“Alien Extravaganza” (shorts program)
Monday, June 23, 3:30pm, Vogue Theatre
Update: This program will be available in the Digital Screening Room, June 23 through June 30, 2025, anywhere in the United States.
Frameline program description: A queer, colourful, experimental galaxy of new filmmaking. Join us for a voyage into alien aesthetics, cosmic glamour, genderfluid and pluralistic futures. Curated by Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian (Doppelgängers³, Frameline48) in partnership with the London Short Film Festival.
- Arctic Diva 👏, dir. Federico Barni, 2025, UK, 17 min., 🌎 North American premiere
- Entre Marte y la Terra (Between Mars and Earth) 👎, dir. Diego Marzuil, 2023, Argentina, 11 min., in Spanish, 🌎 North American premiere
- Br00dm0ther’s e-Fable 👎, dir. Zijing Zhao, 2024, UK, 8 min., 🌎 North American premiere
- The Burden 💖, dir. Tish Arana, 2023, USA, 15 min., in English and Japanese
- But wait… there’s more! 🥱🙄, dir. Kialy Tihngang, 2023, UK, 3 min., 🇺🇸 U.S. premiere
- The Last Story on Earth 🙂, dir. Aaron Immediato, 2024, USA, 18 min.
- PRIMALDIAL MAGMA _ ZYGMUTROPHOOZE ❓, dir. Mirrored Fatality, 2024, USA, 7 min.
- REDMAN 🙄, dir. Edith Morris, 2025, UK, 1 min., 🇺🇳 International premiere
- Space Plug 👎, dir. Marcus Anthony Thomas, 2023, UK, 14 min., no dialogue
Arctic Diva 👏, dir. Federico Barni, 2025, UK, 17 min., 🌎 North American premiere
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| Arctic Diva |
Frameline blurb: An up-and-coming experimental musician is invited to perform at a remote arctic research outpost for the resident scientists, an unwelcoming world which tests her resolve but expands her audience beyond the atmosphere.
A musician (never mentioned by name) is invited by the Arts in Extreme Environments Programme to perform at a remote Arctic research station. Unfortunately, almost all of the staff (including the person who invited the artist) are out sick, leaving her alone with one of the scientists (and later a second).
She makes the best of it when she learns that they occasionally use their large dish antenna to send signals off into space, so she performs a concert for the universe.
It’s moody and atmospheric, capturing the isolation of being in a very small crew cut off from the rest of humanity (although I suspect the real research station would be much less spacious). Well done, highly recommended.
• IMDb • trailer • official website •
Entre Marte y la Terra (Between Mars and Earth) 👎, dir. Diego Marzuil, 2023, Argentina, 11 min., in Spanish, 🌎 North American premiere
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| Between Mars and Earth |
Frameline blurb: During the Christmas holidays, a mysterious extra-terrestrial force bursts into the life of a suburban couple on the brink of divorce. However, neither of them notices this otherworldly presence, so this entity will just have to live with them in their grey, sad, and lifeless home, watching their relationship finally disintegrate.
A space alien gets depressed hanging out with a human husband and wife whose relationship is crumbling. There is no dialogue except the TV playing in the background (in Spanish without subtitles), but there isn’t really much to talk about, either. It’s a remarkably boring film, and also completely devoid of any LGBTQ+ content. Not recommended.
• (not on IMDb) • trailer • official website •
Br00dm0ther’s e-Fable 👎, dir. Zijing Zhao, 2024, UK, 8 min., Broodmother's e-Fable
🌎 North American premiere
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| Br00dm0ther’s e-Fable |
Frameline blurb: Br00dm0ther's e-Fable is a short film that combines simulation and performance. The film is a deconstruction and reimagining of the female monster character Broodmother in video games. The Broodmother is a new species of fully digitised, slimy spider-like creature with the ability to devour, vomit, scream and breed demons. In this work, the Broodmother transforms into a powerful avatar that tells a scientific myth about life, nurture, ecology, and technology. Combining a long history of research into mythological narratives and ecology, the artist reinterprets the story of the Broodmother in a compelling visual language that seeks to evoke the power of the female monster and challenge the violence of emerging media technologies against the female body.
“You have come, my child. I wish to share with you a tale.” A strange non-player character, seemingly somewhat spider-like, intones some wisdom for the player in a voice that evokes outer spaaaaace, with ambient music for a background. The Broodmother goes on at great length about not much.
