Shorts 9 – In Black & Color

“In Black & Color” is both a film program and a cinematic transformation. Beginning in black and white and gradually crossing into color, this collection of experimental, avant-garde, and defiantly uncategorizable shorts traces a journey through surreal landscapes, apocalyptic fables, reimagined pop culture, absurd comedies, and poetic meditations on existence itself. As the palette shifts, so do the worlds on screen, moving from shadow and expressionism toward increasingly vibrant realms of imagination. By turns strange, hilarious, provocative, and profound, this program celebrates artists who bend form, genre, and expectation, reminding us that cinema’s most exciting possibilities often exist between extremes.

Spheres

A film by Martin Gerigk

Spheres is an homage to life, a poetic essay that drifts through a series of expanding spheres, each revealing a different layer of our shared reality, from the microscopic to the mythical. The film is an exploration of how the smallest vibrations of existence echo outward into the vast architecture of being and cosmos, a breathing meditation designed to remind us of the wonders of our incomprehensibly beautiful world.

2026 | 6 mins | Germany | B&W, Color | Experimental

Stew To Eat

A film by Nathaniel Jameson, Alex Saltiel

The stew is almost ready, but there is one thing missing… a dark adventure of unrequited love, societal decay, and insatiable hunger. “Pitch-perfect expressionism… cartoonish briskness alternating with poignancy… a world created out of faces and blackness… It’s also incredibly funny!” – Guy Maddin

2025 | 25 mins | US | B&W | Experimental

It’s A Wonderful Night Of The Living Dead

A film by John Bell, Dan Bell

It’s a not-so-wonderful life for George Bailey when a horde of flesh-eating ghouls come to town on Christmas Eve. In this horror comedy mashup, two classic films are re-imagined as a darkly humorous fever dream. George, a frustrated businessman, navigates his night seemingly unaware of the looming threat of the undead; as Barbara, a woman from out of town, runs for her life through the streets of Bedford Falls. When George and Barbara come face to face with the living dead, they must fight to make it through the night and find their way back to their families.

2025 | 9 mins | US | B&W | Comedy, Horror, Experimental

Double Dipper

A film by Norman Nathaniel Mayorga, Hector Zumbado

In a world turned apocalyptic due to the high temperature of the sun, ice cream has become a necessity for human survival. Our main character, The Wanderer, comes across an ice cream stand that offers a free scoop to new customers. After accidentally dropping his free scoop, The Wanderer is forced to impersonate someone else to get a new free scoop. However, his greed does not go unpunished.

2025 | 8 mins | US | B&W | Dark Comedy, Horror, Experimental

Oyster Rockefeller

A film by Alec Castillo

A documentary short chronicling the life and lost history of the Gulf Coast’s wealthiest oyster.

2025 | 5 mins | US | Color | Animation, Comedy, Mockumentary

The Goodie Bag

A film by Yossi Sloane

A marketing student embarks on a networking meeting with an older woman, only to discover she has no plans on being professional.

2026 | 8 mins | US | Color | Comedy, Fantasy

The Belt

A film by Adrian Anderson

A young woman’s night unravels into chaos after she accidentally locks herself into a chastity belt during a house party and loses the key in this ecstatic ‘one-reel’ slapstick comedy.

2026 | 15 mins | US | Color | Comedy, Camp

Short Film About Regret And Nudes

A film by Eliana Henrich

2026 | 1 min | US | Color | Experimental

The filmmaker Eliana Henrich is expected to be in attendance for a post-film discussion.

The Hands Of God

A film by Luke Michael Panzo

A mother cow and her now-grown calf graze within the quiet boundaries of their rural home. As the day passes, subtle intrusions begin to surface, reminders that the world around them is not entirely their own.

2025 | 5 mins | US | Color | Experimental

The Girlies

A film by Natalie Couture

Antics! Estrogen! Escapades! Hijinks ensue when The Girlies are forced to face the unexpected. Produced by a female-led crew of silly people, The Girlies is a 21st century love letter to silent film, physical comedy, and analog filmmaking. The film was shot on three different types of 16mm Kodak film stock with one digital cut-away, and the title cards and opening credits were captured in-camera and composited digitally. The result: a wacky, kitchen-sink of genres and technologies that contrasts the modern with the classic at at every turn.

2024 | 9 mins | US | B&W, Color | Comedy