Director: Jon Stout
PG-13
SHORTS PROGRAM 17-A
They saw something they weren’t supposed to see.
These accounts of people’s chilling encounters with malevolent, supernatural forces left a permanent stain on their lives. Join these survivors as they recount terrifying incidents that reveal the dark forces swirling beneath our daily lives.
Try as you may, the darkness can't be wiped away.
IFS PREMIERE
NOON
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Jen Plante Johnson
PG-13
SHORTS PROGRAM 17-A
This film is a sharp, tender comedy about a recently separated couple forced back into each other’s orbit for one last shared mission: saving a very sick rescue cat.
As they scour the empty house in search of the cat, the emotional leftovers of their relationship bubble up. Misses Pickles balances laugh-out-loud moments with genuine heart. It’s a story about second chances—whether you want them or not—and the surprising ways a tiny creature can stir up big feelings.
IFS PREMIERE
NOON
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Abby Royce
PG
SHORTS PROGRAM 17-A
What about the small, fleeting moments of connection that can be transformative?
This film is about one of those nights—a single, electric encounter between two strangers that challenges what they thought they knew about themselves.
Purple Sky isn’t just a queer story—it’s a human story that asks: What do we owe to ourselves versus the people we love? How does financial stability shape romantic choices? And when an alluring stranger makes one question an existing long-term relationship, …what do we do?
IFS PREMIERE
NOON
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Alex Z. Avila
G Mexico
FILM PROGRAM 17-B
A 10-year-old boy and his mom spend a day working on his grandfather’s apricot farm.
As a first-generation Mexican-American, his mom insists he embrace the family tradition and learn the value of hard work. Eager to prove himself, the boy quickly becomes discouraged when he sees how much faster everyone else is working. He scrambles to keep up, trying different ways to speed up the process.
As frustration builds, he learns that asking for help can be its own kind of strength, and finds an unexpected connection with his grandfather.
L.A. PREMIERE
1:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Christine Harrison Chen
PG
FILM PROGRAM 17-B
At a summer pool party, a young woman overwhelmed by insecurity is challenged by an unlikely source who urges her to embrace her true voice.
IFS PREMIERE
1:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Nichole Sakura
PG
FILM PROGRAM 17-B
A seemingly independent woman moves her ailing parents into her home and finds herself back in the emotional constraints of her childhood.
WORLD PREMIERE
1:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Mark Steger
PG
FILM PROGRAM 17-B
This film is an experimental odyssey that witnesses an inter-dimensional being land in the desert and gather specimens for an unknown purpose. The visitor’s search leads to an enchanted cave where they find they’re not alone. The visitor eats something they shouldn’t, which sparks a bizarre metamorphosis.
WORLD PREMIERE
1:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Laura Somers
G
FILM PROGRAM 17-B
Inspired by a real story set in a 1947 Texas town, this film follows Frankie Groves, a determined teenage girl, and Chris Johnson, a resilient Native American football coach who challenges societal norms by allowing Frankie to join the high school football team.
As Frankie and Coach Johnson navigate internal strife, discrimination and a fight for respect, “Tough Enough” redefines conventional narratives and highlights allyship, strength and courage, leaving an indelible mark on a small town's history.
WORLD PREMIERE
1:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Vai Petersen & Steve Petersen
PG
HORROR / DRAMA FILMS 17-C
After a deadly car crash leaves young Melodie deaf, she’s home alone when two masked intruders break in, searching for something her father stole. But as they close in, a mysterious voice speaks through her hearing aid—guiding her through the night in a fight for survival.
IFS PREMIERE
2:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Jonathan Curtiss
PG
HORROR / DRAMA FILMS 17-C
This powerful, visually immersive parable follows a young boy cursed with fearlessness.
As a baby, his father stripped fear from him through a ritual—unaware of the cost. Years later, that same ritual threatens his father’s life. To undo it, the boy must journey into a haunted land, confront an ancient fear spirit, and experience fear for the very first time.
Set against the rich landscapes and folklore of Uganda, the film explores what happens when the instinct meant to protect us is taken away. What begins as a supernatural quest becomes a deeply human exploration of courage, identity, and growth.
