SUNDAY
SEPT 6
DANCE OF THE WILD
THE JOURNEY BACK HOME
with Q&A SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 11:00 AM THEATER I
Director: Chance Foreman
“Dance of the Wild” is an award-winning documentary that takes you on a poetic journey into humanity’s timeless bond and fascination with the wild horse—a connection that mirrors our relationship to nature, spirit, and the deeper layers of the soul.
SHORT FILM THEATER II
BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
Director: Soore Vahe RUNTIME: 20:30
Sunday SEPT 6 AT 11:00 AM
Between Two Words is a poetic about a daughter facing the absence of her father. Through shifting landscapes and quiet gestures, the film explores grief, memory, and resilience. Rooted in Iran yet speaking a universal emotional language, it invites the audience to feel more than to observe.
MY FATHER AND QADDAFI
with Q&A SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 11:00 AM THEATER II
Director: Jihan K
When Jihan was six years old, her father flew to Cairo and never returned. Mansur Rashid Kikhia was the Foreign Minister of Libya, ambassador to the United Nations, and a human rights lawyer. After serving in Qaddafi's increasingly brutal regime, he defected from the government and became the leader of the peaceful opposition. For many, Kikhia was a rising star who could have been the next leader of Libya, however, in 1993 he disappeared from his hotel in Egypt.
SPINS SOME DEEP VINYL THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND NIGHT
Industry Prose: A Screenwriting Panel
Sunday SEPT 6 AT 1:00-2:00 Theater I
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A 2018 Sundance Episodic Lab fellow, Nick has built a career across film and television spanning drama, action, and comedy after serving 12 years in the Marine Corps. He began writing on Hulu’s Casual, before expanding into animation as showrunner of the critically acclaimed Netflix anime series Yasuke, starring LaKeith Stanfield.
He has since written and produced across a range of premium series, including the Paramount+ smash hit Tulsa King starring Sylvester Stallon, Netflix's critically acclaimed hit Boots, and the grounded spy thriller The Agency, with additional work spanning both live-action and animation. His storytelling consistently blends grounded realism with high-concept narratives, often examining how systems of power shape human behavior.
As a filmmaker, Nick wrote and directed the award-winning short Cold Choices and served as a military advisor on the Lionsgate feature film Man Down, working alongside Academy Award winner Gary Oldman.
Nick is developing multiple film and television projects with Apple, MGM, Paramount, New Regency, and Netflix.
Nick is currently writing and producing on a yet to be announced UNTITLED thriller series for Apple and the critically acclaimed military/spy thriller LIONESS for Paramount+
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Wendy is an Emmy and WGA award-nominated writer who has worked on “Dexter,” “The Closer,” and for Dick Wolf more than once. She hails from New Mexico and also has mentored through the Veterans Writing Project for the past six years; her Dad was a Marine. Hoo-rah!
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Brad has enjoyed a long and varied career as a screenwriter, director, graphic novelist and currently, novelist. Brad broke into the business after his action thriller spec STATIC sold to Columbia during a five studio bidding war (the good old days). Soon thereafter he wrote INVINCIBLE (#1 at the box-office) starring Mark Wahlberg, Elizabeth Banks and Greg Kinnear and wrote & directed BLACK IRISH (winner of best feature awards at four film festivals) starring Brendan Gleeson, Melissa Leo & Michael Angarano. He also co-wrote SOUL SURFER starring AnnaSophia Robb, Dennis Quaid & Helen Hunt. Brad recently co-wrote NASA’s FIRST WOMAN graphic novel series, which won two Webby Awards in 2022. With multiple film projects currently getting packaged and/or developed, he is also co-authoring a memoir with DJ Casey Connor as well as writing a thriller novel.
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Tim began his career in Mexico City, where he wrote English subtitles for Alfonso Cuarón's Solo Con Tu Pareja and Alejandro González Iñárritu's Amores Perros before writing his first feature, La Flecha. After moving to Los Angeles, he wrote HBO films including For Love or Country (WGA Paul Selvin Award), Boycott (Humanitas Prize), and Live From Baghdad (Emmy nomination). His screenplay for Children of Men, co-written with director Alfonso Cuarón, earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. He went on to write Libertador and Chávez, created the Lifetime thriller The Lottery, and was Co-EP on NBC's Chicago P.D. for five seasons. He lives in Topanga.
CASAS MUERTAS
with Q&A SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 1:00 THEATER II
Directed by: Rosana Matecki
A country on the run. More than eight million Venezuelans have left the country across its borders, a quarter of the population, leaving behind their dead houses. “Casas Muertas” is an essay about Venezuelans exiled inside their own country, trapped and submerged at the whim of the barbarians who govern it. justice, and resilience
SHORT
NARRATIVE
SHOWCASE II
SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 2:00 THEATER I
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The Part
THEATER I SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 2:00
RUNTIME: 12:22 • USA
Director: Wednesday Peck
When two co-stars unexpectedly meet before an audition for the same role, Eleanor an insecure yet talented performer, must learn to embrace her individuality to secure the part.
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Sound of Somme
THEATER I SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 2:00
RUNTIME: 12:35 • Belgium
Director: Michaël Vermaercke
Sound of the Somme tells the true story of private James C. Richardson, a 20-year-old bagpiper serving in the 16th Canadian Scottish Battalion. Despite being assigned to stay behind as stretcher bearer, James is determined to play his bagpipes in the heat of the battle.
