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Private Notes
A family struggles to escape a stark economic wasteland in hopes of immigrating illegally to a new land of opportunity.
In an industry dominated by genetically modified seeds, a poor farmer struggles to survive. When he resorts to smuggling now-illegal organic seeds across borders he risks everything.
In the radically altered housing market of the future, an older couple must forego their dreams of retirement and adapt to the ever-evolving definition of the American dream.
When a pregnant border patrol agent discovers an illegal immigrant child hiding in her home, she is forced to question her loyalty to a system of exclusion.
In a world where housing is granted only to the powerful few, a father who makes his living evicting the powerless must choose between his responsibilities and his moral principles.
In the polarized economy of the near future, corporations offer incentives to their high-ranking female employees to pay for surrogate pregnancies and chemically accelerated births.
Struggling with its immortality, a discarded plastic bag (voiced by Werner Herzog) ventures through the environmentally barren remains of America as it searches for its maker.
Society's obsession with video and online gaming has advanced to the point that virtual environments are indistinguishable from physical ones.
When a woman in mourning encounters a mysterious wandering service android, she is forced to redefine its conceptions of humanity, relationships, and family.
In this parable about change, a jaded government undersecretary becomes the unwitting test subject for an experimental program to curb global warming.
Los Angeles has fallen victim to a nuclear attack from an unknown aggressor. In the aftermath of the bombing, a young man's search for his girlfriend highlights the human toll of eternal war.
Written and directed by Nisha Ganatra Beholder takes place in the biosphere-protected Red Estates, a gated community with a socially conservative political majority where all members have been explicitly bred for their social roles. At a clinic where patients can genetically engineer their children, Sasha, the wife of rising political star Bobby Aryana, is informed that her baby carries the genetic marker for homosexuality. By the laws of Red Estates, this is an aberration that must be dealt with immediately, and Sasha finds her rethinking her allegiances as well as mulling over secrets in her own past. Touching on issues of race, sexual orientation, and conformity, Beholder examines the notion of identity and the costs of belonging.
Written and directed by Barry Jenkins Upon returning to their countryside cabin one day, Kaya, his wife Helen, and their daughter Naomi are confronted by two suited men: representatives of the San Francisco Remigration Program. The men explain that San Francisco is now occupied entirely by the wealthy class. But stoplights still burn out and trains occasionally jump their rails. Blue-collar labor isn't obsolete, but it's scarce. The city has created a program to "remigrate" long-gone working class families from their inland homes back to the city that once pushed them out. Kaya, Helen, and Naomi return to San Francisco and join a handful of other potential remigrants for a tour of what can be expected in their new lives. But can they learn to trust their old home once again?
Written and directed by Robby Henson Introverted and cerebral, Dekard is an agricultural engineer who monitors a regimented greenhouse laboratory that produces hybrid asparagus, sealed off in a transparent control booth buried beneath a destroyed landscape in the near future. When fertilizer delivery agent Elena Navarro arrives for a surprise visit, Dekard accidentally knocks an inferior asparagus he is culling to the lab floor in his rush to spend more time with Elena. After a trip to a dating compatibility center forecasts Elena and Dekard's romantic future, he returns to his greenhouse to find an unlikely testament from his forgotten asparagus.
Directed by Suzi Yoonessi Sisters Lily and Isabelle live a nomadic life, displaced by global warming. Trapped in the desert in the midst of a water shortage, Isabelle offers hope to her younger sister by telling a whimsical fairytale that allegorically explains how this tragic world came to be. When Isabelle falls ill, Lily embarks on an imaginative journey in a magical paper cut-out forest to find the mythical Spring of Sorrow, an everlasting spring of fresh water. Along the way, she forges a friendship with an eccentric florist, creates flowers and animals, and learns a valuable lesson about environmental responsibility.
