Schedule of Events:

11:00 am: Feature

I Wish You Were Here: A captivating psychological thriller, Angela returns to her family home in East Cork where she meets the man of her dreams, like the ones she writes about in her books. But under the surface not everything is as it seems and when Angela learns a terrifying truth about herself she's forced to live with the harsh reality. Viewer Discretion: suicide.

12:50 pm: Travelers Film Block

Lequando: A seemingly perfect first date is interrupted by a couple's dating app that has doubts about anything but less than 100% compatibility. Viewer Discretion: flashing lights.

Noodle Therapy: Caught between two worlds, Rose and Jacob, mixed Isaan-Thai teens, distance themselves from their Isaan-Thai heritage. However, attending a traditional ceremony forces them to embrace their cultural identity. As they witness the beauty and significance of the rituals, they discover a sense of belonging they never knew they craved.

The Downtown 666: As the suffocating embrace of a packed train becomes her eerie stage, a budding actress teeters on the edge of sanity. Amidst the throngs of passengers, her relentless quest for recognition morphs into a harrowing descent, blurring the lines between ambition and terror. Will the spotlight she craves reveal her dream or unravel into a haunting nightmare? Viewer Discretion: violence.

Wabi-Sabi: When an insecure, half Japanese woman is invited on a date to a traditional tea ceremony, her best friend's advice on how to avoid white-guys-with-Asian-fetishes threatens to ruin her love life and sanity..

Abir : When Karen brings her homeless cousin Abir into her home, he arouses in her a sense of vitality that allows her to break away from societal norms and question her life. Viewer Discretion: drug use.

2:20 pm : Feature

Different Paths to Holiness: "Close your eyes and each look at your fears for yourself." This is a picture of young people looking for new ways to understand and express themselves. The film has a mosaic structure, six stories create a portrait of our generation. Body, religion, hypnosis therapy, politics, eco-activism, shamanism are the paths on which the protagonists confront their greatest fears and obsessions in the hope of finding release.

3:50 pm: Patterns of Life Film Block

Snowdrops for the Bairns: In 1996, after a horrific school shooting in Dunblane, Scotland, a couple of mums and a tabloid newspaper launch campaigns to make the UK safer for all. Twenty-five years later, these Scottish local heroes reflect back on these unprecedented achievements.

Neenu: Shared Paths: This film is an inspiring documentary that follows Neenu, the first Miss India Wheelchair Beauty Pageant winner, as she navigates the complexities of online dating. Set against the vibrant backdrop of India, the film explores intimate themes of body image, self-acceptance, and intimacy, while highlighting her courage and resilience.

Next Steps: How to Live Your Life and (Maybe) Even Like It: She saw her life branching out before her like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, a possible future beckoned. Luckily, when she turns 25, she gets an instruction manual that tells her exactly how to live her life, so she doesn't have to worry about these things. But as she dutifully follows the steps, the instructions get stranger, and soon, the branches start to blur.

Peace with Myself: Through animation, music and VO, the creator looks back into her past and deals with the sexual abuse that she experienced when she was 9 years old. She realizes that self-hatred, depression and anxiety are not her path.

Ow.: This film, based on a true story, follows EL, an artist who is battling chronic physical and emotional pain, as she attempts to understand what ails her. Invasive testing, cold, dismissive doctors, and a far too chipper roommate, combined with the crippling
pain, bring our protagonist to the edge of her sanity before finally getting some answers.

5:20 pm : Awakenings Film Block

Grace: In her journey toward healing, Grace demonstrates courage under pressure as she actively works to processes the trauma of sexual assault that has been bubbling under the surface for far too long with the help of her supportive therapist, Susan utilizing EMDR therapy. Viewer Discretion: sexual assault.

The Stories They Didn't Tell Us - Nina's Story: Nina came to the U.S. as a girl in 1975, with her family as refugees from Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon. Her American-born children know little about their mother's past. This documentary reflects separate
interviews with Nina and her three 20-something age children, and the stories Nina didn't tell them.

The Curse of Stigma: Lives are forever changed when African men and women experience seizures. Demonized and ostracized, those living with epilepsy are forced to live in the shadows because of a suffocated stigma. A lack of awareness and education causes many to see the neurological condition of epilepsy as a curse from demons and witchcraft.

Kindred Spirits: In a montage of common interactions between two best friends, a young woman reflects on her bittersweet experience with female friendship.

They Call Me The Tattoo Witch: In Hanoi, Vietnam, tattoo artist Tran Ngoc specializes in the rare and challenging art of tattooing over scars. Despite the social stigma surrounding tattoos in Vietnam, Ngoc empowers her clients, including breast cancer survivors and women with self-harm scars, to reclaim their bodies, demonstrating that her work is a profound act of compassion and resilience.

People: A grandmother, mother, and granddaughter take a trip to their cabin in hopes of a peaceful vacation, but concerns arise when Margaret's Alzheimer's overtakes her, as she starts to see people other then her family.

9:15 - 9:30 am : Check-in for Breakfast
9:30 AM : Filmmaker Breakfast Panel - Human Creativity and AI Copyrights.
10:30 AM : Q & A - Discussion
11:00 AM : Close

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