2025 Official Selections

Action

Not Alone
Jordan Scott
United States

A brother must protect his adopted sister, with an extraordinary gift, from an organization determined to capture and use her to their advantage.

Norse saga where one man’s quest to reunite his family will destroy everything. Blood comes first.

Action

Runestone
Robert C. Bruce
United States

Animation

The Brain Bucket
Christopher Flippo
United States

A woman reflects on her time as a young skateboarder.

The story is about a girl living alone in the forest who accidentally discovers a strange creature. She is shocked when the monster’s fruit accidentally attacks her and enters a magical world.

Animation

Carrots are not Rabbits
Mengyuan Guo
United States

Animation

Home Cooked Meals
Natalie van Gelder
NC, United States

Ren, a lonely amateur chef cooking in a post apocalyptic world, feels isolated through his otherness. He ends up meeting people like him, and finds community through the unifying power of cooking and eating together.

In the snowy oak hall at the end of the lane
Loved Lovell his Lady of baroness fame
With a promise they wed amongst family and friends
On this dark Christmas eve where our story begins

“Mistletoe” tells the holiday horror story of the Baron, his new Lady wife, and a game they play to a terrible end.

Animation

Mistletoe
Andrea Schmitz,
Andrea Sparacio
United States

Animation

OBSERVER
Dylan Powers
United States

When contact is lost with Samuel Harth, the Algan Space Corporation looks into his memories to see what unfolded during a mission to Planet COR-73, unraveling a cosmic mystery in the process.

With their relationship on the rocks, Hannah (Darla) and Ben (Davie) act in yet another student film that’s bound for failure.

Comedy

FRAME-UP
Dustin Abernathy
NC, United States

Comedy

Hung Up
Gia Sylvester
NC, United States

When noticing a guy she likes at their college bar, Angie works up the courage to go speak to him. However, he isn’t who he seems.

While traveling for work, Ms. Rossi gets picked up by the wrong driver at the airport.

Comedy

Ms. Rossi 3: Ms. Rossi Meets the Mob
Pat Battistini
Italy

Comedy

Rack and Pinion Explain It All for You
Gordon LePage
United States

A pair of oxen from Maine start a life-advice podcast when they purloin their master’s phone.

During a national pandemic, a concerned son checks in on his father and finds out more than he wants to know.

Comedy

The Ranks
Michael J. Eggers
United States

Documentary

A Butterfly Has Been Released
Jason Zamer, Barry Koch
United States

Join a remarkable journey in “A Butterfly Has Been Released,” as hospice nurse Allyson spends her last 39 days, living and dying with brain cancer. With unfiltered honesty, authenticity, and humor, Allyson invites her family, friends and hospice coworkers into her dying experience. As time runs short, her community gathers to celebrate her life with a “living funeral,” which Allyson hosts, and afterwards her natural, green burial.

Allyson’s final wish was that her story could be used to help and inspire others about the end-of-life. As Allyson says, “I’m not dead if I’m still talking,” and through “A Butterfly Has Been Released,” Allyson is most certainly still talking. Whether you are dealing with a difficult diagnosis yourself, caring for loved ones, or thinking about the future, Allyson’s story will resonate with the power of living until the very end, on your own terms.

CRP follows Matt Fisher, an artist, educator and good human living and working in North Carolina, where he organizes a strange but fun, family-friendly community art project with his students.

Documentary

Cardboard Robot Parade
Matt Fisher, Wil Davis
NC, United States

Documentary

One Fighting Irishman
Sharon Yamato
United States

The story of one man’s legal battle to regain American citizenship for more than 5,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry forced to renounce amidst turmoil and violence at the Tule Lake Segregation Center, considered the worst of America’s ten WWII concentration camps. It took attorney Wayne M. Collins more than 23 years to restore citizenship for nearly all of them.

What happens when the dreams you cultivate come into conflict with the real responsibility of life? Many people find their greatest talent cast aside in the face of life’s daily pressures and discover there’s rarely an easy answer forward. 8 AM explores life’s choices, dreams, and sacrifices.

Drama

8 AM
Thomas Mendolia
United States

Drama

Dear Nǎi Nai
Mary An Nan
United States

Unable to visit her grandmother due to the pandemic, a young woman tackles one of the hardest challenges a Chinese American can face… writing a birthday card in full mandarin.

An army veteran turned counselor must reconcile her grief or succumb to an addiction fueled existence meant to numb the guilt of lying to her husband.

Drama

The Grief Counselor
Bishen Sen
United States

Drama

How The Rose Reaches
Belle Adams
United States

Talulah, pregnant with her first born, wrestles with the reality of motherhood as she is confronted with memories of her own, mentally unstable mother.

An elderly woman’s seemingly typical day with her son and granddaughter takes a surprising turn.

