition and the possibility to step into the limelight. The opportunity is potentially life-changing, and this absolutely terrifies him. Dan is played by Alexander Arnold from Skins, Yesterday, Pistols and The Outpost.	William Samaha
A Few Days Home In Johnson County	A son returns home to find that his parents have become obsessed with downsizing their belongings. Everything is going in a box, and his dad wants to be next.	Ryan Beck
Salvation	A man drives aimlessly questioning his life only to discover that the answers he is looking for have been with him all along.	Zane
As de Trèfle	Nathan is joined by his daughter Camille by the racetracks. He hopes that by betting on the race, he will be able to afford the school of her dreams. But when Nathan discovers that Camille is admitted in an other school far away, the race takes a whole other turn.	Henri Kebabdjian
The Banishment	ZIKO, the sleepwalker is banished from his village for committing a “serious sin” while asleep. This decision is also announced to all the surrounding villages so that no one hosts Ziko or feeds him. On a cold winter day, half-naked and hungry Ziko must reach the city traversing several villages not knowing what is waiting for him. However, on the same day, a deaf and mute hunter, unaware of all this, has to pass through the same villages.	Yilmaz Özdil
Yannis	Yannis, a first-generation Greek/ Lebanese Australian older teenager has been rejected by his family for being gay and now lives under a bridge, working the local beats as a sex-worker. Omar, his best friend, once in the same situation as Yannis, is now determined to better his life and begins to pull away. A portrait of culture, sexuality and isolation asks; Where do we find refuge when the world seems to have forgotten us?	James Elazzi
You Rock, Zé Perri!	In this fiction set in 1930 and inspired by real events, the legendary aviator and writer Saint-Exupéry lands in Florianópolis, in southern Brazil, to help a humble artist who lives in the city to fulfill the dream of the woman he loves: taking her for a ride in an airplane.	Zé Dassilva
At a Glance	During his evening shift, pizza delivery guy Izem suspects domestic violence is taking place behind the doors of a wealthy customer. Do the police believe his warning? At a Glance is about a quest for connection by people from various social backgrounds, who are challenged to shake off their prejudices. For Izem and his customers, this is not without risk.	Ruud Satijn
Safe	A woman is forcibly locked in her home during the Covid pandemic. How far do we go in the name of safety?	Tom Gatley
Paths	In August 2014 Isis attacks the city of Shingal and the villages surrounding it, while Haider and 21 members of his family are escaping the terrorists, something happens that drastically changes the course of their lives. in a double narrative fractured storyline, Haider must choose a path.	Azhin Kawa
Annie Shared Her Location	A docu-narrative based on the stories of several female survivors of sexual harassment.	Natalie Ava Nasr
Möbius’ Trip	Jeremy Brandt is an agent on a mission to stop a man with a device containing a button that must not be pushed — but has been — resulting in an extensive chase. This leads to an electric struggle, against each other and ultimately for a solution to the greatest challenge anyone can face. This movie cleverly plays with genre in such a way that audiences are left discussing the implications of the story long after viewing it. It’s safe to say: this is a movie ONE MUST WATCH TO THE VERY END. Shot and produced nearly entirely in YORKSHIRE, UK – this movie marks the first time the team had shot internationally and the first time in the UK. Is the director/co-writer’s first large-scale short movie. [ *Please note* – Screener upload is the finished and complete movie: This is the final version, with the option of English, Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, French and Greek subtitles. There are no other localization subtitles available as yet. This version is 4K; 4K DCP/delivery version available for exhibition (including with surround mix where desired). English SDH subtitles also available for exhibition. ]	Matt Jaems
Portrait	A Painter who accidentally loses his piece of art, learns that giving up is not an option.	Peter Takla
The Cookbook	Starring Diane Ciesla (Sundance Film Festival Finalist for “The Foxy Merkins”, “5 Flights Up”, “Another Earth”), Vince Edgehill (“Power Book III: Raising Kanan”) and introducing Josue Ledesma, “The Cookbook” tells the story of Sarikh Kalil, a third-generation Lebanese immigrant who reunites with his estranged parents in Central New York after his father suffers a debilitating stroke. Sarikh is faced with a choice: take over his father’s Lebanese restaurant and preserve his familial heritage, or sell out to pursue his American Dream. “The Cookbook” is a heartfelt story about the sacrifices we make for family, preserving culture in melting-pot America and father-son relationships.	Pedro Chaves
Far Off	James and Annie both return to James’ apartment to unwind; however, the unwinding turns evil and bloody, and James abruptly awakens from what appeared to be a disturbing dream; Annie is seen murdered as James sits there watching television; he is so taken with what he sees that he gets excited and rises to dance with Annie’s lifeless body. James awakens once more and makes his way to the living room to relax, his favourite time of day; dancing with the dead. But is this his reality?	Mirna Bassam alabiad
Judge	Gianni, an eccentric Italian-American, is forced to hide out in a luxurious villa on Lake Como, Italy. He hosts a card game in the villa with a group of suspicious personalities and his old apprentice, Tim. The game turns sour when it is interrupted by an Interpol raid. However, neither the officers nor Gianni and his friends are what they seem. The director (Nicolo Pozzali) is 21 years old.	Nicolo’ Pozzali
Gutter	Mist. Dust. A bowling alley in the crosshair of a thunderstorm. A pregnant woman, a businessman and a widower find shelter in its midst. Pins are knocked down until gloomy moths kindle an outage.	Theodore Drusba
An Actor Prepares	Before the premiere of a new play, a theatre actor is caught up in a love triangle. He’s in love with the director. His wife is pregnant. And even worse, he’s a character in a film. He just doesn’t know it yet.	Mihai Feflea
Elisabeth	Recurring dreams, death, a resonating name the keeps coming up… Mr Bojac, widower since several months, feels like he’s losing his mind! These images are oppressing to him. He desperately tries to understand their meaning and feels out of strength!   Even Jo, who was brought here to help navigating the situation and find clarity, is going to involve him in a real psychological torment, and he will not spare him!	Monica De Almeida
The Powder Horn	On his first night alone with the herd, a young cowhand is left with the terrifying tale of El Muerto, a horrifying  local legend who he will ultimately come face- to-face with before the night is through.	Jeremy Hawa
Lady Los Angeles	A young Latinx trans woman makes her rent in a story with no heroes and no victims.	Antonia Crane
Skin	Skin is a modern day drama about romance in late capitalism and the absence of intimacy in sexual relationships. Dolly’s artistic nature is violated when her partner shows signs of physical aggression. She is repeatedly humiliated and brutally murdered on a drunken night out in London – a city that she has grown to hate. Dolly finds solace in the afterlife where she is reunited with a lover from the past, Charlie – a charming trans man with whom they explore genuine intimacy.	Deven Ahire
Quiet Water	The story takes place in a bathroom, where Jeanne has come to take refuge in her bath. Paul, her little brother, breaks her solitude by joining her in the bathroom, while another argument rages between their parents. The children try to escape it by playing their favorite game.	Jules Hamdadou
Just Married	A happy marriage, a beautiful dress, a romantic wedding night, the children, the time of happiness… Years passing and leaving traces, lies, broken promises, distance, betrayal… Chronicle of a death foretold, autopsy of a marriage like so many others, or may be not.	Aurelie Wijnants
The Can	A broken-spirited Tim struggles to navigate love and loss, only to find the extraordinary beauty of life from an ordinary can.	Shadow C. LaValley, Danielle Purdy
Hif	Hif (2023) is a short film (absurdist comedy) that explores the impact of a criminal struggling with hypochondriac thoughts. The story is about Mike, a hot-tempered hypochondriac who works in crime. Mike attends an hypochondria anonymous meeting for the umpteenth time and talks about his fear of HIV and the countless ways it can be transmitted. Since the hypochondria anonymous meeting does not receive enough funding, they rent a location that is also rented by other parties, such as a carnival band. The band starts playing while the hypochondria anonymous meeting is still in progress, and Mike gets into a fight with them, resulting in him getting hit on the head with a tuba and sustaining a serious wound on his forehead. After the meeting, Mike receives a call from his boss (Henk) and is told to come immediately to an isolated warehouse. Upon arrival, he is tasked with torturing a criminal named Howard to find out where the thing is that Henk wants. A cat-and-mouse game arises in which Howard tries to manipulate Mike because of his fear of infection, which ultimately escalates into an unsustainable situation.	Daan Swinkels
Bonding	A solitary figure at an empty bar, CIA clinical and forensic psychologist, Dr. John Flemington, is planning to visit his girlfriend in Mexico when he is pressured by mysterious underground operatives to join them on a secret mission. He really doesn’t have a choice.  A film in the drama/thriller/suspense spy genre, with esoteric origins.	Luke Rex
Lior	Lior is an elderly man who lives alone and is recovering from a stroke. It requires a great amount of energy for him to walk, and he finds it extreme difficulty in completing everyday tasks. He has lost his sense of autonomy. One day, he approaches his at-home-care doctor with the possibility of an assisted death. He is frustrated when he finds out how long the process takes and decides to take matters into his own hands.	Scott Glassman
A Night With Lucas and Silvia	The two titular characters are on their third date and one awkward encounter follows the next, leading to their eventual miscommunication in the bedroom.	Scott Glassman
Persistence	Alex and Brooke are taking their workplace flirtations out for a spin. What should have been a romantic coffee date suddenly gets more complicated when Sean arrives and makes the evening memorable for all the wrong reasons.	Neil Schell
Chances	When Emma and Michael literally bump into each other by accident, do they take the opportunity to say what they really want to say?	Rob Heschl
Till that day	A couple receives a phone call from their son, Jacob, who has been in a car accident after returning from a party. The parents attempt to reach him, but he is nowhere to be found after the phone call is abruptly cut off. A pair of police officers will have to continue the search.	Pier-Olivier Renaud
When It’s Over	It seems like a break up story it’s not. This is a tour de force between lovers, a matter of life and death, a story that takes you where you’d never expect to go. In the end, does love really conquer all?	Bruno Chiecco
A Night of Gharam	Iman, a niqab-wearing woman, is fed up with her cheating husband. At a shopping mall an opportunity presents itself for her to impersonate another man’s wife. This takes her on an unexpected adventure of self-realisation.	Michael Gamarano Singleton
Joan of Arc	Joan’s first triumph in battle against the English has her quesioning her faith as a result of the blood shed on both sides that day.	Tim S Lott
Alkarısı	Kübra stays in the country house of her grandmother Emine with her illegitimate newborn baby. She hears of a creature named Alkarısı, which is rumored to kill newborn babies, haunts her village and finds herself in the middle of a dark folk tale.	İlyas Soner Yıldırım
Beneath a Mother’s Feet	In a Moroccan coastal town viewers are drawn into the life of Wedad, a single mother. Balancing societal expectations and her own aspirations, the narrative weaves in elements of superstition and allegory. An ambiguous presence, neither fully real nor imagined, reflects her inner struggles, inviting viewers into her emotional landscape.	Elias Suhail

