2022 Los Angeles CineFest Film Festival will be moving online.
The Omicron variant with its unexpectedly high transmissibility rates is pushing the limits of health safety, travel, and other infrastructures across the country.
We do not want to put anybody at risk.

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Best of The Festival
IMPETUS
by Benjamin Knoebl

BEST SCREENPLAY
Galaxie
Writer Michael Mustizer

BEST SCORE
Sergi & Irina
by Àlex Tejedor

BEST POSTER
SEQUESTERED by Tas Limur

BEST PHOTOGRAPHY
In Pieces Production by Liza Heinrichs

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ALL FILMS PASS is ONLY $10.
Watch Officially Selected Films HERE
Viewing Time: January 15, 2022, 9:00 am PST
Video-On-Demand Availability
VOD Start: January 15, 2022, 1:15 pm
VOD End: January 17, 2022, 11:00 pm
Get your pass today!

Please note, not all Officially Selected films can be played online. Some producers or other film festivals do not allow films to be streamed on the internet.

Official Selection- Films

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Good Night, Neighbour
Director Rozalia Las
3:00, Poland, Animation
A short film inspired by polish folk dirge. With its mantric atmosphere it takes the viewer back to the long-forgotten world, though it has passed, still seems to dissolve into infinity.

Julia
Director Vincent Smitz
15:36, Belgium, Thriller
Julia, a pretty young lady, has ordered an ancient mirror on the internet. Convinced that she has made a good deal, she soon realizes that something in the mirror is trying to get a hold on her reflection...
Trailer https://vimeo.com/625332897

Elevate
Director Brandon Sean Pearson
25:38, USA, Drama
Donovan Blevins wanders through the broken economic landscape of our future, looking for love in all the wrong places. What he finds is a company willing to sell you back your life, as long as you agree to die.

maɪz(ə)ld
Director Brigid Marshall
5:45, USA, Comedy
When a power outage threatens their stay-at-home date night, this couple faces a relationship reckoning, all because they can't agree on whether or not seahorses exist.

IMPETUS
Director Benjamin Knoebl
29:59, Austria, Drama
Paulinus is a young novice at a small Austrian monastery in 1929. In a few days he will take his final vows and become a full member of the order. His only contact to the outside world is Jakob, a young farmer, who visits the monastery every day to deliver errands. When Paulinus' feelings for Jakob start to grow beyond their friendship, he finds himself at a crossroads between God and the world. Before he can make his life's most important decision, he needs to uncover where he belongs in life.
Trailer https://youtu.be/bvrZrHpH5Bc

54 / The Blind Turtle and the Endless Sea
Director Isabella Margara
12:45, Grecce, Drama
A woman who cannot stop running. A mysterious man who knows everything about her life. A turtle pin. An unexpected encounter in the elevator that goes up to the 54th floor – but takes us all elsewhere.
Trailer https://vimeo.com/447199974

The Procedure
Director Isabelle Connolly
5:57, Ireland, Drama
27 year old, Single Mother, Siobhan O'Reilly questions how far she is willing to go to protect those she loves.

BROTHERHOOD
Director Maggie Grant
15:55, USA, Drama
Greed, revenge, jealousy and pain heat up a chance and long overdue reunion of two brothers separated at an early age by an angry, spiteful mother. Frank, the younger brother had it all and threw it away, through his arrogance, avarice and recklessness.

I'M NOT TELLING YOU ANYTHING, JUST SAYIN
Director SANJA MILARDOVIĆ
17:41, Croatia,  Drama
Zrinka arrives to her hometown for few days to do some location scouting. She stays at her mother Tanja's place. Since Tanja's behaviour seems strange, Zrinka takes her location scouting in order to find out what is troubling her. Finally, Tanja's emotional breakdown brings the two closer together.

Buona Notte
Directors Victor Bindefeld, Grégoire Bensimon
9:06, France, Comedy
On Halloween night, three thugs are on their way to a burglary, they’re about to break into an old house.
They get caught by an armed owner, holding a shotgun.
One of their phones starts to ring.
It’s showtime...

Nothing Ever Happens
Director Jorge G. Camarena
4:35, USA, Thriller
A mundane existence of a library employee gets challenged by the pursuit to turn off a fan that’s causing chaos in an otherwise lifeless environment.

The Creek
Director Kyle Tiernan
11:34, Canada, War Drama
Set in 1944. In the midst of uncertainty and war, two lovers must endure with hope for their future.
Trailer https://youtu.be/UgdHnjd8K0c

Deus Ex Machina
Director Jessy Langlois
20:15, France
A young adult goes looking for his biological father. He'll understand, when he finds out, that his daddy never ran away as he was told. His father suffers from a very little-known disease: Prosopagnosia, an inability to recognize faces. Even if he would regularly meet his son in the street, he would be unable to know who he is. In spite of everything, father and son will end up and help each other.
Trailer https://vimeo.com/569539413

klutz.
Director Michelle Bossy
14:29, USA
Zowie is a first time novelist thrust into the throes of grief when she loses her person, and with them: her own gravity. Now the only “novel” she can manage is a children’s book about a girl whose only superpower is falling down. That no one wants to publish. Caught between mourning and reality, can Zowie figure out how to get her feet back on the ground? You know what they say, it’s not how many times you fall, it’s how many times you get up.
Trailer https://vimeo.com/433792647

THE OUTLOOK
Director SAYANTAN ADDHYA
14:57, India, Drama
A DARK STORY OF A DOG WHO GETS REWARDED BY HIS OWN MASTER FOR HIS DEEDS. THIS STORY PROJECTS THE INHUMANITY OF HUMAN BEINGS AND THE HUMANITY OF ANIMALS WHICH IS SHOWN FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE.