I don’t play the sorts of games that feature a “broodmother,” so I’m certainly missing a lot of the context, but I didn’t get any of it and wasn’t drawn to find out more. The animation style is also rather annoying, featuring repeated cycles of sometimes jerky movements as the voice drones on and on. Add to that the fact that the subtitles are just plain white text, which doesn’t work so well when you have a lot of light areas in the image. For crying out loud, there is no excuse for crappy subtitles! (Best is yellow text with a black outline.) But in any case, it all adds up to a resounding Not Recommended.
• IMDb (director) • trailer • official website • watch it on vimeo •
The Burden 💖, dir. Tish Arana, 2023, USA, 15 min., in English and Japanese
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| The Burden |
Frameline blurb: When culture vultures apply for citizenship on a new planet founded by Black people, three judges must decide how to handle folks who want everything but the burden.
The science-fiction backstory provides a convenient mechanism to look from the outside at the racism still present in a fictional future, as a way to sneak up on looking at the very real racism still very much a part of our present day, including casual racism from “well-meaning allies.” It leaves the audience with the uncomfortable question, would you pass the test? Definitely a must see.
• IMDb • trailer • official website •
But wait… there’s more! 🥱🙄, dir. Kialy Tihngang, 2023, UK, 3 min., 🇺🇸 U.S. premiere
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But wait… there’s more |
Frameline blurb: This is a short excerpt from Kialy Tihngang's larger art piece Lean Six Sigma (2023), which looks at opulence as a display of oligarchic overindulgence from a privileged few, distorting and multiplying the shapes of extractive industrial machinery, and the interior aesthetics of dictators’ homes and private jets.
Uh, yeahhhhh. We see the pitch person hawking various things that aren’t at all clear as to function or purpose, with the occasional interjection of “But wait — there’s more!” Add to that the fact that the sound mixing was atrocious: the music drowns out the voice, making it very difficult to figure out what she’s saying about these mystery products.
Boring and annoying. Not recommended.
• IMDb (director) • trailer • official website (includes excerpt from the short film, as well as information about the broader project) •
The Last Story on Earth 🙂, dir. Aaron Immediato, 2024, USA, 18 min.
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| The Last Story on Earth |
Frameline blurb: Facing angry protesters, a determined drag queen does her best to finish a fairy tale reading at the local library — but an alien invasion puts her skills to extraordinary new tests.
What if the local library had Drag Queen Story Hour, complete with right-wing nutjobs protesting outside, but an armada of alien spaceships showed up, revering Lady Pixie Dust and her magical storytelling abilities? Can drag queens save all of humanity from the alien invaders?
The setup went reasonably well, but when the aliens show up, the story gets bogged down and loses steam. It felt like it had unrealized potential. Recommended.
• IMDb • trailer • official website •
PRIMALDIAL MAGMA _ ZYGMUTROPHOOZE ❓, dir. Mirrored Fatality, 2024, USA, 7 min.
(🙈 This film was not available for advance screening.)
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| Primaldial Magma |
Frameline blurb: Nonlinear disentanglement invocation channeling the hybridity of animals + cyborgs + transhumans.
I didn’t get to see this one, but the description sounds pretty unappealing. I’m not a big fan of “nonlinear” films.
• IMDb (director) • trailer • official website •
REDMAN 🙄, dir. Edith Morris, 2025, UK, 1 min., 🇺🇳 International premiere
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Red Man |
Frameline blurb: Edith Morris went to Lofoten, Norway, and captured this giant red man on super 8.
Apparently there’s some point to this, but I don’t see it, and I certainly don’t see anything remotely LGBTQ. It’s a waste of a minute of your life that you could’ve spent picking lint out of your navel. Not recommended.
• IMDb (director?) • trailer • official website •
Space Plug 👎, dir. Marcus Anthony Thomas, 2023, UK, 14 min., no dialogue
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| Space Plug |
Frameline blurb: In the middle of space, a baby human is raised in a blank white room with everything that they need but nothing they want.
Space aliens of some description are transporting a single human baby to somewhere, presumably for some reason. Why a baby? Why (as far as we know) only one? Where are they going and why? Why is this film in an LGBTQ+ film festival?
Stay tuned, and none of your questions will be answered!!
Heartily not recommended, or as the main character might say, “Rrrrr! Uhhhhh, mmmmm, uhhhhh.”
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