Best International short Documentary

EVEN	An experimental reflection on the Covid-19 pandemic, that forced us to learn to live with a new reality, and its even existing challenges.	Khalil Charif
…And I Was Left Behind	When I was a child, my grandmother would tell me stories of longing and loss of relatives during desert travels and sea voyages. Now I am an adult, her words finally make sense to me.	Maysaa Almumin
Evacuation	An Observational documentary about Evacuating stages to Al-Nazlah Al-Yamaniah District  in southern Jeddah city in Saudi Arabia by one of its residents	Hani Abdullah Albedani
Between Two Worlds	Short Synopsis: Friends from NYC’s South Asian diaspora team up to form the dance company Junoon Performing Arts. Their mission is to build community by merging their love of Bollywood with their passion for Contemporary dance to express their multicultural identities. They celebrate their heritage and address social issues that have personal resonance for them including terrorism, homophobia and domestic violence. Logline: Friends from NYC’s South Asian diaspora form a dance company that both celebrates their heritage and addresses social issues that have personal resonance for them.	Jax Broads
A Spring for Ali	Katherine, a first-generation Lebanese American, only knows Lebanon through the stories her father told her. Ali, her great-grandfather, was orphaned at 6 and sent in a barrel across the Mediterranean Sea, then imprisoned and tortured in a camp they never taught Katherine about in American schools. In death, Ali was buried in an unmarked grave in the cemetery al ghoraba, the cemetery of strangers. To honor the life of her great-grandfather, Katherine returns to Lebanon to build a sabil, a traditional water fountain, and attempts to discover her own belonging in a place far from home.	Katherine Eid
The Mysterious City of Baalbek	Oliver goes on adventure to discover the mysterious City of Baalbek, Lebanon’s greatest Roman treasure that is counted as one of the best preserved Wonders of the ancient world. Oliver learns that not all questions can be answered about this breathtaking ancient city but appreciates the grandeur of this stunning monument.	Oliver Hamm, Genwa Rafeh
The Embroideresses	Two dancers try to approach previous generations of Swedish women by trying to understand their craft, embroidery. To translate embroidery into dance. What exactly is a cross stitch and can you really walk with a thread? The film follows the two dancers when they dry to develop an embroidery dance performance. Their process is interspersed with interviews with three embroiderers who talk about their love for the craft and the difficulties of making the perfect stitch	Bo Sjökvist
Babajanja	Babajanja is a short essay documentary with horror elements. Going back to the past, the narrator is trying to find the mysterious woman he was scared of as a boy. Rummaging across his memories, dreams and forgotten horror films, he is trying to find out who she is and where she is today. He includes his family, relatives, fellow villagers in his investigation – no one is particularly keen on helping, but gathering more and more information about her, the narrator is getting closer to finally meeting her.	Ante Zlatko Stolica
The Field	A forester living alone in the depths of Northern Poland knows every rock, notices every smallest anomaly in his forest. After many years of observing nature with great detail he discovers an unusual physical force. He measures it with his unique handmade instruments. For twenty years he’s been creating his own field of physics. The truth seems to be within reach, but with each answer, dozens of new questions arise.	Tomasz Grzymała
The Art of Seeing, The Art of Remembering	“The Art of Seeing, The Art of Remembering” (2023) skillfully utilizes the Image as the Protagonist, drawing on the ethnological insights of the Director to enrich its narrative. In this captivating film, the Director works closely with two distinct Armenian communities residing in traditional border villages, where the potential resistance from hostile neighbors looms large. Ethnology, the study of cultures and societies, significantly informs the Director’s choices throughout the filmmaking process. By delving deep into the customs, traditions, and collective memory of these communities, the Director ensures an authentic portrayal that resonates with the audience on a profound level. The film thoughtfully explores the establishment of a Community Archive, with village Elders playing a crucial role in preserving their cultural heritage. This choice is driven by the Director’s commitment to capturing the essence of intergenerational knowledge transfer and the significance of preserving a community’s identity. Additionally, the Director artfully juxtaposes the perspectives of teenagers as they interact with a single polaroid image through the world of social media. This portrayal is informed by ethnological observations of how modern technology and digital platforms impact cultural norms, storytelling, and the way communities perceive and express their identities. Throughout the film, the Director’s approach becomes evident in their deep exploration of the communities and individuals’ understanding of Identity, Memory, and Self, particularly in the face of adverse conditions. By drawing on ethnographic research methods, the Director ensures a nuanced and sensitive representation of the challenges faced by these communities. Moreover, the film also sheds light on the Hope & Opportunities that exist for the adolescents within these communities, informed by the Director’s analysis of the potential for cultural resilience and the transformative power of education and collective empowerment. “The Art of Seeing” serves as a powerful mirror, reminding viewers of the fundamental human solidarity that transcends cultural boundaries. Through its compelling narrative the film instills a sense of empathy and connection, urging the audience to reflect on the shared human experience and the universality of the themes explored. By skillfully incorporating ethnological perspectives, the Director crafts a cinematic masterpiece that leaves a lasting impression on the viewer, emphasizing the importance of preserving cultural heritage and understanding the multifaceted dynamics of human existence.	Sascha Klamp
DIAMOND IN THE DIRT	“Theres always been that thing, pulling me back, to try and win” An insight into the mind of the Camden Caretaker, journeyman, Robbie Chapman. A unique character in the sport of boxing, once known as a prospect, now known as the best looking journeyman in England. Caught between desire and duty, Robbie Chapman was recently awarded the Southern Area Best Supporting Boxer of the year by the BBBofC to recognise his ongoing service to the sport.	Hussain Mohamed Hassan, Sean Kardar
Between Earth & Sky	For her entire professional life, renowned ecologist Nalini Nadkarni pioneered climbing techniques to study “what grows back” after an ecological disturbance in the rainforest canopy. Now, after surviving a life-threatening fall from a tree, she must turn her research question onto herself in order to understand the effects of disturbance and recovery throughout her life.	Andrew Nadkarni
Fairy Fingers (Doigts de fée)	Fairy Fingers is a documentary that tells the story of my son, who, despite his difference was able to grow up, take on challenges and realize his potential. It’s a story about how I, as a parent, went from a feeling of helplessness to one of pride and fascination.  Doigts de fée est un documentaire qui raconte le parcours de mon fils, qui, malgré sa différence, a pu se développer, relever des défis et se réaliser, ce fils que j’ai accompagné en passant du sentiment d’impuissance à celui de la fierté et la fascination.	Siham Kortas, Erik Johnson
THE MOUNTAIN CHILD	A story about a lost boy from the mountains  who finally finds his path forward after years of seeking.  A lost individual get’s in contact with mysterious forces in nature that help him to start a deep process of cleaning his body, mind & spirit from negative energy.	Adam Falk

