James Smith’s stop-motion short "Cosmic Crash" fuses sci-fi horror and dark comedy through the eyes of an alien invader—crafted with discipline, imagination, and a DIY spirit that defines independent filmmaking.
At FilmQuest 2025, Dylan Powers fuses first-person gaming and found footage in Observer, a haunting sci-fi experience of memory and isolation.
At FilmQuest 2025, Lara Repko’s “Open Wide” fuses horror, humor, and hallucinatory color to explore the messy beauty of female desire, boundaries, and self-liberation.
Blending video game nostalgia with simulation theory, David Labajos Sáez’s sci-fi short “Simón” challenges faith, free will, and the limits of indie filmmaking at FilmQuest 2025.
Layne Marie Williams’ "Wizdom" turns Chicago’s underbelly into a neon-fueled rebellion, where bionic freedom meets indie ingenuity and humanity still shines through.
Jake Myers blends body horror and workplace satire in “Kombucha,” a grotesque yet darkly funny dive into creative anxiety and corporate dread.
In “Gimme,” Steven Schloss fuses Jewish culture with cosmic horror, creating the Hanukkah film he wished existed as a kid.
Bobby Roe’s meta horror short “Will Helm” traps audiences in a 1994 sound booth where fiction and fear collide, blending practical gore, meta storytelling, and a chilling performance by Spencer Charnas of Ice Nine Kills.
Los Angeles filmmaker Mike Manning debuts his haunting short “Spool” at FilmQuest 2025. Blending grief, mystery, and a touch of holiday melancholy, the film follows two sisters confronting their father’s decline.
For almost a century, an Academy Award was the single greatest accolade a film could receive, revered by film enthusiasts and filmmakers alike. With changes in the film industry causing major shifts in the impact of these awards... is the effort worth the payoff?
Jeff Speed’s genre-bending thriller, selected for FilmQuest 2025, merges the hypnotic allure of Giallo cinema with a modern journalist’s descent into obsession.
Join filmmakers and film lovers for two exclusive LA screenings of Champions of the Golden Valley, the award-winning documentary executive produced by Malala Yousafzai and Arian Moayed (Succession).
Rebecca Gruss’s debut "Thrift Store Ouija Board" turns everyday horror into something hauntingly human, marking a bold FilmQuest 2025 entry.
A look into the Finnish take on Marché du Film and talking to the participating filmmakers about the pre-production pitching process.
Blending solitude, sound, and storytelling, John Hill’s pandemic-inspired film transforms personal loss into a genre-bending reflection on independence and creativity.
Jason Ragosta’s 'Grizzly Peak' reimagines the slasher film through a queer lens, blending Grindhouse grit, dark humor, and heartfelt vulnerability into a “lesbian meet-cute” horror that’s both stylish and deeply personal.
