2025 FESTIVALApril 2-12, 2025Lansing, MI

Pride in Motion Shorts

Pride is more than a summer festival and LGBTQIA+ is so much more than an acronym. These shorts explore the nuances, beauty, and heartbreak of those of us who exist within the LGBTQIA+ spectrum around the world.

*NOTE: This program includes films with the Content Warning: Self-Harm

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EITR

Grinding away at the inherited family business, Mohamed works tirelessly making sales of knock-off perfume, while living as a knock-off version of his true self. His doting mother Marwa brings him lunch everyday and sets up chay dates with potential romantic interests (and their families) what seems like every night. Inside of this monotony Mohamed is lying to himself about his sexuality and leaning into the mask of masculinity in order to maintain the expectations of those around him, but in reality the biggest expectations of how he should be are set by himself. We follow Mohamed on a day where the monotony comes to a screeching halt, when an unexpected charming customer enters his shop. Mohamed shares a connection with this beautiful stranger who lives in self-acceptance and who truly sees him underneath the many layers of Polo Sport adjacent cologne. In Eitr, Mohamed’s fear of his true desires will be tested as he is caught off guard by the power of being seen, but can this connection break him out of his performative shell, even for a lingering moment?

  • DIRECTOR
    Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller
  • YEAR
    2022
  • RUNTIME
    15 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    Arabic, English
  • COUNTRY
    Canada

The Yellow Sponge is the Dish Sponge

Do we really need to wash sheets every week? Why would you ever have to clean a shower head? What is the difference between the blue sponge and the yellow sponge? These are the questions that haunt Jason. He doesn’t understand the world’s obsession (and his husband Erik’s obsession) with cleanliness. So, on the day of their big party Jason launches his campaign to open Erik’s eyes to this problem. What starts as disagreements about Lysol Wipes and Febreze scented trash bags turns into something bigger as The Yellow Sponge is the Dish Sponge looks at a couples conflict as old as time…fighting about household chores.

  • DIRECTOR
    Michele Noble
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    17 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    United States

High Diver

Since early childhood, Tuan and Felix have been inseparable. As they train to become Olympic high divers, however, their budding love for each other suffers under the weight of the competition. Professional sport is a harsh business, and Tuan will sacrifice everything for it … or will he?

  • DIRECTOR
    Oscar Bittner
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    5 Minutes
  • COUNTRY
    Germany

This is Jan

Set in the conservative world of the 1950s, Jan checks into a hotel seeking to escape the outside world. Once alone, they are free to shed the identity society has imposed upon them. Jan embraces the chance to explore who they truly believe they are. As they relish this new identity, a surge of confidence emerges, but they soon realize that not everything is as it seems. Faced with a choice between internal pressures and embracing their authentic self, Jan takes a bold step forward.

  • DIRECTOR
    Robert Larriviere
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    22 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    United States

Mélange

*CONTENT WARNING: Self-Harm*
Two estranged men reconnect in a jazz bar where they embark on a forbidden dance.

  • DIRECTOR
    Deshon Leek
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    15 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    United States

Hearts Of Stone

*CONTENT WARNING: Self-Harm*
In the heart of a bustling metropolis, Paula, a lonely street artist, entertains people as a living statue. She longs with an impossible love for Agatha, a stone sculpture next to which she can be found every day. One day, when reaching her familiar spot, she finds her stone companion replaced by an abstract, modern sculpture. After a frantic search, she discovers Agatha cast aside amidst a group of discarded, classical statues who have lost their place in the modernising sculpture park. As the sun sets, Paula finds herself trying to wake the lonely statue from her stone slumber.

  • DIRECTOR
    Tom Van Avermaet
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    30 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    Belgium, Croatia
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