CINEJOY, featuring the Artists & Films of CINEQUEST

Cinejoy featuring the artists & films or Cinequest occurs April 1-17 virtually and offers a stellar lineup of exciting events, community gatherings, and over 135 movies, shorts, and pilots. Line-up includes 82 World or U.S. Premiere Films & Television. A dazzling assortment of perspectives and emotions, representing independent powerhouses and studio masterworks from 57 countries. Lineup and Tickets are now live. Cinejoy is more than streaming movies; it is a live event, party, discourse, social community, and film screening experience, accessed globally.

You can view Cinejoy featuring the artists & films or Cinequest on our Event Calendar here.

FEATURE FILMS: WORLD PREMIERES

12 Months | Drama, Comedy, Romance | Category: Love, Inspiration | Director(s): Clinton J Cornwell | Producer(s): Clinton Cornwell, Elizabeth Hirsch-Tauber, Michael James Kelly | Filled with humor and powerful drama, an intensely realistic look at modern love through the lens of two romantics navigating their way through a new relationship. Country: United States (World Premiere)

A Crack in the Mountain | Documentary | Category: Inspiration |Director(s): Alastair Evans | Executive Producer(s): Greg Passmore | Producer(s): Alastair Evans | Deep in the jungle of Central Vietnam, lies a magnificent underground kingdom. Hang Son Doong which translates as “mountain river cave”, is the largest cave passage in the world and a place of spectacular beauty. The paradise is now in danger from those who would develop there. But there are those who would fight to protect the delicate eco-system. Country: United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam (World Premiere)

Continue | Drama | Category: Dazzlers |Director(s): Nadine Crocker | Executive Producer(s): Cassian Elwes | Producer(s): Nadine Crocker, Jay Seals, Anthony Caravella | Based on a true story, a moving and potent portrait of a woman in the aftermath of trying to take her own life, and her journey of self-discovery, newfound friendship, unwavering love, and a life she never imagined possible for a girl like her. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Cryo | Thriller, Mystery, Sci-Fi | Category: Thriller |Director(s): Barrett Burgin | Executive Producer(s): Colton Elzey, Mason D. Davis | Producer(s): Matthew Siemers, Westin Cross | Trapped in an underground facility, five scientists wake from cryogenic sleep with no memory of who they are or how long they’ve been asleep. They soon make a shocking realization: a killer is hunting them, and may even be hiding among them. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Dash | Drama, Thriller | Category: Thrills | Director(s): Sean Perry | Executive Producer(s): Sean Perry, Alexander Molina | Producer(s): John Fitzpatrick, Bryce Harrow, Rob Harrow | An adulterous rideshare driver navigating the nighttime streets of Hollywood goes to great lengths to take his troubling double-life to the grave…only to dig a grave for himself. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Discontinued | Comedy, Sci-Fi, Fantasy | Category: Dazzlers | Director(s): Trevor Peckham | Producer(s): Michael Villucci, Trevor Peckham, Ashley Hutchinson | A deliriously fun comedy-fantasy in which a millennial discovers that the world she knows is just a simulated version of reality that is being shut down. Suddenly, she’s the only one who wants to stick around. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Distant Thunder | Drama, Sci-Fi | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Takayuki OHASHI | A comet is about to destroy the human race in a few months. Three sisters who have been living separately for a long time, come to live together after the death of their father. Will they once again become a family right at the end of the world? Country: Japan (World Premiere)

Enduring Democracy: The Monterey Petition | Documentary | Category: Inspiration | Director(s): David C Schendel | Producer(s): David C Schendel, Elizabeth Nordt, Greg Sumner | In a dusty filing cabinet in Monterey, California, a 1938 film is discovered that depicted a joyous Japanese-American community just before their lives are destroyed. Along with this remarkable never-before-seen film was a trove of signed petitions demanding the restoration of civil rights to those same Americans. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Fanga | Fantasy, Romance, Thriller | Category: Thrills | Director(s): Max Gold | Executive Producer(s): Eva Sigurdardottir, Thomson Nguyen, Sharon Powers, Randall Arthur & Linda Yellin | Producer(s): Lauren Bates, Zoey Gold, Ingi Hrafn Hilmarsson, Shane Donahue, Jesy Odio, Kellen Witschen, Ingrid Lyons, Andrea Snaedal | An unstable farm girl becomes prisoner to a beast to cure her father’s illness. A modern retelling (with a twist) of the classic ‘Beauty and the Beast” fable. Country: Iceland (World Premiere)

Freedom’s Path | Drama | Category: Dazzlers | Director(s): Brett Smith | Executive Producer(s): Dexter Braff, Jory Weitz, BK Fulton, Skip Williamson, Kerri Elder, Blake Elder | Producer(s): AJ Winslow, Jim Pidgeon, Neko Sparks, Steve Swadling, Brett Smith | ‘GLORY’ meets ‘DANCES WITH WOLVES’ When a soldier deserts from battle, he soon discovers the true cost of war through a young heroic black man, who teaches him the real meaning of Freedom. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Futra Days | Fantasy, Romance, Drama | Category: Love | Director(s): Ryan David | Producer(s): Ryan David, Orian Williams, David Zonshine | What if you could see your future? Sean is going to do just that, by undergoing a procedure simply known as “The Process.” His goal: to find out how his new relationship with Nichole will unfold. Is romance more than a complex set of feelings, ideals, and reactions? Country: United States (World Premiere)

