SHORTS PROGRAMS

Shorts Programs

Asian American Stories of Resilience and Beyond

Program Asian American Stories of Resilience and Beyond While we’ve seen the rise of anti-Asian racism, we’ve also seen the rise of solidarity efforts within Asian…

Shorts Programs

Boundless

Program Boundless Sometimes our most intimate stories drift beyond casual understandings of time, transcending into something more. Like ocean waves,…

Shorts Programs

Great Expectations

Program Great Expectations At decisive moments in our lives, secret human incongruities bubble to the surface. These narratives profile characters facing…

Shorts Programs

Homegrown

Program Homegrown The cities by the Bay have always had a reputation for eclectic personalities of all ages. From basketball…

Shorts Programs

New Journeys

Program New Journeys Caring for those around us can demand we break out of the habitual to meet the moment. Whether…

Shorts Programs

Pacific Shorts

Program Pacific Shorts These tales from the Pacific dive deep into our relationship with land, culture, and mythology: a Samoan girl…

Shorts Programs

People Power

Program People Power What does it take to move two people? What about two hundred? These are stories of communities coming…

Shorts Programs

Spectral Drivers

Program Spectral Drivers Phantoms of the shameful past—of the unsteady future—of things gone unsaid—manifest in different ways. Whether they come from…

SHORT FILMS INDEX

A Day At the Beach

Film A Day At the Beach Directed by Lamesa Nashrat Through Google searches and environmental observation, a woman must explore existence with the help of Jeff Bezos and…

All I Want is Everything

Film All I Want is Everything Directed by Alexandra Cuerdo When being “good” isn’t good enough, a fiercely driven teenager indulges in the bad to reach her goals…

Americanized

Film Americanized Directed by Erica Eng Growing up in Oakland’s complex hip hop culture and fearing community isolation, a multifaceted teenage basketball player searches…

Bus Girl

Film Bus Girl Directed by Jessica Henwick An aspiring chef makes ends meet as an overworked, overlooked waitress—but a chance encounter with a renowned food…

Coming Out with the Help of a Time Machine

Film Coming Out with the Help of a Time Machine Directed by Naman Gupta After an attempt at coming out to his parents ends in disaster, a young gay man travels back…

Congratulations (Mabrook)

Film Congratulations (Mabrook) Directed by Asad Farooqui An outspoken aspiring actor must navigate a chaotic Eid party—or face the scathing disapproval of his community.

Crashing Wheels on Concrete

Film Crashing Wheels on Concrete CRASHING WHEELS ON CONCRETE is a short documentary following Kat Sy, a skateboarder and software engineer, as she…

Crossroads

Film Crossroads Directed by Sarita Khurana This film takes a close look at the recent “FedEx shooting” in Indianapolis, in the context of a…

Dear Nanay

Film Dear Nanay Directed by Frances Grace Mortel A love letter to her grandmother, this experimental documentary explores the filmmaker’s early memories in the Philippines and…

Don’t Worry About It

Film Don’t Worry About It Directed by Melissa Kong A young woman at an intensive therapy program for obsessive-compulsive disorder struggles with the aftermath of her father’s…

Elvis of Laos

Film Elvis of Laos Directed by Van Ditthavong After leaving war-torn Laos in late 1974, the Godfather of Lao Music joins forces with his son and…

Empire of my Melodious Mind

Film Empire of my Melodious Mind Directed by Jeanette Louie In the space of a moment, inside a cabinet, perception embarks on an epic journey through the terrain…

Ever Wanting (For Margeret Chung)

Film Ever Wanting (For Margeret Chung) Directed by TT Takemoto Plunging into the euphoria and despair of her profession and personal life, the first female Chinese American doctor…

Hannah’s Biography

Film Hannah’s Biography Directed by Patricia Lee An eighty-one-year-old recent divorcee lives a seemingly typical life: she spends time with her daughter and grandchildren, uses…

It Takes the Hood to Save the Hood

Film It Takes the Hood to Save the Hood Directed by Harvey Magsaysay Lozada A documentary short created with San Francisco-based violence prevention and youth development organization UNITED PLAYAZ.

How Small!

Film How Small! Directed by Charlene Xu A young woman reminisces about her deceased grandmother through unspoken gestures and surreal visual metaphors.

