The Capital City Film Festival (CCFF) celebrates artists from around the world by curating outstanding multimedia experiences for the community. The annual festival showcases an eclectic mix of independent films, live music, interactive media, and more in Michigan’s capital city. This year, the Capital City Film Festival . Join us!

Schedule:

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

6:30 PM: Preview Night Feature: Hundreds of Beavers - Frandor Sears Building

*Filmmaker In Attendance* In this 19th century, no dialogue, supernatural winter epic, a drunken applejack salesman must go from zero to hero and become North America's greatest fur trapper by defeating hundreds of beavers. Screens with the short film Chop! Chop!

8:30 PM: Music Video & Poetry Shorts - Frandor Sears Building

Selections include: There is a Hole in the Ground, Molly - Don't Be Surprised, Jesse Northey - Picking the Numbers, Roses by Nolia Noon, Flower, Pink Sky - Behind the Sun, Jeff Hilliard - Abandon, Running in Circles, The Hours Before Sunrise, Reka WW - Salt, Spiritual Warfare, Unfinished Business, The Wolf Music Video, Lawla, Wild Music

Thursday, April 6, 2023

6:00 PM: Red Carpet Premiere Party (FREE) - Frandor Sears Building

What’s a film festival without a red carpet? We’re not sure, but it’s probably something like a Midwestern city without an abandoned Sears…

7:00 PM: ‘Just a Vibe’ Shorts - Frandor Sears Building

Selections include: Self Care, Us, The Unreliables, Romeo and Juliet?, Time Traveling Through Time, Marry, Nothing Happened

Friday, April 7, 2023

6:00 PM: Everybody Wants to be Loved - Frandor Sears Building

A blisteringly hot summer day. Psychotherapist Ina notices something is wrong with her. But she doesn't have time to worry about it: Patients are waiting, her daughter is threatening to move, her boyfriend wants to emigrate to Finland, and her self-centered mother is celebrating her 70th birthday. Screens with the short film The Unfaithful One

6:00 PM: The Sun Rises in The East - Lansing Public Media Center

The Sun Rises in The East chronicles the birth, rise and legacy of The East, a pan-African cultural organization founded in 1969 by teens and young adults in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Screens with the short film Lifetimes

8:00 PM: Opening Night Feature: Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out - Frandor Sears Building

Miserable after her family moves to a small town, teenage aspiring journalist Itsy befriends Calvin, her strange, space-obsessed neighbor who believes his parents were abducted by aliens, and joins him on his journey to find them. Screens with the short film This Wild Abyss

8:00 PM: Jack Has a Plan - Lansing Public Media Center

Jack Tuller’s career as a budding San Francisco musician was altered in 1994 when he was diagnosed with a terminal condition and given six months to live. Jack Has a Plan tells the story of the following 25 years as Jack dodges one bullet after the next. How is it possible to be terminal for two decades? Screens with the short film The Desert King

Saturday, April 8, 2023

9:30 AM: Family Fun Short Films (FREE) - Impression 5 Science Center

Stop in anytime from 9:30 AM to 4 PM! Selections include: Catch, Tadada, Secret Mission, Same Old, Photocopier & Cat, Balloom, Louis' Shoes, Shine on Us

12:00 PM: Only I Can Hear (FREE) - Frandor Sears Building

In search of a place between two disparate worlds, three teenage Children of Deaf Adults (CODAs), come of age in the vibrant, loud Deaf community. Screens with the short films The Secret Life of Tom Lightfoot and Silent World; curated in partnership with the ReelAbilities Film Festival

12:00 PM:  Good Guy with a Gun - The Fledge Lansing

Will Greenwood, a Chicago teenager forced to come to terms with his father's violent death, visits a small town and finds solace in a group of local kids. When the town bully threatens Will's new friend, how far will he go to protect him...especially with a gun? Screens with the short film The Final Hours of South U Pizza

