24th Annual Nevada City Film Festival shorts

Every summer, NCFF makes art into a party, bringing an audience of movie lovers together with emerging and top independent filmmakers to showcase award-winning short and feature length films from around the world.

Celebrate Pride Month with these short films screening at the Nevada City Film Festival (NCFF) this weekend.

Shorts – Belonging: Friday, June 21, 4pm at Nevada Theatre

Ether Or
Zander Constien
(USA, 9min) Comedy
Ether, an anxious nonbinary person, navigates the surreal world of the grocery store; they can’t cope with the societal expectations, and have a panic attack as they leave the store to cool down in the park.

Some Kind of Paradise
Nicholas Finegan
(USA 21min) Romance, Drama
In a chance encounter on Grindr, a reclusive barman at an Arkansas line-dancing bar connects with a charismatic Hollywood actor. The sheer force of their chemistry pushes him to question the isolated life he has built for himself- and embrace the transformative power of intimacy and vulnerability.

Shorts – Unconventional Journeys: Saturday, June 22, Noon at Nevada Theatre

Dérive
Lianne Sonia Walden
(USA, 20min) Narrative
An uptight book publisher embarks on a Surrealist odyssey (a dérive) throughout NYC to release her ex-wife’s ashes at Coney Island, where she encounters an enclave of off-season circus performers who help her ritualize her grief and find catharsis through whimsy.

Piñatas of Earthly Delights
Tom Maroney
(USA, 13min) Documentary
Roberto Benavidez’s stunning piñatas reveal the form’s hidden history of religious colonialism. Beautiful, funny, and political, they are meticulous works of art, inspired by Hieronymus Bosch. A self-described “queer, half-breed South Texan artist,” Roberto hopes his pieces will push the craft of piñatas forward in the art world canon.

Shorts – After Hours: Friday, June 21, 9pm at Nevada Theatre

Skin
Leo Behrens
(USA, 7min) Drama, Mystery
A poetic exploration of identity and self-discovery, Skin uses visual symbolism to depict a woman’s transformation into a man. With the help of their inner manifestation, the ice man, they shed their old skin and embrace their true identity.

With Art and Life: The Story of Jim Phillips
Sunday, June 23, 4pm at Nevada Theatre
Wouldn’t Make It Any Other Way
Hao Zhou
(Guam, 20min) Documentary
Having built a colorful queer life in an American prairie town, an aspiring costume designer visits their island homeland of Guam to make costumes for a children’s theatre and reconnect with distant parents.

Sunday, June 23, 7pm at Nevada Theatre

Chuck Chuck Baby
dir. Janis Pugh
(UK, 1hr 41min) Drama, Comedy, Musical
Present day, industrial North Wales. Helen, late 30’s, spends her nights packing chickens and her days caring for dying mother-figure Gwen. Helen’s mundane world takes a surprising turn with Joanne’s return; they were the objects of the other’s secret teenage passions. Encouraged by Helen, Joanne starts a playful wooing game. As they fall in love, Helen’s zest for life returns but Joanne feels the walls close in as she faces something darker from her past. Helen’s world shatters when Gwen dies and Joanne’s painful memories make her flee. Both women reflect on their unfulfilled chance before finding the courage to let go of the past and allow their love to win.