Join us for the 27th Annual East Lansing Film Festival!!

Schedule of Events:

November 7, 2024

6:15 pm: Unlikely Allies - Directed By Anthony Pedone

In 2003, A Low-Level Cannabis Case Would End Weldon Angelos' Budding And Promising Career In The Music Industry. But It Would Also Give Birth To A National Movement To Reform Our Country's Criminal Justice System, Uniting Far Right Conservatives Like Billionaire Charles Koch And Senator Mike Lee (R-Ut) With Liberals Such As Senator Corey Booker, Van Jones And Musicians Alicia Keys, And Snoop Dogg. Your Sense For Fair Play Will Have You Silently Screaming At The Screen.

8:45 pm: Homeschooled - Directed By Niki Koss

In This Heartwarming Documentary, A Group Of Homeschooled Students Prepare For Their First Dance - The Prom. They Speak Plainly About The Benefits And Drawbacks Of Homeschooling And Dispel The Many Misconceptions Of Homeschooled Kids.

November 8, 2024

6:15 pm: Oliver Sacks: His Own Life - Directed By Ric Burns

Renowned Neurologist And Literary Giant Oliver Sacks Is Posthumously Celebrated In This Profound, Highly Engaging, Deeply Personal Memoir. He Shares Intimate Details Of His Battles With Drug Addiction, Homophobia, And A Medical Establishment That Accepted His Work Only Decades After The Fact. Sacks Was A Fearless Explorer Of Unknown Mental Worlds Who Helped Redefine Our Understanding Of The Brain And Mind, The Diversity Of Human Experience, And Our Shared Humanity. Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer - 100%

8:45 pm: Between The Lights - Directed By Michael Groom

This Romantic Drama With A Liberal Dose Of The Supernatural Takes Place Within The Ancient Walls Of York And The Stunning Beauty Of The English Lake District. When Alice, A Skeptical Scientist, Falls For Jay, Reluctant Medium, She's Taken On An Odyssey Of Love, Loss And Discovery That Will Turn Her World Upside Down.

November 9, 2024

1:30 pm: Chicken For Linda! (Linda Veut Du Poulet) - Directed By Sébastien Laudenbach, Chiara Malta

A Loving Mom, Paulette, Who Feels Guilty After Unfairly Punishing Her Daughter Linda And Would Do Anything To Make It Up To Her. She Sets Off To Make Chicken With Peppers, Even Though She Doesn't Know How To Cook. Animated In French With English Subtitles. Winner, 8 Film Festival Awards. Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer - 100%

3:30 pm: Short Documentary Films

My Father's Name
Directed By Susanna Styron-20 Minutes.
Years After Lee Ed Frazier's Death, His Daughter, Jan, Made A Shocking Discovery: As A Young Man Her Father Had Participated In A Lynching. As She Attempts To Uncover The Truth About What Happened, Jan Learns That This Specific Lynching Was Iconic In American History.

Birdfeeder
Directed By Daniel Feighery-11.5 Minutes.
This Documentary Is Not Just About Birds; It's A Visual And Emotional Exploration Of The Human Connection To The Urban Wild, The Challenges Faced In A Time Of Hardship, And The Profound Impact Of The Natural World On The Human Soul.

It's For You: Ephemeral Art and The Death Of The Public Phone
Directed By Ryan Steven Green-29 Minutes.
A Disparate Group Of Los Angeles Street Artists Give New Life To The Dwindling Remnants Of The City's Public Payphones By Repurposing Them As Canvases For Unique Expressions Of A Moment In Time.

Bobby Up The Block
Directed By Phil Garrison-17 Minutes
Everybody Has A Story. Bobby Just Happens To Have Lots Of Them!

A Man Who Knits
Directed By Ian Powell-6 Minutes.
Avid Male Knitting Enthusiast Gene Throwe Keeps The Spirit Of His Late Grandmother Alive, Overcoming Gender Stereotypes And Finding Purpose And Deep Connection Within The Seemingly Mundane Practice Of Needlework.

Magic John: America's Pharoah
Directed By Heath Daniels-16 Minutes.
As A Black Child Growing Up In Segregated Alabama In 1964, Sammy Lee Hendrix Was Overwhelmed With Emotion When He Saw Sidney Poitier Win An Academy Award For Lilies Of The Field. The Film Inspired Him To Dream Of Becoming A Hollywood Filmmaker. Thirty-Five Years Of Living On The Streets Of Los Angeles Has Not Deterred Sammy's Dream.

