• POWER PLAYS

Tense standoffs, risky gambits, and subtle manipulations characterize these stories about the lengths we go to in order to control our own lives—and sometimes those of others.

Showtimes

Thursday, June 26, 2025

Festival Theaters 1

Short Films

VISA

Faced with deportation at the end of his work permit, an Asian employee tries to get hate-crimed to secure a green card.

LITTLE ONE

Following a breakup, a woman's pet cat magically turns human and becomes the object of her owner's toxic fixation.

YOU KNOW YOU WANNA STAY

A freshman girl sneaks out on a school night to counsel her senior friend. "Nothing happens" between them.

SHUTTERSPEED

Fifteen-year-old Cas poses for his school’s trainee teacher and amateur photographer, Jard. When he becomes painfully aware of the power imbalance between them, he seeks to reverse their dynamic.

SILVER NEEDLE

After moving to China from New Zealand, two sisters try to adjust to their new ballet class, only to find that the teacher has an unusual teaching method.

PUBLIC FREAKOUT

At a gas station, a tense encounter between a working man and a suburban teen escalates when the boy’s mother intervenes.

ShortFest 2025