Watch online the films shortlisted for the Audience Award 2023

After getting robbed for his bike, a straight arrow contemplates revenge and forgiveness

An empty nester must learn to find herself when her beloved canine goes missing

Oblivious to the fact she is running on empty, a relatively young woman sets up to success as she leaves her LA apartment for a last-minute request. Spoiler: nothing goes according to her plan

Winner of the Jury Award 2022. As a young Black man prepares to start his freshman year at Stanford University, he must first say goodbye to his community and close the door on his childhood

Winner of the Audience Award 2022. After adopting Los Angeles as her new home, a young Egyptian woman struggles with maintaining the facade of the lifestyles her conservative father dictates versus the ones she desires to explore

A habitual liar afraid of disclosing his sexuality is slowly killed by the lies he tells his friends

On the eve of her move out of LA, a second generation Chinese American woman learns how to let go

Inspired by a 19th-century folktale, a young father chases a ghost around his home in search of his daughter.

All is fine and dandy on Jo and Rashaad’s first day living together until a condom breaks

In the near future, an unprecedented general labor strike sweeps Los Angeles. A Korean immigrant truck driver clashes with his teenage daughter over whether to participate

On a journey of self-exploration to find himself in Los Angeles, a young man goes around visiting cornerstones of the Black community: the barbershop, the farmers market, Leimert Park. Underneath we hear a poem about how this world has shaped his internal identity.

A young Vietnamese-American girl idolizes her mother and acts as her shadow – until one day, her mother gets an unexpected surgery

In the near future as Earth has increasingly become uninhabitable, Lumi, a former ballet dancer from Los Angeles, is left behind to discover that the end is only the beginning through a mysterious entity living among her

Winner of the Jury Award 2021. A young woman from the Middle East recounts her first experience in Los Angeles to her mother back home.

Winner of the Audience Award 2021. In Los Angeles Chinatown, a lonely teenager tries to help her parents keep their seafood restaurant afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. Between chopping green beans and packing takeout orders, she attempts to hang on to a semblance of normalcy by studying for her driver’s permit and prepping for her high school Zoom theater debut in “The Tempest”.

Three siblings walk along the dry, concrete expanse of the Los Angeles River, reminiscing through memories about their recently deceased mother. One of them remembers her dream about a river.

Lesley, a young woman who feels that her life is spiralling out of control, goes to visit a self proclaimed mystic with the hopes of getting answers, and a "quick-fix" solution to her problems. Instead, she is encouraged to visit the ocean which prompts an internal journal where she learns that she held the answers to everything all along.

After moving to LA, an ambitious film-maker encounters considerable success with her career. However, these successes force her to grapple with the memories of his passing through the powerful, cleansing forces of water.

Sit in Water, Float in Peace invites you to do exactly that. It is an exploration into the subconscious that reveals the insecurities of an artist and her familial connection to the water just west of Los Angeles.

A kayaker’s attempt to protect conservation efforts disrupts a memorial service.

Set in the bustling neighborhood of Koreatown, Los Angeles, Essential Work is a meditative piece chronicling a gig economy worker’s last day to make rent and avoid eviction.

An incarcerated firefighter struggles to find emotional stability as he relives searing memories of his traumatic past. El Llano En Llamas is a meditation on trauma, the fluidity of memory, and the isolation experienced by those suffering from mental illness.

A meditative experience with a kindred stranger provides a moment of reflection and release for an isolated spirit.