Goodbye, White Guy | Comedy, Drama | Category: Good Times | Director(s): Milos Ajdinovic | Executive Producer(s): Phil Peters | Producer(s): Dusty Sutton, Alex Katsaros | To impress his boss and father-in-law-to-be, Wiley heads to India two weeks before the wedding with the goal of corralling a wild card manager in the company. However, what Wiley can’t predict is the unlikely partnership they will form, as both men embark on a crackpot journey through India—each running from his own personal demons. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Last Chance Charlene | Drama, Comedy | Category: Good Times | Director(s): Tony Gapastione | Executive Producer(s): Karah Brown | Producer(s): Tony Gapastione, Jessica Musgrave, Keren Southall | A struggling actor and writer is on the path to finally make a big break in her career. But she’s going to have to put her complicated life back together in the aftermath of a tragic event. A story examining the complexity, ridiculousness, and intersection of faith, creativity, family, and grief that shows how we often think we only have one chance to figure it all out, but the reality is, we have a million changes to get it right. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Maybe Someday | Drama, Comedy | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Michelle Ehlen | Producer(s): David Au, Michelle Ehlen | Attempting to start a new chapter in life, Jay moves in with her high school best friend (a woman with whom she used to be secretly in love) and befriends a charismatic gay man who has long given up on love. Just another day in the inevitable cycles of love, loss, and everything in between. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Nothing Ever Happened | Drama | Category: Dazzlers | Director(s): Gonçalo Galvão Teles | Executive Producer(s): João Fonseca | Producer(s): Luís Galvão Teles, Raquel Morte, Antonio Gonçalves Junior | Three teens in Lisbon are on the precipice. With uncertain futures and shadows from their past and present…and not one of them can pretend nothing ever happened. Country: Portugal (World Premiere)

Out and About | Comedy | Category: Laughs | Director(s): Peter Callahan | Executive Producer(s): David Snyder | Producer(s): Konstantin von Krusenstiern, Ivon Visalli | Jeff’s mind is a swirl of wandering thoughts about his life, his neighbors, and the world around him. It’s probably a good thing that the people he meets can’t hear them. But we can. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Person Woman Man Camera TV | Comedy, Drama, Romance | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Niav Conty | Executive Producer(s): Ballibay Camps Inc. | Producer(s): John J. A. Jannone | Barack Obama was starting his second term, hope was more than just a hashtag, and Sam met Samantha. Seven years later, 2020 happened. A tragicomedy about race, romance, and remembering. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Seokkarae | Drama| Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Mike Beech | Producer(s): Jiwon Lee, Hyojin Lee, Mike Beech, Daniel Walker, Thomas Maitland | A young woman struggles to run her recently departed mother’s countryside guesthouse as a local criminal attempts to extort her and her father. She accepts the aid of a local shaman as she attempts to save her family’s home. That is when everything changes. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Simchas and Sorrows | Comedy, Drama, Dramedy | Category: Laughs | Director(s): Genevieve Adams | Producer(s): Genevieve Adams, Matt Ott, Hari Nef, Hannah Swayze, Jackie Donohoe | A spirited comedy in which Agnes, a Catholic school girl who, after her unplanned pregnancy, begins converting to Judaism in order to marry the love of her life and be accepted by his conservative Jewish family. But, as Agnes soon discovers, this is easier said than done. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Tell Me A Memory | Documentary | Category: Inspiration | Director(s): Jon Bryant Crawford | Executive Producer(s): Jon Bryant Crawford, Gabe Mayhan | Producer(s): Jon Bryant Crawford | When a filmmaker asks anyone in the Memphis LGBTQ community to sit and share a memory, the result is an incredible blend of humor, emotion, and power. Country: United States (World Premiere)

The Allnighter | Comedy | Category: Inspiration | Director(s): Aimee Graham | Producer(s): Aimee Graham, Kenneth Morris, W. Chris Brown | An enthralling comedy following the adventures of an astrophysics student (Owen Beckman) who, after all his research is stolen, makes a bargain with a woman (Gretchen Lodge) in order to get it back. Neither is prepared for the old wounds that will open or the connection they will make when they risk it all. Also starring Justine Bateman (Violet), James Russo (Django Unchained), Tiny Lister (Friday), and David Koechner (Anchorman). Country: United States (World Premiere)

The Dinner Parting | Comedy | Category: Laughs | Director(s): J.W. Andrew | Executive Producer(s): Brad Ballein, Greg Ballein, Joe Conrad, Benjamin Nivison, Judith Smith | Producer(s): Luke Allen Hackney | A modern screwball comedy concerning Susan and Henry, who are hosting a dinner party while trying to make good on a lie concerning the recent death of their “father.” Unexpected guests arrive, causing the night to unravel despite Susan’s best efforts. Country: United States (World Premiere)

The Falling World | Drama, Thriller, Crime, Mystery | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Jaclyn Bethany | Executive Producer(s): C.C. Kellogg, Isabelle Chester | October 1992. A group of law students head to a remote home upstate where a girl disappeared two years earlier. Will they be able to unravel what really happened? Country: United States (World Premiere)

The Family | Thriller | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Dan Slater | Executive Producer(s): Carlo Liconti, Bo Ko, Cristian de la Rosa | Producer(s): Adam Booth | On an isolated farm in what appears to be the 1800s, a tyrannical father preaches fire and brimstone, while the devout mother preaches obedience. But, their flock has had enough, and an uprising is only the start to uncovering the years of lies. Country: Canada (World Premiere)

The Mirror Game | Drama, Comedy, Romance | Category: Love | Director(s): William J. Stribling | Executive Producer(s): Marissa Flaxbart, Russ Nickel, Brett Ringle | Producer(s): William J. Stribling, Michael Tennant, Katya Alexander | Two old friends; one VERY big ask. Two childhood friends find themselves in Vegas on the same weekend, and one night together—with one life-altering favor—will change everything for them both. Country: United States (World Premiere)

The Send-Off | Drama | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): John-Michael Powell | Executive Producer(s): Alex Kim, Cathy Fegan-Kim, Sabrina Powell, Vincent Sieber | Producer(s): Undine Buka | When an actor throws an impromptu soirée at his Hollywood home, with only his closest friends in attendance, a fun evening devolves into something much darker after he makes an unexpected announcement to the group. Country: United States (World Premiere)

