THE OPENING NIGHT RECEPTION OF THE CREDO 23 FILM FESTIVAL. COME MEET THE ACCEPTED FILMMAKERS, THE CREDO 23 COUNCIL, THE FESTIVAL SPONSORS, AND FELLOW FILMGOERS. CHAMPAGNE AND APPETIZERS WILL BE SERVED.
CREDO 23 FOUNDER, JUSTINE BATEMAN, OTHER CREDO 23 COUNCIL MEMBERS, AND CREDO 23 FILM FESTIVAL PROGRAMMERS WELCOME YOU TO THE CREDO 23 FILM FESTIVAL.
The melancholy disturbance of never quite knowing where you belong both geographically and within yourself.
WORLD PREMIERE
SHORT, USA, 3:18 MIN
DIRECTOR: LUCZA BREWER
PRODUCER: LUCZA BREWER
Paul and Charisse settle outstanding items during their break-up, but they can’t let go of the only thing that kept them together.
WORLD PREMIERE
SHORT, USA, 7:40 MIN
DIRECTOR: Anthony Janssen
WRITER: Anthony Janssen
PRODUCER: Anthony Janssen
ACTORS: Jason Isaak, Adrianna Licitra
As Remy prepares for a baptism by fire, his uncle recounts the legend of his father and the sad, violent tale of the Smith Street Sharps.
WORLD PREMIERE
SHORT, AUSTRALIA, 7:25 MIN
DIRECTOR: Davie Paterson
WRITER: Davie Paterson
PRODUCER: Bernadette Elsouri, Davie Paterson
ACTORS: Jeremy Waters, John Harding, Nicole Cardoso, Angus Farrand
A beautiful singer in trouble meets “Suicide Jesus.” With wildly different goals, they start on a cross-country car ride to get her as far away from her problem as possible.
FEATURE, USA, 1:28 MIN
DIRECTOR: Richie James Follin
WRITER: Richie James Follin
PRODUCER: Peter Cabadahagan
ACTORS: Rubyrose Hill, Richie James Follin, Missi Pyle, Lukas Haas
OPENING NIGHT WRAP-UP, AND WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD TO ON DAY TWO!
A surreal “tour” of Hong Kong to capture the last remnants of what the region once was— before they are submerged under new changes.
US PREMIERE
SHORT, HONG KONG, 10:38 MIN
DIRECTOR: Sing Jantzen Tse
WRITER: Sing Jantzen Tse
PRODUCER: Sing Jantzen Tse
ACTORS: Hiu Wai Keung
Stuck in her mother’s run-down El Camino, fifteen-year-old Salem is told again and again to “stay in the car” while her mom and her violent partner disappear into empty buildings and dark parking lots.
WORLD PREMIERE
SHORT, USA, 7:34 MIN
DIRECTOR: Calvin Ghaznavi
WRITER: Amanda Ross
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Amanda Ross
PRODUCER: Neela Gerayli, Devyn Wong
ACTORS: Lara Hunter, Timothy V. Murphy, Ashley Alva
A portrait of Arturo Arnold, a master of film emulsion, as he processes the 8mm and 16mm motion picture film for a busy film lab in North Hollywood, CA.
SHORT DOCUMENTARY, USA, 4:10 MIN
DIRECTOR: Neil Butler
PRODUCER: Neil Butler
ACTORS: Arturo Arnold (as himself)
12-year-old Kate is the oldest of 5 in late-80s rural Iowa, and tries to find a way through it without it knocking her over.
SHORT, USA, 9:48 MIN
DIRECTOR: Cathlin McCullough
WRITER: Cathlin McCullough
PRODUCER: Cathlin McCullough, Kristian Day, Allison Wallace, Chris Maddox, Yasmeen Magar
ACTORS: Meara Wallace, Kristian Day
OSCAR-WINNING DIRECTOR SEAN BAKER PRESENTS HIS 2012 FILM STARLET (108 MIN), STARRING DREE HEMINGWAY.
Q&A WITH SEAN BAKER WILL FOLLOW.
SPECIAL FILMMAKER GUEST WILL SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES AND INSIGHTS ABOUT FILMMAKING.
DRINKS FOR SALE IN THE DOWNSTAIRS BAR.
COME HANG OUT.
A poetic snapshot of the residents, firemen and women, and supporters who experienced the devastating 2025 Altadena fire.
SHORT DOCUMENTARY, USA, 10 MIN
DIRECTOR: Bennett Curran
PRODUCER: Bennett Curran
An exploration of spatial and temporal boundaries through the lens of late Renaissance painting, when artists wrestled with how to portray what cannot truly be portrayed.
WORLD PREMIERE
SHORT, USA, 3:16 MIN
DIRECTOR: Caroline Johnson Tuohey
WRITER: Caroline Johnson Tuohey
PRODUCER: Caroline Johnson Tuohey
When the dead leave things behind for us, we are torn between obligation, curiosity, and the desire to purge it completely. Jamie is caught in the center of this triangle.
SHORT, USA, 12:44 MIN
DIRECTOR: Dan Abramovici
WRITER: Dan Abramovici
PRODUCER: Zeus Kontoyannis, Ali Mashayekhi
ACTORS: Chloe Van Landschoot, Ryan Bruce
A “Life Release” ceremony turns into a hallucinatory shimmer contained at once in an abandoned shopping mall and a river full of fish.
