2025 Festival Movie Blocks

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North Carolina Premiere

United States (English) - 10:44

Tina Carbone - Writer/Director

Patrick T. Dorsey - Writer

This is gonna be Will's last Friendsgiving.

World Premiere

United States (English) - 17:00

Chase Musslewhite - Writer/Director

Jeanie has found herself in her early 40s, divorced, and in attendance of her ex-husband’s engagement party. Set amidst a perfect party storm of pitying former friends and a new, gracious bride-to-be, Jeanie does her best to keep her sanity.

North Carolina Premiere

United States (English) - 8:39

Marissa Losoya - Writer/Director

In avoidance of the nagging fear that she has spoiled her life's potential, a woman begins hip thrusting a lot and obsessing over her ass. While reflecting on her childhood dreams unfulfilled and hyper-focusing on what a toned ass would enable her to do, she loses sight of the present moment and pushes herself too far.

Wilmington Premiere

United States (English) - 15:37

Jeanette L. Buck - Director

Rani Deighe Crowe - Writer/Director

In the dystopian near future, a gay and a lesbian couple form an unlikely friendship as they flee the midwest for safety in New England. As rights are being rolled back and travel bans are going into effect, Shay and Quincy decide to leave their home in Ohio and travel East to a safety state where it is safe and legal to be queer.

North Carolina Premiere

United Kingdom (English) - 13:49

Charlotte Yang - Director

V.C Lennox - Writer

How bad can one night get? After a mediocre date goes awry, a young woman’s night spirals out of control as she confronts ever increasing absurd situations.

After a man steals her purse on a first date, Ava, a young woman living in London, experiences a night like no other. Over the course of one evening Ava traverses the city confronting a series of absurd and crazy events.

United States (English) - 15:26

Madison Hatfield - Writer/Director

A people-pleaser recently back in the dating pool goes on an ill-advised date with a sexually submissive man to prove to her doubtful friends that she could totally be a dom.

**Filmmaker in Attendance for Q&A**

North Carolina Premiere

United States (English) - 13:44

Lee Eddy - Writer/Director

When her only son's birthday party is ruined by a runaway pony, a stressed mother deals with the comically chaotic aftermath.

🎭✨ Welcome to the Wild World of Puppets! ✨🎭

Tonight, we bring you something new and different—where puppets come to life right on stage! 🎬🪄 It’s a celebration of imagination, collaboration, and the pure joy of storytelling.

Just like the animators in this block breathe life into their creations, Kathy Sohar, brings her puppets to life! So sit back and get ready for a ride of Pure Imagination!

🎶 Lights down. Curtain up. Let’s play! 🎶

North Carolina Premiere

France - 5:57

Justine Aubert, Cassandra Bouton, Grégoire Callies, Maud Chesneau, Anna Danton, Loic Girault, Gatien Peyrude, Justine Raux - Directors

In a French rocky inlet, Bernard, a small and selfish hermit crab loses his shell. He will has to face dangers of the beach to find an other one. In the company of a weird little crab which helps protecting him, both will lives multiples adventures that will befriend them.

North Carolina Premiere

United Kingdom (English) - 3:09

Tortor Smith - Writer/Director

A voice message triggers all sorts of anxieties in Andro, but will they be pressured into trying to change their ways?

Hot Mess offers an insight into the intrusion of emotional abuse and ADHD in a compact and creative way. It highlights the damage and anxiety caused by a well-meaning, but ultimately toxic, parent who uses the power of voice to belittle, flatten and manipulate.

France - 8:12

Agathe Sénéchal, Alicia Massez, Elise Debruyne, Flavie Carin, Théo Duhautois - Directors

Agathe Sénéchal, Alicia Massez, Elise Debruyne, Flavie Carin and Théo Duhautois have graduated from the Pôle 3D school (Roubaix, France). In 2023, they co-directed the short film "On the 8th Day".

United States Premiere

Canada (English) - 4:37

bekky O'Neil - Director

A girl learns about caring for a duck with special needs during her first year on the farm. An animated documentary rendered in plant based inks about a little runner duck who couldn't.

