In 1994 South Sacramento, 13-year-old Mona sneaks her mother’s lipstick, convinced it’s the secret to growing up — but one unforgettable night at the skating rink teaches her there’s more to womanhood than red lips, and more to her mama than she ever realized.

Writer/Director/Cast: Danielle Mone' Truitt
Co-Writer: Cris Eli Blak
Producer: Cheryl Martin

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Monica is the intimate portrait of a woman who returns home to the Midwest for the first time in 20 years to take care of her dying mother. Exploring universal themes of abandonment, aging, rejection, hope and forgiveness, we are led into Monica's world through an introspective and riveting journey of our shared human condition.

Project type: Fiction Feature
Director: Andrea Pallaoro
Producer: Gina Resnick
Producer: Eleonora Granata
Producer: Christina Dow
Executive Producer: Christina Sibul
Executive Producer: Karen Tenkhoff
DP: Kate Arizmendi
Costume Designer: Patrik Milani
Production Designer: Andrew Clark
HMU Department Head: Chelo Acosta-Conley

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After protesters upend five monuments in Portland in 2020, the community reckons with its symbols of westward expansion. The unfolding fate of the sculptures pits historic preservationists and the descendants of Oregon Trail settlers against artists, Indigenous activists, and others who view the monuments as relics of colonialism.

Director: Erika Bolstad
Producer: Jackie Weissman, Jen Tate
Director of Photography: Zach Putnam

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At the repast following his father’s funeral, Noah Butler grapples with the complex nature of his grief, and familial bonds, after the surprise arrival of his estranged uncle.

Project type: Fiction Short
Writer/Director: Ryan T. Lipscomb
Producer: Jamari Perry, Corlandos Scott

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A depressed pianist rediscovers his zest for life through an unexpected encounter with a songbird.

Project type: Fiction Short
Director/Co-Writer/Producer: John Henry Hinkel
Producer/Composer/Co-Writer: Ethan Pakchar
Executive Producer: Nemanja Gavrilovic
Lead Animator: Miloš Djurdjevic
Animator: Marko Djuricic
Background Artist: Milan Maksimovic
Recorder: Charlotte Barbour-Condini
Piano: Vicky Chow

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Over a single continually unfolding shot, we witness two distinct moments – twenty years apart – in the life of a Japanese-American couple as their relationship is transformed following the tragic death of their son.

Writer/Director: Jun Kuromiya
Writer/Director: Daniel Lewinstein
Producer: Brandy Wang
Producer: Lailanie Gadia

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Upon receiving a disturbing email from her son, a mother drives frantically to his school hoping to avert the unimaginable.

Project type: Fiction Short
Director/Writer: Maia Scalia
Producer: Ani Schroeter
Editor: Pietro Scalia
Director of Photography: Matt Clegg
Composer: Eli Keszler

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Four survivors of sexual assault perpetrated by active military members, unite to advocate for systemic, legislative change within the military court system.

Project type: Nonfiction Feature
Director: Natalie Avital
Producer: Ryan M Murphy
Co-Producer: Lindsay Perry

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A family drama about the complexities of faith, community, and parent/child relationships.

Project type: Fiction Short
Producer/Director/Screenwriter/Story: Rachel Earnest
Producer/Editor/Story: Ashley Monti

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In an era of giant Maxi Pads and Phil Donahue, misfit teen Moxie finds her fit with a group of college political activists. But when she becomes pregnant by the rebel leader, she faces her own fight — arguing for her abortion at a time when women’s liberation is coming into its own.

Project type: Fiction Feature
Director: Marya Mazor
Producers: Christina Sibul, Karen Tenkoff

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Project type: Fiction Short
Writer/Director: Jaelyn Ellis
Producer: Jaelyn Ellis

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After a miscommunication leads her coworkers to believe that she is pregnant, a seemingly barren waitress allows the fantasy to overtake the reality and finds herself navigating an ever-growing web of lies as she gets closer and closer to her imaginary “full term.”

Project type: Fiction Short
Co-Directors/Producers: Arden Grier, Roxanna Dunlop
Writer: Julia Dixon

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Comprised of Necessity Part I: Oil, Water and Climate Resistance and Necessity Part II: Rivers, Resistance and Oil by Rail, NECESSITY traces the fight in Minnesota against the expansion of pipelines carrying toxic tar sands oil through North America. Home to much of the world’s precious freshwater resources, the state is also the site of expanding oil industry infrastructure. The film follows indigenous activists and non-indigenous allies in their resistance to the pipelines traversing native lands and essential waterways.

Project type: Nonfiction Feature
Director/Producer: Jan Haaken
Co-Director: Samantha Praus

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Never Move Backwards is an intimate portrait of an all female parkour troupe in Shiraz, Iran as they train for competition. The film explores themes of rebellion, youth, escapism, and counterculture set against the backdrop of Iran’s ever mutable cultural identity.

Project type: Nonfiction Feature
Director: Alexandra Tahereh Kaucher
Producer: Jonathan Olson, Damon Owlia

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Nevertheless Film Festival elevates the work of women in film, as every film in the program is required to have at least 50% of designated leadership roles filled by women. The roles include director, producer, editor, cinematographer, screenwriter, production designer, sound mixer, and music supervisor/composer.

Project type: Festival
Founder/Festival Director: Meredith Finch

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Project type: Nonfiction Feature
Director/Producer: Elizabeth Ai
Producer: Rachel Sine
Executive Producers: Diane Quon, Geeta Gandbhir, Robina Riccitiello, C.Y. Lee

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At a Florida highway rest stop, a sheltered pre-teen is accidentally abandoned while accompanying her truck driver father on a delivery.

Writer/Director: Kim Caicedo
Producer: Heliya Alam
Producer: Warner Davis
Producer: Michelle levinger

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A Mexican Neil Diamond impersonator living in Los Angeles is forced to return to his hometown after years away to say goodbye to his dying mother. This journey will reunite him with his past to reveal his true identity.

Producer: Jesus Pimentel
Producer: Lemore Syvan
Executive Producer: Paul Zaentz

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Project type: Fiction Short
Writer/Director/Producer/Lead: Leena Kurishingal
Producer: Timothy Farrell
Executive Producer/Editor: John H. Rogers III
Executive Producer: Marissa Jo Cerar
Cinematographer: Daniel Izui

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