WORLD PREMIERE
SHORT, USA, 14:15 MIN
DIRECTOR: Ava Berkofsky
WRITER: Ava Berkofsky
PRODUCER: Andrea Longacre-White, Michael McGuire, Melissa Breaux
ACTORS: Jodi Balfour, Andrew Leeds
Filmed over six years across 13 countries, the film exposes the sanctioned sale of hundreds of polar bears each year on the global market — sanctioned by organizations charged with protecting the polar bears.
FEATURE DOCUMENTARY, AUSTRALIA/UK, 1:38 MIN
DIRECTOR: Abraham Joffe
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Adam McKay
PRODUCER: Abraham Joffe, Dom West, Louis Cooper Robinson
ACTORS: Ole Liodden, Iris Ho, Adam Cruise (as themselves)
DAY TWO WRAP-UP, AND WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD TO ON DAY THREE!
At a dusty desert drive-in, a weary teenager and a steadfast theater owner share parallel reflections on nostalgia, technology, and the fading glow of stories told under the California stars.
CALIFORNIA PREMIERE
SHORT DOCUMENTARY, USA, 14:24 MIN
DIRECTOR: Kirk Weston Jackson
WRITER: Kirk Weston Jackson, Atticus Cruz Jackson
PRODUCER: Kirk Weston Jackson
In 2005, a high school student obsessively studies Spanish all year to level up into his class. A candy store of yearning and comedy.
SHORT, USA, 11:50 MIN
DIRECTOR: Nicholas Luciano
WRITER: Joy Regullano
PRODUCER: Julia Schmidt, Bobbie Lucas
ACTORS: Joy Regullano, Geo Lee, Rekha Shankar, Allyn Pintal, Susannah Kim
When a devoted death doula arrives at the home of her new clients, she immediately begins to suspect that something is very wrong.
SHORT, USA, 11:13 MIN
DIRECTOR: Kaz PS
WRITER: Kaz PS
PRODUCER: Philip Berger
ACTORS: Tracie Thoms, Stefanie Estes, Jenny O'Hara
When two feuding farmers from warring city-states find their crops are mysteriously dying, they must find out who the real enemy is--- before they destroy each other in this absurdist short.
WORLD PREMIERE
SHORT, USA, 3:53 MIN
DIRECTOR: Valentina Navarro-Marsili
WRITER: Valentina Navarro-Marsili
PRODUCER: Morgan Farris, Callie Bourne
ACTORS: Josh Morton, Monica Rosales
EMMY AWARD-WINNING WRITER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, AND SHOWRUNNER MATTHEW WEINER (MADMEN, SORPANOS) PRESENTS AN EPISODE FROM HIS 2018 SERIES, THE ROMANOFFS (90 MIN).
Q&A WITH MATTHEW WEINER TO FOLLOW
In a frantic race against time, struggling actress Anne must juggle chaos and a high-maintenance dog named Macy, as a series of mishaps threaten her chance at a career-changing audition.
CALIFORNIA PREMIERE
SHORT, USA, 15 MIN
DIRECTOR: Alexander Hagani
WRITER: Alexander Hagani
PRODUCER: Alexander Hagani, Caleb Barron
ACTORS: Katherine Schaber, Ashley Taylor Greaves, Jason Amerling, Adia, Simon Gibson
When a Tiny Desk Concert style music program loses its guest 90 minutes before filming, chaos ensues, as a deep seeded familial conflict in the crew is revealed.
WORLD PREMIERE
SHORT, USA, 14:07 MIN
DIRECTOR: Ray Smiling
WRITER: Ray Smiling
PRODUCER: David Richards
ACTORS: Roger Casey, Dominique Babineaux, Brian Morabito, Hannah Franzen
Three strange cats, having a good old medieval time, in this stop-motion animation short.
US PREMIERE
SHORT, CANDA, 00:52 MIN
DIRECTOR: Laura Venditti
WRITER: Laura Venditti
PRODUCER: Laura Venditti
In the vein of legendary Eric Rohmer, a young woman and a middle aged man talk about love, family, and the complexities of relationships while waiting for their dates, in this wholly improvised short.
WORLD PREMIERE
SHORT, CANADA, 9 MIN
DIRECTOR: Lino Russell, Aram Coen
WRITER: Lino Russell, Aram Coen
PRODUCER: Oda Schaefer, Lino Russell, Aram Coen
ACTORS: Eva Hirschburger, Wanja Mues
DRINKS FOR SALE IN THE DOWNSTAIRS BAR.
COME HANG OUT.
AWARD-WINNING WRITER DIRECTOR, PRODUCER GUS VAN SANT (GOOD WILL HUNTING, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO) PRESENTS HIS LATEST FILM, DEAD MAN’S WIRE.
Q&A WITH GUS VAN SANT TO FOLLOW.
FILMMAKER GRANTS WILL BE GIVEN.
THE CREDO 23 FILM FESTIVAL NOT ONLY SUPPORTS NEW FILMMAKING, BUT ALSO NEW WAYS FOR THOSE FILMMAKERS TO FINANCIALLY CONTINUE THEIR WORK.
AND SO, THE CREDO 23 FOUNDATION IS PROUD TO GRANT THE ACCEPTED FILMMAKERS ALL THE FESTIVAL PROCEEDS, AFTER COSTS. CREDO 23 KNOWS THAT WITH NEW FILMMAKING COMES NEW WAYS TO FINANCIALLY SUPPORT AND DISTRIBUTE THIS FRESH WORK.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO WHAT THESE FILMMAKERS PRODUCE NEXT.