Best International Feature Documentary

Hidden Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes	George Platt Lynes began his career photographing celebrities, and it’s those portraits along with his extravagant fashion work that he’s best remembered for today. However, George’s heart, his passion, and his greatest talent lay elsewhere, in his work with the male nude. This work, sensuous and radically explicit for its time, has only recently begun being fully discovered and appreciated for the revolution that it represents – a man capturing his fantasies as a gift, a window to a future his camera saw coming before anyone else. From visionary art director Sam Shahid, HIDDEN MASTER features a stunning collection of photography from the 1930s-50s, uncovering the life of Lynes less known: his gifted eye for the male form, his long term friendships with Gertrude Stein and Alfred Kinsey, and his lasting influence as one of the first openly gay American artists.	Sam Shahid
A Midsummer Night’s Dream In Prison	“It’s almost like for three hours we weren’t in prison,” says Zeb, one of the prison inmates in rural Eastern Oregon who arrives at the transformative possibility of re-imagining his life story while rehearing and performing Shakespeare’s comedic tale,  A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  As the journey unfolds, themes of gender identity and the challenges faced by BIPOC prisoners are deftly explored, and the power of the arts to challenge and heal, even under the most difficult circumstances, is affirmed and celebrated.	Bushra Azzouz
MAHATAH – Side Stories from Main Stations	Beginning and end, farewell and reunion: for some it represents home, for others the start of an adventure. At train stations all over the world, people are setting off on their journeys while others return. Or wait. For the next connection, or perhaps for better times. Whether in Cairo or Zurich.	Sandra Gysi, Ahmed Abdel Mohsen
Guardian of the worlds	One day, at the foot of a tomb, Hassan fell asleep and never left the cemetery.  For 40 years, on the hills of Jellaz in Tunisia, where he has made his home, he has been keeping watch over the dead and observing the living. In search of love and freedom, Hassan moves between day and night and invites us to discover his worlds.	Leïla Chaïbi
out of history	The historian (fictional character) chooses to dive in the life of Adham Khanjar to get to know and present his life stages. That is through personal interviews, and visiting the places where he lived and struggled.  A journey that asks many questions, and especially of the role of the French in enhancing sectarian conflicts, and about the capture of Adham Khanjar from the French and the possibility of renowned resistance names were involved in this process	Ali Yasser Nahleh
Pour le Peuple	Pour le Peuple (French: “For the People”) is an intimate essay film that retraces the controversial history of one of modern art’s most iconic public sculptures, Alexander Calder’s La Grande Vitesse, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The film examines the politics of the sculpture’s ownership and control, given a citizenry who first loathed and then embraced a work of modernist abstraction, in time giving meaning to such an esteemed work of art. The film also explores the subtleness of a midwestern American sensibility in all of its contradictions: on the one hand, progressive and artistic; on the other, conservative and pro-Trump. Yet it is not conservatism that ultimately menaces La Grande Vitesse, but rather the inclinations of a noted arts institution.	Nate Harrison
Primum Non Nocere – Part 1	We are at the beginning of summer 2021, at the dawn of the fourth wave of Covid-19. Witnessing the work of the medical and non-medical staff of three hospitals near Paris, France  (Aulnay-Sous-Bois, Montreuil and Le Raincy-Montfermeil.) Through their eyes, their testimonies and their memories, we remember the life and violence of the beginnings of the pandemic, but also address the state of the medical and hospital system, as a whole. Through interviews with medical, scientific, political and journalistic personalities, we address the issues of the health system, its flaws, before and during the epidemic. We also come back to its history, the result of more than thirty years of sometimes unrecognized political decisions: a system in great danger. This documentary shows the exceptional commitment of caregivers in the fight against the pandemic, and provides a better understanding of the aspirations of medical and paramedical personnel; it also demonstrates all the involvement that was theirs, their humanity, and their strength. This film objectively evokes the beginnings of the crisis, in the form of testimonies, and constitutes a basis for reflection for any future crises.	Kevin Enhart
Menamours	Menamours is a documentary project that began in 2019. It is a social experiment in total immersion in the contexts of two countries: Morocco and Lebanon. Its purely social and human nature places this work at the heart of the intimacy of the individuals it encounters and the themes it seeks to address with them under the broad spectrum of love around conversations, reflections, and multiple viewpoints and means of expression.	Tazi Youssef
RON CARTER :FINDING THE RIGHT NOTES	Discover the life and music of jazz luminary Ron Carter, the most recorded bassist in history. Filmed over the course of six years, Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes invites viewers to meet the gentleman behind the bass. Best known as the rhythmic force in Miles Davis’s Second Great Quintet, Carter has since amassed more than 2,500 musical credits over a prolific six-decade career. His unmistakable melody and timbre accompany the likes of Chet Baker, Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, Paul Simon, and A Tribe Called Quest.  Carter approaches every challenge with immovable grace and dedication, even in the face of discrimination and great personal loss. The film reflects on his early rejection as a Black musician in the white classical canon and how that experience shaped his career. “No one is gonna tell me what I cannot do,” he states in the film. “They may tell me I can’t work there. They may tell me I can’t go in their front door. But they’re not telling me what I can’t do.” Carter’s adaptability contributed to the breadth of his innovation. He revolutionized the bass’s role in modern music and set an example for Black musicians across all genres. In a rare private moment, Carter shared, “As offensive as being called a colored boy is, there have been times when I have been glad to be called that. I played Carnegie Hall. And I got to Carnegie Hall being a colored boy. I can live with that.” Featuring original concert footage and candid interviews with jazz legends such as Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins, Stanley Clarke and newcomer Jon Batiste, Finding the Right Notes is a vibrant portrait of one of America’s great musical trailblazers.  “Mr. Ron Carter is a man whose legacy reflects not only the challenges and successes he has faced over the past sixty years as an African-American artist, but the spirit of the African-American experience as a whole, in the trying, turbulent, and transformative times in which we live,” Jon Batiste, Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter   “Playing with Ron, that was one of the dreams I had. I mean everybody knew he would be the next guy in line to be the top jazz bass player.” – Herbie Hancock, pianist   “The beautiful thing about jazz and maybe about all music is that it lends to individuality. You can identify Ron if you hear some music for a few moments, you can listen: ‘oh yeah, that’s Ron Carter.’” – Sonny Rollins, saxophonist From seven-time Emmy Award-winning director Peter Schnall, “RON CARTER: FINDING THE RIGHT NOTES is the captivating and informative story of a man whose love for making music had to overcome the racial discrimination in America he faced at a very early age. From the way he walks lines, to his thick, full and prominent notes and tones, Mr. Carter has spent his entire career finding the right note and perfecting his craft, shaping him into the consummate jazz musician we know and respect, today.”	Peter Schnall
TUPUNGATO – empathy in death	Tupungato – empathy in death, follows Rafael Pease’s six year obsession of visibilizing a threatened area. A winter expedition to the highest peak, Volcan Tupungato 21,555ft, evolves into a fight for conservation. In hopes of creating a national park, containing 340,000acres in one of the worlds biodiversity hotspots, as well as a significant source of water for 40% of Chile’s population. Interviews with renowned scientists and activists unveil a web of corruption in the government and multinational corporations, stemming from imperial religion and a dictators constitution. This explosive film is set against the backdrop of historic protests, as the people of Chile rise up for social and environmental rights.	Rafael Pease