We Were Hyphy | Documentary | Category: Inspiration | Director(s): Larry Madrigal | Executive Producer(s): Rafael Casal, D-Ray, Matt Werner, Nump | Producer(s): Jason O’Mahony | In the summer of 2006, the San Francisco Bay Area was “Going Dumb! And Ghostriding the Whip!” We Were Hyphy examines and celebrates Hyphy, a thumping subgenre of hip hop, famous for its pounding bass, humorous slang, and insane dances! Country: United States (World Premiere)

What We Do Next | Drama, Thriller | Category: Thrills | Director(s): Stephen Belber | Executive Producer(s): Brian Tanke, Stephen Belber, Matt Bronson | Producer(s): Chris Mangano, Merry-Kay Poe, Max Neace | Starring Corey Stoll (Ant-Man, The Strain), Karen Pittman (And Just Like That, The Morning Show), and Michelle Veintimilla (Gotham, Seven Seconds), a timely, emotional thriller in which three characters battle it out at the intersection of race, class, and criminal justice. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Who Needs You | Comedy, Drama | Category: Inspirations | Director(s): Tyler Hunt | Executive Producer(s): Tyler Hunt | Producer(s): Tyler Hunt, Adam Justice Hardy | When obsessive free-spirit Stephen finds out his teen half sister Sarah is pregnant, he desperately tries to convince her to keep the baby. Sarah finally agrees when Stephen promises to father the child, and they embark on the journey of parenthood—for which neither is ready. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Wild Bones | Drama, Mystery, Horror | Category: Mindbenders | Director(s): Jack James | Executive Producer(s): Lee Whiteway, Pim van Baarsen | Producer(s): Jack James | Two sisters, Fay and Alice, reconnect after their father’s disappearance. While Fay is on the brink of madness and misremembering the past, Alice attempts to ground her sister and help bring her back from the precipice. But their past is about to come back with a vengeance. Country: United Kingdom (World Premiere)

Wolves | Mystery, Thriller | Category: Mindbenders | Director(s): Danny Dunlop | Executive Producer(s): Mark Nocent, Jon McLaren | Producer(s): Danny Dunlop, Kevin Tuck, Jake Raymond | When a young social recluse stumbles onto a series of unsolved cold cases he finds himself pulled deeper into the dark world of a serial killer, where he must face his own demons to learn the truth. Country: Canada (World Premiere)

FEATURE FILMS: US PREMIERES

#KIDSONTECH | Documentary | Category: Inspiration | Director(s): Paul Zehrer | Executive Producer(s): Pierre Laurent, Henning Kullak | Producer(s): Paul Zehrer, Eric M Ivey | Parents and teachers around the world struggle with kids’ dependence on devices today. How might we better prepare our kids for this digital world? Country: United States, Germany, India, Canada (United States Premiere)

Alpha Male | Comedy | Category: Laughs | Director(s): Katarzyna Priwieziencew, Igor Priwieziencew | Executive Producer(s): Wiktor Bojanowski | Producer(s): Katarzyna Priwieziencew |Piotr signs up for a smoking cessation program. By mistake, he enrolls in an enigmatic self-development course where, under the influence of the charismatic Leader, he begins to question his relationship, which he had considered perfect…until now. Country: Poland (United States Premiere)

Ashgrove | Mystery, Drama | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Jeremy LaLonde | Executive Producer(s): Amanda Brugel, Cory Chernick, Daryn Chernick, Spencer Giese, Sam Posner, David Kines | Producer(s): Jonas Chernick, Peter Harvey, Jeremy LaLonde | When a troubled couple escape to their rural farmhouse for a weekend of re-connection, they realize that their ability to save their marriage will literally determine the fate of humankind itself. Starring Amanda Brugel (The Handmaid’s Tale, Kim’s Convenience). Country: Canada (United States Premiere)

Balloon Animal | Drama | Category: Love | Director(s): Em Johnson | Executive Producer(s): Katherine Waddell, Gene Hasek, Lillian Todd | Producer(s): Monica O’Hara, Ruvi Leider | A young performer is stuck under the harsh demands of her father and their community’s expectations. During a night out to let loose and have some fun with her friends, she meets a young man with whom she quickly forms a bond, forcing her to question everything she has known. Country: United States (United States Premiere)

Carmen | Drama, Romance | Category: Inspiration | Director(s): Valerie Buhagiar | Executive Producer(s): Daniel Bekerman, José Luis Escolar, Dorothy Coetzee, Mark Gingras | Producer(s): Pierre Ellul, Coral Aiken, Anika Psaila Savona | Natascha McElhone (Designated Survivor, Polaris, The Truman Show) stars as Carmen, a woman finding a new start to life. After her elderly brother, who was a priest, passes, she’s no longer expected to devote her life as caretaker. Through a set of odd circumstances, she finds herself hearing confessions in a local church, to the delight of many parishioners and the horror of the authorities. Country: Malta, Canada (United States Premiere)

Ghosting Gloria | Comedy, Romance, Supernatural Fantasy | Category: Laughs | Director(s): Marcela Matta, Mauro Sarser | Executive Producer(s): Marcela Matta, Gabriel Silva Lamboglia | Producer(s): Nicolás Bottero, Leticia Barreiro | Gloria can’t sleep. At 30-years-old, she has never had an orgasm and doesn’t get along with the men she meets. After moving to a new home, she discovers an invisible entity there who introduces her to new pleasures. But what will she do when she meets a man from the world of the living? Country: Uruguay (United States Premiere)

Here Be Dragons | Drama, Thriller | Category: Thrills | Director(s): Alastair Newton Brown | Executive Producer(s): Milos Djukelic | Producer(s): Alastair Newton Brown, Marc Windon, Nathan Clark Sapsford | An exhilarating and taut thriller wherein a war crimes tribunal investigator goes to Belgrade to hunt a man whom everybody thought was dead. Country: Serbia, Australia (United States Premiere)

