2026 HUDSON VALLEY FILM FEST
We proudly support independent filmmaking and the local arts scene.
The HVFF seeks to unite community and celebrates all that is indie.
TUESDAY 8/18/26
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Sticky Notes
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Finger Bang!
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Diane De Niro
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Death of a Lovebug
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Confident
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Trash Day
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I Wish I Had Hands
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Funemployed - Gator Boys
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Implied Motion
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I Drive 25
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"It's Personal"
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A Fleeting Fugue
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10 MINUTE INTERMISSION
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But I'm Your Brother
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I Am Late!
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The Rift
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Melon Skin
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Sideblinded
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Safety
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Don't Take This The Wrong Way
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Grace Again
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Buddy Burger
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Last Night
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St. Vincent
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Vowels
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The Woodsman
WEDNESDAY 8/19/26
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Purgatory
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True Stories
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Nun's Beach
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Gold Hands
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Fish Eagles Of Madagascar
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Breakup On Wheels
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Fender Bender
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Ingrato Sureńo Invasor
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Raised Elbows
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Visionaries
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Fools of Nature
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10 MINUTE INTERMISSION
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Year of the Catfish
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Family Obscura
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Morning Vigil
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Commuting
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Sunrise in Person
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Lo Squardo
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Hooch
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Blunt Civility
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Patty Cake
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The Screaming Multitudes "Well Henry"
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Venusian Roulette
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This is Us
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Heaven's Escape
THURSDAY 8/20/26
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There's a Ray
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Desert Ed
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How the Lonely Keep
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Paloma Dreams
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Conference of the Birds
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Secondes Non Dites
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Action Bog
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Clowning Around
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Old Fantasy
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Purgatory "The Mystery Lights"
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Four Days of Exams
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The Fates and the Holly King
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Leaf Peeper
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Home
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10 MINUTE INTERMISSION
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Cracked
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CVNT
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Monkeyshine!
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Forest
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Blue, Like Green
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Harold and Maggie
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Crima
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Pizza Cutter
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The Wanderer
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The Forgotten Grate
Film Details
Tuesday, Part 1
Director: Natty Buff
Sticky Notes
A music video for the band '71 Super Creep for the song "Monsterlou" off of the EP A Night at the Drive In. Recorded at Nada Studios by John Naclerio. A Gratuitous Film Production.
Genre:
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City: N/A
Cast:
Producer:
Cinematographer:
Writer:
Editor: N/A
Music:
Director: Jonathan Oliver Stone
FINGER BANG!
After discovering the ability to shoot from his finger tips through a finger gun motion, Chris goes out to use his abilities to look as cool as possible, while also saving people I guess. When he finds out about the Evil Banana Shooter Robber, he uses the opportunity to challenge him!
Genre: Satire/Comedy/Action
Run Time: 6:32
City: Monroe, NY
Cast: Max Szpiro, Grace McCarthy, Colin Kirkpatrick, Pacey Mahar
Producer: Jonathon Oliver Stone
Cinematographer: Hunter Bruce
Writer: Jonathon Oliver Stone
Editor:
Music: N/A
Director: Laura Ornella
Diane De Niro
After failing to be seen for a big toe audition, all hope is lost for Diane — until inspiration strikes, and she opts to change her last name to a famous celebrity's. As opportunities roll in, Diane struggles to keep her charade alive, amidst her roommate's rise to stardom.
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 15:42
City: Beacon, NY
Cast: Laura Ornella, Noa Graham, Erica Diederich, Tessa Katherine Carnes Coleman, Erica Diederich Casting, Tiffany Springle, Brandy Burre, Colin Conrad , Carole Penner, Sanyamita Shrestha, David Björklund , Claire Nelson, Barry Nelson, Colin Conrad
Producer: Virgo/Virago Productions in partnership with Besties Make Movies Associate Producers: Erica Diederich and Tiffany Springle Assistant Director: Katherine Carnes Coleman
Cinemaphotographer: Alec Cohen
Writer: Laura Ornella
Editor: Maria Fernanda Flores
Music: John Jagos
Director: Shannon Miller
Death of a Lovebug: The Trailer
When Ladybug's long term boyfriend changes from Caterpillar to Butterfly, he abruptly breaks her heart, forcing Ladybug to rebuild the life she had previously centered around him. Stop motion intertwined with 2D animated characters.
Genre: Animation
Run Time: 1:00
City:
Cast: Karenna Foley, Shannon Hobby, Michael Malconian
Producer:
Cinemaphotographer:
Writer: Shannon Miller
Music: Vivian Nguyen
Director: Jane Walsh
Confident
Two sisters embark on similar first dates, with very different outcomes.
