Cucalorus Film Festival, Nov 11-25, 2020
Online and Drive-in
2020 Film Selections:
“I Don’t Need Another”
Directors: Justin Lacy, J. Noel Sullivan
Short Film
Plants are illegal. Not enough water. However, on the train to the Isle of Plastic, two young wards of the state sneak in some gardening. Practical effects, cardboard props, and...
A Beautiful Nightmare
Director: Kevin Lee Maxwell
Short Film
Daniel, a highly accomplished dancer, comes home from college only to find himself entangled in a battle between himself and his concerned father. Screening in the Twisted Deceiver Shorts Block.
A Galaxy Sits in the Cracks
Director: Amber Love
Short Film
Black communities in Chicago, Detroit, and Durham use Afrofuturism as a tool to inspire young people, organize politically and economically, and reimagine the spaces around them in this captivating experimental...
A Syrian Woman
Directors: Khawla Al Hammouri, Louis Karim Sayad DeCaprio
Short Film
After nearly a decade of conflict, Syrian refugee women are some of the most vulnerable amid the crisis. Thousands have lost their families and husbands, and now must provide for...
Aloma & Mila
Director: Tuixén Benet
Short Film
Aloma and Mila are two women who meet under the fantastic lights of fake summer cities on the coast of Valencia, Spain. Mila is in search of a place to...
Be Kind, Please
Director: Ace McColl
Short Film
Told through compiled voicemails and damaged analog tapes, this piercing short film offers an intimate look into a daughter's complicated relationship with her father. Increasingly callous messages play in contrast...
Beast Beast
Director: Danny Madden
Narrative Features
Three interwoven stories of youth navigating identity, first love, petty crime, and gun violence in a Southern, American town. Brimming with energy and style, Beast Beast captures what it means...
Belly of the Beast
Director: Erika Cohn
Documentary Features
When an unlikely duo discovers a pattern of illegal sterilizations in women’s prisons, they wage a near impossible battle against the Department of Corrections. Filmed over seven years with extraordinary...
Beneath the Earth
Director: Joseph Rucker II
A man encounters Hell. Is it real? Is it too late? Screening in the Purple Jellydisc Shorts block.
Best Summer Ever
Directors: Michael Parks Randa, Lauren Smitelli
Narrative Features
Sage and Anthony face the drama of high school after falling in love at a dance camp over the summer. An original musical featuring a cast and crew of people...
Blackheads
Director: Emily Ann Hoffman
Short Film
A woman copes with bad therapy, heartbreak and blackheads. Screening in the Weeping Toothcrust Shorts block.
Body So Fluorescent: The Short Film
Director: Amanda Cordner and David Di Giovanni
Short Film
Desiree and Shenice go out for a fun night of dancing, but when Shenice takes things a step too far, Desiree is confronted with who Shenice really is and how...
Bulls and Saints
Director: Rodrigo Dorfman
Short Film
A lyrical documentary short based on a love letter written by an immigrant bull rider to his wife back home in Mexico. Screening in the Dewdrop Dapperling Shorts block.
Catalyst by Pinky Verde
Director: Heather Jensen
Short Film
Complicated love and a stirring self-awareness take over this lusciously-haunted video. Screening in the Slippery Jack Shorts block.
Coffee Shop Names
Director: Deepak Sethi
Short Film
Three Indian people imagine their personas as their "coffee shop names," the names they give baristas because their real names are hard to pronounce. Screening in the Hairy Parachute Shorts...
CONEJO (Rabbit)
Director: Carla Forte
Narrative Features
Venezuelan filmmaker and dancer Carla Forte's experimental feature Conejo draws on her expertise about the demanding rehearsal process and fuses it with her unique storytelling style to create an unforgettable dynamic between two...
Dewdrop Dapperling Shorts
Shorts Blocks
From a painter in Wilmington to a Syrian refugee, this collection of documentaries explore identity, romance, and food through the lives of ordinary folks in extraordinary circumstances. A brilliant collection...