Best Short Animation

Olive Planet	A young man tries by any means necessary to escape the horribleness of his life. Surrealism and Horror are mixed in a seek for happiness	Shehab Fatoum
“Lullaby”	A young family lives in a mountainous area near a small lake. Their baby is sick. Nothing helps. The father prays to the gods, tying ribbons to the sacred tree. He invites baksy to the house. Baksy discovers an evil spirit that strangles the life force from the child. He fights against the dark forces, but he defeats, and the exhausted baksy leaves their house, letting the helpless parents alone in their misfortune and misery. At night, the desperate mother goes to the lake and begs the great Umai Ana for help. With the rays of moonlight, the goddess of motherhood and family hearth appears in the yurt. There starts a fierce battle between good and evil for the life of a child. An ancient lullaby, intertwoven with ancient prayers, runs like a red thread through the entire film. It is the last thing the parents cling to hope in their hearts, and it becomes a hymn of victory over evil, light over darkness, and life over death.	Dilshat Rakhmatullin
Being A Dog	Tim is longing for love. He’s a lonely human being who struggles with exclusion every day. Every time Tim feels different than others he transforms into a french bulldog. Ginger makes Tim feel human. Ginger is an old friend of Tim`s whom he was in love with, unrequited love. Tim collides with Ginger in the street, they talk and become friends again. After meeting Ginger Tim becomes a dog again. This time he chooses to enjoy being a dog and sees all the possibilities of a dog`s life. It’s good to be a human being but it’s good being a dog sometimes too.	Felix Swahn
It doesn’t bite		Elina Tigrani Abovyan
DIYAR	A man flees and heads for a safer, better existence. In this animation, he takes along the light that used to warm his home on his journey full of hardships. Imagine you have to leave your home in a hurry and are forced to take a decision about your next destination. What do you take with you? What do you leave behind? How near is despair? This is the story of millions of refugees all over the world, to whom their ‘home’ has turned into a dark place. In this short animation with a subdued palette, a refugee has to leave everything behind. Meanwhile, he tries to keep the symbolic light of his home burning, on his way to a new destination.	Moayad Alhariry
Full Moon	Full Moon tells a story about a little girl and her big sister celebrating Halloween. The little girl wonders about the man who she believes lives on the moon, who she also believes might need her help. Her big sister helps the little girl carry out her well-intentioned deed. Logline: Love and imagination come together to make for a most memorable Halloween.  Feedback from a Little Free Library recipient of the published story, Full Moon: “Just in time for Halloween, we were gifted a copy of ”Full Moon” from Facepaint Nonprofit! This adorable tale is Junior Steward approved so swing by today for a beautiful story about a little girl, the man in the moon, and how one act of love and kindness can inspire others.”	John Vo, Ken Yoffe, Ellen Weisberg
Fake Baseball – Big Guy	A couple struggling to make ends meet scrounge up a bottle of wine. Music video for “Big Guy” by Fake Baseball.	Nick Rohr
Giant Rock	A desert dream vision. A deathbed hallucination. An extraterrestrial encounter. In this animated short film based on a poem by Greg Roensch, the narrator visits the Southern California desert where he relives various stages of his life while wandering through a surreal landscape. Featuring original music by John Vanderslice.	Greg Roensch
CityTREES:Partners in Breathing	CityTREES is a love letter to the wonderful trees in my neighborhood, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NY, USA. Let me tell you the story because it’s not just about me and my city, it’s about you and your town too.	Kristin Reiber Harris
Bolero Station	The signalman lives on one side of the tracks, the saleswoman on the other. They see each other every day, but it’s not till death comes knocking that they both seize their chance to be together. They do it properly – and it’s enough for a lifetime.	Rolf Brönnimann
Fresh Paint – Frisch gestrichen	A film like Poetry Slam: On a brown paper roll of 130 metres in total, paintings are growing which – changed by overpainting – are getting unrolled at the bottom and continued on the top: a vertical tracking shot is growing and gets stopped or dropped from time to time. Abstract forms are turning into something else, stones become airy, stripes become skyscrapers; there are also some football players, a fried egg and a cable railway… . Guitar, piano and voices are reacting to the paintings. Unaware of the storyboard, the musicians in the role of two dubbers are translating the language of the film in there own.	Christoph Wey
Bastoor	Bastor, a teenager, wants to go to war with his father in the Iranian-Turanian war, but his father Zarir says that he is still young and will be killed. Zarir goes to war and bravely defeats the Turani warriors, but finally he is killed by the tricks of the Turanis and Bastor wants to take revenge. Bastor is the only teenage hero of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, who rises up against his father Zarir in the Iranian-Turanian war. The film is based on the two texts of Shahnameh and Yadgar Zariran, which have survived from the Sassanid era, and was also inspired by the story of Dr. Mehrdad Bahar. This is my first motion picture film made alone with an iPad.	Mohammad Ali Sajjadi
The Egret River	Among the tall buildings of the city, the lonely guard hides a beautiful field that no one knows, and meets an egret there; but the expansion of the city never stops, one day the field is destroyed, the egret escapes without a trace, he begins to see mysterious illusions.	Wan-Ling Liu
Yellowstone 88 – Song of Fire	In the summer of 1988 dry lightning sparked a fire in the parched and drought ridden landscape of Yellowstone Park, igniting a blaze that would scorch over 1.5 million perimeter acres of the park.   Song of Fire, a narrative poem, guides the animation of YELLOWSTONE 88 telling the story of this conflagration that raged unabated for months until a snow of such intense severity extinguished the flames. That winter surviving Fauna, exhausted from fire and weakened by hunger, die in greater numbers than those claimed by the fire. The cosmos turns from one season to another and another and life in the park begins anew.	Jerry van de Beek, Betsy De Fries
In a Leaf	A man momentarily experiences the infinite in the detail of a leaf.	Ethan David Alesch
The Menace from Above	In the shallow waters of the Red Sea, a happy-go-lucky fish is forced to set out on a journey to save the sea creatures from the soulless monster before it kills all life underwater.	Mariam Khayat
Lovely Rita	The strict traffic policewoman Rita loves control and order in her workplace. That’s why she has drawn up a rigid, rectangular road network, through which she directs the drivers with precise instructions.  But as more and more cars find their way into her narrow network and it soon threatens to burst, Rita loses control in the traffic. A short story about stress, traffic jams and how to make the best of it.	Elena Madrid
GMAN: a qixia in space	The Space Wonder Gman and the evil G-head are arch-enemies, he gatheres heroes from all ages to fight with G-head. When Gman thinks he is the “hero” , but finds that everything is imaginary, Ghead just want to live an ordinary life.	Yuchen Liu
Cat ‘n The Box	A cat hears noises coming from a box and decides to investigate.	Maya Ali Ezzeddine
Akanksha on the Planet Blarg	‘Akanksha on the Planet Blarg’ follows a young Indian girl’s struggles with cultural identity and alienation during a regular school day, as she writes and illustrates a story of her own to cope.  ———————- This film was made as the final year graduation project under a B.Des animation degree at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.	Apoorva Rege
Saleeg	A lonely old lady living in a neighborhood full of strangers is overwhelmed by uncontrollable massive amounts of food that she prepares by accident and it’s threatening her house.	Afnan Bawyan