Labour Day | Drama | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Tracey Strnad | Executive Producer(s): Tracey Strnad, Tom Strnad | Producer(s): Rob Chatwin, Tom Strnad, Tracey Strnad | In this adult coming-of-age story, Harper takes medical tourism to a new level as she escapes city life to have her abortion in a small cottage resort town on a long weekend. While there, she experiences her childhood playground in a new light. Country: Canada (United States Premiere)

Mind-Set | Drama, Comedy | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Mikey Murray | Executive Producer(s): Angela Waddell | Producer(s): Mikey Murray, Josh Mandel, Darren Scales | Love, sex, and disillusion in the modern world. Lucy is unhappy at work and unhappy with her partner. No surprise she finds herself on the cusp of a not-so-secret affair. But, while this new relationship may seem like what she needs, the answers are far more complicated. Country: United States (United States Premiere)

Much Ado | Romance, Drama, Comedy | Category: Inspiration | Director(s): Anna-Elizabeth Shakespeare, Hillary Shakespeare | Executive Producer(s): Anna-Elizabeth Shakespeare, Hillary Shakespeare | Producer(s): Anna-Elizabeth Shakespeare, Hillary Shakespeare | A fresh, vibrant, and youthful adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” is played out in a house of university students, whose party spins out of control. Country: United Kingdom (United States Premiere)

Now is Now | Romance, Comedy | Category: Laughs | Director(s): Péter Szajki | Executive Producer(s): Adam Cobler, Bodó Julianna, Marencsák Kitty, Sandor Perecz, Králik Samu Péter, Adél Vörös | Producer(s): Gábor Kutyik, Péter Szajki, Judit Romwalter, Dóra Szücs, Gulácsi Lóránd | Szilvi makes a quick decision: she flees her wedding and jumps into Petya’s taxi—who just happens to be going to his own bachelor party that evening. Their day around Budapest together will become their adventure and their story. Country: Hungary (United States Premiere)

Salma’s Home | Drama | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Hanadi Elyan | Producer(s): Nathan Bennett | Three Arab women living in modern day Jordan must put their differences aside and work together. Tangled in a family drama after Bakri dies, his two wives and his adopted daughter navigate his inheritance, finding out that the only way forward is to try and make peace with each other. Country: Jordan (United States Premiere)

Second Thoughts | Comedy | Category: Dazzlers | Director(s): Zora Rux | Executive Producer(s): Leonie Minor, Roxana Richters, Fred Burle | Producer(s): Leonie Minor, Roxana Richters, Fred Burle | When Marie’s boyfriend proposes to her in front of his entire family, she doesn’t know what to say and flees to the countryside to think it over alone. Easier said than done, when her throughts manifest themselves in the form of her mother pestering her with baby names, ex-boyfriends climbing out of trees, and a mysterious woman narrating it all with poems. Country: Germany (United States Premiere)

Seven Days | Drama, Comedy | Category: Dazzlers | Director(s): Corey Kupfer | Executive Producer(s): Corey Kupfer; Ellyn Jameson | Producer(s): Corey Kupfer, Ellyn Jameson | Seven possibilities; one woman. There are infinite possibilities of circumstances one can be born into, and what a person can become. An anthology of seven women, a tour-de-force performance, all played by the same actress; and each woman refuses simple definition. Country: United States (United States Premiere)

Sonic Fantasy | Documentary | Category: Inspiration | Director(s): Marcos Cabotá | Producer(s): Paula Serra | Bruce Swedien is considered the best sound engineer ever. For three decades he was Michael Jackson’s right-hand man and together they created the best-selling hits of all time. Inspirational and highly entertaining, Sonic Fantasy tells the beginning of that magical adventure. Country: Spain (United States Premiere)

Tehranto | Drama, Comedy, Romance | Category: Love | Director(s): Faran Moradi | Executive Producer(s): Andrew McCann Smith,Ian Thompson,Wendy Donnan,Mariah Owen | Producer(s): Jackie de Niverville | In Toronto, lively music, intricate textiles, and vibrant colours paint an unlikely story of love and family when Badi and Sharon, two young students with very different upbringings in a divided Iranian community, accidentally fall in love. Country: Canada (United States Premiere)

The Day I Found a Girl in a Trash | Sci-Fi, Fantasy | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Michal Krzywicki | Executive Producer(s): Natalia Bednarska | Producer(s): Natalia Bednarska | December 30, 2028. Poland is a totalitarian country with its own laws, built on the backs of slaves and the slave economy. Blue, who managed to escape from prison by chance, begins to regain her senses and rediscovers a world of sensations. Country: Poland (United States Premiere)

The Other Side | Drama| Category: Dazzlers | Director(s): Shailesh Bhimrao Dupare | Producer(s): Shailesh Bhimrao Dupare, Pawan Wasudevrao Sadamwar, Suraj Wasudeorao Sadamwar, Mangesh Bhimrao Dupare, Pranoti Suresh Panchal | The story of a small community family—a grandfather (Mahadu), his widowed daughter-in-law (Makshmi), and her young son (Shambhu)—who traditionally assist people in carrying out the last rites of their loved ones. While Mahadu believes in age-old traditions and that Shambhu will follow in his footsteps, Shambhu wants more for himself. Will this tear their family apart? Country: India (United States Premiere)

Visitor | Thriller, Horror, Fantasy | Category: Thrills | Director(s): Alberto Evangelio | Executive Producer(s): Rosa del Saz, Sebastian Mery, Anna Hapenko | Producer(s): Jose A. Sanchez | When Marga decides to spend a few days alone in her old family home, her peace is upended by an invisible entity who seems to know a lot about her and won’t let her leave. But this strange presence is only the beginning, and her reality is literally in peril when she discovers the truth. Country: Spain (United States Premiere)