Those Next To Us
Directed By Bernhard Hetzenauer-30 Minutes.
In Breathtaking Words, The Mexican Germán López Rosales Describes His Experiences Of A Human Smuggling Operation From The Us Border Town Of Laredo To San Antonio, Texas. Locked Up Inside The Cargo Area Of A Tractor-Trailer, 10 Of The 39 Migrants Died That Day Due To The Intense Heat And Lack Of Water.

6:15 pm: The Teacher Who Promised The Sea - Directed By Patricia Font

The Buried Memories Of The Spanish Civil War Become Unearthed As A Woman Searches For The Remains Of Her Grandfather's Father And Discovers The Story Of An Idealistic Young Teacher From Tarragona. He Transformed The Austere, Religious One-Room Classroom And The Uneducated, Incommunicative Students Into A Vital Group Of Inquisitive Children. Winner, Audience Award, Dc International Film Festival.

8:45 pm: Shorts Program 1

Just One Last Thing
Directed By Oswmer Louis -18 Min.
A Man Hires A Contract Killer To Help Him Commit Suicide; However, His Procrastination Is Too Much.

Dear Daughter
Directed By Vanessa Neff, Rob Underhill-7 Min.
A Mother's Tribute To Her Daughter, And A Reflection On How The Love For Her Evolved Throughout The Years.

Darcine's Day
Directed By Aaron Goffman-16 Min.
Darcine, Divorced And Jobless, Strives To Thrive And Survive In Post-Pandemic Los Angeles.

Collage
Directed By Marius Conrotto -10 Min.
Two Museum Staff Observe A Couple Flirting, Or Are They?

Broken
Directed By Patrick Smith-4 Min.
The Broken Will Slowly Decay, Wasting Away Into Shattered Bits.

The Void
Directed By Sashwat Mohta-17 Min.
A Once Brilliant Teenager Seeks Family Support In His Battle With A Crippling Addiction.

Father's Mountains
Directed By Xiaojun Tan -11 Min.
"Beyond The Mountains Is Another Mountain!" Answers The Father To His Curious Son.

Dark Roads
Directed By Jeremiah Kipp-6 Min.
A Couple Are Stranded On A Dark Vacant Country Road. They Are Disparate In Reaction To The Fear And Tension.

Cycle
Directed By Nicole Denise White-9 Min.
A Young Woman Spends The Night At A Laundromat Struggling To Wash Out A Blood Stain After An Abortion.

Camping In Paradise
Directed By Eirik Tveiten-23 Min.
When Their Car Breaks Down, A Couple Must Spend A Night At A Nudist Campsite, Exposing Their Differences.

November 10, 2024

1:30 pm: Shorts Program 3

Mehrsalz
Directed By Chris Hirschhaeuser, Karin Schedlbauer -15 Min.
On Their Honeymoon To The Tuscany, She Is Deeply In Love But He Starts To Act Strangely.

The Town Of Dead Dreams
Directed By Manisa Hope -14 Min.
Three Friends Sun, Dew, And Kind Go On A Journey To Find A Town Very Different From Their Own. Hand-Painted Animation.

What To Expect When You're Not Expecting
Directed By Jackson Tropp -16 Min.
Spencer And His Husband Elliot Run Into Multiple Roadblocks In Their Journey Toward Becoming Daddies.

Shakespeare For All Ages
Directed By Hannes Rall -2.5 Min.
Can You Name All The Plays In This Animated Short?

Boulour
Directed By Helia Behrooz-16 Min.
Nineteen-Year-Old Boulour Must Escape From The Cruel Taliban Regime In Afghanistan. Only One Item Is Important To Bring - Her Ancestral Rabab Musical Instrument.

Lorica
Directed By Benjamin Carlucci -14 Min.
A Young Priest Is Confronted With The Horrific Abuse Perpetrated By A Mentor.

Trying
Directed By Emily Alpren-7 Min.
She Thought Getting Pregnant Would Be Easy. Then She Started Trying.