After Hours
Director Joe Matthews
4:45, USA, Action/Drama/Comedy
A burglar tries to make a stealthy robbery when he stumbles into an ironic situation.

By(e) Love
Director Georgy Liebermann
18:06, Belgium, Drama
To exist.
By (e) Love is a request to exist.
A request with an awkward, cruel, violent form.
But a request made in love. Through the other. One could even say "for the other".
By (e) Love is the story of a couple who gets lost in the night, through a game that will mark the end of a story, revealing two solitudes finally released ....

On the Sidewalk, at Night
Director Alexander Deland, Jr.
8:49, USA, Drama
Two young artists discover that they share more than just a moment on the sidewalk, at night. Starring Austen Danielle Bohmer (Netflix's Diana) and Misha Brooks (Social Distance) After a string of failed auditions, a disillusioned young dancer goes to a liquor store to drown her sorrows. While waiting for her ride outside the store, her night is interrupted by a chatty stranger. Hope and realism clash under the streetlights.
Trailer  vimeo.com/497058055

The Passenger
Director Alexander Bruckner
18:00, Austria,Thriller/Drama
The Passenger is a psychological thriller about two very different friends who make a fateful late-night stop at a rest area on a deserted stretch of desert highway, while in the middle of an argument. An already tense situation threatens to explode when the two men overhear a woman being beaten in the adjoining restroom. The decisions they make in that moment will change their relationship forever, sealing the fate of one, violently defining the other. As the story rushes headlong to its shocking conclusion, we realize that nothing is as it seems.

Thanks, Goodbye.
Director David Mohrmann
3:37, Netherlands, Animation
‘Thanks, goodbye.’ shows an extreme vision of the concequences of a climate apocalypse. The film opens with a red desert-like Martian landscape. Successive epic scenes slowly make it clear that the landscape in the film isn’t Mars but the earth, abandoned and destroyed by humans, where heat waves and thunderstorms alternate.

Reboot
Directors Anthony A. Russell, Matthew Macowski
4:22, USA, Experimental
One program, one machine, one moment... An eccentric computer operator's overzealous programming lures him towards the sublime singularity until corporeal realities get in the way.

Helpless
Directors Julian Wolf, Julian Heinke
20:20, Germany, Drama
A discouraged paraplegic witnesses an epileptic seizure and has to intervene on his own. HELPLESS - a story of strength of character, benevolence and helpfulness.

Porichoy (The Identity)
Director Promita Bhowmik
14:28, India, Drama
College batchmates Anuradha, now a housewife, and Shreya who now works as a sex worker, happen to meet after a long gap, and try to explore each others' lives to understand what 'self identity' could possibly mean for a woman in today's India.
Trailer https://youtu.be/2_9UX8mluYI

Ghosted
Director Morgan Gruer
8:05, USA
When a girl finds herself injured and on bed rest, her sanity is tested as she is ghosted by the man she loves. Through a seamless combination of live action, animation and design, GHOSTED explores the gray areas and unfamiliar territories of dating in a fresh, raw, and modern way.
Trailer https://vimeo.com/408581706

Cuddles
Director Paul M. Horan
14:08, Ireland, Drama
When the idyllic facade of her relationship is shattered, Emily is left to pick through the pieces for answers.

Fish Out of Water
Director Christopher Thomas Henry
17:39, USA, Thriller/Drama/Fantasy
On a mission of desperation, two friends search for a mysterious pond rumored to grant their deepest desires.

One Last Job
Director Sophia Vester
12:00, Germany, Comedy
A contract killer is about to do his last job as it turns out, that his victim is an old friend and colleague. Together, they plan to double-cross the anonymous client, as their plan takes an unexpected turn...

Shadow of the Moon
Director Shuhan Lei
19:01, China, Drama
Loli, an ambitious 12-year-old, dwells in a run-down urban village in South China. After losing both her parents, she is forced to live with her dreadful grandma and take care of her two younger siblings. Hoping to leave her troubled family behind and move to the city, she attempts to win over the heart of a kind woman who wants to adopt a child. Everything seems to unfold as she plans until a nightmare comes true…
Trailer https://vimeo.com/411214038

Out of Stock
Director Bryan Taira
17:48, USA, Comedy
In 1973, the host of The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson, made a joke that toilet paper was going out of stock. By the next day, stores across the country were completely sold out. This is the story of the first day of the toilet paper crisis.
Trailer https://youtu.be/XyAchzLBdnc

