2025 FESTIVALApril 2-12, 2025Lansing, MI

‘Just a Vibe’ Shorts

What’s that emotion you can feel without words? What’s that mood that comes from the atmosphere? There’s something about the world that these filmmakers have captured, but whatever it is, it’s just a vibe.

*NOTE: This program contains a film with the Content Warning: Self-Harm

  • Alleyways
  • You Can’t Beat the Feeling!
  • Aspiration
  • Ponce de Leon
  • Dream Now Revolution Tomorrow
  • The Newcomer
  • The Wind Will Carry Her

Face Value

Avi, a fledgling ticket scalper, juggles his strained relationships, a special date, and floor seats to the hottest Knicks game.

  • DIRECTOR
    Ariel Elmann, Jack Terzi
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    11 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    United States

Alleyways

A teenage boy (Espiritu) is facing transphobia toward his best friend (Wohlwend Zegri) and has no idea how to come face-to-face with the situation.

  • DIRECTOR
    Beck Espiritu
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    9 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    United States

You Can’t Beat the Feeling!

A former Coca-Cola teaser actor finds himself addicted to Coca-Cola and involved in everyday life and remembers his past, the beginning of his inquietude.

  • DIRECTOR
    Mohammad Hossein Khodabandelou
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    7 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    Persian
  • COUNTRY
    Iran, Islamic Republic of

Aspiration

A young girl walks quickly along a fast lane. She has a sports bag on her shoulder. In voice-over, we hear her speak about the questions asked by a psychologist and the answers she gave. She runs to a wagon of a train that has stopped at the station, but its doors close, refusing her access. The train leaves and she watches him go away. She is walking down a street. A broken mirror emerges from a pile of garbage and reflects the image of her face in pieces. Stopped at a red light, the girl waits. Around her, passers-by move as if out of time. She is on a quay of the river Seine, watching the water in an alarming way. She puts down her bag and approaches the edge.

The girl is now sitting on the steps at the foot of a vertiginous staircase. A man comes down from the top of the stairs, sees her and sits next to her. He takes her hand and examines her open palm. He hands her a handkerchief that she accepts and wipes her tears, then returns it to him. The man reopens it and a precious stone appears inside, causing the girl to smile. Finally, he picks her up and helps her climb the stairs. At the top of the steps, the man has disappeared. She looks out over Paris. The cloudy sky brightened and a ray of sunshine appeared. She smiled at life.

  • DIRECTOR
    Stéphane Mandelkern
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    5 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English, French
  • COUNTRY
    France

Ponce de Leon

Exiled to a remote villa to spend the summer with her great aunt, a disconnected teen girl uncovers a dark secret surrounding the mysterious fountain flowing in the property’s gardens.

  • DIRECTOR
    Sammie Hottel
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    15 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    United States

Dream Now Revolution Tomorrow

A punk angel appears to the maid of a luxury hotel, and for a moment a small revolution seems possible. But how long can a dream last?

  • DIRECTOR
    Francesco Manzato
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    9 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    Italian
  • COUNTRY
    Italy

The Newcomer

*CONTENT WARNING: Self-Harm*
Amy forges an intense bond with the ghost in her apartment, risking the erosion of her own identity.

  • DIRECTOR
    Zoe Cleland
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    14 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    English
  • COUNTRY
    Canada

The Wind Will Carry Her

Mother of a 6 year-old child, Camille runs away from her daily life, leaving behind her son and her husband Eric. When her car breaks in a small seaside town, Camille meets Léa, a young musician who sings at a restaurant at night. They develop a particular relationship after talking about their families and their respective escapes.

  • DIRECTOR
    Renaud Gélinas
  • YEAR
    2024
  • RUNTIME
    26 Minutes
  • LANGUAGE
    French
  • COUNTRY
    Canada
Check out other upcoming events
  • Wed, April 2 4:00 PM
  • Central United Methodist Church
More Info
  • Wed, April 2 2:30 PM
  • Central United Methodist Church
More Info
  • Wed, April 2 6:00 PM
  • Central United Methodist Church
More Info