What We Don't Say
Directed By Josep M Pérez Ballano -15 Min.
Javier Visits The Morgue To Identify His Father's Body. They Have A Most Meaningful Conversation Of Their Lives.

3:30 pm: Shorts Program 1

Just One Last Thing
Directed By Oswmer Louis -18 Min.
A Man Hires A Contract Killer To Help Him Commit Suicide; However, His Procrastination Is Too Much.

Dear Daughter
Directed By Vanessa Neff, Rob Underhill-7 Min.
A Mother's Tribute To Her Daughter, And A Reflection On How The Love For Her Evolved Throughout The Years.

Darcine's Day
Directed By Aaron Goffman-16 Min.
Darcine, Divorced And Jobless, Strives To Thrive And Survive In Post-Pandemic Los Angeles.

Collage
Directed By Marius Conrotto -10 Min.
Two Museum Staff Observe A Couple Flirting, Or Are They?

Broken
Directed By Patrick Smith-4 Min.
The Broken Will Slowly Decay, Wasting Away Into Shattered Bits.

The Void
Directed By Sashwat Mohta-17 Min.
A Once Brilliant Teenager Seeks Family Support In His Battle With A Crippling Addiction.

Father's Mountains
Directed By Xiaojun Tan -11 Min.
"Beyond The Mountains Is Another Mountain!" Answers The Father To His Curious Son.

Dark Roads
Directed By Jeremiah Kipp-6 Min.
A Couple Are Stranded On A Dark Vacant Country Road. They Are Disparate In Reaction To The Fear And Tension.

Cycle
Directed By Nicole Denise White-9 Min.
A Young Woman Spends The Night At A Laundromat Struggling To Wash Out A Blood Stain After An Abortion.

Camping In Paradise
Directed By Eirik Tveiten-23 Min.
When Their Car Breaks Down, A Couple Must Spend A Night At A Nudist Campsite, Exposing Their Differences.

6:15 pm: Sweet Dreams - Directed By Ena Sendijarevic

Tumultuous Events Triggered By The Death Of A Dutch Sugar Plantation Owner Who Ends Up Leaving His Indian Ocean Island Estate To His Young Illegitimate Son - The Child Of His Indonesian Housemaid. Winner, Nine Film Festival Awards. Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer - 100%

8:45 pm: Shorts Program 2

Jesus Thief
Directed By Kyle Thomas Wyborski -16 Min.
Who Stole The Baby Jesus?

As Easy As Closing Your Eyes
Directed By Parker Croft-22 Min.
A Grieving Mother Battles Her Addiction To A Black-Market Drug That Gives Her Life-Like Dreams Of The Son She Lost.

Stay Strong and Be Quiet
Directed By Anne Loriot -2 Min.
Parents Try To Prepare Their 6-Year-Old Daughter For Her Future.

Rabies
Directed By Alberto Díaz-16 Min.
At The End Of The 19th Century, Filomena ´S Life Is Struck By Poverty, Hardship And Torment.

Revived
Directed By Uriya Hertz -16 Min.
After A Night Out At A Jerusalem Gay Bar, Aaron Finds His Bag Is Missing And The Bartender Helps Him In Many Ways.

Area 52
Directed By Emily Dubovi -4 Min.
The Most Intelligent, Most Talented Scientists In The World Work At Area 51… Then There's Area 52.

An Exam's Journey
Directed By Carl Bengtsson 16 Min.
Follow The Journey An Exam Takes You Through.

Vasomotor Rhinitis
Directed By Mikheil Gabaidze -15 Min.
A Man Sneezes In A Concert Hall And Puts A High-Ranking Official In An Embarrassing Situation. The Bureaucracy Of The Civil Servant Implodes.

Covid Book Club
Directed By David Michael Maurer -14 Min.
To Counter The Pandemic, Dori Starts A Book Club But Wine, Cheese And "Karens" Upset Her Plans.

November 11, 2024

3:30 pm: Shorts Program 2

Jesus Thief
Directed By Kyle Thomas Wyborski -16 Min.
Who Stole The Baby Jesus?

As Easy As Closing Your Eyes
Directed By Parker Croft-22 Min.
A Grieving Mother Battles Her Addiction To A Black-Market Drug That Gives Her Life-Like Dreams Of The Son She Lost.