Genre: Comedy
Run Time: 5:13
City: Poughkeepsie, NY
Cast: Sarah Rubio, Gene Soo, Dara Weinstein, Jack Michael Wright
Producer: Caitlyn Letterii, Jane Walsh, Dara Weinstein, & Sourless Pictures
Cinemaphotographer:
Writer: Caitlyn Letterii & Dara Weinsteib
Editor: JT Tsuchiya
Music: “DYWKMON” Written by Alex Gomez, Lydia Eberling, & Siena Moran. Performed by Double Standard
Director: Cole Smith
Trash Day
Two college custodians must empty every trash can on campus in time to get to an Indian buffet before they close.
Genre: Comedy
Run Time: 14:38
City: Poughkeepsie, NY
Cast: Miguel Gomez-Lara, Sam Rebuelta-Sanchez
Producer: Madeleine Case
Cinemaphotographer: Jae Young Nigalye
Writer: Cole Smith
Editor: Cole Smith, Jae Young Nigalye
Music: Riley Scott, Jolyn Prescott
Director: Milo Nelson
I Wish I Had Hands
Wouldn't it be great to have hands!
Genre:
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Producer:
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Director: Michael McGoldrick and Marcello Laudato
Funemployed
Devin and Preston are tasked with luring an alligator out of their new client’s pool.
Genre: Animation / Comedy
Run Time: 5:07
City: Hudson Valley
Cast: Marcello Laudato, Michael McGoldrick, Hayley Nelson, Matthew Nunez
Producer: Michael McGoldrick
Writer: Michael McGoldrick
Editor: Michael McGoldrick
Music: Eddie EWI, Haden Herbert, Michael Picher, Patrick Tracy
Director: Chris May
Implied Motion
Implied Motion is a documentary about Daniel Carello, an artist and unicyclist. It looks into his past and toward his future as he finds balance in art, family, and the lines that connect it all.
Genre: Chris May
Run Time: 15:09
City: Wassaic
Cast: Daniel Carello
Director of Photography: Chris May
Writer: Chris May
Music: Max Gude
Director: Kurt Roland Blake
I Drive 25
A man and his car drive slowly and defiantly through a fast-paced world.
Genre: Music video
Run time: 2:05
City: Rock Tavern New York
Cast: Jimmy Galante, Kurt Roland Blake
Producer: Kurt Roland Blake
Director of Photography: Daniel Petrilak
Writer: Kurt Roland Blake
Editor: Kurt Roland Blake
Music: Rolando Magic
Director: Mike Pirillo
"It's Personal"
A disgruntled criminal seeks vengeance on a man from his past.
Genre: Dark Comedy
Run Time: 15:00
City: Newburgh, NY
Cast: Damien Hughes, Matt Arbolino
Producer: Mikee Pirillo, Spencer Conti, and Damien Hughes
Cinematographer: Mike Pirillo/ Ronnie Forman
Writer: Mike Pirillo
Editor: Mike Pirillo
Music: Mike Nevin
Director: Devon Reed
A Fleeting Fugue
A songwriter desperately tries to hold on to a new melody as they navigate through the sounds of the big city.
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 4:11
City: NYC
Cast: Edward Barbini, Michael Castro, Rohan Butani, Becca Erdenebulgan, Elisabeth O'Neill, Nicholas Patrella
Producer: Devon Reed
Director of Photography: Kevin Parada
Writer: Devon Reed
Editor: Devon Reed
Music: The Dirty Mops
Intermission
Tuesday, Part 2
Director: Noah Morse
But I'm Your Brother
n a small town in Montana, Simon struggles under the pressure of working in his family’s grocery store under the management of his younger brother, Dev.
Genre: Family Drama
Run Time: 14:52
Cast: Mark Blane, Jeremy Roth-Rose
City: Clyde Park, MT via Los Angeles
Producer: Jake Rotger, Dylan Trupiano, Aaron Murtagh, Jeri Rafter
Cinemaphotographer: Cece Chan
Writer: Noah Morse
Editor: William Lancaster
Music: Robert Burger, Mia Riggins
Director: Talia Frank-Stempel, Annie Martino
I Am Late!
When two friends find themselves running late to the same destination, their separate paths through New York City unfold into a vibrant portrait of the unexpected people, places, and chance encounters that shape their journeys.
Genre: Comedy
Run Time: 9:27
City: NYC
Cast: Talia Frank-Stempel, Annie Martino
Producer: Talia Frank-Stempel, Annie Martino
Cinematographer: Morgan Hadley
Writer: Talia Frank-Stempel, Annie Martino
Editor: Joe Zappulla
Music: : N?A
Director: Jasmine Aiyana Garvin, Narciscus
The Rift
A group of adventurers finish a history changing mission but lose a member during the process. They are now tasked with a decision to either go back and save him or to move on.
