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The following films are scheduled to have Q&As with cast and/or crew immediately following the film. All appearances are subject to change.
Thu, Nov 5
In Waves
Directed by Phuong Mai Nguyen
Amid the sun-filled surf culture of SoCal, two lovestruck teens face a tragic twist of fate but find strength in friends and the ocean.
7:00 pm
San Diego Natural History Museum
Fri, Nov 6
SHORTS: SURPRISE WITNESS
Can I get a witness? A ride-or-die? Some proof of life? Ride shotgun with six films that explore the act of witnessing as testimony, recognition, and impossible act.
SHORTS: POCARI SWEAT
Here comes the heat! Six shorts drenched with sweat, tears, saliva, slime, and other bodily wonders, all for your yearning pleasure.
8:20 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
Sat, Nov 7
Pinball
Directed by Naveen Chaubal
In a contemplative coming of age portrait, PINBALL follows Yosef, a spirited athlete, in Louisville, Kentucky as he dives into the memories of his journey from Iraq to America and what it means to chase his dreams in the shadow of a war that displaced his family.
12:30 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
SHORTS ANIMATION: ENTROPIC TIDE
Like tides, our lives carry us across unfamiliar shores, through growing pains, tangled worlds, and the wonder and uncertainty of existence. Twelve shorts across diverse animated mediums trace these shifting currents—from displacement to belonging, from becoming to unraveling.
1:00 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
SHORTS: GET READY WITH ME
A dash of Basco. A little Alexa. A lot of connective tissue in six poignant shorts that consider how companionship is top of the packing list for facing the world.
3:10 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
SHORTS: QUEER RIVALRY
Things get heated—and a tad scary—at the intersection of love, desire and survival.
4:00 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
Sun, Nov 8
REEL VOICES
Grief, fear, and loss can consume the mind, but these twelve filmmakers convert adversities into connection, humor, and strength. Come celebrate this year’s Reel Voices films, which reflect on love that survives through memory and the community that surrounds it.
12:00 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
SHORTS: HERE WE ARE, BLOOMING
When structures collapse and bare bones are exposed, when memories fester within our marrows, these shorts capture the tender dreams that rekindle blossoming.
12:15 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
The Auntie Sewing Squad Resistance Playbook
Directed by Valerie Soe
A collective of mostly BIPOC women sewists resolve to save the world at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
12:25 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
Beyond the Smiles: Yani Tseng
Directed by Frank W Chen
The historic and unparalleled rise, fall, and epic comeback of global golf icon Yani Tseng who returns to the golf course and embarks on a quest to explore her life’s purpose.
2:30 pm
AMC UTC 14
Tycoon
Directed by Charlotte Zhang
Two young grifters dream up their next big score while conspiracies unfold in Los Angeles on the cusp of the 2028 Olympics.
2:45 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
Charlotte Sometimes
Directed by Eric Byler
Michael lives a simple life of books in an upstairs unit, a quiet interrupted only by the regular, high pitched sounds of his neighbor Lori having sex downstairs. Soon after, Lori will knock on his door.
3:00 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
Via Negativa
Directed by Hannah Peterson
After the death of his childhood friend, a young priest abandons his diocese and sets out on a restless American pilgrimage that slowly leads him back to the past he’s been trying to outrun.
5:15 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
Moonglow
Directed by Isabel Sandoval
In corruption-ridden 1970s Manila, a jaded female police detective, unknowingly the mastermind behind a successful heist, teams up with an obsessively truth-seeking detective partner to crack the very crime she orchestrated.
8:00 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
Mon, Nov 9
SHORTS: CONCRETE MEMBRANE
When skin is a surface webbed by roads, eyes, and waiting rooms. Rooftop cameras shoot one-take city capers, doppelgangers roam twisty Tokyo streets, conspiring pigs whisper in warehouses, and backstage dance moms can’t help but stare.Tue, Nov 10
SHORTS: CHANNEL SURFING
When haunted homes and unmoored homecomings send life adrift, don’t change the channel! Whether through séances, shoebox memorials, or poetry, these films tune in to the human spirit underneath life's turbulent currents.
Uncommitted
Directed by Razi Jafri
Arab and Muslim grassroots leaders and their elected allies spearhead the Uncommitted National Movement, striving to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and redefine American political priorities.
7:55 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
Wed, Nov 11
SHORTS: GRAVITATIONAL MIRAGE
Like gravity bending light from a distant star, shorts that explore the narrative-push and pull of the land we live on.
A Girl Unknown
Directed by Zou Jing
A Chinese girl is passed between three families from the age of 6 to 18, receiving each time a new name and identity. As she searches for belonging and the possibility of love, she has to navigate between the weight of her past and the uncertainty of her future.
7:30 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
Thu, Nov 12
SHORTS: ESTRANGER DANGER
What to do when once-close becomes too-far? A myriad of stories that hover in the gap when familiar slowly becomes strange–whether childhood friends, a plot for freedom, a body, and even memories themselves.
Hoop Like This
Directed by Shubhangi Shekhar
The 12 best Indian basketball players from around the world join forces to compete for $1 million on ESPN to show the world that brown ballers exist.Fri, Nov 13
SHORTS: CHAOTIC HUSTLE
The hustle is real… and really chaotic in these shorts. Palms sweat in the worlds of rare coin dealers, NY Fashion Week, office acapella, a missing guitar, murky avatars, elder care, and a bank robbery gone wrong.
Just Like Me and You
Directed by Bob Davis
It's freshman year in college, and Joseph tries to find a place separate from his sister and his high school buddies, while at the same time grappling with a nascent hearing loss.
7:40 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
Hoop Like This
Directed by Shubhangi Shekhar
The 12 best Indian basketball players from around the world join forces to compete for $1 million on ESPN to show the world that brown ballers exist.
7:55 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
SHORTS: MIDNIGHT CENTRAL TIME
The freaks come out at night in this special program of not-safe-for-daytime shorts. From man-eating lady insects, haunted Gen Z apartments, and a very awkward chair, enter a time zone of hot reckoning.
10:00 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
Sat, Nov 14
SHORTS for SHORTIES
The pressure is rising, the barometer is falling, come enjoy short films specially curated for our Super El Niños!
11:00 am
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
Edjop
Directed by Katski Flores
A biopic about student-activist Edgar Jopson during martial law-era Philippines. A young man born to privilege, Edjop woke up to the brutal inequalities in his country and embraced the revolution of the times.
4:45 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
SHORTS: DEVOTION
Desire, fandom, dedication, (ir)reverence. Six stories that explore the surprising destinations of the steadfast.
4:55 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
Ba’s Book
Directed by Ashley Da-Lê Duong
After a father writes a memoir in the form of letters to his daughter about his harrowing experiences of the Vietnam War and the Iranian Revolution, the daughter responds by making a film.
7:30 pm
UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley
