We’re nearing the end of the year, but even with so many incredible films already celebrated, we still have a few more to show before the calendar rolls into 2025. With this being the penultimate screening of the year, we’re rounding out 2024 with some truly special films from a group of very talented creators. This month’s screening will be in person on November 14th at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles (with tickets available here), and running online from November 14th through the 17th on BitPix. There’s not much time to waste, so let’s get going with this month’s selection of films!
Moon Lake – Jeannie Sui Wonders’ coming of age film about the stress and panic that can come from puberty for young people is one that can’t personally be related to, but seems to be a pretty common story for those who experience a menstrual cycle. Tess (Grace Hunt Sui) is going to a sleepover, with her menstrual cycle hitting at a bad time, and leaving an unfortunate visible mark. Not wanting to face embarrassment, Tess does all the things one would do to avoid accountability, and seemingly just tries to get through the night of social pressures, attempting to fit in, and not being found out. It feel like it connects, and should connect, with many people in a audience. A near universal tale of the anxieties of youth and all that puberty does to make it more intense.
Stay – Megan McKenzie and Tim Dougherty star in this film about two young people who meet while paying their respects to lost loved ones in a graveyard. The two of them begin to bond, over both their own losses and the spark of meeting someone who understands. It’s a sweet story mixed with the pain of loss, even when those kinds of loss can also bring people together. Written by McKenzie and directed by Regina Ainsworth, Stay is a really fantastic short piece about love, hope, loss and so much more.
Watching Walter – Stephen Tobolowsky is a force in this short film that’s based on the true story of Wladyslaw “Walter” Wojnas, a man who endured both the horrors of the Holocaust and the iron fist of a Nazi watchmaker during his childhood in Poland. Abducted by the Third Reich and forced to learn the trade of watchmaking and repair as a way to take from his people and turn those timepieces into gifts for high ranking Nazi officers. Once he was able to escape Nazi rule, Walter immigrated to the US, using that knowledge and everything he gained after to become a master at the craft, lending his skills to others as his form of revenge against the regime that killed his family and imprisoned him. It’s a touching, incredible story, and Tobolowsky is at his best in this film, which is quite a feat given his illustrious career. Director Mitch Yapko and writer Mark Dylan Brown have really brought something special to this film, and it shows in both presentation and in the performances.
cat – Jodie Bentley and and Clayton Farris star in this strange and unique film by Jessica Redish that sees Bentley play a woman looking for a companion, only to find that her specific needs require a bit of a enigmatic technique. Under the guidance of the proprietor of a dating service, Jodie (Bentley) takes her new beau Guy (Ferris) and molds him in the image that she needs, to pretty hilarious results. It’s a strange film, but one that is at ton of fun, with Bentley getting to have a good time as a instigator of all the big changes, and with Ferris getting to act it all out, to great success.
All Boys – Nic Ingelse writes and directs this short that pits a Catholic priest against four high school boys as they play a game of telephone to prove a point at an all-boys Catholic school. Dan Butler plays Father Frank, who gets quite the wake-up call as to how terrible kids that age can be when he tries to use the game of Telephone to prove a point, only for a terrible stereotype to get thrown out, much to the offense of both Frank and the boys’ teacher, Miss Gallo (Nicole DiMarco). Evan Guerrera, Luca R. Stagnitta, Nicholas Victor Matos and Sean McCormick also star in this short but very impactful film that shows how harmful stereotypes can be and how they can affect others.
Primos – Ricardo Varona’s film is a wonderful and fascinating coming of age story, co-written with Ida Yazdi that focues on four young people in Puerto Rico; Cristobal, his cousin Marcos, Yazmin and Ale as they live, enjoy the sights and sounds of the land. As the four of them hang out, Cristobal’s crush on Yazmin becomes more obvious, as does the fact that Yazmin is hooking up with Marcos, leading to a complicated web of feelings and reactions. It’s a very engrossing film as you watch how they all navigate these feelings and situations. The cast of Gustavo Rosa, Brian Rittenhouse, Sharlene Cruz and Valeria Pomales Rosado are all excellent as well, making it a really well-told slice of life piece.
Grown – Jaja Meloche’s directorial debut is one that should have a lot of people thinking back to the idiocy of their youths. Knowing nothing but wanting to seem cool, not understanding what it means to be grown-up, and not understanding the consequences of those actions are all familiar themes in this film that stars Isabel Palma and Joshua Melnick. Isa (Palma) is fourteen and crushing on an older friend of her brother’s, Telly who’s eighteen. While alone for the weekend, Telly comes over to her brother, and while he’s not there, Telly and Isa start to hang out, leading Isa to try to impress him with her maturity and ability to be grown-up, a common behavior in situations like this, which can have mixed results in life, and very complicated ones here as Isa has to learn some lessons. It’s a film that can be uncomfortable at points because of the subject matter and the dynamics, but it’s a film that should also be incredibly relatable for so many who’ve done similar things. It’s a fantastic debut from a director we should be seeing much more from down the line.
Albion Rose – Tiffany Tenille is a powerhouse in this film that she writes, directs and stars in, alongside Courtney Thomas and John David Williams. It focuses on two sisters, Tiffany (Tenille) and Crystal (Thomas), who share a special bond, one that is frequently expressed by playing dress-up with their dolls, regardless of age. When Crystal, who is into adulthood, annunces that she and her boyfriend Sean are making a decision to move in together, it creates a massive and sudden rift between the siblings that leads down darker paths. It’s a fascinating film, one that is sure to enrapture audiences when they get the chance to see it.