IFS PREMIERE
2:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Joshua Guesford
R
HORROR / DRAMA FILMS 17-C
Clem and Ray pass the time before a robbery arguing about superhero movies, the working class, and whether God has ever really paid attention.
The two men reveal themselves to be something more complicated than criminals, philosophers of the gutter, stumbling toward a kind of crooked grace. When they finally pull their masks on and step into the night, the only witness to their damnation is a plastic savior, nodding along like it always knew.
It's a story about two men who stopped believing in miracles a long time ago, setting out to steal one anyway.
WORLD PREMIERE
2:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Lee Dubin
R
HORROR / DRAMA FILMS 17-C
Ashley is your regular pink-loving bimbo-core girly girl, with an absolutely relentless hunger for the flesh and blood of men. She is always on the hunt for the most irritating boys she can find, because there is just something about their insecure hyper-masculinity that makes their flesh taste so good when served with some light seasoning and a side of gluten-free pasta.
Now, for the first time literally EVER, Ashley has a hard time luring in the perfect target…
This comedic horror film pays homage to origins of the camp sub-genre. This is a film that supports women’s wrongs more than women’s rights.
WEST COAST PREMIERE
2:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Lorin Morgan-Richards
PG
SCI-FI / DRAMA FILMS 17-D
This dramatic film follows two unlikely souls bound by despair and hope.
Holly Dew, a quiet guardian living inside the letter "D" of the iconic Movieland sign, dedicates her life to saving dreamers from leaping into oblivion and Walter Melon, a washed-up actor with a name as ironic as his fate, becomes her most fragile rescue during a storm that mirrors his turmoil.
A haunting meditation on fame, failure, and redemption, this film asks what does it mean to truly be seen? Written, animated and produced by Lorin Morgan-Richards. Score by Textbook and Joshua Kovarik.
IFS PREMIERE
3:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Mary Rachel Gardner
PG
SCI-FI / DRAMA FILMS 17-D
A reclusive scientist's life is upended when his estranged niece arrives to enlist his aid in avenging her father's murder. As they search mirror-space for the man responsible,unseen and sinister forces work to find them, stop them, …and end them.
L.A. PREMIERE
3:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Tamara Hernandez
PG
SCI-FI / DRAMA FILMS 17-D
This dark sci-fi coming-of-age story follows a troubled teenage girl who discovers a strange, greenish-blue growth on her shoulder at a high school party…
What begins as an embarrassing secret soon unravels into a terrifying revelation: she is an alien hybrid, the product of a covert extraterrestrial breeding program. As her powers awaken, she is forced to confront not only her fractured sense of identity but the chilling reason she’s always felt like she didn’t belong.
WEST COAST PREMIERE
3:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Sergio Lopez
PG-13
SCI-FI / DRAMA FILMS 17-D
Diego enters the mind of his comatose girlfriend Andrea and faces wild characters and painful memories as he attempts to wake her before she is taken off life support. Not only does he face Andrea’s memories but also the weight of how he has failed their relationship through manifestations created by her mind.
Love can be scary and hard, …but it is still worth fighting for.
WORLD PREMIERE
3:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
4:00pm - 7:45pm
Our Sunday Filmmaker Reception is the fourth in our series of five ticketed Festival Party Events that are being held this season, and is the last of our only two "all-ages" party events.
Hang out with festival attendees in a very casual setting and get to meet some of your favorite festival filmmakers at this social reception event taking place from 4:00pm to 7:45pm on Sunday, May 17th at a venue to be announced.
Purchase your Festival Party Ticket Package today to ensure that you are able to attend all of this year's Festival Parties and Events.
Party Tickets & All Party Passes are available online and at the box office - while supplies last. Online tickets must be redeemed at the IFS/ L.A. Film Fest Hospitality Box Office (located in the lobby of Regal Cinemas / L.A. Live) to exchange for Festival Party Entry Passes.
Festival Party & Reception Events
Sunday Reception Social
Line at 3:45pm
Doors at 4:00pm
All Ages
4:00pm - 7:45pm
May 17th L.A. LIVE Venue - To Be Announced
Director: Angela Treviño
PG-13
COMEDY & DRAMA FILMS 17-E
After unlocking his phone as they get ready for bed, a woman discovers her boyfriend's double identity after she catches him in a lie.
