Shorts Collection:
Healing through Connection
Sunday october 25, 2026
11:00 AM - 1:30 PM
Whether through the kindness of a stranger, the support of friends, or the connection of community, these stories show how we find the strength to heal, the courage to rebuild, and the hope to carry on.
Q&A line up coming soon!
The last remaining South Vietnamese naval officers reunite in California for what will likely be the final time, finding solace with the few people who understand the complexities that shape their life histories.
Sea Song
When the Eaton Fire destroyed thousands of homes in Altadena, one Korean family’s restaurant survived, though they lost their own home. Supported by their community and organizations, they turned their parking lot into a distribution center, providing meals and clothing to those in need. World-renowned artist Robert Vargas painted a hopeful mural on their wall, symbolizing how art can bring healing and renewal. Told through mixed media and personal home footage, this film reveals a powerful story of resilience, generosity, and recovery rising through the ashes.
Light on a hill
Linh is a healthy and successful 26 year old who is forced to face her past traumas when she learns her ex-abuser got engaged. As she spirals and reaches her breaking point, she struggles to rely on her best friends and loving boyfriend for support. F*CK FEELINGS paints the importance of consent and that healing is not linear.
F*CK FEELINGS
Initiation follows Jay, a young man with a stutter who, frustrated by limited opportunities and desperate to prove himself, agrees to an initiation into a local gang. His task seems simple: rob a taco truck. But when the robbery spirals out of control, Jay is forced to confront how far he’s willing to go for acceptance—and whether the life he’s trying to enter will actually give him the future he wants.
Blending dark comedy, crime, and drama, Initiation explores disability, masculinity, friendship, and the lengths we go to feel like we belong.
Initiation
Bridging our stories
When the last Filipino community center in Ketchikan, Alaska, becomes just a memory, a 50-year-old Filipina who spent her life resisting her heritage travels to the Philippines to rediscover her roots, preserving her community’s disappearing culture and teaching indigenous Filipino dances.
A year after her father’s funeral, a Korean American daughter returns home for the first time, only to find her immigrant mother has erased every trace of his presence and chosen faith over memory.
Embrace was an Official Selection of the 2026 Dallas International Film Festival, an Academy Award-qualifying festival, and screened at the 2026 Wyoming International Film Festival and Glendale International Film Festival.