We are delighted to celebrate the talents of emerging filmmakers in 2023. It was hard to chose from the extraordinary films submitted. Below are the selected films which will be screened and judged on February 25th in downtown Washington DC.

Fitting In directed by Mark Leschinsky ( USA / 2022 /3.37 mins / fiction ) fitting into shoes inspires us to embrace our unique personalities.

Hardcore directed by Madeleine Case (USA / 2022 / 9.57mins / fiction) Sarah, a young photographer, falls in love with the reckless drummer in a band and finds herself suspended between life, death, and motherhood.

How to Survive Your First Date directed by Reese Robers (USA / 2022 / 8:46 mins/ fiction) In a dark parody of 1950’s instructional films, Dotty and her date try to survive the voyeuristic narrator manipulating them.

The Journal directed by Ethan Alexander Norman (USA / 2022 / 13.02 mins / fiction) A socially rejected teenager uses materialism and nihilism to blur away his terrible previous life, opening up a new dark chapter of his life.

Kennedy Street by Maddy Waldman,  John Monaco, Maya Ray’  Jameela Ayoub  (USA / 2022 / 5:18 mins. / documentary) What gentrification means to the residents of Washington DC’s Kennedy Street.

Reaper directed by Eva Ulreich (USA / 2022 / 3.44 mins / animation) The Grim Reaper attempts to capture a lost soul.

Symptoms of Incarceration directed by Owen Miller (USA/ 2022/ 4.37mins / fiction)  Marching through the prison where he spent the last two decades of his life, Martin Charter’s freedom is finally within reach.

The Master of a Fading Art  directed by Simon Pasquesi (USA / 2022 / 5.13 / documentary) Piero Amidei, runs Carlo’s Tailoring Shop established by his father and tells his story of working for 53 years at something he loves.

The Spirit directed by Helen Khachikyan (Armenia / 2021 /4.32 mins/ fiction) A story about a household spirit from Slavic mythology.

‘tu:li: directed by Carrington Holritz (USA / 2022 /11:10 mins / fiction) As an ornithologist seeks to identify a strange and unusual bird, the line between nature and nurture becomes hazy.

Unspoken Waves directed by Kiha Ahn (Korea / 2022 /2.254 mins / animation)  When we miss someone, our memories and longings flow into unspoken waves.

Water Lullaby directed by Piotr Kaźmierczak (Poland /2022 / 3.39 mins/ animation ) A stop action animation made with sand accompanying a song by the Polish folk band Warsaw Village Band.

 Well-dying directed by Junhyeok Kim (Korea / 2022 /13.34 mins / fiction) With her young daughter Areum, Cho-won visits her father and they talk about their feelings toward each other for the very last time.