WORLD PREMIERE
4:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Joanna Bronson
PG-13
COMEDY & DRAMA FILMS 17-E
Joanna's world remains a flow of imagined animations that take life over her reality.
After decades of trudging a career focused path, she has finally reached a dream milestone: a life changing gift for her spirited, self sacrificing, and constantly working mom, Helena. Yet, when the long-awaited moment arrives, a tug-of-war between their perspectives erupts. Sometimes dreams get lost in translation.
WORLD PREMIERE
4:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Gregory Kasunich
PG-13
COMEDY & DRAMA FILMS 17-E
Life is hard. Puppets are soft. A feel-good movie about a puppet that kills himself.
This is a darkly whimsical film that follows Otis, a beloved puppet on a long-running children's show, as he faces an existential crisis just before the series’ milestone 300th episode.
Set against the vibrant chaos of a TV studio and the surreal backdrop of a puppeteer’s inner world, the story explores themes of identity, burnout, and the creative struggle, blurring the line between performer and creator in (hopefully) poignant and unexpectedly funny ways.
IFS PREMIERE
4:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Jessica Lu
PG
COMEDY & DRAMA FILMS 17-E
Grieving the loss of her mother, a woman journeys to Taiwan with her young daughter to recreate a photograph from her childhood—a veiled attempt to preserve her cultural heritage.
Deeply personal in its making, Where Are You, LaoLao? unfolds as a love poem to the director's mother Lili Lu, affectionately remembered as "LaoLao," the Mandarin word for maternal grandmother.
This film captures intimate moments of grief, uncertainty, and hope while lingering on the question: how do we honor where we come from while learning to live without it?
IFS PREMIERE
4:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Jeff Hilliard
PG-13
COMEDY PROGRAM 17-F
Love Myself is an original song and official music video for the feature film Tim Travers and the Time Traveler's Paradox.
IFS PREMIERE
5:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Joy Heller
R
COMEDY PROGRAM 17-F
This comedic film is a satire about stereotypical Southern California characters.
IFS PREMIERE
5:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Sean Dube
R
COMEDY PROGRAM 17-F
This dark romantic comedy is about the disastrous, deeply sincere lengths people are willing to go to for love.
On the morning of her wedding, Dani returns home bleeding from a botched robbery meant to fund her future. As she tries to hide the true nature of the attempt from both her co-conspiring maid of honor and her out-of-the-loop groom-to-be, panic escalates, secrets unravel, and every bad decision compounds the next as the clock ticks toward "I do."
Equal parts absurd and heartfelt, the film explores what happens when the American Dream feels just out of reach and desperation starts to look like devotion.
WORLD PREMIERE
5:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Bennett Lees
R
COMEDY PROGRAM 17-F
Budget cuts have been made in the afterlife.
Saint Peter, who normally stands at the Pearly Gates, has been moved to a liminal office space known as Purgatory. The coffee maker is never refilled, the decor lacks any sense of spirit, nothing seems to work and yet, nothing is quite broken.
In this workplace comedy, recently deceased souls will have one final job interview before their fate is decided. Oh, and we might have forgotten Jesus’ birthday.
WORLD PREMIERE
5:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Shane Wise & Derek Vonk
PG-13
COMEDY PROGRAM 17-F
This playful anthology brings a fresh, modern look at the messy realities of love, sex, and connection. Together, these stories capture the absurdity and allure of dating in all of its unpredictable forms:
"Last Night" kicks things off with a bang as a young woman wakes up next to a bloody body - but what unfolds is less "MacBeth" and more "All’s Well That Ends Well."
In "The Other Women" Ben’s morning takes a surreal turn when the woman he went to bed with is suddenly not the one he wakes up beside.
While "Third Date" puts a spin on intimacy, following a couple whose every move is narrated by an unseen voice, turning awkward moments into comic opportunities.
WORLD PREMIERE
5:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Christine Chang
PG
GENRE FILMS 17-G
Cece, a modern woman, finds herself falling for Jeff, a charming man who is still untethered from a long-term relationship.
When Cece discovers Jeff is dating other people, she’s forced to confront the quiet discomfort of wanting more than someone can give. As honesty replaces assumption, the two navigate intimacy, desire, and letting go, culminating in a bittersweet night of dancing, memory, and acceptance.