Don’t Be a Sucka
Director: A.J. Riggins
Short Film
After a decade apart, two old friends, John and Brent reminisce over drinks and remember the good ole days of their past. As the drinks flow, Brent takes the opportunity...
Don’t Touch Your Face
Director: Leah Shore
Short Film
Don't Touch Your Face!! A Public Service Announcement. Song by The Lunachicks' Gina Volpe. Screening in the Hairy Parachute Shorts block.
Dot & a Feather
Director: Alisha Bhowmik
Short Film
One afternoon, Alisha and Chris are hanging out on her fire escape when Alisha recalls a childhood anecdote revolving around her heritage. A short documentary about having a mixed identity...
Düsseldorf
Director: Mike Lars White
Short Film
Graduates of an obscure German art school become guinea pigs for a young woman’s mediation skills when their relationship turmoil reaches fever pitch in a shopping mall parking lot. Screening...
El Father Plays Himself
Director: Mo Scarpelli
Documentary Features
A young film director returns to Venezuela, inspired to make a film based on his father's life in the Amazon jungle. He casts Father to play himself. What starts as...
Elizabeth Darrow: Believing in the Process
Director: Christina Capra
Short Film
Look deeper into the many phases and processes of Elizabeth Darrow's art work in this documentary by local filmmaker Christina Capra. Screening in the Dewdrop Dapperling Shorts block.
Extraneous Matter
Director: Kenichi Ugana
Short Film
One day, a strange thing comes to her, who is suffering from being sexless with her boyfriend. Screening in the Hairy Nut Disco Shorts block.
FITNESS! or a story about SWEAT
Director: Kana Hatakeyama
Short Film
A titillating spiritual comedy about seeking your joyful, deepest nature through technology, human connection...and sweat. Screening in the Hairy Parachute Shorts block.
For the Love of Rutland
Director: Jennifer Maytorena Taylor
Documentary Features
As her small, blue-collar city struggles to emerge from the opioid epidemic and gets caught up in battles over change, identity, and self-mythology, For the Love of Rutland closely follows...
Future Ancestor
Director: Josue Rivas
Short Film
Indigenous scholar and poet Lyla June challenges the status quo when she decides to run for House of Representatives in New Mexico’s District 47. Future Ancestor follows her through a...
Gassy Webcap Shorts
Shorts Blocks
Seven sensational documentaries about the land, the water, our past and our future. Spanning centuries and cultural communities, these films inspire us to respect the planet and to prepare our...
Hack The Doc
Director: Kelley Van Dilla
Short Film
An epic documentary of the world's greatest hacky sacker. Screening in the Slippery Jack Shorts block.
Hairy Nut Disco Shorts
Shorts Blocks
Pushing the boundaries of sex, laughter and the bizarre, this combo of delicious and naughty weirdness will open you up to some new possibilities for your nightly diversions. Films: Assholes...
Hairy Parachute Shorts
Shorts Blocks
Comedy comes in many flavors. Sample the situational, the sublime and the wickedly wack-o in this 9 pack of laughter-inducing short films. Films: FITNESS! or a story about SWEAT Kana...
Heart Tick Kaboom
Directors: Grace Kim, Ty Lance West
Short Film
An experimental drop into the whimsical world of the Atlanta airport, as seen through an Alien girls' eyes. Screening in the Weeping Toothcrust Shorts block.
Hope You See This
Directors: Benjamin Stillerman, Rachel Winton
Short Film
An experimental narrative comprised of over-the-phone and in-person interviews with Craiglist posters whose missed connections happened on the subway. Using the website’s iconic interface to display the transcript, the visuals...
How to Re-Caulk your Tub
Director: Sean Pierce
Short Film
A woman re-caulks a tub by herself. A Film about Anxiety. Screening in the Slippery Jack Shorts block.