North Carolina Premiere

United States (English) - 7:49

Nonie Shiverick - Writer/Director

Left abandoned and neglected on the streets, Shadow, a shepherd-mix puppy, is taken in by a kindly stranger and his dog, Elsie. In his new home, he learns the meaning of friendship, family, and the heartbreaking reality of losing someone you love.

**Filmmaker in Attendance for Q&A**

North Carolina Premiere

United States (English) - 14:42

Daisy Friedman - Writer/Director

When an interabled queer couple spends the night together for the first time, they must confront their complex relationships with desire, sexuality, bodily autonomy, and what it means to truly love another person.

North Carolina Premiere

United Kingdom (English) - 13:48

Lisa Service - Director

Heather Brown - Writer

Helena and Lainie head into their final round of IVF treatment and the stresses of the unknown begin to put pressure on their idyllic farm life. With their chicken, Shakira, laying eggs every day Helena decides to make it a competition.

Spain (Spanish) - 18:00

Lucía G. Romero - Writer/Director

Jessica and Alma, two sisters in a situation of domestic violence, will begin to treat each other with love instead of violence through one of their routine trips to the food stamp office on the night of San Juan, a Spanish holiday.

Wilmington Premiere

United States (English) - 10:32

Allyson Morgan - Writer/Director

A woman is ghosted by the man she's dating ...and then the haunting begins.

**Filmmaker in Attendance for Q&A**

North Carolina Premiere

Lebanon (Arabic) - 18:00

Nay Tabbara - Writer/Director

Determined to have her first kiss, Loulwa defies her tumultuous world in search of normalcy. As she braves the streets of Beirut in pursuit of her sexual awakening, she finds herself taking an instant leap into adulthood when her world erupts into a redefined "normal".

North Carolina Premiere

United Kingdom (English) - 14:21

Emma Miranda Moore - Director

Chloë Myerson - Writer

A young writer repeatedly replays the last night he spent with a friend and reflects on whether things could have turned out differently.

North Carolina Premiere

United States - 16:30

Mylissa Fitzsimmons - Writer/Director

A depressed night manager and a naive young woman, engage in a conversation revealing intimate secrets that alter the course of the night.

North Carolina Premiere

Iran (Kurdish) - 10:55

Maryam Samadi and Roni Schamlian- Writer/Director(s)

In the city of Kobani, a tailor doesn't want to leave his house and tailor shop after ISIS attacks. He hopes that his customers will return and he always talks to those people who are in the locked room, till one day he wants to prepare special food for those people. When the tailor returns, he realizes that someone has entered his house...

United States (English) - 8:20

Tiffany Albright - Writer/Director

A young woman attempts to unravel the mysterious circumstances that surround the death of her sister ten years ago.

United Kingdom (English) - 13:28

Sophie Austin - Director

Leann O'Kasi - Writer

Del, a workaholic struggling with her mental health, wants to escape the numbness consuming her. Despite being surrounded by people, she feels alone and is more comfortable navigating London at night. After experiencing an attempted assault by her colleague, she has a chance encounter with a homeless undocumented man from Nigeria.

North Carolina Premiere

United States (English, Italian) - 14:59

Jessica Aquila Cymerman - Writer/Director

Rose, a child of Irish and Italian immigrants in 1968 Brooklyn, attempts to fit in with the boys by joining the game her brother plays with his friend. Their tenement building super and local Deacon starts preying on Rose, until Mrs. Teruli, an old-world Italian healer breaks his hold.

North Carolina Premiere

Belgium (Dutch, French) - 22:08

Sarah Carlot Jaber - Writer/Director

Olga, a music-loving octogenarian, is tired of killing humans. Could it be the vampire blues? For her daughter Simone, she’s just being picky! Olga is placed in a care home where she can deal with those “who have one foot in the grave”...

North Carolina Premiere

Canada (English) -5:27

Jessica Hinkson - Writer/Director

Cassie copes with an unexpected awful life event during her father's 70th birthday party.

North Carolina Premiere

United Kingdom (English) - 14:54

Kate Brooke - Director

Tom Hammond - Writer

After a protest turns violent, young activists Nell and Esme are forced to go on the run. Tasked with lying low, they squat in a beautiful and seemingly empty mansion, awaiting further instruction. But a greater danger engulfs them when another interloper arrives at the house fresh from a morning of brutal sport, and reveals an unexpected connection to one of the runaways.

