“Meet Me at the Crossroads” (shorts program)
Tuesday, June 23, 2026, 2:00 PM, Roxie
- ๐คฉ Black Shawl (Czarna chusta), dir. Kamila Boichenko, 2025, Poland/Ukraine, 26 min., in Polish and Ukrainian ๐ North American premiere
- ❓ But Still, We Move,
dir. Theo Angel, 2026, UK, 13 min.
๐ World premiere
(This film was not available for advance review) - ๐ I Am the Prize, dir. Sai Karan Talwar, 2026, UK, 19 min. ๐บ๐ณ International premiere
- ๐ Sweat (Mแป Hรดi), dir. Edward Nguyen, 2025, USA/Vietnam, 15 min., in Vietnamese ๐ Bay Area premiere
- ๐คฉ Wildflowers (Flores de Verรฃo), dir. Akira Kamiki, 2026, Brazil, 14 min., in Portuguese ๐ World premiere
- ๐คฉ Yellow Bucket, dir. Simon Brooke, 2025, UK, 16 min. ๐บ๐ธ U.S. premiere
(The shorts may be screened in a different order than listed here)
๐คฉ Black Shawl (Czarna chusta), dir. Kamila Boichenko, 2025, Poland/Ukraine, 26 min., in Polish and Ukrainian ๐ North American premiere
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| Black Shawl (Czarna chusta) |
Frameline blurb: Lesya and her daughter Anya are living in a refugee camp, grappling with the torment of blackmail related to the disappearance of Lesya’s husband, who went missing during the war a year ago. In the camp, Lesya reconnects with her old friend Maria, a widow who, like Lesya, is haunted by the loss of a loved one. As their bond deepens, the women find solace in each other’s shared grief, however, Anya begins to suspect that her mother’s relationship with Maria is evolving into something more than just a friendship.
Although they find moments of light and connection, in a refugee camp the harsh reality of the world is never far removed. Lesya worries about her husband, believing the blackmail is a scam but frightened to test that belief. She has her daughter Anya with her, and meets a childhood friend Maria, which makes things much more complicated, especially with Lesya and Anya sharing a dorm room with bunk beds.
Dark and brooding, afraid to connect with Maria but needing some human contact, Lesya makes her way through a world that makes no sense.
Deeply moving, a voice the world needs to hear. Must see.
• IMDb: director • Official website • Filmmaker • Instagram: @KmiwaFilms • Facebook • preview • other •
❓ But Still, We Move, dir. Theo Angel, 2026, UK, 13 min. ๐ World premiere
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| But Still, We Move |
Frameline blurb: When Tendai’s housemate moves out, they find themselves facing access challenges alone for the first time. As they navigate their independence, they are hounded by the image of the “perfect wheelchair user” and how they feel they fail to match up to it, until they decide to take action and free themselves from the narrative.
(This film was not available for advance review.)
• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Instagram • Facebook • preview • other •
๐ I Am the Prize, dir. Sai Karan Talwar, 2026, UK, 19 min. ๐บ๐ณ International premiere
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| I Am the Prize |
Frameline blurb: A polarizing self-help figure (Russell Tovey) finds his carefully constructed identity begin to unravel during the height of a lecture tour.
Anthony Selvon gives seminars about how to succeed with women (or getting a job, but the desire for women is what fills the seats), figuring out how to bypass the women’s resistance and get her to say yes. Parts of his method sound fairly reasonable: affirming to yourself that you are worthy of meeting someone, for example. He’s not nearly the creep of an Andrew Tate, but his techniques do begin to sound like post-hypnotic suggestions and other morally questionable avenues.
Selvon has agreed to do a TV interview, which seems to be going well, but begins to venture into not only the controversial aspects of his seminars, but also a recent personal mishap. You can feel Selvon’s world closing in on him as the interviewer gets into tougher and tougher questions. Highly recommended.
• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Instagram • Facebook • preview • other •
๐ Sweat (Mแป Hรดi), dir. Edward Nguyen, 2025, USA/Vietnam, 15 min., in Vietnamese ๐ Bay Area premiere
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| Sweat (Mแป Hรดi) |
Frameline blurb: A farm worker prepares to illegally cross the border of rural Vietnam in search of refuge abroad in this ethereal drama, one of the recipients of this year's Colin Higgins Youth Filmmaker grants.
Two young men are talking the night before one of them is planning to cross the border. He feels that the things that kept him there are gone and he needs to go make a home in a new place. They spend their last few hours together on the beach, talking and being affectionate but not sexual. It’s a melancholy tale, poignant in the sense of loss, as one man feels he cannot stay, but the other feels he cannot leave. Highly recommended.
• IMDb (no listing found) • Official website • Filmmaker • Instagram • Facebook • preview • other • Mo Hoi •
๐คฉ Wildflowers (Flores de Verรฃo), dir. Akira Kamiki, 2026, Brazil, 14 min., in Portuguese ๐ World premiere
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| Wildflowers (Flores de Verรฃo) |
Frameline blurb: At almost 40, Daniel is still figuring out how to raise his 12-year-old son, Lucas, alone after the loss of his wife. When he stumbles upon a love letter Lucas has written to a boy from school, his clumsy attempt to “handle” the situation exposes the gap between his well-meaning intentions and the outdated views he still carries. Yet, in the silence that follows, Daniel is forced to confront an uncomfortable truth: maybe it’s not only Lucas who needs to grow up, but himself.
Sweet, well done, with great performances from both actors, Wildflowers has humor and heart, with some things to ponder. You feel Lucas trying to navigate the emotional minefield of adolescence, and Daniel struggling, in the absence of his wife, to find the balance between supporting, protecting, and accepting his son. It’s a beautiful film about adolescence and parenting adolescents. Must see.
• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Instagram • Facebook • preview • other • Flores de Verao •
๐คฉ Yellow Bucket, dir. Simon Brooke, 2025, UK, 16 min. ๐บ๐ธ U.S. premiere
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| Yellow Bucket |
Frameline blurb: After his family sees a news report about the cause of homosexuality, Connor, a gay teenage boy, fears his apparently supportive parents will try to assure that his younger brother doesn’t grow up gay.
Odd detail: the reporter on the television is named “Riz Khan”, the name of a well-known present-day British journalist who has had shows on BBC, CNN, and Al Jazeera English. However, the fictional Riz Khan is played by an actor, not the real Riz Khan.
Yellow Bucket is a light-hearted and fun look at some very serious issues around accepting yourself, your parents, and your children, with some thought-provoking twists. Very well done, must see. Put this one on your “bucket list” of whatever color.
• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Instagram • Facebook • preview • other •
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