I’m Free Now, You Are Free
Director: Ash Goh Hua
Short Film
A short documentary about the reunion and repair between Mike Africa Jr and his mother Debbie Africa—a formerly incarcerated political prisoner of the MOVE9. In 1978, Debbie, then 8 months...
In Our Nature
Director: Echo Wilson
Short Film
An animated documentary exploring humanity’s relationship with nature through a world of interviewed “animals.” Screening in the Gassy Webcap Shorts block.
Inspector Ike
Director: Graham Mason
Narrative Features
Inspector Ike, New York City’s greatest police detective, finds himself in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse after the conniving understudy of an avant-garde theater group knocks off the star actor....
Judging Eyes
Director: Joy J. James
Short Film
We've all done it. Looked at someone and formed an opinion. How often have we formed a negative sentiment based on how a person looks? How often have we thought...
Kindred Kings
Director: Trey Gray
Short Film
A poetically visual essay that explores freedom and versatility for the black man. Kindred Kings illustrates the journey for us to remember that black men are Kings, Kindred Kings. And...
King Oyster Shorts
Shorts Blocks
What does it mean to be Black or Brown or White? These seven dramatic shorts explore the shifting dynamics of identity and self, asking us who we are, how we...
Little Chief
Director: Erica Tremblay
Short Film
Against the landscape of a rural reservation in Oklahoma, the lives of a Native woman and nine-year-old boy intersect over the course of a school day. Exhausted and burned out,...
Maggie Dave – I’m Not Ready
Director: Cassie Shao
Short Film
A man waits for a continuously delayed train. Screening in the Weeping Toothcrust Shorts block.
Mercury Afrograde
Director: Blanche Akonchong
Short Film
On a crazy day during mercury retrograde, a family’s deepest secrets come to the surface forcing them to realize they are not the model African family. Screening in the Twisted...
Mr. Dragon
Director: Kristi Ray
Short Film
Two lovers do their last load of laundry. Screening in the Twisted Deceiver Shorts Block.
Must Love Pie
Director: Patrick Clement
Short Film
A lonely man finds a love connection. Screening in the Slippery Jack Shorts block.
Origin of Hair
Director: Carrie Hawks
Short Film
Speculating about the birth of Rock n' Roll and the best curl pattern. This film explores Black queer identity and self acceptance as a pathway to personal utopia. Origin of...
Pink, White & Blue
Director: Ash Malone
Short Film
After years of transitioning in front of a camera, Aydian Dowling discusses how allowing his transition to be visible via YouTube has helped the trans community as a whole grow...
Powdery Piggyback Shorts
Shorts Blocks
From the fantastic to the hyper-realistic, these tales of youth finding their way has something for everyone. Touching and terrifying but also hilarious and heartwarming, these eight delightful short films...
Proper Pronouns
Director: Megan Daniels
Documentary Features
Proper Pronouns tells the story of Dawn as she seeks validation in the pulpit and reconciliation in her marriage, problems she did not face when she was Duane. The film...
Purple Jellydisc Shorts
Shorts Blocks
Things get weird and wild in this expansive and experimental collection of mystical, magical, and downright deadly group of visionary short films. Pulsating from deep within, these shorts bring embodiment...
Schroon Lake
Director: Eryka Dellenbach
Short Film
Schroon Lake is a film by Eryka Dellenbach in collaboration with performance artists Matty Davis and Ben Gould adapting their work Carriage to the 9-mile long frozen lake in the...
Second Seed
Directors: Baye & Asa
Short Film
Second Seed is a dance horror film responding to D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation. Griffith’s film is an assertion of white cultural and intellectual supremacy, a call to...
Secret Convulsions #1
Host: Aaron Hillis
Narrative Features
*** COSTUMES ARE ENCOURAGED, LET'S GET WEIRD! *** Since lockdown began, "Convulsions" curator Aaron Hillis has been hosting a private screening series (#playtimewithHillis) of retro titles, but that velvet curtain...
Secret Convulsions #2
Host: Aaron Hillis
Narrative Features
*** COSTUMES ARE ENCOURAGED, LET'S GET WEIRD! *** Since lockdown began, "Convulsions" curator Aaron Hillis has been hosting a private screening series (#playtimewithHillis) of retro titles, but that velvet curtain...
Secret Convulsions #3
Host: Aaron Hillis
Narrative Features :: Convulsions
*** COSTUMES ARE ENCOURAGED, LET'S GET WEIRD! *** Since lockdown began, "Convulsions" curator Aaron Hillis has been hosting a private screening series (#playtimewithHillis) of retro titles, but that velvet curtain...
Secrets Music Video
Director: King Bach
Short Film
Laughter is the best medicine. Screening in the Hairy Nut Disco Shorts block.
Sit Down Comedian
Director: Brent Clark
Short Film
While rehearsing his act backstage minutes before a comedy show, quadriplegic "sit down" comedian Leo receives an unexpected phone call from his ex-girlfriend Robin. The conversation quickly turns personal, and...
Sky Aelans
Directors: Edward Manuga, Georgianna Lepping, Jeremy Gwao, Regina Lepping, Zahiyd Namo, Junior Patrick Makau, Manner Levo, Neil Nuia, Daniel Kakadi
Short Film
Decades of logging have drastically changed the landscape and lifestyle of those who call the Solomon Islands home. Now, the last untouched forest of the country is at risk of...
Slippery Jack Shorts
Shorts Blocks
Say that again? Who knows?! Anything goes in this puzzling mixture of romance, home improvement, sports, and restorative injustice capped out with a bit of not so sci-fi anymore drama....
Standing Above the Clouds
Director: Jalena Keane-Lee
Short Film
Standing Above the Clouds is a story of inter-generational women activists, who call themselves Ku Kia'i Mauna, or guardians of the mountain. The film follows three sets of mothers and...
Stories I Didn’t Know
Directors: Melody Gilbert, Rita Davern
Documentary Features
A search for her Irish ancestors leads a woman down an unexpected path to reveal a family secret about a sacred piece of land. Like many children of immigrants, the...
Tamales y Tunas
Director: Lucía Archila Escobar
Short Film
In the South Carolina Indigenous Guatemalan community, women face healthcare barriers that make it difficult to carry their pregnancies to term. Here, pregnant Erlinda longs for the familiar tastes of...
tbh: u cute
Director: Bailey James
Short Film
A narrative of being a black girl in a black world, and being forced to deal with the reality of being seemingly invisible in the real one. Screening in the...
Test Pattern
Director: Shatara Michelle Ford
Narrative Features
Test Pattern follows an interracial couple whose relationship is put to the test after a Black woman is sexually assaulted and her white boyfriend drives her from hospital to hospital...
The Black Baptism
Director: Stephanie Diane Ford
Short Film
Informed by a mysterious voice, an imprisoned young woman must pass a series of enigmatic tests or face a violent death as the terrifying situation unlocks a dormant power in...
The Chasing of A Great Movie
Director: Jennifer Sharp
Documentary Features
When an African American woman fearlessly travels alone to Mexico to accomplish her 17-year dream of making a movie there, a town full of Mexicans help her to succeed. An...
The Pandemic Chronicles
Director: Ya'Ke
Short Film
An anthology series about love and grief during quarantine. Filmed entirely during the Coronavirus Lockdown using Social Distance and Virtual Directing. Screening in the Slippery Jack Shorts block.
The Passing On
Director: Nathan Clarke
Documentary Features
Three professions ushered Black former slaves from poverty to the American dream: preacher, teacher, and undertaker. Today, renowned embalmer James Bryant puts his faith in a new generation to continue...
The Price of Cheap Rent
Directors: Amina Sutton, Maya Tanaka
Short Film
An aspiring artist discusses the challenges of finding affordable housing in a new city, and the compromises she has to make with her spooky new roommates. Screening in the Hairy...