Stay Strong and Be Quiet
Directed By Anne Loriot -2 Min.
Parents Try To Prepare Their 6-Year-Old Daughter For Her Future.

Rabies
Directed By Alberto Díaz-16 Min.
At The End Of The 19th Century, Filomena ´S Life Is Struck By Poverty, Hardship And Torment.

Revived
Directed By Uriya Hertz -16 Min.
After A Night Out At A Jerusalem Gay Bar, Aaron Finds His Bag Is Missing And The Bartender Helps Him In Many Ways.

Area 52
Directed By Emily Dubovi -4 Min.
The Most Intelligent, Most Talented Scientists In The World Work At Area 51… Then There's Area 52.

An Exam's Journey
Directed By Carl Bengtsson 16 Min.
Follow The Journey An Exam Takes You Through.

Vasomotor Rhinitis
Directed By Mikheil Gabaidze -15 Min.
A Man Sneezes In A Concert Hall And Puts A High-Ranking Official In An Embarrassing Situation. The Bureaucracy Of The Civil Servant Implodes.

Covid Book Club
Directed By David Michael Maurer -14 Min.
To Counter The Pandemic, Dori Starts A Book Club But Wine, Cheese And "Karens" Upset Her Plans.

6:15 pm: Between The Lights - Directed By Michael Groom

This Romantic Drama With A Liberal Dose Of The Supernatural Takes Place Within The Ancient Walls Of York And The Stunning Beauty Of The English Lake District. When Alice, A Skeptical Scientist, Falls For Jay, Reluctant Medium, She's Taken On An Odyssey Of Love, Loss And Discovery That Will Turn Her World Upside Down.

8:45 pm: The Diamond Couple - Directed By Sonja Bertucci

You Are Taken On An Existential Journey Through The Memories Of A Centenarian Couple Morrie And Betty. They Offer A Vision Of Aging That Emphasizes Not Loss, But The Capacity To Renew An Attachment To Life With Each Instant That Passes.

November 12, 2024

3:30 pm: Shorts Program 3

Mehrsalz
Directed By Chris Hirschhaeuser, Karin Schedlbauer -15 Min.
On Their Honeymoon To The Tuscany, She Is Deeply In Love But He Starts To Act Strangely.

The Town Of Dead Dreams
Directed By Manisa Hope -14 Min.
Three Friends Sun, Dew, And Kind Go On A Journey To Find A Town Very Different From Their Own. Hand-Painted Animation.

What To Expect When You're Not Expecting
Directed By Jackson Tropp -16 Min.
Spencer And His Husband Elliot Run Into Multiple Roadblocks In Their Journey Toward Becoming Daddies.

Shakespeare For All Ages
Directed By Hannes Rall -2.5 Min.
Can You Name All The Plays In This Animated Short?

Boulour
Directed By Helia Behrooz-16 Min.
Nineteen-Year-Old Boulour Must Escape From The Cruel Taliban Regime In Afghanistan. Only One Item Is Important To Bring - Her Ancestral Rabab Musical Instrument.

Lorica
Directed By Benjamin Carlucci -14 Min.
A Young Priest Is Confronted With The Horrific Abuse Perpetrated By A Mentor.

Trying
Directed By Emily Alpren-7 Min.
She Thought Getting Pregnant Would Be Easy. Then She Started Trying.

What We Don't Say
Directed By Josep M Pérez Ballano -15 Min.
Javier Visits The Morgue To Identify His Father's Body. They Have A Most Meaningful Conversation Of Their Lives.

6:15 pm: Oliver Sacks: His Own Life - Directed By Ric Burns

Renowned Neurologist And Literary Giant Oliver Sacks Is Posthumously Celebrated In This Profound, Highly Engaging, Deeply Personal Memoir. He Shares Intimate Details Of His Battles With Drug Addiction, Homophobia, And A Medical Establishment That Accepted His Work Only Decades After The Fact. Sacks Was A Fearless Explorer Of Unknown Mental Worlds Who Helped Redefine Our Understanding Of The Brain And Mind, The Diversity Of Human Experience, And Our Shared Humanity. Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer - 100%

8:45 pm: Homeschooled - Directed By Niki Koss

In This Heartwarming Documentary, A Group Of Homeschooled Students Prepare For Their First Dance - The Prom. They Speak Plainly About The Benefits And Drawbacks Of Homeschooling And Dispel The Many Misconceptions Of Homeschooled Kids.