Drama

In A Quiet Room
James Faucett
United States

Drama

Twins
Ben Zimmer,
Cameron John Kharazmi
United States

Twin brothers are set to complete a mob hit before questioning the validity of their target.

A young man has to deal with the loss of a brother. Will it bring the family together or tear it apart?

Drama

Until Daylight Comes
Madysen Dougherty
United States

Experimental

Fireworks at a Funeral
Adam Ingram Perry
United States

An atmospheric short film showcasing the hauntingly beautiful spoken-word poetry of North Carolina poet Willie Writes.

Filmmaker and upcoming college graduate Sully Styles examines the worst year of his life, his freshman year of college, through the poetry and music he wrote that year.

Experimental

Watching.
Sullivan Styles
NC, United States

Horror

Bishop’s Day
Christopher Kelly
United States

Two college coeds break into the long abandoned Bishop’s Barbershop for a night of fun. However they soon find out they are not alone.

“If hell is around the corner, Jonny got himself a ticket”

The film follows Jonny Favorite (Michael A. Barker) as he struggles to remember the truth about a specific day in his life, all while being questioned by Louise Cypher (Audrey Looye).

Horror

Kruz’
Loic Zimmermann
United States

Horror

The Porchlight
Adam Ingram Perry
United States

In this short horror film, a strange woman who lives alone in the woods must confront the horrors beyond the trees when her one line of defense burns out.

Ruairí, a lowly stable-boy working for the Irish royal household, is instantly smitten when he first sees the captivating and spirited High King’s Daughter. This romantic drama follows Ruairí and the Princess, as the playful friendship of their youth blossoms into love. The High King observes the growing attraction between the two and hatches a plan to keep them apart forever.

Music

The High King’s Daughter
Joël Gibbs
Ireland

Music

Tell Everyone Around
Cliff Bumgardner
United States

When the guys of Jack the Radio hit the road, it seems like just another outing for the Southern roots-rockers. But when a daring heist turns the trip into a getaway, they’re in for white-knuckle ride for the ultimate prize. Heavy rock riffs and fast trucks collide in this highly original music film.

Shadow in the Water is a music video based on (and created for) the short film Carolina Rain. The music video features two children who have lost their parents and are forced to live with an abusive uncle. The two kids imagine attaining freedom by pretending to kill a scarecrow effigy of their uncle.

Music

Shadow in the Water
Scott Allan Pardue
United States

Romance

Collage
Marius Conrotto
Spain

A girl who works in a museum tries to convince another co-worker that two visitors are flirting. And how does she know? Scientific studies say that there are six signs that show one person’s attraction to another.

A US Marine stationed in Ukraine comes face to face with his own mortality and the supernatural workings of fate.

Romance

The Parting Gift
Stephen Lemieux
United States

Action

Not Alone
Jordan Scott
United States

Action

Runestone
Robert C. Bruce
United States

Animation

The Brain Bucket
Christopher Flippo
United States

Animation

Carrots are not Rabbits
Mengyuan Guo
United States

Animation

Home Cooked Meals
Natalie van Gelder
NC, United States

Animation

Mistletoe
Andrea Schmitz,
Andrea Sparacio
United States

Animation

OBSERVER
Dylan Powers
United States

Comedy

FRAME-UP
Dustin Abernathy
NC, United States

Comedy

Hung Up
Gia Sylvester
NC, United States

Comedy

Ms. Rossi 3: Ms. Rossi Meets the Mob
Pat Battistini
Italy

Comedy

Rack and Pinion Explain It All for You
Gordon LePage
United States

Comedy

The Ranks
Michael J. Eggers
United States

Documentary

A Butterfly Has Been Released
Jason Zamer, Barry Koch
United States

Documentary

Cardboard Robot Parade
Matt Fisher, Wil Davis
NC, United States

Documentary

One Fighting Irishman
Sharon Yamato
United States

Drama

8 AM
Thomas Mendolia
United States

Drama

Dear Nǎi Nai
Mary An Nan
United States

Drama

The Grief Counselor
Bishen Sen
United States

Drama

How The Rose Reaches
Belle Adams
United States

Drama

In A Quiet Room
James Faucett
United States

Drama

Twins
Ben Zimmer,
Cameron John Kharazmi
United States

Drama

Until Daylight Comes
Madysen Dougherty
United States

Experimental

Fireworks at a Funeral
Adam Ingram Perry
United States

Experimental

Watching.
Sullivan Styles
NC, United States

Horror

Bishop’s Day
Christopher Kelly
United States

Horror

Kruz’
Loic Zimmermann
United States

Horror

The Porchlight
Adam Ingram Perry
United States

Music

The High King’s Daughter
Joël Gibbs
Ireland

Music

Tell Everyone Around
Cliff Bumgardner
United States

Music

Shadow in the Water
Scott Allan Pardue
United States

Romance

Collage
Marius Conrotto
Spain

Romance

The Parting Gift
Stephen Lemieux
United States