2021 Official Selections

Southsiders come together to feed and provide for their neighbors in a Chicago food desert.

An overzealous youngster learns the consequences of too many carnival rides.

An exploration of the transformative and healing nature of queerness, transness and divinity.

One rainy night inside a college dorm, a young woman's nighttime routine takes a terrifying turn. ----- Animator + Director: Elisa Stanis Lead Sound Designer: Kerry Stephens - Voice Actors: Elisa Stanis, Selena Miller, Brianna Folkes Additional Sound: Lili Nahil, Brianna Folkes, Gerrard Awards: "Best Animated Short" - Independent Horror Movie Awards 2020 "Merit Award" WRPN Women's International Film Festival 2021 Platinum "Top Artistic Achievements" - The Horror Movie Awards 2020 Platinum "Short Film Director" - The Horror Movie Awards 2020 Gold "Best Films" - The Horror Movie Awards 2020 Gold "Short Film Screenplays" - The Horror Movie Awards 2020 "Winner" - Aphrodite Film Awards 2021 Semi-Finalist: 15 Second Horror Film Challenge 2020 Official Selections: Chicago Onscreen 2021 HER International Film Festival | KYF 2020 Cine Circle Women's Film Festival 2021 LA International Horror Film Festival 2021 Neum Animated Film Festival 2021 Horrors4You 2021 Ottawa Spookshow and Fantastic Film Festival 2021 "Best Student Film" Papaya Rocks Film Festival 2021 "Best Sound" - Diabolical Horror Film Festival 2020 "Best Sound" "Best Scare" "Best Atmosphere" - Independent Horror Movie Awards 2020

A group of tattered paper doll orphans daydream adventures and alternate realities as they explore the secrets of their orphanage.

Two teenagers, both at a personal crossroads, meet unexpectedly and decide to spend an afternoon together exploring possibilities.

An exploration of Afrofuturism and the ways Black communities in Chicago, Detroit and Durham use it as a tool to inspire, organize and reimagine.

Kenya, a bold five-year-old girl, is reluctantly dragged to a symphony by her mother where she enjoys herself more than she expected.

A personal and defiantly joyful documentary look at the life and legacy of the Chicago transgender icon Mama Gloria Allen.

A college student attempts to navigate his daily life while trying to coexist with the depression that has always been a part of him.

On the Southeast Side of Chicago, an all-girls radical collective is learning about social justice and community activism.

Sacred Brick Technology draws the viewer in to take a novel look this common, but commonly overlooked, building block - the brick.