An absurdist short comedy that follows three intersecting storylines, each of which deals with a different contemporary cultural/societal theme. Harold, a white man, is told by his doctor that nothing is wrong with him - and yet he can't seem to find use of his legs - so he has to crawl and drag himself everywhere. Karen, meanwhile, is out to dinner with a "man-splaining" man. Each time she escapes to the bathroom to pop a pill, she returns to find that he has literally regressed in age. Michael, a young black man, finds himself at the center of a racially charged confrontation with the police after a man pulls a gun on him while declaring "I'm not a racist!" Layers of metaphor, physicalized through slapstick comedy and visual trickery paralleled between the main characters, build up to a surreal and absurd cacophony that acts as a commentary on our mutual distrust of one another, questions our definitions of sanity, and contemplates how to possibly stand up to it all.

In this short student film by **Oscar-winning** director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump), a man goes through his daily routine until he meets unexpected stress when an elevator won't obey his commands.

A young man with dreadlocks makes the difficult choice to shave them in support of his young sister's illness. The man walks the streets of his neighborhood and feels the impact of daily life with dreadlocks. After thinking about the bond with his sister, he decides to remove his locks.

Alex struggles to find her voice at a competitive dance conservatory. When she meets a confident young Deaf drummer he stirs up old conflicted childhood feelings about growing up hearing in a Deaf family. Enjoying their easy camaraderie, she allows the drummer to believe she is Deaf as well. When her secret is revealed, Alex will have to own who she is in life, as well as in dance. Can she figure out a way to live in two different worlds?

Elliot is a prankster, unpredictable, and never takes life too seriously. These have always been the characteristics that his brother, a far too suppressed Paul, loved about him. But now that Elliot is dying of cancer and is choosing his "Right to Die" under the Death with Dignity Act, Paul isn't too sure of what to make of his brother's recklessness. Paul internally struggles with his brother's choice and unwillingly performs his brotherly duty of playing 'chauffeur' as he drives Elliot around the city to cross off his 'bucket list' before they drive up to Mammoth to meet their mother - where they will all three be together for the last time. After helping Elliot send his old bosses to hell, tell his group of friends the truth, and safely get to Mammoth, where they spend intimate time with their mother, Paul comes to terms not only with his brother's choice to die, but his own ability to experience emotions rather than suppress them.

After seeing the smoke from an explosion on the horizon, an old weathered man leaves his island and goes to explore it in his airboat. At the site of the explosion he finds a pile of garbage and dead animals floating in the water. Suddenly there is another explosion and something shoots into the air like a rocket. The man goes to the source and finds a case of jars with some Chinese characters on the side. Inside the jar is a buzzing insect. A thought bubble appears from the jar and the man releases the insect. It immediately begins attacking him, finally exploding into the side of his head leaving an X shaped gash. Recognizing them as dangerous, the man tries to kill the next insect by pumping poison into its jar. Just when it appears dead, the insect starts to shake and the jar explodes into the man's hand. The motor of the air boat is ignited and the boat shoots into the air. When next we see the man, he is laying in the shallow water by the island, unconscious. The poison in the water begins seeping into the X gash and suddenly the man is sucked into a terrifying, psychedelic transformation. He flies through space and time and his cells are re-worked. After this ordeal, the man stands up in the water and looks toward his island. In the setting sun, he can see the palm trees begin to lift off from the ground and float into the sky. Official Selection at the **Sundance Film Festival** and **SXSW Film Festival**.

WYRM is falling behind. It is 1995. His twin sister, Myrcella, has become a woman after she and Mads Nillson did fingering at the cinemas. Wyrm has six days to secure his first kiss or his My.E.Q. Electronic Emotional Development Collar will be left on and he'll be placed in the remedial learning program as part of the school district's No Child Left Alone Program. Wyrm's parents are distant and despondent after the death of his older brother and his friends aren't much help, so Wyrm is left to figure it out on his own. He finally kisses Myrcella's best friend, but when he asks her out on a date later she isn't interested. Wyrm has popped his collar, but he still has a lot of learn about romance. Official Selection at the **Sundance Film Festival**.

Based on an actual scientific theory, this beautifully composed film with computer generated graphics accompanied by the music of Liquid Mind, tells a poignant story about microbes being blasted by asteroid collisions into outer space to become the seeds of life forms throughout the universe. Told from the personal perspective of one of the microbes, we follow him on his journey through space and time to another planet. He wonders about his friends and receives a message that some of them have become horses. Sad and alone, the microbe decides to change things by jumping into a volcano. He hopes to find his way home. The volcano hurls him into space and he dreams of being a magnificent flying creature. When the microbe awakens, he finds himself hurling towards a distant planet. He sees the planet being transformed by the arrival of him and his friends and hopes they, now in the form of horses, will remember him.

'OUR NECK OF THE WOODS' explores the world of Bob Underwood, a disenchanted line foreman at Pilgrimtown's Mold-O-Form factory. Day after day, he produces plastic lawn-ornament deer, secretly longing for more out of life. But his family obligations and inability to assert himself keep him in the same position year after year. One day Elsa, a Georgian refugee, is relocated to work at the factory. Enchanted by her quiet thoughtfulness and haunting singing, Bob decides to save her from succumbing to his own fate. He steals the union dues so that she can leave the factory and live the life he feels he's missed out on. His neglect while carrying out the shortsighted and ill-conceived plan leads to Elsa's emancipation but also his own through his accidental destruction of the entire factory.

Once a successful Syrian actor, Jihad Abdo has now arrived in Hollywood as a refugee and struggles to reinvent his life and renew his career.. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Short at the Kuwait Int'l Film Festival.

BLUEBERRY is a USC Thesis Short Film about an Afrocentric podcast host, Lyric Hayes in search to find his greatest idol and best-selling author, Harambe Cornell. Lyric is in middle of seducing a hippie yoga instructor on his show when he learns she has information that will help him find Harambe Cornell. Unfortunately, he is forced to take care of his six-year-old son Jacob, dressed in a blueberry costume.   Lyric drags Jacob along his quest to find Harambe Cornell but Jacob wants to go to his favorite restaurant, Mr. Rainbow's to compete in a singing competition. On the way there, they stop in a diner to get food. Lyric is confronted by a jilted ex-lover who he doesn't seem to remember.  Just as Lyric is trying to convince his son out of being a blueberry and the value of Harambe's teachings, the waitress comes back with two milkshakes in her hands. She gives one to Jacob and the other lands in Lyrics lap.  Once they get to Harambe's house they meet a woman named Grace.  He tells her that his car breaks down and he needs to use the phone. While Lyric pretends to be on the phone, Jacob performs the Mr. Rainbows song for Grace and blurts out that his dad is looking for Harambe Cornell. Now caught in a lie, Lyric races back in the kitchen trying to save face. Grace lets him ramble before playfully dismissing him by asking him to help her in the kitchen.   Grace later reveals to him that she is Harambe Cornell and asks Jacob to sing the Mr. Rainbows song again.  A very confused Lyric looks at Grace and then at his son as he sings a song about being authentic and true to yourself. It is at that moment when Lyric realizes that his biggest teacher isn't Harambe but his son Jacob. 

Yolanda Morgan recalls her experiences with racism and the impact it has had on her.