Best Script

Review	In a video message, a social media acolyte invites other women to have sex with her boyfriend, but only if they film their review after. A game of power dynamics intertwines the lives of several amused participants, then the videos leak and those lives are forever changed, destroyed, or ended.	Jonathan Zarantonello
LOST	Human rights activist and lawyer Cem, who has written a book about the Maras massacre which took place at the end of 1978, disappears on the street the moment he goes on holiday with his wife Sezgi and his son. Sezgi looks for her husband everywhere. However, as she searches for him, she realises that all traces of her husband have gone and she comes to the conclusion that perhaps no one like this actually exists. The book is the only proof of Cem’s existence.	Sevra Baklacı
ASIMETRICA	A painter fighting his inner demons survives a fatal accident entering into his own strange asymmetrical world. With an insecure wife and a dedicated but eccentric lady psychiatrist with a traumatic past of her own, can he finally wake up to reality?   SAMAR, a young man and an avid lover of painting is forced to quit his painting career abroad after his wife SARAH commits suicide and his father dies here in India, both in 1988. He returns back and becomes a forest officer unwillingly due to monetary constraints. He now marries ISHITA, an insecure lady who suspects Samar of infidelity. Samar is influenced by both Van Gogh and Picasso, his own paintings finding place in art galleries of North Bengal.  SWAPNA is a young Kolkata based psychiatrist who proposes unconventional ‘Art Therapy’ for patients. Her passion to understand art draws her close to Samar much to the anger of Ishita. Ishita reveals that Samar gets numerous love letters and behaves eccentrically while reading them alone. She also talks of an ‘imaginary’ young son of Samar named DALI. A secretive Swapna is suddenly compelled to reveal her own trauma to ANIRUDDHA, a young neuro-specialist. Her trauma of losing her younger 13-year-old brother SUJIT in her past after a coma where Sujit lies with his face deformed. She does not want any coma patient to suffer anymore. Her therapy – ‘of implanting situations and triggers in deep sleep of coma patients so that they re-live them in their dream to heal them and finally wake up to waking reality’ hardly finds support except from Aniruddha, who has a soft corner for her. Unknown to Swapna, Aniruddha follows her to North Bengal every time in Samar’s gallery.   In 1996, Samar and Ishita face a terrible car crash in the hills. Samar enters into a strange asymmetric dream world where he sees – AN OLD CROOKED MAN, distorted maps, unbalanced paintings and strangely colored walls. Swapna implants past memories and situations in Samar’s deep sleep with precise dates as ‘triggers’ to heal Samar. Her planted situations are often interfered with by natural dreams of Samar where Ishita and Dali appear.  In 2018, Samar with proper ‘triggers’ finally recalls the accident in his dream accepting Ishita’s death. His mind is returning back to symmetry- maps and paintings in true shape and wall colors melting back to original. An ‘old Swapna’ explains her findings to a medical board with ‘veteran Aniruddha’ present. She explains ‘many striking eerie resemblances of dates and certain events common in lives of Samar, Van Gogh and Picasso’. Samar is waking up with his dream world collapsing. Samar hugs his imaginary son Dali (face invisible). He finds peace in a dreamy light singing lullabies to Dali. Swapna reveals from her findings that Sarah was pregnant when she died and Dali is an unborn son of Samar, whom Samar has conjured up giving shape and form. Same as all the ‘love letters’ which Ishita believed to be real but which Samar wrote himself ‘posing as separate women’ to himself for self-inspiration to give artistic form, just as Picasso. Swapna is shocked to know that Aniruddha had an affair with Ishita and his car was responsible for Samar’s car crash. Meanwhile, Samar’s mental world shifts between a harsh reality of ICU and a beautiful dream world with Dali.  Samar now stubbornly refuses to wake up. An intense Swapna loses control abusing Samar and Dali. Amidst cheers, Samar wakes up finally to reality but ‘does not recognize the old Swapna’. He stares in the mirror and ‘sees himself as The Old Crooked Man’! While saying “My beautiful dreams are better than your sick reality”, he cuddles a pillow singing a lullaby for Dali and dies. An intensely shocked Swapna suffers a cerebral attack falling unconscious on the floor. Swapna herself now lies in a coma staring un-blinked at a ‘yellow wall’.   Aniruddha recalls the distorted face of Sujit. He whispers inaudibly in her ears. For Swapna, the wall turns blue, a distorted face of a 13-year-old appears on the wall and an asymmetrically imbalanced writing on the ‘blue wall’ – “All that you imagine is real – Picasso”. Copyright (c) – 2022 Shubhanjan Das	SHUBHANJAN DAS
As Scared As You	A twenty-something male “drifter” antihero, and a young blind woman become caged prisoners at a bed and breakfast in small-town northern California, where the drifter’s violent, malignant actions prior, push a group of malicious locals– along with their two animalistic, basement-held zombified residents, dressed as a dog and a clown– to seek vengeance.	Jesse Dorian
Three Manikins	Three Manikins is a story set in a near-future dystopia where simulation manikins in medical and nursing schools become indistinguishable from humans. The story deals with Artificial Intelligence and the dangers humanity faces if the rapid development of AI is unregulated.	Abass Abass
The Bullet Coin	In the tumultuous early days of the Lebanese civil war, an 11-year-old boy embarks on a seemingly simple errand to the store, only to encounter a life-changing event.	MOHAMED MOHSEN
A Hero Comes Home	Following his return from service, an Airman struggling with PTSD uncovers the truth that shatters his perception of reality and seeks a way out.	MOHAMED MOHSEN
Titanic voyage of secret and lies	A father and his daughter look to start a new life in America by taking a voyage on Titanic. unbeknown to them there is a organization after the locket the daughter possess. This uncovers many secrets they did not know about there past while sailing on a ship out of time.	Matt O’Donnell