Written and directed by J.P. Chan By 2036, data loss has become a thing of the past. All digital media is instantly uploaded to the internet and permanently stored in the cloud, safely backed-up on servers scattered around the world. Only a handful of small businesses in the world have the expertise to recover data from pre-cloud devices. On a hot summer day, a young man named Kai visits Digital Antiquities, a store in eastern Pennsylvania specializing in data recovery and sales of vintage electronics. He shows Cat, the store's only employee, an old compact disc left to him from his deceased mother and asks her to recover its contents. Will Cat help him find a working CD reader? And what will they discover among the contents of the disc?
Written and directed by Mia Trachinger Roxanne Green catches a shuttle to her first job of the day: a live-body contagion for the government, used to immunize urban populations. Jesse Cho, an anti-contagion activist, is flirting with co-worker Nicole when his office is breeched by Roxanne's team. Led by Roxanne, the contagions try to contain the workers inside the building, chasing them down in an attempt to mass-inoculate. Despite the government declaring a successful vaccination rate, why don't Jesse and Nicole feel so healthy? Caught in a cycle of fear and illness, they soon learn that there are no easy answers.
Written and directed by Bennett Cohen Set in a future world on the verge of environmental collapse, a group of archaeologists venture into a toxic desert wasteland, determined to unearth a lost civilization they believe suffered a similar fate and hoping that this ancient disaster holds clues that can help avert their own ruin. But can they survive the desert long enough to do the work they need to do, and unearth the discoveries they desperately need to find? In their digging, they make at least two discoveries they don't expect: the power of love, and a curious notion they come to know as "faith."
Written and directed by A. Sayeeda Clarke It's another 120-degree day with five more days to Christmas and hot is the only season left in New York City. Global warming has become a tangible threat and everyone is creating new ways to protect themselves from the sun. Bato and his wife Gina are expecting a baby, but they weren't expecting it so early. Although they planned to have the baby at home, Gina now requires the services of a clinic for the premature delivery. With no money for the clinic, Bato enters into a race against the sun, the birth, his community and even his own identity to save his family.
Written and directed by Sharat Raju Rahul's days blend together. GlobeCom India, his employer, specializes in remote systems operation. When Rahul leaves his dungeon-like GlobeCom office, he goes to his dungeon-like living quarters in Technology City. But things change when an American contractor announces a new partnership with GlobeCom -- Planet Dogstar, a massive multi-player online flying combat simulator where players shoot down targets on an alien planet. GlobeCom is hired to operate and manage the game. To decide who will lead and manage the operation, the company organizes an office showdown: whoever shoots down the most targets wins the promotion as well as a one-week furlough to leave Technology City. Can Rahul beat his coworkers to win the game?
Written and directed by Kimi Takesue In the year 2032, Vicente, an 8-year-old Caribbean boy, has been displaced by global warming and fends for himself as an environmental refugee in a hostile Northern metropolis. Orphaned and without connection to family or friends, Vicente now lives in a children's shelter on the fringes of the city, and struggles with anxiety, rage, and disturbing memories of the tragedy he fled. On a hot summer day, Vicente sits outside the shelter and sees a mysterious man smashing large chunks of ice against the pavement. Thus begins an unexpected friendship between Vicente and Siku, the ice carver: two people from different worlds who have both experienced tremendous loss. Through their bond, Siku ultimately helps Vicente confront his past and understand the value of memory.