Genre: Sci-fi
Run Time: 5:25
City: Beacon via Warwick, NY
Cast: Jasmine Aiyana Garvin, Mary Akinmola, Jared Michael, Ellis Richardson Jr, Elgin Ravenell
Producer: Narciscus
Direct;or of Photography: Narciscus
Writer: Narciscus & Jasmine Aiyana Garvin
Music: Epidemic Sound
Director: Serena Ladouceur
Melon Skin
When an iconic fashion designer becomes insecure about her skin, how will her creative partner help drag her back to a place of confidence? Melon Skin explores the space in between embracing bodily differences and feeling shame and insecurities for bodily differences. This 2D animated story portrays an everchanging part of the human experience while being a display of femininity
Genre: Animation
Run Time: 2:37
City: NYC vis Conn.
Cast:
Producer:
Cinemaphotographer: Writer:
Editor:
Music: :
Director:Tony John Carpinelli
Sideblinded
After a significantly intense incident involving alcohol, a young man must learn to find peace from outside the bottle.
Genre:
Run Time: 13:34
City:
Cast: Angelo Acevedo, Daniel McConnell
Producer: Anthony Terracciano, Tony John Carpinelli
Cinemaphotographer:
Writer: Tony John Carpinelli
Editor:
Music:
Director: Beatrix Herriott O'Gorman, Jack Warren
Safety
Music video for the song 'Safety' by the band The Amniotics
Genre: Music video
Run Time: 3:29
City: Ireland
Cast: N/A
Producer: N/A
Cinemaphotographer: Beatrix Herriott O'Gorman
Editor: Jack Warren
Music: : The Amniotics
Director: Rachel Handler, Crystal Arnette
DON'T TAKE THIS THE WRONG WAY
Beaten down by constant ableist microaggressions and a devastating breakup, Darcy begins to unravel.
Genre:Thriller
Run Time: 5:52
City: Beacon, NY
Cast: Rachel Handler, Twinkle Burke, Lorena Monagas, Dean Temple, Kit Colbourn, Francis Pace-Nunez
Producer: Rachel Handler, Tara Latorre
Cinemaphotographer: Robert Featherstone
Writer: Rachel Handler
Editor: Crystal Arnette
Music: : Julian Blackmore
Director: Nathan Barbour
Grace Again
A troubled college freshman desperate for a new beginning, discovers a seductive and chaotic world of strange friendships and late-night parties—only to find herself caught in a spiral of surreal visions and violence that threaten to consume her.
Genre: Thriller
Run Time: 15:33
City: Oswego
Cast: Jessi Phillippe, Mallie Rae
Producer: Jessi Phillippe, Dylan Verde, Nathan Barbour
Director of Photography: Noah Manglapus
Writer: Nathan Barbour
Editor: Nathan Barbour
Music: Andrew Rockefeller, Brian Maguda, The Anti-Bodies
Director: Bill Ludlum
Buddy Burger
A man is poisoned by advertising, fast food and social media.
Genre: Horror
Run Time: 4:12
City: Ossining NY
Cast: eland Morris, Mason Russo
Producer: Bill Ludlum
Director of Photography: Bill Ludlum
Writer: Bill Ludlum
Editor: Bill Ludlum
Music: Izzy Ponte
Director: Will Fox, Harrison Bardel
Last Hunt
A hunter journeyed too far into the wilderness... and found something that should have stayed hidden. A very short tale of curiosity, isolation, and the unknown.
Genre: Horror
Run Time: 1:19
City: Woodstock
Cast: Tim Sutton and Will Bardel
Producer: im Sutton and Mike Phillips
Director of Photography: Will Fox
Writer: Will Fox, Writer Harrison Bardel, Olive Pula, Elliott Sutton, and Hugo Timmer
Editor: Will Fox
Music: Bullet Proof Bear Copyright Music
Director: Edmund McCarthy
St. Vincent
After staying the night at an old nunnery, a man loses track of where he is, as fast as his grip on reality. Trapped in an endless, ever changing maze-like dimension of long white hallways and infinite open doors, he searches for an exit in isolation. Although he is not as alone as he thinks.
Genre: Horror, Surreal
Run Time: 4:00
City: LBI, NJ via Warwick, NY
Cast: Michael McCarthy, Sarah Martin, Maureen McCarthy, Tommy Martin, Ally Dwyer, Eileen McCarthy
Producer: Edmund McCarthy
Director of Photography: Edmund McCarthy
Writer: Edmund McCarthy
Editor: Edmund McCarthy
Music: N/A
Director: Rafael De Leon Jr.
Vowels
Ava needs to record a self-tape but her speech impediment keeps getting in the way.
Genre: Horror
Run Time: 5:26
City: Bronx, NY
Cast: Alexa Smith, Sunny Makwana, Chelsea Carpenter
Producer: Rafael De Leon Jr.
Rafael De Leon Jr. Director of Photography:
Writer: Rafael De Leon Jr.
Editor: Rafael De Leon Jr.
Music: Rafael De Leon Jr.
Director:Emily Rusinko
The Woodsman
In the deep wilderness of the Adirondack Mountains, a skilled woodsman loses touch with reality. The Woodsman depicts in claymation what happens when nature claims the mind of a man.
