1979 - James Do, a drifter, finds himself in the mystical Sedona. He meets a young GURU and her devotees who opens his mind to a new path.

Project type: Fiction Short
Director/Writer: Sharmila Ray
Producer: Matt Keene Smith
Director of Photography: Kinsey

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Ten-year-old Lucca and his mother, Sonia, share an inseparable bond. But when Sonia’s manic depression becomes apparent to those around them, societal stigma and misconceptions about motherhood begin to drive a wedge between them—a gap they struggle to bridge, only to discover that love alone may not be enough.

Director/Writer: Camila Zavala
Producers: Camila Zavala, Giancarlo Nasi, Enid Campos

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Beatrice does her best to impress her new boss at a dinner party fraught with infidelity, murder, and veganism.

Project type: Fiction Short
Director: David L. Charry
Producer: Casey Vickers
Executive Producer: Joelle Monique Smith
Director of Photography: Favienne Howsepian
Production Designer: Mikela Mosley

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After reconnecting with a woman from a past she prefers to forget, Brooklynn, a self-assured perfectionist, is torn between remaining true to her homophobic upbringing or expressing her stifled sexuality.

Project type: Fiction Short
Writer/Director/Producer: Aliya Brooks

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When civil engineers from a distant universe propose destroying all life on Earth in order to extract a rare metal found at our planet's core, three innocent field agents are sent to gather information about Earthlings and decide our planet's fate.

Writer/Director/Producer: Ariya Akhavan

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A young woman, haunted by a traumatic past, seeks out a controversial therapist who creates hyper-realistic scenarios for patients to live out their violent fantasies against abusers and those who have wronged them. But she's carrying a secret even the doctor may not be ready for.

Project type: Fiction Short
Writer: Patrick Andrew Jones
Director: Michelle Beck
Producer: Aisha Jordan
Producer: Rafael Jordan
Editor: James Donahue

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When Ezra's past and present collide in a surreal encounter with his younger self, he's forced to confront long-buried family trauma that could change the course of his life forever.

Project type: Fiction Short
Writer/Director/Producer: Jordan K. Paul
Executive Producer: Darryl ‘DMC’ McDaniels

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Mia and her brother Alex find a powerful stone that thrusts them into different paths while bringing them closer then they've ever been.

Project type: Animation
Writer/Director: Fabian Molina
Producer: Ariel Mahler

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A reclusive young classical composer with writer’s block attempts to find inspiration at an old family lake house but instead discovers a mysterious sound emanating from the bottom of the private lake. In the face of failure, she must confront the lake, her family’s dark past, and her broken present, to uncover the music she has deep within her.

Project type: Fiction Feature
Writers/Directors: Matt Valdez and Collin Davis
Producer: Sid Ganji, Alex Knapp, Alex Schwarm

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Downstaged is a coming-of-age drama depicting women desperately seeking love and validation from men who, in turn, can’t even love or validate themselves. These lives suddenly intersect on a fateful night, catapulting forever changes. Viscerally explore our culture’s intrinsic patterns of toxic masculinity, self-doubt, and internalized homophobia where trauma is nurtured and pain is cyclical.

Project type: Fiction Feature
Project status: Development
Director/Producer: Ana-Julia Cavana
Producer/Director of Photography: Valentina Martinico

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A young Black basketball prodigy struggles with the burden of single-handedly saving his family from hardship on the night of the NBA draft.

Project type: Fiction Short
Director: Tom Glinkowski
Writer/"Pops": Shawn Williams
"Number One": Joseph David-Jones
Producer: Jillian Nordby, Sierra Oleson, Avery Chung-Melino
Cinematographer: Kenzen Takahashi

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Never before seen archival video reveals the untold story of an underground LGBTQ nightclub that became a political and creative center for a community besieged by AIDS and discrimination. As club owners Paul V. and Mr. Dan prepare for the Dragstrip 66 finale, patrons, staff, and celebrities reflect on their memories and impressions as the beloved nightclub comes to the end of its historic run.

Project type: Nonfiction Feature
Director/Producer: Phil Scanlon
Co-director/Co-producer: Paul Vitagliano

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After having her bright and spunky spirit beaten down one too many times by her abusive husband, Earl, Frankie accidentally kills him. Her best friend Ava Mae helms the escape, and in their police chased mad dash to ditch the body, Earl transforms into a loveable zombie. Breaking up really IS hard to do... But one way or another, EARL’S GOTTA DIE.

Project type: Fiction Short
Writer/Director: Heather Shapiro
Writer/Co-Executive Producer: Amanda Hinkley
Producer: Faoileán Cosgrove

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In 1986, a spirited high school student attempts to find his long-lost father by setting off a device that sends him and a young diner server into a dangerous parallel world.

Project type: Fiction Short
Director: Travis Misenti
Producers: Hadrien Fages, Miriam Arghandiwal
Cinematographer: Dante Cheng

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A burned-out ICU nurse and a retired racehorse with an injury unexpectedly form a bond that leads to a new future for them both.

Project type: Fiction Short
Director: Annika Hylmo
Producer: Betsy Pollock

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A POW aboard a roaming dieselpunk labor camp is cornered on his last day by a radical mycologist who claims to possess the secret to saving their war-ravaged world.

Project type: Fiction Short
Co-Writer/Co-Director: Benjamin Pierson
Co-Writer/Co-Director: Sascha Montgomery
Executive Producer: Salem Daniel
Line Producer: Brianna Fish
1st Assistant Director: Samuel Bear
Cinematographer: Daniel Kleen
 

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After being rescued by a charismatic vaquero on the streets of East LA, gay goth skater Santiago must put an end to closeted young love, leading to personal transformation and a newfound connection to familia.

A coming-of-age comedy with stylish edge, El Paisa bridges alternative Latinx subcultures to celebrate unifying notions of family, young love and Queer identity.

Project type: Fiction Short
Writer/Director/Producer: Daniel Eduvijes Carrera
Producer: Candi Guterres
Production Manager: Karla Legaspy
Director of Photography:Smokey Nelson
 

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El Tonto Por Cristo is the tale of an unlikely saint. A monk in a monastery on the coast of Texas embraces the life of a Holy Fool.

Project type: Fiction Feature
Director: Josh David Jordan
Producer: Jessica Marie Jordan
Cinematographer: Hutch Crane
Composer: Michael Paraskevas
Lead Actor: Matthew Posey

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In a world where teleportation has made all other means of transportation obsolete, we follow the last traditional commuter through his city's once-vibrant streets. We see this stubborn outsider cling to his outdated routine in a society that has left the daily commute behind.

Writer/Director: Madison Lin
Producer: Phoebe J Yung
Producer: Jake Behn
Producer: Michael Farmer

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Emerging Artists LA offers access to the film festival experience FREE to filmmakers and film aficionados alike. Submitting a film is free and attending the festival is free and that’s the way we’d like to keep it!

Project type: Festival
Curator/Program Director: Erica Mountain
Curator/Art Director: Carla Harris

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