2024 FESTIVALApr 10-20, 2024Lansing, MI

American Film Institute Shorts Showcase (FREE)

Director in Attendance! The American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women (DWW) is a hands-on film training program that educates and mentors its participants. Increasing the number of women working professionally in screen directing is the primary goal of this tuition-free program. All of the short films in this block are directed by DWW alumnae. Through the support of the National Endowment for the Arts, this event is free of charge at the 2015 Capital City Film Festival.

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  • Wild & Precious
  • The Night is Ours
  • The Inheritance
  • Jenny & Lalo
  • Sutures
  • Kepler X-47

Wild & Precious

In this dark-ensemble comedy, a family’s deep dysfunction and buried affections are slowly revealed over the course of an afternoon before a funeral. Sparks fly when Enid (Phyllis Somerville) arrives for her ex-husband’s service. Enid storms off and everyone, including her much younger boyfriend, her antagonistic daughters and their puzzled husbands are either too exhausted or afraid to try and console her. None of this sits well with Leah (Sam Schuder), the youngest member of the clan. Leah faces her fears and confronts her terrifying grandmother. Leah asks Enid the questions no one has ever dared ask —and the answers prove to be a small revelation.

Wild & Precious Trailer from cusi cram on Vimeo.

  • DIRECTOR
    Cusi Cram
  • YEAR
    2013
  • RUNTIME
    18 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    USA

The Night is Ours

Troubled tomboy Morgan (Bex Taylor-Klaus) is stricken with guilt after the accidental death of her best friend Olivia (Jacqueline Emerson). She attends Olivia’s wake to say goodbye, but when Morgan is alone with the body, Olivia miraculously comes back to life and coerces Morgan to take her on a trip the two had planned together.
They escape into the night on a reckless road-trip that takes them past the boundaries of friendship and into a dark, uncertain future. This twisted teen romance flirts with the supernatural, but reflects on the realities of female friendship, emerging sexuality, and the emotional ambiguities of teenage life.

  • DIRECTOR
    Aubree Bernier-Clarke
  • YEAR
    2014
  • RUNTIME
    15 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    USA

The Inheritance

After a violent encounter on her drive home, a teenage girl receives an unexpected visit from her estranged father and faces a choice that will change her life.

  • DIRECTOR
    Anne Hamilton
  • YEAR
    2014
  • RUNTIME
    15 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    USA

Jenny & Lalo

Jenny is a young woman growing up in East LA. When she realizes that she is pregnant, her boyfriend Lalo devises a plan for them to leave Los Angeles and travel north. But there’s one big problem: they belong to rival gangs.

  • DIRECTOR
    Janine Salinas Schoenberg
  • YEAR
    2014
  • RUNTIME
    13 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    USA

Sutures

When a dying man can no longer indulge in his favorite daytime soaps, his estranged daughter transports him into the world of his favorite characters. Can they forge a real connection in this magical world before it’s too late?

  • DIRECTOR
    Tiffanie Hsu
  • YEAR
    2014
  • RUNTIME
    15 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    USA

Kepler X-47

A woman is forced to adjust to a new life in a human zoo exhibit on an alien planet. Will she attempt to
rebel against the status quo, or will she succumb to her own need for security and remain a caged animal?

  • DIRECTOR
    Erin Li
  • YEAR
    2014
  • RUNTIME
    13 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    United States
Check out other upcoming events
  • Sat, April 11 8:00 PM
  • Lansing Center
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  • Sat, April 11 10:00 p.m.
  • Knapp’s Centre
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  • Sat, April 11 8:00 PM
  • The Loft
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  • Sat, April 11 2:00 p.m.
  • Lansing Public Media Center
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  • Sat, April 11 10:00 p.m.
  • Lansing Public Media Center
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  • Sat, April 11 5:00 p.m.
  • Lansing Public Media Center
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  • Sat, April 11 12:00 p.m.
  • Lansing Public Media Center
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  • Sat, April 11 3:30 p.m.
  • Dart Auditorium
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  • Sat, April 11 1:30 p.m.
  • Dart Auditorium
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  • Sat, April 11 10:00 a.m.
  • Impression 5 Science Center
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  • Sat, April 11 11:30 a.m.
  • Dart Auditorium
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