Gwen is the spokesperson for a radical technology allowing people to overcome their natural disadvantages and begin life anew. But when her job and family are in crisis, will she undergo the procedure herself? Directed by Jennifer Phang
With global population at an extreme high, federal fertility lotteries now determine who can and can't reproduce. When one woman learns that she will be permanently sterilized, her faith in the system is shaken. Directed by Mo Perkins
A young female soldier returns home after a traumatic tour of duty, taking a new medication that can selectively erase memories. Directed by Patrick Stettner
On the eve of his 13th birthday, will Charlie Tuttle submit to a government-mandated tracking implant, or answer a more dangerous call to adventure? Directed by Michael McMillian
In a future where schools are segregated by economic status, a struggling mother must decide whether to sell her own organs to give her children a better education. Directed by Tina Mabry
Navajo Astronaut Tazbah Redhouse is a pilot on the first spaceship sent to colonize Mars. But a mysterious dream the night before her departure indicates there may be more to her mission than she understands. Directed by Nanobah Becker
Simon Ender struggles with his decision to commit his elderly mother into a revolutionary nursing home alternative that has solved the rapidly growing Senior Citizen overpopulation. Directed by Trevin Matcek
In 2024, gender is identified by microchip implant, and trans people like Elliot are classified "third." But can he change his identity in an attempt to build a safer life? Directed by Rose Troche
A cyber attack on the United States Immigration database puts Sonia at risk of being deported back to Iran. But remaining in the U.S. may come at a greater price than she's willing to pay. Directed by Mohammad Gorjestani
Refugees from the dystopian future are immigrating to the past, and citizen watch groups have formed to stop them. On his first "border patrol", teenage Jackson must choose between his father's principles and his own sense of humanity. Directed by Joe Turner Lin & Justin Marshall
Retired inventor Will Friedrich and his son are forced to evacuate their home during a tsunami. As they make their way east, they encounter a pioneering community that leads Will to consider returning to his work in free energy. Directed by Christopher Munch
Organ Harvesting Initiative surgeon Isaac North visits a Colorado refugee town where quadriplegic Luther Hillman has signed up to be euthanized in return for his wife's medical care, his organs harvested for more "productive" citizens. Directed by Julian Breece
The web is no longer secure, but NeuroLock™ can encrypt data using the human brain. Iris struggles to choose between unemployment and a job as a "neuro-messenger," a career with unwanted side effects. Directed by Lisa Robinson
Two astronauts on a prospecting mission to find a new supply of energy crash land on a distant planet, where alien beings offer a chance at a survival -- but at a great cost. Directed by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean
When a bipolar patient abruptly stops taking his digitally encoded psych meds, a therapist named Ant (played by Guillermo Diaz) learns they are no panacea. The therapist must risk his life to avert catastrophe in this film by Tina Mabry that looks at the culture of mental health care in the future.
In the future, the gender disparity gap will be addressed with a radical idea: to keep boys and girls separate until the age of eighteen. In this society, The Equal Futures Academies for Girls and for Boys were formed to re-educate the two genders without the inherent biases of society. Expert hackers “The Girls Who Code” find a way to interact with the boys through a secret cyberspace hook-up point and trouble ensues. Code Academy is a peek into the inner world of adolescence, gender identity formation, and the role of cyberspace in this tumultuous time of growth. A film by Nisha Ganatra.
A young man convicted of a violent crime is released into a community service-based alternative to incarceration, but he isn’t especially free. He must remain connected at all times to virtual surveillance, where his every move is tracked and his attempt to reconcile the past is constantly thwarted. A film by Aldo Velasco.
The host of a once-popular kid’s show clashes with child co-stars and disgruntled crew. The world’s changed and the show’s cautionary messages may no longer be needed. Can she adapt? A film by Greg Pak.
In the near future, an injured soldier returns home with advanced prosthetics to replace an arm and leg lost in combat, and must reconnect with family. A film by Trevin Matcek.
Can a new bartending robot help patrons drown their sorrows, all while keeping them from harming themselves? He soon learns his mission may be next to impossible. A film by Alex Rivera.
The School for Innovation was founded by a corporation determined to rebound the national economy by teaching design thinking to teenagers, and then putting the most promising prototypes into production. When an abused teenage girl develops a design for a new product that stands to make millions for the corporation, a jaded teacher (played by Rebecca Hazlewood of TV’s Outsourced) — who’d been replaced by a digital avatar — is compelled to protect the girl's best interests. A film by Tanuj Sachdev Chopra.
