2026 Official Selection: Screenplay – Screenplay – Short Film

Ceremony: Screenplay Awards Ceremony · Sat, Aug 22, 2026 · 6:00 PM

After a skeptical investigative reporter covers a Hollywood cult that claims to predict its members’ deaths, a trail of gruesome “coincidences” forces her toward the very certainty

• Writer(s): Matt Moeller

Language: English

Country: Not Specified

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A skeptical news reporter investigates "Las Palabras", a Hollywood death cult that claims to know the final words someone will hear before dying. When her interview subjects die exactly as foretold, she traces the chaos to a fame-hungry PA, his blood-soaked cult muses, and a supernatural promise too tempting to resist.

Source: FILA

2026 Official Selection: Drama – Short (under 20 mins), Thriller – Short

Program: Shorts Block 15 · Sun, Aug 23, 2026 · 6:00 PM

• Director(s): Calvin Ghaznavi
• Writer(s): Amanda Ross
• Producer(s): Neela Gerayli, Devyn Wong
• Key Cast: Lara Hunter, Timothy V. Murphy, Ashley Alva

Language: English

Runtime: 8m

Country: United States

Synopsis: In the dead of night, fifteen-year-old Salem waits in her mother’s run down El Camino. She’s told again and again to “stay in the car” while her mom and her violent partner disappear into empty buildings and dark parking lots. Hours drag on and in the backseat, Salem twists and turns, her small movements filling the silence. The night continues and the car feels less like a place of safety and more like a cage. As the hours stretch on and sirens echo in the distance, Salem

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Source: FILA

2026 Official Selection: Horror – Short

Alice, grieving the loss of her father, tumbles into a macabre Wonderland where reality blurs with fiction and familiar characters force her to confront her intrusive thoughts.

Program: Shorts Block 3 · Fri, Aug 21, 2026 · 9:10 PM

• Director(s): Laura Malatos
• Writer(s): Helen Sun, Laura Malatos
• Producer(s): Helen Sun, Laura Malatos, Yulia Arispe
• Key Cast: Lulu Wilson, Jeff Lorch, Kevin Dulude, Kouamy Davis Brown, Helen Day
• Editor(s): Laura Malatos
• Cinematographer(s): Yves Arispe
• Production Designer(s): Danielle Light
• Sound Designer(s): Creighton Yanchar
• Composer(s): Alexander Arntzen

Language: English

Runtime: 13m

Country: United States

Synopsis: “Wonderland” is a grim reimagining of the Hatter’s tea party from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The film stars a 19-year-old horror veteran Lulu Wilson (The Haunting of the Hill House, Sharp Objects, Ouija: The Origin of Evil, Star Trek: Picard) in the iconic role of Alice.

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Source: FILA