Shorts: Family Dynamics With Love

Short Film Program

The Love Machine

Directed by Jasmine Lynea (USA, 2022, 10 min.)

Teenage scientist and influencer Nasir Smith desperately wants to challenge his family’s intergenerational trauma by healing their past and welcoming love and compassion back into their home. He builds the Love Machine to do just this, and presents it to the world while recording live from his family’s basement.

Everybody Don’t Electric Slide

Directed by Rodney Stringfellow (USA, 2022, 20 min.)

At a large family gathering after a funeral, an older woman confronts an unknown and awkward young man. In an attempt to reveal his identity, she forces him to use a haunted typewriter that only types the truth.

Ro and the Stardust

Directed by Eunice Levis (USA, 2021, 15 min.)

Free-spirited teen Ro fulfills her terminally ill grandmother’s dying wish to build a rocket ship that will launch her into outer space.

TikTok Challenged

Directed by Ivan Rome (USA, 2022, 9 min.)

Claretha, a soap opera–loving grandmother, has always dreamed of being a star, and she finally finds a way to make it big—TikTok. But before she can go viral, Claretha needs a little help from her grandson, Daryl, who didn’t plan to spend the day teaching a TikTok dance to his grandmother.

YE!

Directed by John Oluwole ADEkoje (USA, 2022, 21 min.)

Following the brutal murder of her family by child soldiers, Stella joins a celestial league of women who guide her on her journey for vengeance. Years after the lethal attack, Stella locates the killer and makes a devastating decision that changes both of their lives.

YURI

Directed by Baky DIA (France, 2022, 12 min.)

Chris Dolo is a technical engineer for Aqua-Space, a company widely criticized for the privatization of drinking water—a scarce resource. He’s also the father of Yuri Dolo, an 11-year-old genius with a passion for astrophysics who dreams of another life among the stars. Although Chris and Yuri’s daily lives are affected by the absence of a maternal figure, they are kept under the watchful eye of a supernatural presence.

All the Gaps

Directed by Mirta Desir (USA, 2023, 15 min.)

In an effort to maintain the tenuous connection she has with her mother, eight-year-old Christina unwittingly endangers her father, an undocumented food delivery driver.

Stardust

Directed by Jay Street (USA, 2023, 8 min.)

Stardust follows young astrophotographer Elijah as he copes with his mother’s passing and navigates his relationship with his father. Set against the backdrop of a light-polluted inner city, the film explores themes of love, loss, family, and friendship, and underscores the importance of connecting with the natural world.

Blue

Directed by Robert Petrie (USA, 2022, 7 min.)

Jules Reid is a bright and curious 12-year-old coming to terms with the mysterious disappearance of her mother—a NASA scientist—a few years earlier. Julie ponders worlds and galaxies unseen, unknown, and unimagined. As she gazes up at the stars, she questions if their exploration is within reach.

After the Program

Q and A Discussion

Enjoy a Q and A session with some of the filmmakers after the screenings.