The Rain Poncho
Director: Andrea Rosen
Short Film
A day in the life of 2 moms, Kitty (a pot smoking therapist) and Rita (an inept hair cutter). They worry that their 15 year old daughter has a secret...
The Rougarou
Director: Lorraine Caffery
Short Film
A father tells his daughter a cautionary tale to keep her out of trouble. Screening in the Powdery Piggyback Shorts block.
Three Sisters Swamp: The Oldest Bald Cypress Forest on the Planet
Director: Shawn Bannon
Short Film
In 2019, scientists discovered that several trees in Eastern North Carolina’s Three Sisters Swamp are over 2,000 years old; one is at least 2,624 years old. Located in a remote...
Thrift Store Shampoo
Director: Tyler Baum
Short Film
A 13-Minute, 8-Song Animated Odyssey. Screening in the Weeping Toothcrust Shorts block.
Thumbs Up for Mother Universe: Stories from the Life of Lonnie Holley
Director: George King
Documentary Features
This story of survival, endurance and triumph spans decades in the life of remarkable artist Lonney Holley. An improbable success, Holley’s story uncovers truths about race and class in the...
Time of Moulting
Director: Sabrina Mertens
Narrative Features
Our after-hours "Convulsions" sidebar kicks off with Sabrina Mertens' entrancing and disturbing debut feature, set in 1970s Germany. Stephanie is a lively child who enjoys board games and playdates with...
Transmission
Director: Tiara Luten
Short Film
The U.S. Government has just announced the outbreak of a deadly new disease and requires all citizens to remain in their homes. But this outbreak, we soon learn, has been...
Trudie’s Goose
Directors: C. Lily Ericsson, Cheri Gaulke, Samara Hutman, Liran Kapel
Short Film
When a young girl preparing for her Bat Mitzvah, the Jewish coming-of-age ritual, befriends a Holocaust survivor elder both lives are changed forever as they journey from darkness to healing...
Turf Nation
Director: Jun Bae
Short Film
Turfing is an Oakland-born dance form that combines roots in gang culture with elements of tutting, gliding and bone breaking; Turf Nation follows the street dancers perform on BART (Bay...
Turquoise Elfcup Shorts
Shorts Blocks
From healing to hope and back again. This four pack of documentary shorts examines intergenerational trauma, the politics of subway dancing, Miami's Liberty City youth, and the healing power of...
Twisted Deceiver Shorts
Shorts Blocks
Touching on a range of storylines and characters, from Afrofuturist visions to aching memories, this collection of shorts tosses, turns and flips around as it weaves it way from family...
Two Little Boys
Director: Farbod Khoshtinat
Short Film
A boy's secret love for his closeted bully drives him into an unconventional road to confession and its consequences. Screening in the Powdery Piggyback Shorts block.
Unapologetic
Director: Ashley O'Shay
Documentary Features
After two Black Chicagoans are killed, millennial organizers challenge an administration complicit in state violence against its residents. Told through the lens of Janaé and Bella, two fierce abolitionist leaders,...
Weeping Toothcrust Shorts
Shorts Blocks
Animation in every style and from every galaxy come together in this fantastical trip through thrift stores, the holocaust, the airport, and the legend of the four transgender spirits of...
When the Waters Get Deep
Director: Kelly Whalen
Short Film
The Oakland musicians of SOL Development use hip-hop, jazz and soul to tell stories about the effects of policing, mass incarceration and gun violence, and the band members work to...
Witches Butter Shorts
Shorts Blocks
Magical and mesmerizing, this pairing of dance films honors the festival's tradition of showcasing bold new work that breaks the mold and takes the merging of cinema and choreography to...
Zibi Yajdan / The River Tells It
Directors: Brit Hensel, Taylor Hensel
Short Film
Zibi Yajdan tells the story of the Kalamazoo River and her relationship to the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Pottawatomi people (Gun Lake Tribe) in the wake of the Enbridge Pipeline 6B oil spill....