In Living Memory

Film In Living Memory Directed by Quyên Nguyen-Le After the closure of their mother’s nail salon at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, a queer filmmaker…

Ka Ho’i: The Return

Film Ka Ho’i: The Return Directed by Mitchell Viernes An aging Hawaiian War Veteran grapples with the nightmares of his past in a world that seems to…

Kāhuli

Film Kāhuli Directed by Chris A. Johns Scientists in Hawaii race against time to save rare snails that are both culturally and ecologically significant.

Kåntan Hereru – A Black Smith’s Song

Film Kåntan Hereru – A Black Smith’s Song Directed by Sean Lizama Guam’s only living Master blacksmith shares the importance of his craft to daily life in the past and…

Last Hawiian Sugar

Film Last Hawiian Sugar Directed by Dèjá Cresencia Bernhardt Twelve-year-old Nua makes peace with the mixed emotions she has about the land she lives on when she…

Love and Corona

Film Love and Corona Directed by Nicole Maxali and Ratha Nou After losing her job during the pandemic, an energetic wallflower conducts virtual dates on a subscription service site—and…

Lucky Fish

Film Lucky Fish Directed by Emily May Jampel Stifled by the expectations of her strict and heteronormative family, a young girl has a dreamy chance encounter…

Malditas

Film Malditas Directed by Bree Nieves Two AAPI/FilAm cousins, three years apart, meet in a rural Florida cemetery, and grapple with what remains of…

My Chinatown, With Aloha

Film My Chinatown, With Aloha Directed by Kimberlee Bassford Fourth-generation Chinese American Kimberlee Bassford explores her family’s relationship to Honolulu Chinatown and the parallels between the COVID-19…

My Name is Lai

Film My Name is Lai Directed by Lucy Saephan Lai, a Mien American elder, shares her memories as a refugee survivor of war in hopes to heal…

On All Fronts

Film On All Fronts Directed by Joua Lee Grande A Minneapolis family navigates difficult conversations about how the violence and racial reckoning of 2020-21 impacted them as…

Only the Moon Stands Still

Film Only the Moon Stands Still Directed by Johnson Cheng When a modernizing world obscures a fading ballroom dance studio, the owner’s talented daughter must decide between her…

OST

Film OST Directed by Abhichoke Chandrasen A debilitatingly perfectionist scoring assistant is tasked with writing the score of a Thai horror movie—but one wrong…

PAIN OF THE ANONYMOUS

Film PAIN OF THE ANONYMOUS Directed by Daichi Amano An empathetic, though troubled online content moderator endangers her well-being as she becomes engrossed with her most horrific…

Pili Ka Mo’o

Film Pili Ka Mo’o The Fukumitsu ʻOhana (family) of Hakipuʻu are Native Hawaiian taro farmers and keepers of this generational practice. While…

Shifting Sands

Film Shifting Sands Directed by May Thyn Kyi Every year, thousands of young people like Ma Nwet Yin Win flock to Yangon from Myanmar’s rural dry…

Thank You, Come Again

Film Thank You, Come Again After the trigger of a hate crime, an undocumented Indian American convenience store clerk comes crashing into his…

River of Small Gods

Film River of Small Gods Directed by Bradley Tangonan On the brink of eviction, a Hawaiian woman takes a job from a mysterious sculptor to retrieve stones…

Recording for Dodie

Film Recording for Dodie Directed by Frances Rubio After fourteen months physically apart, a Filipino daughter struggling with depression finally reunites with her COVID-survivor father at…

The Lookout

Film The Lookout Directed by J.P. Dobrin A Cambodian American refugee experiences freedom again after being behind bars for 20 years. But the potential of…

The Return

Film The Return Directed by Hena Ashraf An analytical filmmaker wrestles with the sudden death of her estranged father—and the overwhelming agony brought upon by…

Thơ

Film Thơ Directed by Heather Muriel Nguyen, Jake Villadoid Thơ ventures into romance as a Vietnamese-American panromantic asexual/ace looking for acceptance and respect.

Zona

Film Zona Directed by Masami Kawai In a near-future where a devastating drought ravages Los Angeles and separates classes into castes, a tenacious elderly…