Genre: Horror
Run Time: 3:32
City: Oswego, NY
Cast: Sean Campbell
Producer: Amy Shore
Director of Photography: Emily Rusinko
Writer: Julien DeBiase
Editor: Emily Rusinko
Music: N/A
Wednesday, Part 1
Director: Harrison Jeffs
Purgatory
A deeply insecure woman has a meltdown in front of her roommate, who’s just trying to sleep.
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 4:02
City: Tarrytown, NY
Cast: Paige Stewart and Madame Champagne
Producer: Harrison Jeffs and Paige Stewart
Cinematographer: Harrison Jeffs
Editor: Harrison Jeffs
Writer: Harrison Jeffs
Director: Katy McClellan
True Stories
Follows writer David Searcy as he investigates mysterious happenings in the skies over a small town in Texas. Blurring the lines between reality and imagination, the film is a poetic meditation on myths, monsters, and the parts of the human experience that defy explanation.
Genre: Documentary
Run Time: 9:39
City: Corsicana, TX/ London, UK
Cast: David Searcy
Producer: Katy McClellan/Hannah Roodman
Cinemaphotographer: Hannah Zamora
Writer: Producer: N/A
Editor: Katy McClellan
Music: :N/A
Director: Kate diRienzi
Nun's Beach
When introduced to her fellow nun's family, Sister Flora questions her relationship with Sister Muriel and with God.
Genre:
Run Time: 13:19
City:
Cast: Iris Rhian, Claudia Theidmann
Producer:
Cinemaphotographer: Kevin Xian Ming Yu
Writer: Kate diRienzi
Editor:
Music: :
Director: Sam Hyatt
Cold Hands
A simple coffee shop request for an insulated cardboard sleeve spirals into a heated discussion about entitlement, love and loss.
Genre: Comedy
Run Time: 7:04
City: San Jose
Cast: John Lawrence Clarke, Claire Canada, Davied Morales
Producer: Marcelle Marais, Shélah Larson
Cinemaphotographer: Luke Kreger
Writer: Sam Hyatt
Editor: Sam Hyatt
Music: : N/A
Director: Daniel Byers
Fish Eagles of Madagascar
Discover the amazing Madagascar Fish Eagle and the conservationists working to protect them in one of the island's last intact biospheres. Working with the local Sakalava tribe, Lily-Arison and his team of technicians monitor and protect the delicate lake ecosystem - home to crocodiles, lemurs, giant bats, and thousands of other species.
Genre: Wildlife Documentary
Run Time: 9:28
City: Brooklyn, NY
Cast: Rene De Roland Lily-Arison
Producer: Munir Virani
Cinemaphotographer: Daniel Byers
Editor: Daniel Byers
Director: Brandon Russo
Breakup on Wheels
Breakups are hard. Breakups at restaurants where the waitstaff all wear rollerskates are even harder.
Genre: Animation, Comedy
Run Time: 0:90
City: Jersey City, NJ
Cast: Brandon Russo • Carly Hattrich
Producer: N/A
Director of Photography: N/A
Writer: Brandon Russo
Editor: Brandon Russo
Music: : N/A
Director: Brian Herrera Gladstone
Fender Bender
FENDER BENDER starts when a therapist rear-ends a patient at a red light, turning a minor accident into an impromptu therapy session. It’s a film about relationship anxieties and the weaponization of therapy-speak; in other words, it’s a comedy.
Genre: Animation
Run Time: City: NYC
Cast: Bartley Booz, Leigha Sinnott, Greg Wood
Producer: N/A
Director Of Photography: Brandon Yoon
Writer: Jake Goldin
Editor: N/A
Music: Louis Weeks
Director: Sofia Arbaiza Martinez
Ingrato Sureño Invasor
When my father was 7 years old, his family emigrated from Peru to Ecuador in the midst of an armed conflict over territory in the region. Years later, he reflects on his experiences growing up during a time of active combat, and the ways these memories do not seem so foreign in our present.
Genre: Animated Documentary
Run Time: 2:53
City: NYC
Cast: Jorge Luis Arbaiza
Producer: Mostafa Ebrahim, Randi Hinds, Miranda Richmond
Director: Gaspard Choquet
Raised Elbows
A grandson showers his grandfather for the first time.
Genre:
Run Time: City: Cast: Michal Slavov, Rostislav Pastorek
Producer:
Cinemaphotographer: Nic Chang
Writer: Editor: Music:
Director: Daniela Sherer
Visionaries
Endless dreamy perspectives try to get a glimpse into the future in this abstract -narrative animation. Catastrophic or utopian, these visions either merge together or collide, but always reflect the human need to imagine what lies ahead.