“SQUADRE”	“SQUADRE”, this historical action adventure takes place in 1859 with Giuseppe Garibaldi and his “Thousand Red Shirt” volunteers invading the island of Sicily at the port of Marsala in order to free Italy from the foreign domination of the Spanish Bourbons (King Francis). Garibaldi surreptitiously enlists the aid of the feared mountain Squadres led by Don Alberto Mistretta who allows his godson, Carlo Sovrumano and his mountain warriors, to give guidance over the difficult Madonie mountains  and with military might. Squadres, ferocious fighters, were considered heathens by the Neapolitan captors who governed the island of Sicily and maintained rigid control of Palermo with more than 20,000 troops. It’s a little known fact that without the aid of the mountain SQUADRE, Garibaldi would not have succeeded in freeing the “Two Italy’s” from foreign domination. “SQUADRE” is a fast paced action story with many fact-based battle scenes (factual dates), conversations taken place, except for Carlo Sovrumano (main protagonist), all characters, places, actually existed at the time. Although written in English, “SQUADRE” has been translated into classic Italian as spoken by Garibaldi.	Charles Petrilla
Heartbreak Glass	An African-American book publisher, on a month-long railroading trip in England, is the key witness to the poisonings of Ukrainian exiles by operatives of Vladimir Putin.	John Ervin
I Turn Grills On	I Turn Grills On is the story of Ruth, a 68-year-old recent widow, who is having difficulty managing life on her own. The entire film takes place while she is on hold with the electricity company, trying and failing to get it transferred to her name. She continues holding, literally and figuratively, until a chance encounter forces her hand, and ignites her inner agency. It’s a film about transitions, feeling on hold, unmoored, and in-between identities.	Lizzy De Vita
The Room of Ages	A young chef discovers a strange room in his restaurant that possesses the power to accelerate time. He uses it to age wine extraordinarily, but the journey ends up taking a wrong turn.	Andre Yatsounski
Her Whisper	To survive, a teenage fisherman must immerse himself in the dangerous world of refugee smugglers, where an extraordinary encounter propels him to confront his past.	Klud Dabash
Perry	A mother and daughter from Connecticut and a victim of sex trafficking from Haiti are drawn into a dangerous web of exploitation on the streets of San Francisco. While not based on a true story, the characters are amalgams of real people and documented cases. It is the tragic story of love and innocence destroyed by dark forces and contains echoes of the Persephone and Demeter myth.  Perry (15) and her mother Julia are estranged and, in an effort to repair their relationship, Julia sets up a vacation in San Francisco.  Her plans are quickly overturned, however, when her plane is delayed and Perry is left on her own in the city.  There she meets Bea, an exploited youth from Haiti. Perry and Bea set out on a series of adventures and quickly develop strong feelings for each other. When Bea reveals she is the victim of sex trafficking, they try to extricate her from the ever-tightening web of danger which threatens to engulf them. Bound by this threat, they are in many ways mirror images, thrown together by chance and unseen forces, their fates gradually merging as the protections of class, race and gendered privilege slowly fade away. Julia travels her own journey as her daughter pulls her out of her ordered life and into this volatile one. Initially focused, she mobilizes an effort to locate Perry, working with private detective Peter Wilson. Over time, her despair grows as she haunts the city’s dangerous streets, searching ever more desperately, often seeing Perry in the faces of passing teen girls. She is eventually brought to the depths of her grief as her search takes her to the backroom of a massage parlor. Throughout, a strong bond of love and resentment tie mother and daughter together even as they are threatened with permanent separation.     Peter’s search reveals a complicated system of sex-trafficking, but just as he is about to solve the puzzle, Perry and Bea are abducted with dire consequences.  Eventually released, the girls are separated and Perry is reunited with Julia. Together, they return to Connecticut to a life forever altered by the events of the story.	RJ Watson
Night Blooming Jasmine (120 pages)	An Israeli war hero falls in love with a Palestinian woman in a tale of violence and heartbreak.	Israela Margalit
Unfortunate	A lifetime of tragedy leads up to this one bad day, a man is pushed to the edge and results in … well something unfortunate.	eddie halaoui
Trail Of Tears	A misfit group of people — three women (Neakita, Audley, Maruja), and three men (Ned, Dutch, Sebastian) live in a small western town where they are close with everyone. Often hanging out at the local saloon, the three drink and celebrate together, and despite their independent relationships, often engage in sexual activity together. The men are ex-military and are reserve deputies for the town. The men, along with Neakita are brought into the local police station to identify a man named Pascal who is on the nation’s most-wanted list and has a personal connection to Naekita who he kidnapped and tortured years prior, also resulting in the murder of her seven-year-old daughter. No one knows the past between Naekita and Pascal until it is too late. Pascal escapes police custody and once more subjects Naekita, and her male friends to torture, culminating in the death of Dutch. Later, it is revealed that the local clothing designer and regular at the saloon, Winston, knew of Naekita’s past, which he then reveals to Maruja via a note Naekita had left before committing suicide. ### “For The Freedom”, “Between Life and Death”, and “Trail of Tears” are contemporary modern-day Westerns that make up a screenplay trilogy, each featuring a female lead character. Although the stories and characters are unique, they are all set in the same town.	Hans Sluijter
The Pickleball Killer	Brigg, an aging pickleball sensation, with supernatural speed, and dark mysterious origin, becomes the target of the Cartel after he inadvertently rescues a young trafficked girl from their clutches.  In an attempt to give Amy a better life, he becomes her father figure and she his daughter.  The two develop a touching relationship that turns dangerous when they rescue her sister and other enslaved girls.  The cops are closing in, but the cartel beats them and reclaims the girls.  Brigg must use his special abilities and all his resources in a suicidal mission to free the girls.	James Carroll
WATOTO (THE CHILDREN)	Two diametrically opposed men cross paths when they embark on a journey to Africa. To claim their rightful rewards, they must confront the secret of an ancient African folktale and fulfill their destinies.	MOHAMED MOHSEN