Coo-Coo
Director Svetlana Belorussova
19:10, Russian Federation
Dasha, a young biologist, prepares to defend her Ph.D. on the Baikal seal. Her Ph.D. advisor is skeptical about Dasha’s love for animals, and her mother only cares about the girl not missing night prayers. A story about a conflict between science and religion, love and suffering, between what Dasha wants and what others push her to do.
Trailer https://youtu.be/ciS2Gp6OWYw

Jackie & The Rats
Directors Erez Heiman, Nadav Heyman
16:04, USA, Comedy
Logline: Jackie owns rats. Manny owns a Porsche. Life is weird like that. Synopsis: When a wealthy suburban dad goes to buy pet rats at a trailer park, he finds himself smitten with the charming woman who sells him the rodents. Jackie & The Rats is a film about love, survival, and the confounding socio-economic disparity between two families. Through dark humor, the film asks important questions, like what does it take to be truly happy, how does money shape our experience, and why is the grass always f***ing greener on the other side?

Denzel
Director Michael Gamarano Singleton
9:31, UK, Drama
Denzel follows the dating life of a young man on his journey to self-acceptance. He uses an alter ego to navigate through his social issues and self worth until finally reaching the perfect conclusion.

The Wisdom of Trauma
Directors Maurizio Benazzo, Zaya Benazzo
Feature Documentary
01:28:00
Trauma is the invisible force that shapes our lives. It shapes the way we live, the way we love and the way we make sense of the world. It is the root of our deepest wounds. Dr. Maté gives us a new vision: a trauma-informed society in which parents, teachers, physicians, policy-makers and legal personnel are not concerned with fixing behaviors, making diagnoses, suppressing symptoms and judging, but seek instead to understand the sources from which troubling behaviors and diseases spring in the wounded human soul.
Trailer https://youtu.be/70HNmSsJvVU

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Official Selection- Screenplay Category

Level Up
Writer Jason Skorski
USA
A lonely game tester finds himself in a real game of survival when a disgruntled level designer transforms their company’s headquarters into a gauntlet of deathtraps.

The Bridge Builder
Writer Michael Greene
USA
A gifted structural engineer is summoned back to Philadelphia by his former lover to solve the mystery of her father's untimely death in the midst of the 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposition World's Fair.

Fatal Ambition
Writer Angel Connell
USA
A politically ambitious district attorney pursuing a serial murderer is confronted by the killer himself with a demand that the DA publicly retract her false yet exploitative claim about a crime he never committed.

Galaxie
Writer Michael Mustizer
USA
During the energy crisis of the early 70's where gas and fuel was growing hard to come by, Milo Brooks, struggling with a genetic bone disease, sets out to rebuild his father's Ford Galaxie 500 in order to escape his trailer park life. With the help of Digger, the local junkyard man, they get the Galaxie on the road so Milo can drive her cross country to Berkeley, where he has a full scholarship for Astrophysics waiting for him. Jasmine, Digger's daughter, a racer herself, ditches her wedding to teach Milo how to drive with his disability, the physics of racing, and "run the gauntlet" of underground illegal street races across the southern United States where gas tanks are exchanged instead of pink slips.

Santiago
Writer Jaime Fidalgo
USA
Santiago tells the story of a vulnerable man who, after getting lost in the mountain making a pilgrimage to Santiago, makes a mistake and accidentally kills his partner to end up in a trance. Then, a pragmatic detective will follow the strange case in search of the body, to uncover the truth behind the inner world of that grieving man who set out to walk after his redemption.

Fate's Intervention
Writer Ronald Lamont Canfield
A small-town cop risks his life to save a suicidal young man despondent after a broken-off engagement. Fueled by social media bashing following his failed suicide attempt, and by the subsequent discovery of what appears to be the reason behind his ex's sudden decision, the man unravels. The cop struggles over the fact that his saving of one life has now put other lives at risk; especially when the man's erratic behavior targets his ex.
USA

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Official Selection- Score Category

Sergi & Irina
by Àlex Tejedor
Spain
LISTEN HERE

EST
by Davide Caprelli
Italy

Mamakrom (Original Score)
by Joseph Pelegreen
USA

Un Peu d'Audace - Original Score
by Ambre Vanneste
France

Lolo - Original Soundtrack (Lolo's toolbox)
by Chris Banda
USA

Marcello - Music Themes
by Daniel de la Rosa Oliva
Spain

The Call
by Jindřich Vosecký
Czech Republic

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Official Selection- Poster Cateogory

Forsaken Watchers by  Nina Szu W

Grave by  Christopher Blake Evernden

SEQUESTERED by Tas Limur

VITRALES by Oldren Romero
and Luis Ernesto Gonzalez

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Official Selection- Photography

The Woman in The Village by Natasha Dematra, Indonesia

Consideration by Nicholas Powell, USA

THE GATEWAY by Vincenzo De Sio, Italy

Lost before dawn by Colin Zhg

In Pieces Production by Liza Heinrichs

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FUNNY, FUNNY, FUNNY!!
Our Festival co-produced these comedies.
Tenant, No Time To Cry, Fast & Serious, and more.
Watch here lacinefest.org/films

Festival is sponsored by