Wake Up, Leonard | Comedy | Category: Good Times | Director(s): Kat Mills Martin | Executive Producer(s): Sasha Klupchak | Producer(s): Maria Krovatin, Kat Mills Martin, Nigel DeFriez, Kira Pearson | Leonard’s manifested a date with his ex; now he’s just gotta fix his vibration. Part comedy, part self-help nightmare, WAKE UP, LEONARD follows one man’s quest for wellness while failing miserably to stay on his vibe. Will Leonard learn how to not only love his higher self, but his lower self too? Country: United States (United States Premiere)

SHORT FILMS: WORLD PREMIERES

A Little House in Aberdeen | Drama | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Emily Goss | Producer(s): Emily Goss, Shayan Ebrahim, Ashley Arnold | A woman reflects on her past and wonders about her future – while having an abortion. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Before Seven | Drama, Mystery | Category: Love | Director(s): RAY SISTERS, Austin Ray, Westin Ray | Producer(s): RAY SISTERS | On a cloudy London day, an American babysitter takes care of two young British sisters. Parental instincts and the fragility of misunderstandings rise to the surface, as she realizes something is amiss. Country: Unites States, United Kingdom (World Premiere)

Canceled | Comedy, Horror | Category: Thrills | Director(s): Christopher Guerrero | Producer(s): Kyle Helf Stephanie Federoff Alex Parker Paul Claypool | On Halloween night, an arrogant TikTok influencer refuses to acknowledge her cultural appropriation of Mexican culture as strange things happen in the shadows. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Creator | Thriller, Horror | Category: Mindbenders | Director(s): Andre LeBlanc | Producer(s): James M Miller | A computer designed to flag violent internet content starts creating its own, with the inventors as the subjects. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Memories of a Sounded Past | Drama | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Leon Guallart Díaz | Producer(s): Leon Guallart Díaz | A deaf African-American woman remembers the sounds of her childhood in Allensworth, the first town built and owned by African-Americans. Country: United States (World Premiere)

Miika | Animation, Thriller | Category: Thrills | Director(s): Nsiimenta Shevon | Producer(s): Dianne Hoge, Ron Hoge, Tobie Windham, Tika Sumpter, Shinelle Azorah | Inspired by the traumatic fates met by many in Uganda’s violent political past, “Miika” is a haunting tale of desperation birthing courage in a young and passionate heart. Country: Uganda (World Premiere)

My Vote Vanished in 2016 | Animation | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Hope Jacobs | Producer(s): Hope Jacobs | In 2016, I went to vote at the same polling place where I was registered and had voted for a decade. This time I was told my name wasn’t on the voter rolls… Country: United States (World Premiere)

Nothingness Conquered Them | Animation | Category: Dazzlers | Director(s): Arais Meteyard | Poised through the eyes of the manipulated, the problem presented to the audience is the reality of greed and control by those who deem themselves leaders upon populations seen as necessary sacrifices. Country: Italy (World Premiere)

Punk Talk | Drama | Category: Dazzlers | Director(s): Thelma Ruiz | Producer(s): Mon Castro Thelma Ruiz | While walking home alone and scared after her mother forgot to pick her up, a shy fifteen year-old girl is suddenly rescued by a punk entity who shows her a world where she’ll fit in just as she is. Country: Mexico (World Premiere)

Reggie & June | Drama | Category: Love | Director(s): Brandon C. Thomas | Producer(s): Gabby Occhipinti |After a “Red Egg and Ginger” party doesn’t go as planned, a married couple becomes divided over culture and what’s best for their biracial son. Country: United States (World Premiere)

The Speech | Comedy | Category: Good Times | Director(s): Bethany Michalski | After serving Tom Hanks hors d’oeuvres, an actress gives the speech of a lifetime to her fellow academy peers. Country: United States (World Premiere)

SHORT FILMS: US PREMIERES

A Woman of No Importance | Drama | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Gauri Adelkar | Producer(s): Preethi Prasad | One night, an undocumented retail worker in Queens, New York secretly witnesses something and takes an action that will haunt her forever. Country: United States (United States Premiere)

Back Home Again | Animation, Drama | Category: Inspiration | Director(s): Michael Mankowski | Producer(s): John Schneider, Mark Dippe, Michael Mankowski | Back Home Again is an animated short film with an all-star voice cast to help build mental health awareness and spark conversations in communities across the world. Country: Canada (United States Premiere)

Creatures of the Night | Drama | Category: Thrills | Director(s): Memi Koupa | Producer(s): Fenia Cossovitsa | Athens 2022. Rumor has it that after dark, a genderqueer robber is roaming the city streets. A few sleepless Athenians will cross paths with this elusive creature and for the first time in a while, they will go to sleep. Country: Greece (United States Premiere)

Ea’eb | Animation | Category: Love | Director(s): Shaool Levy | Producer(s): Shaool Levy | During his show, a TV host freezes, remembering his disappointment with his mother, his identity crisis, and one ugly green suit. Country: Israel (United States Premiere)

How to Get Lost in Your Own Room | Drama, Mystery | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Jaehyun Park | Producer(s): Eunjung Lee | Somewhere foggy – a place in a VR game where the purpose is to find your own house while starting somewhere unfamiliar. Jeong-Im begins to enjoys the game a little too much, only to find that it does not seem to end. Country: South Korea (United States Premiere)

Inferno | Drama, Documentary | Category: Thrills | Director(s): Samuel Rodwell | Producer(s): Samuel Rodwell | Going beyond the media blockade of Australia’s apocalyptic megafires first-hand, see the volunteer firefighters who fought against all odds protecting their communities from total annihilation. Country: Australia (United States Premiere)

Moles | Comedy | Category: Laughs | Director(s): Vanja Victor, Kabir Tognola | Producer(s): Filippo Bonacci | Unable to afford a fancy holiday, a family decides to fake one by hiding at home and posting photoshopped pictures on social media. Country: Switzerland (United States Premiere)