Genre: experiemnal, mystry, animation, abstract
Run Time: 2:35
City:N/A
Cast: N/A
Producer: Lise Butler
Writer: Daniela Sherer
Editor: Daniela Sherer
Music: : Phil Brookes
Director: Connor Riccardi
Fools of Nature
On the first night of an impromptu journey out of New York City, Malcolm and Jamie trek through New Jersey, eventually stopping to stay the night at a motel. As the night moves along, the two friends are forced to confront their friendship head-on, changing the course of their relationship forever.
Genre: Drama
Run Time: 15:30
City: New Brunswick, NJ; from Beachwood, NJ
Cast: Cooper Musser, Nick Skonberg
Producer: Connor Riccardi, Keri Iwasko, Javy Cortez Jr.
Cinematographer: Brenna Lawson
Writer: Connor Riccardi
Editor: Nathan Massarelli
Wednesday, Part 2
Director: Gary Steven Fisher
Year of the Catfish
The heros of our youth, especially for artists, shape in large part who we become as adults. In the film, the boy in the beginning becomes a less wistful adult but still retains his inner showman who is used as an avatar to channel one final performance from Prince and the Revolution.
Genre: fantasy, music video
Run Time: 5:23
City: Brooklyn, NY
Cast: Gary Steven Fisher
Producer: Gary Steven Fisher
Cinematographer: Gary Steven Fisher
Writer: Gary Steven Fisher
Editor: Gary Steven Fisher
Music: Gary Steven Fisher
Director: Ryan Castrillo
Family Obscura
One family’s vault of memories spread before. Across generations, weddings, snow days, and classic pastimes. A flood of nostalgia overflows in this experimental fever dream
Genre: Experimental
Run Time: 6:38
City: NYC
Cast:
Producer: Ryan Castrillo
Cinemaphotographer: Ryan Castrillo
Writer: Ryan Castrillo
Editor: Ryan Castrillo
Music: Joeseph Portilla
Director: David M. Night Maire
Morning Vigil
A pious sister and her inflexible brother mourn the passing of their beloved mother.
Genre: Gothic drama, LGBTQ+, Victorian period piece, Gaslight noir, Religion & faith, Magic realism, Gender politics
Run Time: 10:00
City: NYC (shot at King Manor Museum in Jamaica, Queens)
Cast: Blanche Baker, McLean Peterson, Nick Doolan, Fenton Lawless, Ethan Viera
Producer: David M. Night Maire & Nancy Nagrant
Cinemaphotographer: Ben Goelz
Writer: David M. Night Maire (adaptation), Guy de Maupassant (original)
Editor: Wilder Troxell
Music: Rob Eletto
Director: Ethan Knecht
Commuting
Commuting follows a suburban dad and filmmaker whose daily drive to work becomes an existential battleground.
Genre:
Run Time: 8:13
City: NYC
Cast:
Producer:
Cinemaphotographer:
Writer: Editor: Music:
Director: Quincy Bowie, Daniel Chit, Katelyn Do, Andrew Hong, Eve Levy, Katie Luo, Johans Saldana Guadalupe, Jiaxi Wu
Sunrise in Prison
Elizabeth "Leesa" Nomura describes her experiences as an incarcerated woman, the community she built, and the power they discovered together.
Genre: Documentary
Run Time: 5:20
City: Los Angeles
Cast: Elizabeth "Leesa" Nomura
Producer:
Editor: Quincy Bowie Jr.
Writer: Elizabeth "Leesa" Nomura
Music: Chen Gao
Director: Gloria Zingales
Lo Seguardo
Separated from her friends, a woman navigates her way home alone as the line between reality and her own paranoia begin to blur. Lo Sguardo, Italian for “the gaze”, translates the feeling of being watched into a short giallo thriller.
Genre: Thriller
Run Time: 10:07
City: NYC
Cast: Ariana Raygoza, Gloria Zingales, Nicole Kang, Hudson Oz, Molissa Fenley, and Giaime Giusti
Producer: Tom Culliver, Danny Ramirez, César Velasco
Cinemaphotographer: Nina Gofur
Writer: Gloria Zingales
Editor: Camilla Hayman
Music: : Joi Marchetti and Cory Todd
Director: Adam White
HOOCH
In the height of prohibition two bootleggers run away from the law to protect their livelihood - moonshine.
Genre: Thriller, Period piece
Run Time: 10:15
City: Elizabethton, Tennessee
Cast: Myles Erlick, Mike Ruff, Collin Linnville, J.B. Rader
Producer: Collin Linnville
Cinematographer: Maxwell Peterson
Writer: Adam White
Editor: Adam White and Maxwell Peterson
Music: "Appalachian Trail" Hunter Quinn "Country Gold" Hunter Quinn "Over Cripple Creek" River Run Dry
Director: Tristen Stafford
Blunt Civility
Two newly emancipated orphans have their worlds flipped upside down after learning of their origins.
