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UFO (Untitled Filmmaker Org) announced today the three new filmmakers comprising its 2025 Short Film Lab cohort. Selected filmmakers Daisy Friedman, Carin Leong (a Filmmaker 2025 25 New Face), and Emilio Subía will begin the Lab experience this month as they develop new scripted (Friedman and Subía) and nonfiction (Leong) projects. Filmmakers Emily May Jampel, Arielle Knight, and Samuel Wright Smith from the second Short Film Lab cohort announced last spring will continue in the program through December to develop their second projects engaging scripted narrative, hybrid nonfiction, and animation, in keeping with the Lab’s staggered enrollment model. The UFO […]

The post UFO Announces Spring, 2025 Short Film Lab Cohort first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

UFO (Untitled Filmmaker Org) announced today the three new filmmakers comprising its 2025 Short Film Lab cohort. Selected filmmakers Daisy Friedman, Carin Leong (a Filmmaker 2025 25 New Face), and Emilio Subía will begin the Lab experience this month as they develop new scripted (Friedman and Subía) and nonfiction (Leong) projects. Filmmakers Emily May Jampel, Arielle Knight, and Samuel Wright Smith from the second Short Film Lab cohort announced last spring will continue in the program through December to develop their second projects engaging scripted narrative, hybrid nonfiction, and animation, in keeping with the Lab’s staggered enrollment model. The UFO […]

The post UFO Announces Spring, 2025 Short Film Lab Cohort first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

This piece was originally posted in 2022. We have updated the “Where to Watch” section for each film.

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Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. To celebrate, we got to thinking about some of our favorite Indies from the Hispanic world. These stories are narrative and documentary, drama and comedy, and are both harrowing and heartfelt. A little of everything, and plenty to add to your watchlist.

Prayers For The Stolen (2021)

Writer/Director: Tatiana Huezo

Producers: Nicolás Celis, Jim Stark

Starring: Guillermo Villegas, Mayra Batalla, Eileen Yañez, Alejandra Camacho

Synopsis: In a solitary town nestled in the Mexican mountains, the girls wear boyish haircuts and have hiding places underground. Ana and her two best friends take over the houses of those who have fled,...

UFO (Untitled Filmmaker Org) announced today the three filmmakers who have been selected for the latest edition of its Short Film Lab. At the Lab, which begins this month, Emily May Jampel, Arielle Knight, and Samuel Wright Smith will develop new scripted, documentary, and animated nonfiction projects, respectively. As announced in a press release, filmmakers Tahiel Jimenez Medina, Brydie O’Connor, Bren Wyona, and Kevin Xian Ming Yu from the inaugural cohort will continue in the program through December to develop new projects across nonfiction and scripted approaches, as part of the Lab’s staggered enrollment model. From the press release: The […]

The post UFO (Untitled Filmmaker Org) Announces Spring 2024 Short Film Lab Cohort first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

UFO (Untitled Filmmaker Org) announced today the three filmmakers who have been selected for the latest edition of its Short Film Lab. At the Lab, which begins this month, Emily May Jampel, Arielle Knight, and Samuel Wright Smith will develop new scripted, documentary, and animated nonfiction projects, respectively. As announced in a press release, filmmakers Tahiel Jimenez Medina, Brydie O’Connor, Bren Wyona, and Kevin Xian Ming Yu from the inaugural cohort will continue in the program through December to develop new projects across nonfiction and scripted approaches, as part of the Lab’s staggered enrollment model. From the press release: The […]

The post UFO (Untitled Filmmaker Org) Announces Spring 2024 Short Film Lab Cohort first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Leading New York City LGBTQ+ film festival NewFest has unveiled its 2023 lineup featuring a slew of highly anticipated fall releases for films and TV.