Best International Medium-length Fiction

The Monk and the Forest	Lost in the woods, a monk struggles to survive until a mysterious man saves his life and shows him a different way to live.	Benjamin Schryver
Little Yellow Flower	Photo Retoucher A-nan returns to the old house that saddens him. The eerily beautiful yellow flowers on the loofah trellis attract a whole nest of ants. As a child, A-nan accidentally killed all these yellow flowers when spraying insecticide on them to kill the ants. In a rage, his father beat him lame. This caused a lifelong conflict between them. The elderly and paralyzed father, now wrapped in diapers and covered with ants, evokes the painful memories of A-nan’s youth. A-nan sprays and kills the ants again. But how will A-nan unravel this knotted relationship with his father, entangled for so many years? How will he restore the loving beauty of the yellow flowers that once bloomed in the courtyard?	Chien-Ping Lin

Best International Medium-length Documentary

Women Leader’s Generation: for an equal political participation in Tunisia	In the historical context of the mobilization of Tunisian women for a more egalitarian political participation since the 1960s, this film traces the unique adventure of the Generation Women Leaders -Tunisia program, launched by AIM in 2018 and the follow-up on the electoral campaign of some of its participants who are candidates in the October 2019 legislative elections.	Aicha Ayari
The Artist Mission	The Artist Mission is an art program that provides smart aid and art therapy workshops to displaced children around the globe.  The Artist Mission short film shows the journey of the Mediterranean Angeleno founder/filmmaker Mr.Elk (Saher Alkhattib) while taking the art program from Los Angeles to Lebanon, which is the smallest country hosting the biggest number of refugees. During his trip, he reunites with his grandmother and returns to Damascus after spending years apart and. Mr. Elk was born in Los Angeles and raised in Damascus which is the oldest city alive.	Saher Alkhattib
InterGeneration	Early in the 2020 pandemic, a Boston filmmaker works with eight inner-city teens to animate the memories of seven Boston elders. Their cross-generational creation becomes a playful and imaginative journey through the city’s past and present. A glimpse into an educational process, InterGeneration celebrates the Boston’s neighborhoods of color and the multicultural, intergenerational fabric that can hold community together.	Carolyn Shadid Lewis
My Dad: His Remarkable Life	The life of multi-Oscar® winning set decorator / designer Emile Kuri told by his youngest son John. Emile Kuri, a Lebanese motion picture talent whose parents immigrated to Mexico from Beirut in 1900, is the first Lebanese motion picture talent and first person born in Mexico to be awarded an Oscar®. (8 nominations, 2 Oscars®.) Immigrating to the U.S. for schooling his career path began in St. Louis, MO when he was hired at 15 1/2 years of age to do English / Spanish translations of business correspondence with Latin America, this for the Hamilton Brown Shoe Company. The revolution in Mexico caused the Kuri family to immigrate to Los Angeles and there Emile discovered his sense and ability with design, from storefront windows to home furnishings and ultimately to large scale projects. As he entered the movie industry he was rapidly discovered and within a few years began doing major films for Hal Roach, David O. Selznick, Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Capra, William Wyler, George Stevens, George Cukor, and his final two-decades with Walt Disney – from “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” to “Mary Poppins,” along with all decorating for Disneyland and Disney World Florida. In July of 1955 Emile Kuri was named “Art Craftsman of the Century – The most talented American designer of Syrian / Lebanese origin” by the American Federation of Syrian-Lebanese Clubs. His portrait was featured on the back cover of Aramco Magazine, March / April 1975 edition.	John Kuri
You Teenagers	The film gives voice to Lebanese teenagers, filmed in different regions of the country – Tripoli, Sidon, Hermel… Coming from different backgrounds, they express themselves on the future, their future, their desires and fears, on their role models, their link to family, politics, memories. They talk with the frankness and funniness of children and yet, also with the maturity of adults. Through a series of simple and open questions, the documentary draws an intimate portrait of today’s Lebanese youth.	Valérie Mréjen

Best Web-doc / Best Web-Fiction

Chateau Laurier -Season 2	Season 2 of the hugely successful award-winning series (3 million views). Edwardian newlyweds Hattie and Vivian navigate their lives on the other side of happily ever after and learn that life as heirs to the grand Chateau Laurier hotel comes with slings, arrows, enemies, opportunities and strife.  When the grand hotel was opened in Ottawa in 1912 it represented all that was extravagant and privileged at the dawn of a new century. The surrounding town was little more than a frontier. This is Canada in the moment it blooms onto the world stage, growing pains and all. Chateau Laurier follows the struggle to control power of the hotel (and beyond) between Briar Hays (Tymika Tafari), the new owner of the hotel, her estranged brother Vivian (Luke Humphrey), his wide-eyed new wife Hattie (Kate Ross Leckie), her acerbic Aunt Esme (Fiona Reid)…and Gabriel Sabot, the Cajun-creole boss of Lowertown (Emmanuel Kabongo). The show has a core cast of recurring characters vying for power in the family-run hotel in 1912 Ottawa. Uniquely Canadian, Chateau Laurier is told with a flair for the dramatic, with diverse, distinct, entertaining characters and a dose of humour. New Season 2 cast include Tymika Tafari (Apple TV+ The Marijuana Conspiracy), Emmanuel Kobongo (21 Thunder), Joel Oulette (Trickster), Brittany Raymond (The Next Step), Katie Uhlmann (Nurses) and Jason Gray (Reign). Retuning cast include series leads Kate Ross Leckie (Alias Grace), Luke Humphrey (Tiny Pretty Things), Fiona Reid (Harry Potter on Broadway), Kent Staines (Anne with an E) and Fraser Elsdon (Y: The Last Man).	James Stewart
The Grove		Nick Vieweg
MATRIZ	Paula returns to Madrid from London, leaving the play she is working on for a few weeks to shoot a big film in Spain. This is her chance, but a scandal uncovered by her friend Marina, a renowned journalist, paralyses the production of the film. This, together with the meeting with her friends, makes Paula stay in Madrid longer than she thought	PAULA FONCEA
Beyond The Cup	Sports events can have a long lasting impact in communities, for the first time The World Cup was focused on sustainability and legacy. Beyond The Cup showcases the strategy enabling The Qatar World Cup 2022 to deliver a tournament that sets new benchmarks for social and environmental development, the use of technical and architectural elements woven into the cultural fabric of the middle east with modern materials and design in a meaningful and sustainable way.  This world cup will leave a long lasting legacy impact in future tournaments, the technological development in cooling systems , the re-purposing of the venues for social needs of the local people.	Juan Carlos Borrero, Melodie Carli

