Monthly Film Festival

July 29, 2023 03:00pm PDT - 10:30pm PDT
Industry Delegates
Gary King
Paramount Television
Charlotte Mott
Film Mode Entertainment
Meggie Choi
Amazon MGM Studios
Chris Gray
Freestyle Digital Media
Kara Petit
CAA
Mike Vanderhei
Rain Management Group
Dan Sima
Provoke Productions
Andrew Nissen
Entertainment One

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) hosts its annual InFocus: Canadian Cinema program, presented in partnership with Telefilm Canada. The program spotlights independent Canadian storytellers in a program that spans a collection of thirteen short films, including alumni of Palm Springs Shortfest, Toronto International Film Festival, ReelWorld and imagineNATIVE, as well as Summer Shorts, a collection of highlights from NFMLA’s ongoing selection.

The day’s programming begins with InFocus: Canadian Cinema Shorts I, a selection of shorts by independent Canadian filmmakers, explores a range of genres, journeys and emotions. From two young queer women from very different worlds finding common ground and a spark to the absurdist world of the world’s most dedicated corner inspector, to the challenges that emerge as old friends reunite, to stories of the complexity of mother-daughter relationships, generational trauma to facing everyday injustice.

The afternoon continues with InFocus: Canadian Cinema Shorts II, a collection that explores holding space for grief, disentangling faith and identity, good intentions gone awry, searching for moments of  joy and levity amid hardship, taking life into one’s own hands in the face of oppression, and the horror of gentrification.

The evening concludes with Summer Shorts, an eclectic mix of short form work that delves into themes of dating, discrimination, existentialism, mental illness, homelessness, connecting with those we’ve lost, and breaking cycles of toxic masculinity.  

NFMLA showcases films by filmmakers of all backgrounds throughout the year, across both our general and InFocus programming. All filmmakers are welcome and encouraged to submit their projects for consideration for upcoming NFMLA Festivals, regardless of the schedule for InFocus programming, which celebrates diversity, inclusion and region by spotlighting  communities of filmmakers within our filmmaking community as part of our monthly program. This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The South Park Center is an ADA compliant venue and is wheelchair accessible. We request captioned films from all filmmakers participating at our Festival. For any accessibility needs, please send a request to info@nfmla.org at least 72 hours prior to the event.

Schedule Details

Program #1 – InFocus: Canadian Cinema Shorts I
3:00 PM – 3:30 PM – Pre-Reception
3:30 PM – 5:00 PM – Program
5:00 PM – 5:15 PM – Audience Q&A

Program #2 – InFocus: Canadian Cinema Shorts II
5:15 PM – 5:45 PM – Pre-Reception
5:45 PM – 7:15 PM – Program
7:15 PM – 7:30 PM – Audience Q&A

Program #3 – Summer Shorts
7:30 PM – 8:00 PM – Pre-Reception
8:00 PM – 10:00 PM – Program
10:00 PM – 10:15 PM – Audience Q&A

Event Location

Event Entrance
1139 S Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90015
Directions


Paid Parking
1133 S Olive St, Los Angeles, CA 90015
Directions

InFocus: Canadian Cinema I
Better At Texting
Dir. Mary Galloway, Writ. Mary Galloway & Prod. Kent Donguines, Christina Saliba
11 Mins | Canada
Corners
Dir. James Brylowski, Writ. James Brylowski & Prod. James Brylowski
13 Mins | Canada
Benevolent Thumbnail
Benevolent
Dir. Jared Marino, Writ. Jared Marino, Sabrina Soto & Prod. Jared Marino, Liam Hoban Thrush, Rhiannon Murray-Leung, Alyssa Bruno, Scott Edward Morris
19 Mins | Canada
There Are Bees In The House Thumbnail
There Are Bees In The House
Dir. Morgan Saelens, Writ. Erin Wood & Prod. Emma M Cooke
15 Mins | Canada
I Remember The Footprint In The Snow Thumbnail
I Remember The Footprint In The Snow
Dir. Cazhhmere Downey, Writ. Cazhhmere Downey & Prod. Temilola Adebayo, Kent Donguines
14 Mins | Canada
The Chase
Dir. Gurjeet Kaur Bassi, Writ. Gurjeet Kaur Bassi & Prod. Gurjeet Kaur Bassi, Katrina Saville
11 Mins | Canada
InFocus: Canadian Cinema II
Cheap Hugs
Dir. Sarah Baskin, Writ. Sarah Baskin, Valéry Lessard, Bryan Fitzgerald & Prod. Bryan Fitzgerald, Valéry Lessard, Sarah Baskin, David Siegel
15 Mins | Canada
Fish Boy
Dir. Christopher Yip, Writ. Christopher Yip & Prod. Malachi Ellis, Kent Donguines
11 Mins | Canada
Out With The Old
Dir. Alex Butt, Writ. Alex Butt & Prod. Alex Butt, Lewis Spring
6 Mins | Canada
Saturday Fuego Diablo
Dir. Anita Abbasi, Writ. Anita Abbasi & Prod. Anita Abbasi, Murphy Diggon
12 Mins | Canada
Call Me AWOL Thumbnail
Call Me AWOL
Dir. Geordie Trifa, Writ. Geordie Trifa & Prod. Rob Labas, Pieter Romer
11 Mins | Canada
Diaspora Thumbnail
Diaspora
Dir. Tyler Mckenzie Evans, Writ. Tyler Mckenzie Evans & Prod. Malachi Ellis, Lindsay Blair Goeldner, Eric Bizzarri
16 Mins | Canada
Split Ends
Dir. Alireza Kazemipour , Writ. Alireza Kazemipour, Solmaz Mortezavand & Prod. Solmaz Mortezavand
14 Mins | Canada
Summer Shorts
Farmers Dating
Dir. Alexandra Hsu, Writ. Alexandra Hsu, Chris Vennemeyer & Prod. Alexandra Hsu, MuFei Xu
11 Mins | USA
Rumi Thumbnail
Rumi
Dir. Aisha Amin, Writ. Aisha Amin & Prod. Annie Ning, Meetra Javed, Cameron Morton, Underhill Films
13 Mins | USA
Creature Comfort
Dir. Ryan Oligmueller, Writ. Ryan Oligmueller & Prod. Ryan Oligmueller
11 Mins | USA
Waving
Dir. Rolfin Nyhus, Steven Brumwell, Writ. Steven Brumwell, Rolfin Nyhus & Prod. Rolfin Nyhus, Steven Brumwell
16 Mins | UK
Elpida
Dir. Billy Soulis, Writ. Billy Soulis & Prod. Nicholas Baldas, Billy Soulis, Ioanna Petinaraki
18 Mins | Greece
Soul Food Thumbnail
Soul Food
Dir. Emily Teera, Writ. Emily Teera & Prod. Halley Albert
22 Mins | Thailand
Mate
Dir. George-Alex Nagle, Writ. Daniel Corboy, George-Alex Nagle, Ben Tarwin & Prod. George-Alex Nagle, Ben Tarwin, Nick Bolton
33 Mins | Australia