Genre: Dark Comedy
Run Time: 13:02
City:
Cast: Marla Freeman, Greg Lakhan, Samuel Barnes, Terry Greene,
Producer: Drew Palmer, Will Armstrong, Greg Lakhan
Cinemaphotographer: N/A
Writer: Gregory Lakhan, James Canellos
Editor: N/A
Music: N/A
Director: Emma Lawrence
Patty Cake
Three students held captive are forced to bake a cake in hell.
Genre: Horror
Run Time: 1:26
City: Arcata, CA
Cast: N/A
Producer: (VFX/Animator) Evan Dunn
Cinemaphotographer: (Character Design) Abby Wetmore
Writer:
Editor: Emma Lawrence
Music: N/A
Director: Ellen Callaghan
The Screaming Multitudes "Well Henry"
Three seemingly lost cowboys think they've finally been saved, only to realize they've been tricked by a baphomet.
Genre: N/A
Run Time: 4:58
City: N/A
Cast: Mikiech Nichols,
Producer: MAEVJak McKool, Michael Schoentag, Brandon Pietenpol
Cinemaphotographer: Chad Courtney
Writer: Elllen Callaghan
Editor: N/A
Music: : The Screaming Multitudes
Director: Connor Rea
Venusian Roulette
An alien gambler attempts to cheat at the roulette orb.
Genre: SciFi
Run Time: 1:12
City: Durango, CO
Cast: Austin Jensen
Producer:
Cinemaphotographer:
Writer:
Editor: N/A
Music: :
Director: Kevin Ralston
This Is Us
A confrontation between two people over a bag of food on the side of a road turns into a moving story about truth.
Genre:
Run Time: 1
City: Cast: Kevin Ralston, Alice O'Dell, Kelly Cooper, Nick Naney, Tim Myer
Producer: Kevin Ralston
Cinemaphotographer:
Writer: Kevin Ralston
Editor: Kevin Ralston
Music: : McKenzie Stubbert
Director: Mira Seeba
Heaven's Escape
A girl dies in a moshpit during the opener band. She must escape heaven in time to see the headliner, Piss Cups, perform.
Genre: Comedy
Run Time: 4:00
City: NYC
Cast: Mira Seeba, Tess Cobane, Maria-Jose Gonzalez, Fiona Daidy, Rachel Esteban
Producer: Mira Seeba
Cinemaphotographer: Mira Seeba
Writer: Mira Seeba
Editor: Mira Seeba
Music: Bob Rolle and Jude Larson
Thursday, Part 1
Director: Katie Specter
There's a Rat
A living watercolor painting that tells the story of 2 girls in love for just a summer, singing a song about a rat and cat, by a creek.
Genre: Animation
Run Time: 1:05
Cast: Malerie Hurley, Katie Specter
Producer: Katie Specter
Director of Photography: Katie Specter
Writer: Katie Specter
Editing: Katie Specter
Music: : Cover of "Y A un Rat" by Raffi
Director: Christian Hurley & Bryan Taira
Desert Ed
After losing his longtime BattleBots teammate, fan-favorite contestant Ed Robinson retreats to the desert, where he builds an off-the-grid robot-fighting compound and embraces a new hermetic way of life.
Genre: Documentary
Run Time: 11:32
City: San Diego County
Cast: Ed Robinson
Producer: Clark Filio
Director of Photography: Christian Hurley & Bryan Taira
Editor: Dylan DeVol
Music: Jack Larkin
Director: Nathan Sellers
How the Lonely Keep
Weeks after her disappearance, a local teen returns to the places she knew best, while an unseen hand holds the secret of why she may never be found.
Genre: Arthouse, Crime
Run Time: 8:45
City: Boston
Cast: Sara Hallisey, Guy Ventoliere. Mimi Laquerre, Christer Holmquist
Producer: Sandrine Morin, Steven Schloss, Christer Holmquist
Cinematographer: Steven Schloss
Writer: Nathan Sellers
Editor: Nathan Sellers
Music: Abby Swidler
Director: Paloma Jacoba Lansberry-Jaceldo
Paloma Dreams
Paloma Lansberry's surreal one-minute claymation follows a fluid, hypnotic journey where rolling blue waves seamlessly transform into a bubble-blowing face, a winking woman, and finally a soaring owl.
Genre: Animation
Run Time: 1:50
City: Pinerolo, Italy
Cast: Producer: N/A
Cinematographer: N/A
Writer: Paloma Jacoba Lansberry-Jaceldo
Editor: N/A
Music: N/A
Director: Sally Eckhoff
Conference of the Birds
When starlings gather by the millions over the city of Rome, what do they want? A meditation on migration, death, and connection.
Genre: Art
Run Time: 5:14
Cast: N/A
Producer: N/A
Director of Photography: N/A
Writer: N/A
Editing & Animation: N/A
Music: : Dave Holland
Director: Carli Platt
Secondes Non Dites
After a pair of friends waste away an evening wandering the streets of Paris, they lie in bed recounting the night as Manon tries to work up the courage to express her true feelings.