TV scripts/ TV series

Longwood	Death of a high school exchange student from South Sudan sets off a series of chain of events for members of the powerful Longwood family	Cornell	Calhoun III
Speak of Gibran	Torn between two worlds, Kahlil Gibran struggles to balance the dualities of his life – America, the place he calls home, and Lebanon, the land of his ancestors. We meet Gibran at Fred Holland Day’s studio, where he, and other immigrant youth, are being photographed by the eccentric photographer for an upcoming exhibition. While Gibran has penetrated the Boston brahmin art scene, his reality lies across the tracks at Oliver Place, Boston’s Arab ghetto. There, he lives with his sister, Marianna Gibran, who wears a gold cross around her neck and the weight of the world on her shoulders. Together, the siblings struggle alone to make ends meet. She works her hands to the bone in a miserable sweatshop. Gibran runs his deceased brother’s corner shop, all the while drawing in his notebook and searching for any excuse to escape his humdrum existence. Frustrated with her brother’s irresponsible ways, Marianna is a sore reminder of their father’s disdain of Gibran’s artistic whims.  Samir Banna, who only goes by “Sam”, is the shrewd owner of Banna textiles. Guided by an insatiable appetite for money, Sam profits off the backs of the meek and the poor. When the unions challenge Sam’s authority, he forms a powerful alliance with the other ethnic neighborhood leaders. Marianna works in Sam’s sweatshop and suffers the pain inflicted by the cruel patriarch, forcing Gibran to write an article exposing Sam’s crimes, eventually leading to Gibran’s alienation from his community.  Things look up for Gibran when he meets Mary Haskell – the “she-angel” who changes his life forever. Mary is from one of Boston’s most privileged families, headmistress of a prominent all-girls’ school, and member of all the right social clubs. But Mary also wears pants, loves camping, and dares to introduce sex education into her school curriculum. She spends all her free time and money scouting for up-and-coming artists to promote, now on the hunt for some new blood to revive Boston’s drab art scene. Bored with the usual suspects, she is delighted when Fred introduces her to Gibran, whom she awards with a scholarship to study under Auguste Rodin in Paris. This does not sit well with Mary’s racist brother, Adam Haskell. Married to a Stepford wife and climbing his way up the corporate ladder, Adam’s every move is to preserve and enhance the Haskell family trust. Never seen without a suit or a scotch, Adam disapproves of Mary’s progressive ways, especially after she participates in a workers’ protest, landing her in jail and putting the family’s reputation at risk.  Gibran needs money for France. What’s worse, he must tell his sister that he is leaving for Paris. He makes extra money writing for a local newspaper but risks his life when he exposes the crimes of the local patriarch, Samir Banna. Although Gibran is promised a hefty sum to write a puff piece about Sam and the textile factory, Gibran is unable to follow through with the assignment after witnessing the horrid factory conditions. Putting both himself and his sister at serious risk, Gibran writes the article exposing Sam’s heinous crimes, earning him a brutal beating that triggers traumatic memories of his father.	Grace	Shalhoub
Los Aspirantes -The Applicants-	It is a hilarious comedy set in an office called Holliwood where everything turns into a desaster. Every single person in the office is tempted into getting a better job and they compete with the applicants for that purpose. Most of the situations a really surrealistic and funny so you never know what is going to happen.The more jobs offered, more situations to laugh at. Who needs the job?.	Yolanda	Brown Melián
The Madness of Art (Rough Feature / Episodic)	An 8-episode anthology series focusing on the odd happenings at a Manhattan fine art gallery, seen through the eyes of the gallery’s eccentric owner, Jim. EPISODES I Am Art The Squatters of Art The Finance of Art The Aliens of Art The Dance of Art The Celebrity of Art The Madness of Art Bids, Bricks and Baldessari	Stonestreet	Studios
CANCER/EVOLUTION Episode 1: The Dustbin of History	The newest hope for cancer is actually one of the oldest.  Buried for a century, the metabolic theory of cancer is overturning entrenched dogma and reshaping the future of cancer treatment.  Episode 1 of this 5-part docuseries addresses the history of the metabolic theory of cancer through the story of Nobel laureate Otto Warburg, a gay, Jewish scientist under aegis of the Nazis.	Maggie	Jones
Pine Nuts		Kareem	El Arab
Meet The Joneses (Pilot)	Meet The Joneses is a political comedy that’s not so politically correct; there are a lot of racial undertones because the story deals with race and how this particular small town in NY, is affected by race, once a Black resident becomes mayor of this predominantly white suburban enclave that’s not willing to change by becoming integrated. We meet these seven, thirty-something-year-old African-American characters as they eat breakfast and prepare for Rockefeller (Rock) Jones’s first press conference as the newly appointed mayor of Sag Harbour; a well-to-do predominantly white enclave in Long Island NY. Rock is about to become the 2nd African-American Mayor of Sag Harbour due to the resignation of the former mayor, which happens to be Rock’s best friend, Everhard (E.) Dick, was forced out after he allegedly “pooped” in his neighbor’s front yard, and then he allegedly flung it in his neighbor’s face; which unfortunately went viral and forced Everhard to resign as mayor but is reassigned to the position of First Deputy Mayor; but with hopes of returning once things boil over; except for the fact that Mrs. Peggy (Peg) Jones, Rock’s wife, a dimwitted housewife, loves her new position as “First Lady” of Sag Harbour; while Everhard’s wife, Anita Dick the former First Lady, now Director of Communications, and one of Peggy’s best friends, low-key resents Everhard for losing his position as mayor. Rock and Everhard have another best friend, the ever-frustrated Howard (Howie) Wise, who runs his own family hardware business, but also supports Rock by becoming one of his Trustees but only half-heartedly and is married to the overly-ambitious Babette (Babs) Wood, a feminist who chose to keep her maiden name; and is another one of Peg’s best friends along with the high-strung Anita; but Babs is the more sensible of the women. Babette is the newly chosen Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives, although Howard would prefer her to be a stay-at-home housewife like Peggy; and finally, there is Deborah (Deb/Debbie) Fokker, Peggy’s sarcastic, single younger sister, and Rock’s Press Secretary. Everyone except Peggy goes to Village Hall. The crowd applauds when Rock enters the lobby, but when Everhard enters, they boo. Things are not going well for Rock on his first day once the disgruntled press arrives ready to tear the new mayor to shreds. Peggy shows up, and Anita, envious of Peggy’s new position, tells her she shouldn’t be involved in politics. Rock is struggling with the press conference and connecting with the crowd who questions all politicians as crooked and weren’t too sure of supporting another Black mayor, to begin with. When Peggy sees this, she storms into the conference room and gets on the podium. She makes a speech about how she is a simple homemaker and understands their problems. The crowd applauds, and Peggy wins them over… Confused? Don’t Be…  Just Open Up The Script… Read and Enjoy 🙂	Levi Wise Kenneth	Catoe Jr.
Lobby Card Pilot: Some Fabulous Rhapsody	Dynamic This is Us meets Nurse Ratched limited streamer, in which distressed, relapsed actress checks into what she thinks is a swank Riviera hotel only to discover that it’s actually a featureless Calabasas rehab center. Her advanced dependencies have altered her reality to the point where she can no longer discern between what’s fantasy and imagination, and what’s not and, against this backdrop, she begins the rocky road back to sobriety, confronting and battling demons to get to the still point of her life.	Tom	Morgan