November 13, 2024

3:30 pm: Chicken For Linda! (Linda Veut Du Poulet) - Directed By Sébastien Laudenbach, Chiara Malta

A Loving Mom, Paulette, Who Feels Guilty After Unfairly Punishing Her Daughter Linda And Would Do Anything To Make It Up To Her. She Sets Off To Make Chicken With Peppers, Even Though She Doesn't Know How To Cook. Animated In French With English Subtitles. Winner, 8 Film Festival Awards. Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer - 100%

6:15 pm: The Teacher Who Promised The Sea - Directed By Patricia Font

The Buried Memories Of The Spanish Civil War Become Unearthed As A Woman Searches For The Remains Of Her Grandfather's Father And Discovers The Story Of An Idealistic Young Teacher From Tarragona. He Transformed The Austere, Religious One-Room Classroom And The Uneducated, Incommunicative Students Into A Vital Group Of Inquisitive Children. Winner, Audience Award, Dc International Film Festival.

8:45 pm: The Diamond Couple - Directed By Sonja Bertucci

You Are Taken On An Existential Journey Through The Memories Of A Centenarian Couple Morrie And Betty. They Offer A Vision Of Aging That Emphasizes Not Loss, But The Capacity To Renew An Attachment To Life With Each Instant That Passes.

November 14, 2024

3:30 pm: Short Documentary Films

My Father's Name
Directed By Susanna Styron-20 Minutes.
Years After Lee Ed Frazier's Death, His Daughter, Jan, Made A Shocking Discovery: As A Young Man Her Father Had Participated In A Lynching. As She Attempts To Uncover The Truth About What Happened, Jan Learns That This Specific Lynching Was Iconic In American History.

Birdfeeder
Directed By Daniel Feighery-11.5 Minutes.
This Documentary Is Not Just About Birds; It's A Visual And Emotional Exploration Of The Human Connection To The Urban Wild, The Challenges Faced In A Time Of Hardship, And The Profound Impact Of The Natural World On The Human Soul.

It's For You: Ephemeral Art and The Death Of The Public Phone
Directed By Ryan Steven Green-29 Minutes.
A Disparate Group Of Los Angeles Street Artists Give New Life To The Dwindling Remnants Of The City's Public Payphones By Repurposing Them As Canvases For Unique Expressions Of A Moment In Time.

Bobby Up The Block
Directed By Phil Garrison-17 Minutes
Everybody Has A Story. Bobby Just Happens To Have Lots Of Them!

A Man Who Knits
Directed By Ian Powell-6 Minutes.
Avid Male Knitting Enthusiast Gene Throwe Keeps The Spirit Of His Late Grandmother Alive, Overcoming Gender Stereotypes And Finding Purpose And Deep Connection Within The Seemingly Mundane Practice Of Needlework.

Magic John: America's Pharoah
Directed By Heath Daniels-16 Minutes.
As A Black Child Growing Up In Segregated Alabama In 1964, Sammy Lee Hendrix Was Overwhelmed With Emotion When He Saw Sidney Poitier Win An Academy Award For Lilies Of The Field. The Film Inspired Him To Dream Of Becoming A Hollywood Filmmaker. Thirty-Five Years Of Living On The Streets Of Los Angeles Has Not Deterred Sammy's Dream.

Those Next To Us
Directed By Bernhard Hetzenauer-30 Minutes.
In Breathtaking Words, The Mexican Germán López Rosales Describes His Experiences Of A Human Smuggling Operation From The Us Border Town Of Laredo To San Antonio, Texas. Locked Up Inside The Cargo Area Of A Tractor-Trailer, 10 Of The 39 Migrants Died That Day Due To The Intense Heat And Lack Of Water.

6:15 pm: Sweet Dreams - Directed by Ena Sendijarevic

Tumultuous events triggered by the death of a Dutch sugar plantation owner who ends up leaving his Indian Ocean island estate to his young illegitimate son - the child of his Indonesian housemaid. Winner, nine film festival awards. Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer - 100%

Date: November 7 - 14, 2024

Location: Studio C Theater,

1999 Central Park Dr,

Okemos, MI 48864

Click here for more information