SWEET LIKE MANGO – directed by Victoria J. Smith
A career-driven rapper, Yuri, moves back home in attempt to mend the family bonds he broke when he moved away to follow his dreams. With growing tensions between him and his sister, Yolanda, he feels a duty to encourage his niece’s creativity. His efforts are met with great resistance from Yolanda who doesn’t want her daughter to follow the same isolated path that he did.
RAISE THE BAR – directed by Jenna Motley, Edwardo Gray
An impulsive up and coming rapper is forced to face his demons in order to take care of his mother who recently went blind from diabetes.
99 1/2 – directed by Chance Braxton Franklin
Royce is a young, successful director trying to come up with a new idea, putting unnecessary pressure on his shoulders to stay in the spotlight and not let His fans, agents, and studio execs down. He falls into his mind getting lost and wrestles with his conscience but still has a hard time coming up with an idea.
NAHTE – directed by Dyneil Holden-Fobbs
An artistic boy who seeks parental approval and love, spirals down on a destructive quest after they reject him and his art.
LO SGUARDO (The Gaze) – directed by Gloria Zingales
When the news of an encroaching fire and an unsettling onlooker interrupt a night amongst friends, Sole— a young Italian woman— must return home alone. On her journey, Sole finds herself facing dangers that blur the line between reality and her own paranoia. “Lo Sguardo”, Italian for the gaze, is a short giallo thriller about the male gaze and its psychological effects on women.
STOP SIGNS – directed by Yasmine Jade Raad
Moments after Thalia is sexually assaulted, she spends the afternoon with a friend. The world she once knew looks completely different to her now.
THE TOOTH FAIRY – directed by Trey Lyford
Chuck lives by her own code, rarely killing, but leaving her attackers toothless and helpless as she barters teeth for supplies, scraping to survive one day at a time against an onslaught of hopelessness and the burden of her own humanity.
THE LION OF TERANGA – directed by Marcus Quinn
While chasing a championship with his team, a young basketball player is drawn into an unsettling incident with his coach, threatening his friendship with his closest teammate.