Sadeh | Documentary | Category: Inspiration | Director(s): Jessica Benhamou | Producer(s): Sarah Kendal | What does it mean to [let land] rest? This is the question on the mind of Felix, a queer climate activist who moved to the first Jewish farm in the UK after becoming disabled. Country: United Kingdom (United States Premiere)

FEATURES

18 ½ | Comedy, Thriller | Category: Dazzlers| Director(s): Dan Mirvish | Executive Producer(s): Tel K. Ganesan, Ashwin T. Ganesan, Richard Schenkman, Sebastian Twardosz | Producer(s): Dan Mirvish, Daniel Moya, Terry Keefe | Starring Willa Fitzgerald (Reacher), John Magara (The Many Saints of Newark), Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead), Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men, Supergirl), and Richard Kind (Argo, A Bug’s Life), A 1970s-era Watergate conspiracy thriller and dark comedy following a White House transscriber who is thrust into scandal after obtaining the only copy of the infamous 18 ½ minute gap in the Nixon tapes. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

Charm Circle | Documentary | Category: Inspiration | Director(s): Nira Burstein | Executive Producer(s): Fred Armisen, Brian Devine, Brooke Devine, Jonathan Gray, Jason Orans | Producer(s): Nira Burstein, Betsy Laikin | Executive produced by Fred Armisen (Portlandia, Saturday Night Live), a moving portrait of an eccentric New York family navigating the chaos that divides them, yet finding what makes them alike will help them reunite. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

Come Find Me | Drama | Category: Inspiration | Director(s): Daniel Poliner | Producer(s): Daniel Poliner, Sol Miranda, Paul Ashey, Matthew Pourviseh, Julie Schubert, Alyssa May Gold | Starring Sol Miranda (Unbreakable Kimmy Schnidt), Victoria Cartagena (Batwoman), and Tovah Feldshuh (Star Wars: Resistance, The Walking Dead), the beautiful story about a mother and daughter facing major life changes and how their love challenges and sustains them. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

Robin Hoods of the Waste Stream | Documentary | Category: Inspiration | Director(s): Karney Hatch | Executive Producer(s): Karney Hatch | Robin Hoods of the Waste Stream provides a positive outlook on serious environmental issues by providing several solutions for food and waste recycling while fighting world hunger. This film features an array of experts and eco-warriors as they creativity and compassionately aim to make the world a safer, brighter, and cleaner place for us all. Join the real-life Robin Hoods who are tackling “The World’s Dumbest Problem” and finding solutions to empower us all to do the same. Country: United States

Our Words Collide | Documentary | Category: Inspiration | Director(s): Jordan W. Barrow, Matt Edwards | Executive Producer(s): Rosario Dawson, Diane Luby Lane, Samual Curtis | Producer(s): Jordan W. Barrow, Matt Edwards | Executive produced by Rosario Dawson, the inspiring stories of five teenage poets in Los Angeles takes us on their journey as they navigate their final year of high school, exploring identity and expression, transitioning into adulthood, and overcoming mental health issues – all through the unique prism of their poetry. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

Paris is in Harlem | Drama | Category: Dazzlers | Director(s): Christina Kallas | Executive Producer(s): RJ Beavers, Yan Cui, Jake Jia, Cleo Li | Producer(s): Josh Mandel, Christina Kallas | Structured like a jazz composition, an emotionally powerful journey that uses the diverse tapestry of Harlem as the backdrop for exploring multiculturalism through the lives of several strangers who are forever changed after a shooting at a historic jazz bar in Harlem. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

The Grand Bolero | Drama, Romance, Thriller | Category: Thrills | Director(s): Gabriele Fabbro | Executive Producer(s): Xamxela s.a.s | Producer(s): Fulvio Biavaschi | During lockdown in Italy, Roxanne, a gruff pipe organ restorer struggles to control her obsessive attraction to Lucia, her new 20-year-old mute assistant. An exploration of our aching need for human connection and touch. Country: Italy (Bay Area Premiere)

We’re All in This Together | Drama, Comedy | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Katie Boland | Executive Producer(s): Katie Boland, Gail Harvey | Producer(s): Paula Brancatti | The members of the Parker family have had their fair share of complications. When matriarch Kate Parker miraculously survives plummeting over a waterfall in a barrel—a feat captured on a video that goes viral—the dysfunctional Parker’s have to do something they never thought possible: act like a real family. Country: Canada (Bay Area Premiere)

You Resemble Me | Drama | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Dina Amer | Executive Producer(s): Spike Lee, Spike Jonze, Riz Ahmed , Alma Harel , Geralyn Dreyfous | Producer(s): Elizabeth Woodward, Dina Amer, Karim Amer | Executive Produced by Spike Lee, Spike Jonze, and Riz Ahmed, director Dina Amer’s powerful debut feature wherein cultural and intergenerational wounds erupt in a story about two sisters on the outskirts of Paris, and a choice that shocks the world. Attacking one of the darkest issues of our time, an evocative and intimate story about family, love, sisterhood, and belonging. Country: Egpyt, France, United States (Bay Area Premiere)

SHORTS

Above the Deluge | Animation | Category: Dazzlers | Director(s): Allyson Glenn | Producer(s): Allyson Glenn | A hand-drawn (digital) animation simulating the phenomena of sound synesthesia made as a multimedia collaboration with the Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra (SJO). Country: Canada (Bay Area Premiere)

Bainne | Horror | Category: Mindbenders | Director(s): Jack Reynor | Producer(s): Lara Hickey, Emer O’Shea | During the Irish Great Famine, a grieving farmhand’s life takes an unexpected turn when he encounters a ghostly thief and is led on a journey of hope. Country: Ireland

Birdwatching | Drama | Category: Dazzlers | Director(s): Samantha Soule | Producer(s): Lovell Holder, Addie Johnson Talbott, Samantha Soule, Daniel Talbott | By a stream in the woods – a place between worlds – two women find each other ankle-deep in the water, letting go of what’s past and wondering what will come. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

