2026 Official Selection: Featurette – Documentary

Turn Off the Machines follows Ethan Hughes, a radical homesteader in mid-coast Maine who lives entirely without electricity, global supply chains, or modern technological comforts.

Program: Turn Off The Machines · Sun, Aug 23, 2026 · 2:00 PM

• Director(s): Joseph El-Khoury, Muhammad Yusuf Khattak
• Producer(s): Joseph El-Khoury, Muhammad Yusuf Khattak, Jack Ruefli
• Key Cast: Ethan Hughes

Language: English

Runtime: 42m

Country: United States

World Premiere

Synopsis: Turn Off the Machines follows Ethan Hughes, a radical homesteader in mid-coast Maine who lives entirely without electricity, global supply chains, or modern technological comforts. Raised in Gloucester to working class parents, an early tragedy shattered a happy childhood and set him on a path of radical resistance. Living deliberately below the poverty line, Ethan’s life is not a retreat but a protest against capitalism, war, and ecological collapse. The film explores his convictions, his family’s daily rhythms, and the tensions that arise when belief meets the demands of life.

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Source: FILA

2026 Official Selection: Sci-Fi – Featurette

A group of middle aged men turn to an AI for help becoming "an Alpha"

• Director(s): Joseph Wesley
• Writer(s): Joseph Wesley, Rachel Kriegshauser, Eric Fisher
• Producer(s): Eric Fisher
• Key Cast: Ptolemy Slocum, Marcuis Harris, Laura Niemi
• Editor(s): Eric Fisher
• Cinematographer(s): Joseph Wesley
• Production Designer(s): Rachel Kriegshauser
• Sound Designer(s): Jacob Proctor
• Composer(s): Christopher Doucet

Language: English

Runtime: 32m

Country: United States

Los Angeles Premiere

Synopsis: An exclusive personal development boot camp promises to remake the lives of middle aged men in crisis. Doug joins the program in the hopes of getting over his divorce, only to fall prey to a nefarious artificial intelligence that specializes in manipulating insecure men.

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Source: FILA

2026 Official Selection: Short Film – SciFi

A man discovers he and his ex girlfriend are both dating the same hivemind.

• Director(s): Nathan Deshawn Bouie
• Writer(s): Nathan Deshawn Bouie
• Producer(s): Jayla Hodge, Ami Coulibaly
• Key Cast: Jai’Reeh Demond, Akira Jackson, Mckayla Fontanez
• Editor(s): Noah Radant
• Cinematographer(s): Paul Carrabba
• Production Designer(s): Callan Low

Language: English

Runtime: 20m

Country: United States

Synopsis: On the night he’s supposed to integrate with his Hive-mind alien girlfriend, James, a man with deep commitment issues, discovers his ex is also dating the same Hivemind.

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Source: FILA