Monthly Film Festival

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) hosts its January Monthly Film Festival, spotlighting narratives whose perspectives offer us the world through the lens of ageing characters, as well as a selection from our general program.

The day starts with InFocus: Counter-Ageism Shorts, a collection of films that tell stories of age and ageing from all over the world, capturing protagonists as they navigate changing circumstances, recall pivotal life moments, find their truth and defy the societal expectations of age.

The evening continues with InFocus: Counter-Ageism’s feature film, Love Is Not Love, an impressionistic and poetic black and white first feature by director Stephen Keep Mills, which delves into the contrasts between fantasy and reality that play out in romance through the experiences of his protagonist (played by Mills, who has been a working actor for over fifty years) caught between his decades-long marriage and a new yearning.

The night concludes with Shorts Program #2: Autonomy, a selection of vibrant narrative films which each in their own way explore the drive for personal autonomy and our ability to survive and thrive through that autonomy. The program includes stories of running into your mother while buying condoms, the early public stages of the transition of a transgender child, a dystopian future without fresh water, the true story of one of the pioneers of oral contraceptives, and the personal and familial politics of drag in a small town.

All filmmakers are welcome and encouraged to submit their projects which will be considered for all upcoming NFMLA Festivals, regardless of the InFocus programming, which celebrates diversity, inclusion and region. NFMLA showcases films by filmmakers of all backgrounds throughout the year.