Bump | Drama | Category: Love | Director(s): Rory Keenan | Producer(s): Roxanne Holman | Heavily-pregnant Pearl (Gemma Arterton, Quantum of Solace, Kingsman: The Secret Service) leaves the house in distress and rages against the world, as she tries to process a hidden pain. Country: United Kingdom (Bay Area Premiere)

CYMK (Colors You May Know) | Animation | Category: Good Times | Director(s): David Chai | Producer(s): David Chai, Catherine Ngo| Inspired by the terrible killings, hatred, and division of 2020; here’s a friendly reminder from your besties at House of Chai to embrace our differences and love one another. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

Demi’s Panic | Animation | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Bill Plympton | Producer(s): Danny Leonard, Lorena Hernandez Leonard | A young Latina professional’s prophetic dreams become all too real when an invisible danger causes catastrophic loss. Country: United States

Fempire | Sci-Fi | Category: Laughs | Director(s): Honora Talbott | Producer(s): Honora Talbott | In a near future when women rule the world, a politician visits a “Grooming School” to snag a trophy husband, but her boring date takes a turn when her Stepford-y match stops pretending to be something he’s not. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

For Closure | Comedy | Category: Laughs | Director(s): Mike Peebler | Producer(s): Mike Peebler, Marc Fellner-Erez | A real estate agent desperate to sell a foreclosed house gets more than he bargained for when he shows it to a couple whose marriage is falling apart. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

Gary Kemp – In Solo | Documentary | Category: Inspiration | Director(s): Charlie Lightening | Producer(s): Charlie Lightening | An intimate portrait documentary of Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp which explores an artist’s journey towards making a solo album. Country: United Kingdom

It’s Always Something | Comedy | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Derrick Scocchera | Producer(s): Joe Sikoryak, Rahil Alimohammad, Bryan Perido| Through a series of vignettes, the often inexplicable behaviors of contemporary humans are observed and commented upon by a droll narrator. Narrated by the timeless Stephen Fry. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

Lady Betty | Animation, Horror | Category: Thrills | Director(s): Paul McGrath | Producer(s): Leticia Agudo | The grisly folk tale of Lady Betty, the only female executioner in Ireland, as told by two old friends who can’t agree on the details. Country: Ireland (Bay Area Premiere)

Lalito 10 | Documentary | Category: Inspiration | Director(s): Jordan Matthew Horowitz | Producer(s): Jordan Matthew Horowitz, Andrew Carlberg | When COVID-19 forced his school to close and remote learning proved impossible, a teacher in Guatemala built a classroom on wheels to bring education directly to his students. Country: Guatemala (Bay Area Premiere)

Little Sky | Drama | Category: Inspiration | Director(s): Jess X. Snow | Producer(s): Andreas Nicholas, Eris Qian | Haunted by their childhood memories, Chinese-American drag sensation Sky returns to their hometown to confront their estranged father. Country: United States, Canada

Living Alters | Documentary | Category: Inspirations | Director(s): Peggy Peralta, Lourdes Figueroa | Do-Rodriguez and Reyes, folk arts teachers at Los Cenzontles Cultural Arts Academy in San Pablo, CA, could not create an in person community altar because of Covid-19 restrictions. So, the filmmakers were invited to create a film to convey their creative process and stories of loss, gratitude, and healing. Country: United States

Lost Beyond the Stars | Sci-Fi | Category: Thrills | Director(s): Kayla Arend | Producer(s): Kayla Arend, Ciaran Maginn | On a deep space exploration, Captain Lorena is betrayed by the one person she thought she could trust. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

No Soy, Óscar | Documentary | Category: Inspirations | Director(s): Jon Ayon | Producer(s): Emily R Smith | A first-generation Latinx father journeys through unrecognizable, unceded lands in the border regions between the U.S. and Mexico in search of the place where Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his young daughter Angie Valeria drowned. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

Resurrection! Airto Moreira & the Preservation Hall Jazz Band | Documentary | Category: Good Times | Director(s): Dale Djerassi | Producer(s): Dale Djerassi | Two powerful forces in the world of jazz come together in this lively film. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

SPACE – A Skate Odyssey | Fantasy | Category: Dazzlers | Director(s): Toby Morris | Producer(s): Toby Morris | An experimental short film which blends skateboarding and archival footage to tell the story of one woman’s crazy extra-terrestrial mission. Houston, we have a vert ramp. Country: Australia (Bay Area Premiere)

Storage | Drama | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Patrick Shaffer | A man finds an old toy that brings back memories… Country: United States

Summer Soundtrack | Drama | Category: Love | Director(s): Artemis Snow, Haley Luciani | Producer(s): Artemis Snow, Ivy Xiao| A summer-on-repeat, tender piece that explores how we traditionally define a soulmate on the day of a wedding. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

The Beauty | Animation | Category: Dazzlers | Director(s): Pascal Schelbli | Producer(s): Tina Vest, Aleksandra Todorovic | A poetic journey through a fascinating underwater world, where plastic and nature become one. For one breath our concerns and feelings of guilt dissolve between eerily beautiful coral reefs and the mysterious depths of the ocean. Country: Germany

The Disaster Dream | Documentary, Animation | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Lianne Becker | Producer(s): Lianne Becker, Collin Meath, Benjamin Drew Thompson, Jill DeArmon, Jinn S Kim, Megan Greener | Gen Z teens from NYC recount their dreams and nightmares from the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, which are brought to life through vivid imagination. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

The Hairy Notion of a Green Afternoon | Animation | Category: Dazzlers | Director(s): Susanne Deeken | Producer(s): Susanne Deeken | In an anti-realist world, a mysterious protagonist leads us on a journey: responding to, reuniting, and even becoming her encounters with nature. Country: United Kingdom (Bay Area Premiere)