2:30 PM: ‘Film Imitates Life’ Shorts - Frandor Sears Building

Selections include: The Errand, Set Times, Danavan, Proxy, Brother, Dead Dogs Don't Lie, Something New, Joy

2:30 PM: Documentary Shorts - The Fledge Lansing

Selections include: Belle River, A Letter From Home, Babushka, Bounty, Waves Apart, George

5:00 PM: Join or Die - Frandor Sears Building

Join or Die is a film about why you should join a club — and why the fate of America may depend on it. What makes democracy work? Why is American democracy in crisis? And, most importantly: What can we do about it? Screens with the short film Born in the Barn

5:00 PM: Symphonic Cinema (FREE) - Lansing Public Media Center

Symphonic Cinema features live musical accompaniment to film on the big screen!

7:15 PM: Go Through the Dark - Frandor Sears Building   

Guanglin is a blind boy in China who displays great skill at the ancient board game called Go, in which two players place black and white pieces on a grid in an attempt to dominate their opponent. Screens with the short film A Glimpse of Paradise

7:15 PM: Chasing the Ghost - Lansing Public Media Center

About to enter rehab, a drug-addicted ER doctor is cursed by a sinister force that requires him to find a way to stay high or his loved ones will die. Screens with the short film Whisper

7:15 PM: Global Shorts - The Fledge Lansing

Selections include: Made of Flesh, Misophonia, At a Glance, Shattered Glass, An Island Drifts, Bachelorette Party

9:45 PM: Animated Shorts - Frandor Sears Building   

Selections include: The Sprayer, Canman, Ikigai, As Time Goes By, Where are you?, Light, Flower by Man, Repair, 45 Degree, Bridge, Roped, The Plankton, ***** Love, 5-Stars, The Egret River

9:45 PM: Ela Veezha Poonchira - The Fledge Lansing

The story is set in llaveezhapoonchira, a scenic hilltop in Kerala's Kottayam province. Amidst the heavy monsoon season, Sudhi and Madhu receive information at the wireless station of various body parts of a lady scattered in different locations of llaveezhapoonchira. Screens with the short film Party's Over

Tuesday, April 11, 2023    

6:00 PM: We Are Still Here (FREE) - Frandor Sears Building

Ten leading Indigenous filmmakers interweave eight powerful tales to tell a sweeping story of hope and survival in the face of oppression and colonization, traversing 1000 years from the past to the present and future. Presented in partnership with the MSU Womxn of Color Initiative

8:00 PM: Reciprocity Project - Frandor Sears Building

Facing a climate crisis, the Reciprocity Project embraces Indigenous value systems that have bolstered communities since the dawn of humanity. To heal, we must recognize that we are in relationship with Earth, a place that was in balance until the modern industrial age. Screens with the short film Mystic Michigan: The Rocks Cry Out

Wednesdat, April 12, 2023

6:00 PM: The Broken Promise - Frandor Sears Building

Why does genocide keep happening, and how do the things we buy enable it? “Through moving testimonies spanning the globe and history, The Broken Promise shows us the warning signs that societies are moving to genocidal policies. A beautiful and timely film.” — Ruth Ben-Ghiat. Screens with the short film All in the Water

8:00 PM: ‘Heavy Hitters’ Shorts - Frandor Sears Building

Selections include: Aida, Happy End Now, October Mourning, In the Water, Ousmane

8:00 PM: Smomid (FREE) - The Robin Theatre

Smomid is a project by Nick Demopoulos, who is a performer, musician and instrument builder. Smomid only utilizes instruments he has designed and built to perform interactive computer music.