Genre: Drama, LGB
Run Time: 7:33
City: Paris, via West Milford, NJ
Cast: Louison Froehlicher & Marie Crouzillat
Producer: Carli Platt
Cinematography: Lucas Farol
Writer:
Editor:
Music: Charlotte Zager
Director: Winston Hacking
Action Bog
A work of non-narrative cinema.
Genre:
Run Time:
City:Cast:
Producer:
Cinematographer: A
Writer: N/A
Editor:
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Director: Declan Greenwald
Clowning Around
A heartbroken clown seeks the help of a psychoanalyst.
Genre: Experimental Comedy
Run Time: 5:30
City: Brooklyn, via Atlanta
Cast: Nathaniel Jameson, Shane Nielsen, and Ava Sforza Grace
Producer: Chloë Tarkovsky Roe
Cinematographer: Katie Homer-Drummond
Writer: Chloë Tarkovsky Roe
Editing : Declan Greenwald
Music: Greenwaddle
Director: Carly Lauren Lieberman
Old Fantasy
I want
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The Mystery Lights - Purgatory
Hold
Genre: Run Time: 4:55
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Director: Alex Greenblatt
Four Days of Exams
A young boy is thrust into the most dangerous week of his life. He must use his smarts and cunning to survive.
Genre: Horror/ Animation
Run Time: 7:30
City: NYC
Cast: S.G Egan, Lawrence Flores, Mic Mathis, Phillip Thompson
Producer: Alex Greenblatt
N/A
Writer: Alex Greenblatt
Editor: Alex Greenblatt
Music: Dylan Samuel
Director: Will Ammann
The Fates and the Holly King
This surreal reflection on womanhood uses the Neopagan Triple Goddess as a symbol for the reductive archetypes through which society historically and currently categorizes women. During their respective journeys, The Maiden, The Mother, and The Crone each encounter the Holly King, an unnerving emblem of death and rebirth.
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Run Time: 9:25
City: Gig Harbor, WA
Cast: Cypress Price, Anna Christensen, Emma Beeman, Ben Oliphint
Cinematographer: Christian Whittemore & Will Ammann
Writer: Emma Beeman & Will Ammann
Editor: Will Ammann
Music: Jack Larkin & Max Shepardson
Director: Vito Rowlands
Leaf Peeper
A frantic frolic in Fall foliage. A stop-motion autumn adventure. A symphony in blaze orange.
Genre: Animation, Experimental, Comedy
Run Time: 2:54
City: Brooklyn
Cast: Hannah Mitchell
Producer: Vito Rowlands
Cinematographer: Vito Rowlands and Thomas Heban
Writer: Vito Rowlands
Editor: Vito Rowlands
Music: Jordan Dykstra
Director: Kayla Arend
HOME
The dark past of two vagrant sisters rears its ugly head after they break into a house in search of tampons.
Genre: Gothic Thriller
Run Time: 19:00
City: Livingston Manor, NY
Cast: Brynne Gauthier, Olivia Scicolone
Producer: Kayla Arend, Wyatt Prominski, Mickey Falcone
Cinematographer: Sarah Greenbaum
Writer: Wyatt Prominski, Mickey Falcone
Editor: Glenn Allen
Music: he Kitchen Dwellers
Intermission
Thursday, Part 2
Director: Jessica Rizk
Cracked
A young woman makes breakfast in the liminal space between routine and horror.
Genre: Animation, Psychological Horror
Run Time: 4:56
City: New York and Beirut
Cast: N/A
Producer: Jessica Rizk
Director of Photography: N/A
Writer: Jessica Rizk
Editing: Jessica Rizk
Music: Soren Anderson
Directors: Nicole Higgins
CVNT
A struggling single mother turns to a bizarre side hustle, selling her breast milk, to take care of her baby daughter.
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Run Time: Drama, Comedy
City: Los Angeles
Cast: Nicole Higgins, Will Madden, Ben Weaver, David Brown
Producer: Jennifer Sherer
Cinematographer: Eric James Gordon
Writer: Nicole Higgins
Editor: Kelsey Myers
music: Andrew Alden
Director: Jared Youmans
MONKEYSHINE!
A well-meaning monoracial dad navigates uncomfortable conversations with his half-black son who wants to be a monkey for Halloween.
Genre: Comedy
Run Time: 11:33
Cast: Tim Myer, Carter Harris, Zac Branciforte, John Rhoden, Lauren Ledger, Tap Rudra, Rob Joseph Leonard, Michael Youmans, Asha Youmans, Tony Wave
Producer: Deana Taheri
Cinematographer: Mariano Flores
Writer: Jared Youmans
Editing: Zac Branciforte
Music: Guy Moon
Director: Eric Leiser
Forest
A young girl is lost in a forest filled with eyeball trees, skeletal animals and a nephilim
Genre: Animation
Run Time: 2:30
City: NYC
Cast: Twins
Producer: Eric Leiser
Director of Photography: Eric Leiser
Writer: Eric Leiser
Editor: Eric Leiser
Music: : Jeffrey Leiser
Director: Mackenzie Patrick Flynn
blue, like green
Caught between faith and desire, devout Catholic Virginia's reality unravels into hallucinatory dreams when she meets the enigmatic Diana, and her gardener boy with the Hyacinth Eyes, forcing her to reconcile the wounds of generational inheritance.