Not Afraid – Jashua St. John and Kyla Garcia star in this film that was directed by Mikaela Bruce and focuses on Olivia Not Afraid, an indigenous youth who is kicked off their basketball team after creating a scene. Behind Olivia losing her temper is the reality that faces her and her family, including Aunt Betty, who has assumed care of Olivia, which is that of the violence committed against Native Women all around North America, but more importantly in their rural Montana community. Someone directly affected by that violence through the loss of a family member, Olivia is handling it the best she can, which isn’t always well, showing the way that trauma can bleed into all aspects of life, however unintentional.
Zit – Hannah Alline stars in this repeat performance of a film that was featured at out October Screenings. Amber Neukum’s film about anxiety, performance and pressure is one that is both heart-racing because of what Gertrude (Alline) goes through, but also it’s a bit gross as the body horror representation of that anxiety and pressure makes it a hell of a sight. The use of this physical manifestation of anxiety is a truly brilliant one, and as the film progresses, so does the escalation of that manifestation, really adding to the heightened anxiety in a way that isn’t often seen in films. It’s a great film that is relatable and uncomfortable in all the right ways.
Cycles – Willam Darbyshire’s film about a codependent couple whose relationship has lasted through all the ups and down of long-term companionship through their experience with a young couple that they meet who lives above them. Emily (Illiana Raykovski) and Matthew (Tyler Young) meet the young, very in love, and successful Lucia (Maria Gabriella de Faria) and Sebastian (Anthony De La Torre), meeting them for dinner. Things go…awry, leading to Matthew and Emily having to come together to deal with the consequences. This is a fun and absolutely fascinating film, full of brilliant acting and interesting storytelling, with Raykovski and Young really embracing the long-term couple attitudes and mannerisms.
Staging Anna – Paul Calderon, Francesca Root-Dodson and Will Meyers lead a terrific cast in this film about a tyrannical but brilliant director and the cast that have to both deal and learn from his tactics. The film pulls you in and immediately keeps you there for the entire time, with performances that are as terrific as they are terrifying at points. The cast was amazing, with this K.M. Murphy film being one of the highlights of the screening.
Encouraged: Building The Future – Nigerian-born BMX legend Courage Adams returns to his native country to build the first skatepark to ever exist in Lagos in this incredible documentary. Focusing on the incredibly fast growing community of young street BMX riders, Adams finds out about these new generations of riders that were inspired by him and his peers in his home country. From there he embarks to help them grow their love of the sport by building them a park where they can truly grow and shine as athletes. With some help from his friends and the intense and heartwarming dedication of the riders themselves, they dive headfirst into building the park in a very short two weeks. It’s long for a short, clocking in at just around forty-five minutes, but every minute is worth it as this is a beautiful story of people coming together for something they love, and building a deep community around their shared passion.
Round Robin – Maria Belafonte’s film about the darkness in the pageant industry is an very engaging film that focuses on Anna (Michaela Boutros-Ghali), a young woman groomed from birth to be a star in the pageant industry. Hounded, pressured and prepared by her mother Patricia (Melora Hardin), Anna has to face all the things that Patricia pushes onto her, coaxing her to do anything to win, which can be easy to take advantage of. Robert John Burke stars as the pageant director in charge of the show, and everyone in the cast delivers on a powerful story of coercion, a need to impress and live up to expectations, and all the darkness in this industry. Great work y Belafonte and the whole cast.
Alma and the Two Pills – Anna Salinas’ short film is a wild film that talks about some very messy things in a way that is simultaneously funny and takes the subject matter very seriously. Alma is feeling kind of stuck in a lot of aspects in her life, including her lack of enthusiasm about being pregnant. After starting a two step process to remedy that, she gets a text from an ex who wants to meet up. What follows is a series of complicated events that allow her and her ex-girlfriend to reconnect in a way that will only make things more complex for them both, but also starts Alma on a road to finding the path that she needs for herself. Anna Rajo stars in the film, and she’s excellent in it, really displaying some of the soul-crushing hardship of life, and the glimmers of light at the things that can really inspire and bring hope.
Cut Off – Director Megan Swertlow and writer Remi Rosemarin combine for this very fun story about a newly single young woman, Sof (played by Sophie Rimler), who was meant to attend her nephew’s bris with her long-term boyfriend. But they’ve broken up, and while attempting to tell her very overbearing mother(Gina Hecht), Sof has to make excuses for the absence of her boyfriend at first, only for her mother to decide that she needs to find a date at this very unfortunate location as to trick her elderly grandmother into thinking nothing is different. Rimler is great in this, playing up both an independent spirit and a bit of tired indifference to her mother’s antics, and Hecht is so much fun as her mother.
The Mistake – An Easterseals Disability Project film, it focuses on three people: Kyle (Joe Chambrello), his girlfriend Jessica (writer/director Jannica Olin) and his boyfriend John (Johnny Ray), two of whom didn’t know about one another until they arrive at Kyle’s place for a date at the same time. Despite Kyle’s attempts to make excuses, it doesn’t go great for him, as he starts with two, ends with zero, and is ultimately shown to be not as great of a guy as they thought he was (but just as hot). It’s really fun, and like many Easterseals Film, uses the disabilities that these creators go through life with as both a plot point and a point of pride, as Olin’s alopecia is front and center in a way that helps tell the story as well as show that this medical condition is something that you can be loud and proud of.
That’ll be it for this month! Please be sure to check back with us next month for our final screening of 2024, and for those unable to attend the in-person screening on November 14th at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, these films will be available to stream from home from the 14th to the 17th, only on BitPix. See everyone next month!
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