The Hangman at Home | Animation, Drama | Category: Thrills | Director(s): Michelle Kranot, Uri Kranot | Producer(s): Lana Tankosa, Nikolic Emmanuel-Alain, Raynal Pierre Baussaron, Katayoun Dibamehr, Avi Amar, Marc Bertrand | “What does the hangman think about, when he goes home at night from work?” Country: Canada (Bay Area Premiere)

The Letter Room | Drama | Category: Illuminations | Director(s): Elvira Lind | Producer(s): Sofia Sondervan | When a kind-hearted prison officer (Oscar Isaac, Dune, Star Wars, Inside Llewyn Davis) is transferred to the letter room, he soon gets involved in an inmate’s personal affairs. Also starring Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development, Search Party). Country: United States

The PRATT in the HAT | Documentary | Category: Inspirations | Director(s): Susan Hillary | Producer(s): Suzanne Mitchell | Beneath brims of hundreds of colorful hats, civil rights leader Frances Pratt is a woman of wisdom, humor, and grace. Her amazing hats, southern charm, and pithy expressions punctuate her lifelong fight for racial equality, voting rights, and education. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

The Sands Between | Drama, Fantasy | Category: Dazzlers | Director(s): Aidan Tanner | Producer(s): Arianna Anderson| A woman (Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty, Interstellar, The Tree of Life) has a phone conversation with her significant other (James McAvoy, Filth, Atonement, Split) which slowly deteriorates as she comes to realize that the world around her might not be real. Country: Morocco

Think Like a Filmmaker | Documentary | Category: Good Times | Director(s): Eli Berliner | Producer(s): Eli Berliner | Eli Berliner turns the camera on his father, Alan, a personal documentary filmmaker, whose new body of work approaches sculpture through the eyes of a filmmaker. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

This Adventure Called California | Documentary | Category: Inspirations | Director(s): Jennifer Huang| Producer(s): Jennifer Huang | Follow recently-divorced Arnoldo, who comes to the United States from Mexico to win back his family but meets only brutality and despair, until a chance encounter at a racquetball court changes the course of his life. Country: United States

TRICHOTILLOMANIA! | Comedy, Animations | Category: Mindbenders | Director(s): Kelly Schiesswohl | Producer(s): Kelly Schiesswohl| “TRICHOTILLOMANIA” tells the story of one girl’s Google-search-gone-wrong to find out why she can’t stop pulling out her hair. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

Veronica Miller | Horror | Category: Mindbenders | Director(s): Kuang Lee| Producer(s): Ben Gelera | What starts as a date at a local art gallery, quickly turns to horror…. as a young couple accidentally invokes the destructive spirit of a murdered artist. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

Waiting On Host | Drama | Category: Love | Director(s): Jon Peter Lewis | Producer(s): Anisa Patel, Leilani Durden | When an aspiring dancer, forced to conduct her life in solitude because of 2020’s global pandemic, learns that her grandmother is diagnosed with COVID, she has to choose between going to her and the audition of a lifetime. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

Waterproof | Documentary | Category: Inspiration | Director(s): Ross Kauffman | Producer(s): Maeera Mougin Jean Mougin Robin Honan Nicole Galovski | One community’s crusade to create a safe swimming environment in East Hampton, New York. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

Winter Glass Glare | Drama | Category: Love | Director(s): Zhuolin Hong | Producer(s): Zhuolin Hong | A Chinese international student has to break a years-long secret a day before graduation when his father comes to the U.S. Country: United States (Bay Area Premiere)

TV

Classified | Comedy | Category: Good Times | Director(s): Aemilia Scott | Producer(s): Tony Estrada, Michael Sanford | Classified is Veep meets the CIA in a filmic Coen Brothers-like comedy about a team of intelligence agents – not the best nor the brightest. Country: United States

Friendmates | Romantic Comedy | Category: Good Times | Director(s): Dina Shturmanova | Producer(s): Elena Kotunova, Olga Volodina| A real estate agent desperate to sell a foreclosed house gets more than he bargained for when he shows it to a couple whose marriage is falling apart. Country: Russia

Hudson Falls | Thriller, Mystery | Category: Thrills | Director(s): Elias Plagianos | Producer(s): Kathleen Burke, Brett Dameron, Daniel Reiser, Stacey Van Gorder, Patrick Heaphy | The secrets of a small upstate town that revolve around an eccentric scientist begin to unravel when a private eye from the city takes on a seemingly mundane job in an effort to rekindle a relationship with his ex-wife. Country: United States

Piss Off, I Love You | Comedy | Category: Laughs | Director(s): Jessie McCormack | Producer(s): Blair Skinner Jason Kaminsky | The longstanding female friendship between an American on-camera host and a Scottish field producer is continually tested when they’re forced to share a cramped London flat while working on an ill-fated docuseries exploring the cultural differences between the US and the UK. Country: United Kingdom

About Cinequest:

Cinequest fuses innovation with the arts to empower great creations and to connect audiences, youth, artists, and innovators with these creations and with each other—forging community, joy, and our future. Set in Silicon Valley, Cinequest’s uniqueness, impact, and legacy result from applying this powerful integration of creativity and technology to democratize opportunity and to transform lives. Cinequest does this through the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival, Mavericks Studio, and Picture The Possibilities global youth programs.

Experience the JOY of cinema, artists, and community! Much more than a movie, CINEJOY is an online experience that brings you film and live events through a community and platform designed for discovery and engagement. CINEJOY , featuring the Artists and Movies of CINEQUEST, occurs April 1-17!

CINEJOY is hosted on the CREATICS platform that requires a quick, free registration that doubles as your registration and login when you purchase tickets to CINEJOY movies, events, and offerings.

About the Author

Norman Gidney is a nearly lifelong horror fan. Beginning his love for the scare at the age of 5 by watching John Carpenter's Halloween, he set out on a quest to share his passion for all things spooky with the rest of the world.