Genre: Experimental Horror
Run Time: 17:00
City: NY via North Carolina
Cast: Max Elroy, Fig Regan, Nick Skonberg, Audrey Douglass & Norah Feliciano
Producer: Gianluca Umana, Kate Kearns, Bentley Eldridge, Patrice Yip, Ari Bousquet
Cinematographer: Rowan Lin
Writer: Mackenzie Patrick Flynn
Editor: Mackenzie Patrick Flynn
Music: Noam Rapoport
Director: Patrick Faulkner
Harold and Maggie
On her journey home, a young woman encounters a series of increasingly unnerving strangers, and one peculiar puppet.
Genre: Comedy/Horror
Run Time: 7:04
City: NYC
Cast: Ainsley Gmelich, Wim Pardoe, Gavin Fryer
Producer: Brendan Connolly
Director of Photography: Adam Bausset
Writer: Chloe Tarkovsky Roe
Editing: Patrick Faulkner
Music: Patrick Faulkner, Xmal
Directed by: Richie Harrington
Grima
When Jen’s guilt starts to catch up to her, she begins to experience grima, the sensation you get from nails on a chalkboard. She must choose to confront the past or be consumed by her guilt.
Genre: Horror
Run Time: 6:00
City: Los Angeles, CA
Cast: Monroe Cline, Lynn Allinger, Brissa Ramirez
Producer: Richie Harrington, Tyler Strauss, Trevor Alpert, Clay Alter, Dan Yaghmoorian
Cinematographer: Larry Tang
Writer: Richie Harrington
Editing: Yannis Zafeiriou
Music: Brendan F. Cochran
Director: Noah Manglapus
Pizza Cutter
Alone on the 4th of July, Jessie is hankering for a snack. But her hunger might lead her into the clutches of a sinister Pizza Delivery Man.
Genre: Horror
Run Time: 5:37
City: Oswego
Cast: Elizabeth Kobylak, Nathan Barbour
Director of Photography: Brian Maguda
Writer: Noah Manglapus
Editing: Noah Manglapus
Music: : N/A
Director: Michael Lavine
The Wanderer
In a desolate meadow, a dying man named Hopper is visited by Morana, an immortal woman who offers him a way out, but with a catch. He has to take over her cursed existence. As she urges him to sign a contract and shoot her to seal the pact, Hopper resists, uncertain of her true intent. Their haunting exchange becomes a tense reckoning with mortality and fate.
Genre: Gothic Fantasy
Run Time: 10:00
City: Germantown
Cast: Alice Kremelberg, Cody Kostro
Producer: Meg Murnane
Writer: Michael Lavine
Editor: Ben Hozie
Cinematographer: Mott Hupfel
Music: Tad Dolyle
Director: Tate Cozza
The Forgotten Crate
A beat maker searching for the perfect sample uncovers a forgotten crate of records and accidentally plays one that unleashes an unspeakable evil.
Genre: Horror
Run Time: 4:00
City: Chatham, NY
Cast: Tate Cozza
Director of Photography: Tate Cozza
Writer: Tate Cozza
Editing N/A
Music: : TCtheRipper
You would be hard pressed to find a festival that shows more passion and support towards their filmmakers. I've exhibited films through HVFF for the past three years, and each time the organizers have shown an incredible degree of consideration in communicating with me and promoting my work. The festival itself is awesome; The Warwick Drive-In is a fantastic venue and the projection is impeccable. Excellent goody bags and a great tent filled with cool merch, cute photo-ops, and helpful volunteers. Makes you feel very well taken care of. One of my fave festival going experiences. I have felt championed through HVFF and I am happy to champion them right back--they deserve it! ~ Jack Warren
Hudson Valley Film Fest forever. An awesome program of shorts + the most fun possible way to see the films. Everyone from the festival was lovely. I see no reason not to make this a summer staple.
~ Babe Howard
The Hudson Valley Film Fest is a fantastic festival. They value the artists in their local community as well as in the NYC community and exceptional work from around the world. Seeing your film at a drive-in is also a unique and fun experience. They bring everyone together for an outdoor event prior to the screenings where you can meet other filmmakers. You can tell that there's a lot of heart and passion put into this festival and it is well-curated. Their awards are also beautiful handmade sculptures. As someone from the Hudson Valley, I have to say that this festival also captures something of the culture of the region. ~ Francesco Cordaro