The festival, which runs October 12 to 22 in-person and virtually until October 24, boasts over 130 films from 26 countries. The New York premiere of Netflix’s historical film “Rustin” will open the 35th edition of the festival, with Andrew Haigh’s “All of Us Strangers” closing out the lineup. The U.S. Centerpiece film is confirmed to be “Nyad,” featuring the true story of Diana Nyad who swam from Cuba to Florida. The festival’s International Centerpiece film is the New York City premiere of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Monster,” which won Best Screenplay and the Queer Palm at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

“May December” director Todd Haynes will receive the 2023 NewFest Queer Visionary Award on October 19, followed by a special screening of the latest drama starring Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman,...

Netflix and NewFest, New York’s leading LGBTQ film and media organization, have announced the four recipients of its second-ever New Voices Filmmaker Grant.

Terrance Daye, Drew de Pinto, Emily May Jampel and Laquan Lewis are among this year’s cohort who will receive $25,000 in grant support for professional development and creating new work. The filmmakers will also have access to industry events and a mentorship track facilitated by NewFest, which will assist them with their network-building.

“Now, more than ever, it is essential to amplify LGBTQ voices, so we were incredibly excited by the volume and strength of applications received,” David Hatkoff, NewFest executive director, said. “We saw in this program’s first year that it has the power to change careers and lives, and can’t wait to see how the 2023 recipients utilize the resources and guided mentorships to make an impact in the industry. We continue to...

Emily May Jampel is a filmmaker from Oʻahu, Hawai'i, based in New York City. “Lucky Fish” is her debut short, and has already played at festivals including Palm Springs International Film Festival, Champs-Élysées, Outfest L.A., Frameline, Inside Out and Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia.

“Lucky Fish” is screening at Busan International Short Film Festival

The movie begins inside a Chinese restaurant where Maggie, an Asian-American girl who is about to go to college, is “suffering” through her family's condescension, cliched-thinking and intrusiveness, as her younger sister has caught her looking at another Asian-American girl, across their table. Frustrated, Maggie goes to the bathroom, where she meets the aforementioned, Celene, with the two eventually moving to the upper floor of the restaurant, where an impressive fish tank is lying. Gradually, word by word, agreement by agreement, the two come closer.

Within the 8 minutes of the short's duration, Emily May Jampel...

Click here to read the full article.

LGBTQ+ love and relationships are at the heart of Frameline Voices’ programming for 2023.

How Not to Date While Trans, Chaac + Yum, Valentine, Grindr Baby and Lucky Fish have been chosen as the five shorts for this year’s iteration of the shorts program, Frameline’s executive director James Woolley and director of programming Allegra Madsen announced Tuesday.

This program of romantic stories from LGBTQ+ creators is set to premiere weekly beginning Feb. 3 and running through Feb. 24. Selections, beginning with How Not to Date While Trans, will air and can be streamed on Here TV, America’s first LGBTQ+ premium subscription TV and streaming service. They can also be viewed through Frameline’s YouTube, Instagram and Facebook social channels.

“Supporting the careers of emerging LGBTQ+ filmmakers and creating a space for nuanced queer narratives in the film industry is deeply aligned with Frameline’s...

Exclusive: Inside Out, the largest promoter and distributor of 2S (2 spirit) LGBTQ+ content in Canada, revealed thirteen recipients for its annual Re:Focus Fund.

The Fund was initially launched in 2018 and started as a travel grant program recognizing that trans, non-binary and women filmmakers were underrepresented in international festival attendance. The of the Re: Focus Fund was to address industry inequities through providing direct financial support to women, non-binary, and/or trans filmmakers telling 2Slgbtq+ stories.

“Through our annual Re:Focus Fund post-production grants, we are directing resources to address historic inequities for women, trans, and Qpoc filmmakers”, adds Inside Out’s Executive Director, Lauren Howes. “Now, more than ever, it is important to continue our work of breaking down access barriers and offering support to our global community of creatives, to amplify their voices and celebrate the diverse range of queer and trans-positive stories on our screens.”

This year’s selections...