Thu, April 13, 2023

5:30 PM: Fortnight Film Contest: First Round Screening - Frandor Sears Building

7:00 PM: Fortnight Film Contest: Top 10 Screening & Awards - Frandor Sears Building

9:30 PM: Depraved Mind - Frandor Sears Building

A criminal psychologist struggles to help a serial killer, striken with amnesia, come to grips with his heinous crimes. Screens with the short film Sisters

Fri, April 14, 2023

6:00 PM: ‘Comedy Oddities’ Shorts -  Frandor Sears Building

Selections include: Diary of Hitler Kumar, Live in 5, Relationshirt, I Wanted to be Vittorio Gassman, Cancelled Stamp, The Cheshire Zombie, Finding Filman, Supermarket Affairs

6:00 PM: Kasha - The Fledge Lansing

Screens with the short film The Bad Trip Home

8:00 PM: Quality Scary Presents Lillard Fair 2023: Thirteen Ghosts - Frandor Sears Building

Empowering Lillards and Lillard lovers everywhere, this screening will have musical performances and a very special guest... we really mean it this time.

8:00 PM: Dear Audrey - The Fledge Lansing

Acclaimed activist filmmaker Martin Duckworth has devoted his life to peace and justice. But now he’s put down his camera to fight for the most important cause he’s ever faced—caring for his wife, Audrey Schirmer, through the final stages of Alzheimer’s. Screens with the short film Blossom

9:55 PM: ‘Wicked Thrillers’ Shorts - The Fledge Lansing

Selections include: Requiem, Through the Barricades, On/Off, Exit, Heleno, For Pete's Sake

Saturday, April 15, 2023

12:00 PM: AFI Shorts (FREE) - Lansing Public Media Center

Selections include: Work, Picture Day, Fernanda, Bite, Redondo, Hysterical

12:00 PM: First Voice Generation - The Fledge Lansing

This documentary follows the stories of three Latinx high school students in Holland, MI. They struggle with a sense of identity and belonging growing up in this predominantly Dutch community because they are a child of Mexican immigrants. Screens with the short film Brenda's Story: From Undocumented to Documented

2:30 PM: The Banality - Lansing Public Media Center

A small town reels from the sudden and mysterious death of "Feral Boy," a local legend since his discovery in the woods as a child. Father Moss, a priest with a loose grip on the faith, attempts to counsel the forlorn couple that raised the boy. Starring Sherman Augustus (Stranger Things 4, Into the Badlands). Screens with the short film Spiritual Warfare

2:30 PM: Kumina Queen - The Fledge Lansing

Imogene “Queenie” Kennedy was a contemporary priestess in post-colonial Jamaica who catapulted her African spiritual practice into renown. But after centuries of erasure, what remains of the dance between the living and the dead? Screens with the short films The Mud on Their Hands and Eat Pomegranate with Khalid Ibrahim

5:00 PM: Closing Night Feature: Soft -  Lansing Public Media Center

Taking place over one summer, three adolescent queer friends become enraptured in the nightlife scene of underbelly Toronto, but their bond is tested when a friend of one of them goes missing.

5:00 PM: ‘Reality Benders’ Shorts - The Fledge Lansing

Selections include: Regression, It Dawns the Longest Night, Your Friend, Anne, Amina, The Voice in Isabel Fleiss's Office, The Chosen One, It's a Dog, Caroline on the Roof

7:00 PM: Closing Night Feature: Hayseed - Lansing Public Media Center

After the shocking death of a small-town reverend, insurance investigator Leo Hobbins (Bill Sage) arrives at Emmaus Holy and interviews the church secretary, Darlene Halsey (Ismenia Mendes). Against his better judgement, Hobbins agrees to help Darlene find the actual cause of the reverend's death. Screens with the short film To Him

9:00 PM: Dissonance: Official CCFF Afterparty - Frandor Sears Building

Lace up your combat boots or pop out the summer rave gear a little early for an evening of untraditional sights and sounds in Frandor’s Shopping Center. The festival party lords resurrected the shuttered Sears building to summon cinephiles, music snobs, and scene queens alike to celebrate its 11th(ish) year.

Date: Apr 5 - 15, 2023

Location: Various Venues in Lansing, MI

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