North Carolina Premiere

United States (English) - 8:57

Lindsay Carpenter - Writer/Director

In a magical realist thriller, a cat turns into a woman and becomes the object of her owner's toxic fixation.

United Kingdom (English) - 7:56

Emily Greenwood - Director

David Scullion - Writer

When a workaholic city detective and her laid-back partner try to stop a dishevelled girl staggering down the middle of a country road, they discover she’s being stalked by some unseen entity with a horrifying ultimatum: you stop moving, you die.

Iceland (Icelandic) - 5:13

Gunnur Martinsdóttir Schlüter - Director

A bird hits a window of a café and disrupts its customers. A woman faces a decision on whether to ignore nature or to react.

Puerto Rico (Spanish) - 9:33

Adriana González-Vega - Director

Gabriela Acevedo - Writer

Amidst the turbulent backdrop of 1970s political upheaval at the University of Puerto Rico, a young college student finds herself grappling not only with her shifting beliefs and allegiances, but also with the complex dynamics of her relationship with her older brother, forcing her to confront the very essence of her identity and conviction.

USA Premiere

United Kingdom (English) - 16:27

Panayiota Panteli - Writer/Director

A neglected young woman must find a way to reconnect with her mother before she loses her entirely to her declining mental health.

North Carolina Premiere

Canada (English) -13:42

Leah Doz - Writer/Director

After missing their bus on a cold winter night, a young girl confronts the limits of her mother's love.

North Carolina Premiere

United States (English) - 15:04

Stevie Cavalier - Writer/Director

A young stepmom bonds with her new stepdaughter by making their model clay creations come to life, but the imaginative game gets the little girl wondering if maybe she can bring her mom back to life in the toaster oven, too. 

Writer and Director of Miniature Life, Stevie Cavalier, was one of UpTilt's 2024 Scholarship recipients. 

**Filmmaker in Attendance for Q&A**

North Carolina Premiere

United States (English, French, Haitian) - 10:30

Shaina Feinberg - Writer/Director

Mathilde Dratwa - Writer

Cleo has six hours and fifteen minutes between drop off and pick up. This is when she gets to be herself — the adult version of herself, away from her two young children. But when she receives an ominous alert on her phone, Cleo finds herself counting down the moments until she and her children can be reunited.

United States (English) - 10:00

Mariah Dunn Kramer - Writer/Director

Shirley is an intimate portrait of a mother’s resilience as she faces her own mortality and the ripple effect her loss has on the ones she leaves behind. **Work in Progress**

**Filmmaker, Producer and Lead Actress in Attendance for Q&A**

United States (English) - 15:49

Liz Sargent - Writer/Director

Anna is an adult with an Cognitive Disability living with her mother in Midland Florida. When her mother is unresponsive, she calls her sister Emily for help. Emily returns home and is immediately engulfed in a futile struggle for medical information, while Anna’s world is deconstructed. The uncertainty for the sisters’ future independence remains but they are now a team against all odds.

United States (English) - 4:53

Samira Mian - Writer/Director

A comedic, coming of age documentary

North Carolina Premiere

United States (English) -15:00

Kersti Bryan - Writer/Director

Eight lives intersect in a municipal courthouse bathroom and find a surprising humanity.

**Filmmaker in Attendance for Q&A**

Canada (English) - 16:24

Amélie Hardy - Writer/Director

Between loads of laundry at the corner laundromat, Cooper shares the story of her gender reassignment journey. Piecing together her memories, from her childhood in a small fishing village through her tumultuous medical process, Cooper attempts to make peace with the last male imprint remaining on her body: that annoying deep voice that sticks to her skin.

North Carolina Premiere

Canada (English) - 8:48

Stacy Gardner - Writer/Director

Vaida Nairn - Co Writer

Through the eyes of a South Korean artist living in Newfoundland, Ginok Song, takes us on a journey through her paintings, and the wisdom gained through the female gaze.