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Aqueduct
THEATER I SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 2:00
RUNTIME: 20:21 • USA
Director: Greg Mitchell
In Aqueduct, two half-brothers who have never met are brought together by the death of the father they never shared. Set against the charged, unpredictable world of the racetrack, buried truths surface and tensions sharpen, forcing them into a reckoning neither asked for.
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Are You Human Being
THEATER I SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 2:00
RUNTIME: 29:58 • France
Director: Matthieu Moerlen
In the quiet Andean fields of Venezuela, a father and son cultivate sunflowers through a strict pact of equal labor, revealing a profound bond spoken not in words, but in the shared rhythms of the land.
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A Burning Turret
THEATER I SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 2:00
RUNTIME: 22:12 • Mexico
Director: Humberto Flores
After a violent confrontation, a wounded soldier is rescued by Yolanda, an elderly farmer, and her granddaughter Alejandra. After hiding him in their ranch, Yolanda must decide whether she should help him, risking their own lives.
MODERN TIMES
SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 3:00 THEATER II
Presented by Miranda Robin
Chaplin's last 'silent' film, filled with sound effects, was made when everyone else was making talkies. Charlie turns against modern society, the machine age, and progress. Firstly we see him frantically trying to keep up with a production line, tightening bolts. He is selected for an experiment with an automatic feeding machine, but various mishaps leads his boss to believe he has gone mad, and Charlie is sent to a mental hospital
SHORT FILM THEATER I
UNFINISHED
Director: Jason Lindsey RUNTIME: 5:00
Sunday SEPT 6 AT 4:00
UNFINISHED is a short documentary about the American flag; on front porches and farms, in storefronts and cemeteries, on closed-up main streets and city corners. There are no faces in this film, and the narration adds depth to the story without taking sides.
POVERTY TRAP
with Q&A SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 4:00 THEATER I
Director: Michael Matheson Miller
Examines how big plans to end poverty broke the promise of America—and what communities are doing to renew it.
From the legacy of urban renewal and the War on Poverty to today's sprawling network of social programs, many attempts to fight poverty have kept people stuck. As Lee Moore of Jackson, Mississippi puts it: "It's hard to make it out."
OUR WATER WAYS
SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 5:00 THEATER II
SPI Indigenous Media
SHORT FILM THEATER I
POLY
Director: Juan Pedro Soto RUNTIME: 7:21
Sunday SEPT 6 AT 6:00
When Poly receives a letter from immigration, life forces her to reflect throughout her day, embracing the present she can
control while letting go of the unanswered questions about her future.
IT WOULD BE NIGHT IN CARACAS
with Q&A SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 6:00 THEATER I
Directors: Mariana Rondón, Marité Ugás
A literary phenomenon sold in over 22 languages before publication, a tale of one woman’s battle to survive the turmoil of modern Venezuela.
In Caracas, Adelaida stands over an open grave. Alone, she buries her mother – the only family she has ever known. She returns to her apartment to find it seized by a violent all-female group who profits from the food the state provides, so she is forced to ask her next-door neighbor, Aurora, for refuge. She finds the door open and Aurora dead.
SHORT
DOCUMENTRY
SHOWCASE
SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 6:30 THEATER II
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UNFINISHED
THEATER II SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 6:30
RUNTIME: 5:00 • USA
Director: Jason Lindsey
UNFINISHED is a short documentary about the American flag; on front porches and farms, in storefronts and cemeteries, on closed-up main streets and city corners. There are no faces in this film, and the narration adds depth to the story without taking sides.
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HOLLYWOOD BOMB
THEATER II SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 6:30
RUNTIME: 20:21 • USA
Director: Greg Mitchell
The "Most Important" Movie Never Made--and Fallout Today
“Absolutely terrific work. What a great yarn. I didn't know any of that backstory. Kudos.” — W.J. Hennigan. The New York Times. national security reporter
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WILD JOHN
THEATER II SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 6:30
RUNTIME: 11:46 • USA
Director: Madison Christl
After a leg injury nearly takes away his ability to skate, 73-year-old John Cohen returns to the ice, revealing the quiet, spiritual life behind his wild persona. Wild John is an intimate portrait of self-expression, faith, and the drive to stay connected to what makes us feel alive.
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50/50
THEATER II SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 6:30
RUNTIME: 12:00 • USA
Director: Rafael Medina Adalfio
In the quiet Andean fields of Venezuela, a father and son cultivate sunflowers through a strict pact of equal labor, revealing a profound bond spoken not in words, but in the shared rhythms of the land.
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8 SECONDS AT THE THREE SISTERS
THEATER II SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 6:30
RUNTIME: 19:13 • USA
Director: André Silva
A solo canoe journey up North Carolina’s Black River becomes an experiential portrait of place that shifts from quiet observation into disorientation and recovery. Blending digital video, hand-processed 16mm, and layered text, the film explores what it feels like to be immersed in a landscape where perception, memory, and environment begin to blur.
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THE LAST WATERMAN
THEATER II SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 6:30
RUNTIME: 28:00 • USA
Director: Rafael Medina Adalfio
In this standalone chapter from the feature documentary SAPIDUS, life unfolds along the waters of the Chesapeake Bay, where a way of life slowly approaches its threshold. The Last Waterman follows watermen who continue a tradition built around the blue crab.
AWARDS
PRESENTATION
SUNDAY SEPT 6 AT 8:00 THEATER I