United States - 10:30

Katie Damien - Director

Follow three homeless individuals as they move from a life on the streets in Asheville, North Carolina into a new supportive housing residence.

**Filmmaker in Attendance for Q&A**

North Carolina Premiere

Germany (German) - 12:42

Katharina Schnekenbühl - Director

Nathalie Zeidler - Writer

Under the roof of an indoor swimming pool, the stories of three different women coincide. Eight-year-old Lilo wants to finally swim without swimmies. Kira, a competent businesswoman, chases the elusive speed of the waves, while retiree Frida secretly longs to jump from the 10-meter tower. In the microcosm of the swimming hall, they each discover what it means to be strong in their own way.

United Kingdom (English) - 1:36

Ava Bounds - Writer/Director

A teenager on the cusp of adulthood flies through her entire future while stuck in a traffic jam.

USA Premiere

United Kingdom - 16:39

Sam Brain - Writer/Director

Shell is gender transitioning. Elder sister Jess doesn't want that to happen at all. Reunited by their grandmother's death, the pair are faced with each other's life choices.

United States (English) - 15:30

Kristi Ray - Director/Producer

Nicole Havelka -Executive Producer

North Carolina is facing a perinatal healthcare crisis. This is a documentary about the underground midwives who are answering the call in secrecy to protect and serve an entire generation of home-birthing families.

**Filmmaker, Executive Producer and Director of Photography in Attendance for Q&A**

North Carolina Premiere

Kenya -15:00

Kagure N. Kabue - Writer/Director

In Nairobi's bustling streets, hardworking mother WANGARI, haunted by trauma, discovers empowerment in a local boxing gym. Her unexpected journey sparks a transformative rebirth, fostering resilience and a thriving spirit amid life's fiercest battles.

North Carolina Premiere

Vietnam (English, Vietnamese) - 14:17

Lindsay Nyman - Writer/Director

In Hanoi, Vietnam, tattoo artist Tran Ngoc specializes in the rare and challenging art of tattooing over scars. Despite the social stigma surrounding tattoos in Vietnam, Ngoc empowers her clients, including breast cancer survivors and women with self-harm scars, to reclaim their bodies, demonstrating that her work is a profound act of compassion and resilience.

North Carolina Premiere

United States (English) - 12:12

Julie Herlocker - Director

Rachel Mann - Writer

After a women’s health doctor has a charged encounter with a volatile protester, she faces a moral dilemma she could never imagine.

**Actress Nancy Nagrant in Attendance for Q&A**

North Carolina Premiere

United States (English) -6:58

Kate Kelsen - Writer/Director

A teenage girl desperate for an abortion faces off with a physician assistant.

**Filmmaker in Attendance for Q&A**

North Carolina Premiere

United States (English) - 17:11

Kate Hamilton - Writer/Director

Sardonic Cynthia walks us through a play-by- play of a recent "squicky" date, requiring her to confront some uncomfortable truths.

North Carolina Premiere

Turkey (Turkish) - 18:00

Deniz Büyükkırlı - Writer/Director

The doctor comes across unusual symptoms at the man said to have died of a heart attack when he examined the corpse. He decides to refer the body to forensic medicine. Thereupon, the man's wife confesses; she said poisoned her husband, who constantly beat her. A big surprise awaits the doctor, who has to make a vital decision for the woman.

North Carolina Premiere

Israel (Hebrew) -13:42

Shira Meishar - Writer/Director

Yona, a nurse in the internal medicine department, arrives to work for the last time before retiring. The solemn farewell takes place differently than she expected.

North Carolina Premiere

United Kingdom (English) - 25:54

Jackie Oudney - Writer/Director

A woman suffers amnesia after an accident at home, embarking on a journey of self-discovery that leads to the reclamation of her agency.

North Carolina Premiere

United States - 13:45

Maia Jo Scalia - Writer/Director

Upon receiving a disturbing email from her son, a mother drives frantically to his school hoping to avert the unimaginable.

United States (English) - 17:22

Rachel Walden - Writer/Director

At a Halloween carnival, a young father steals a magician's rabbit to impress his ten year old son. The thrill of the petty theft quickly dissolves into reality when the young boy is tasked with getting himself, his father, and his new pet home safe.