IFS PREMIERE
6:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Nick Benjamin
PG-13
GENRE FILMS 17-G
A quiet suburban home becomes the stage for something far more sinister.
During an innocent game of hide and seek, siblings begin to notice unsettling disturbances creeping into their everyday lives. Curiosity suddenly turns to terror as they realize they are not alone.
What lurks below is ancient, patient... and hungry. As the walls close in and escape becomes impossible, the children are now forced into a game of survival against a presence that thrives in darkness and silence.
Combining visceral practical effects with haunting visual design, a nightmare comes to life in a relentless, sensory-driven approach. Sound becomes a weapon, tension a constant, as the unseen tightens its grip. This is a story about what happens when the place you trust most turns against you.
L.A. PREMIERE
6:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Dylan Hoang
PG-13
GENRE FILMS 17-G
Kace and Paruvia, are a couple doomed to a dire technological development of an already dystopian landscape. Using a device called a M.E.R.E.M. (Memory Encoder Reader Energizer Machine), participants can convert memories, via bloodstream, to energy.
When rumors of a facility that can make memories renewable spread like wildfire, Kace and Paruvia must make the decision to embark on the journey to get there.
This film grapples with our modern-day reliance on technology while bringing the audience back to a time when that wasn’t a priority.
WORLD PREMIERE
6:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Inés Corina
PG-13
DRAMA PROGRAM 17-H
This experimental thriller explores the moment a group of strangers are presented with a crisis.
Shot entirely on 35mm film and utilizing high-speed cinematography captured at 1,000 fps to study the ephemeral beauty and danger inside each moment of our lives.
This film was produced as a visual essay at the American Film Institute Conservatory.
IFS PREMIERE
7:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Tristan L. Juárez
PG-13
DRAMA PROGRAM 17-H
This is a film about the weight of memory, the bonds that transcend time, and the struggle between grief and resilience, as it captures the unspoken connection between brothers—how love, loss, and legacy can manifest physically and spiritually.
Santana isn’t just fighting an opponent; he’s battling the echoes of his brother Angel, the lessons he left behind, and the journey to find peace within himself.
IFS PREMIERE
7:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Sebastian Karantonis
PG
DRAMA PROGRAM 17-H
When you're drowning, you're not thinking about water, you're “Thinking About Air”. This film is a surreal,personal meditation on loss, longing, and the cruelty of timing. Dreamlike in texture, and emotional in its bones; inhabiting the space between wanting to return and being able to.
Rendered and realized by a single artist, as director, animator, composer, and editor, this film is as much an immersive audiovisual experience as it is a personal story.
Thinking About Air is for anyone who has ever reached back and found the moment already gone.
WEST COAST PREMIERE
7:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Tristan L. Juárez
PG-13
DRAMA PROGRAM 17-H
What begins as a memorial camping trip for three childhood friends quickly unravels when a psychedelic night reveals thoughts better left buried.
This dark psychological thriller is laced with sharp, raunchy humor, where perception fractures and buried emotions rise to the surface. As competitive love interests and quiet jealousy emerge, the line between truth and projection becomes dangerously unclear. What starts as nostalgia spirals into a tense unraveling of trust, identity, and desire.
Fun Guy invites audiences into a disorienting headspace where every laugh carries an edge, and every silence speaks volumes.
WORLD PREMIERE
7:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Tony Kornilov
PG Kazakhstan
DRAMA PROGRAM 17-H
Set in contemporary America, this emotionally charged drama explores one of the most difficult and deeply personal choices a woman can face.
Through an intimate and human lens, this film reveals the complexity behind decisions that are often judged but rarely understood. With a tone both raw and compassionate, "Sacrifice" seeks to spark conversation across divides.
Ultimately, it is not about answers—but about understanding.
WORLD PREMIERE
7:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: Aaron Mento
R
The terrible truth about aliens is finally revealed!
A broke stoner is hired by a whacked out UFO abductee to protect a cosmic artifact stolen from depraved space aliens. Starring YouTube comedy star Erik Hoffstad (Internet Comment Etiquette) in his first starring role.
IFS PREMIERE
8:00pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14
Director: William Means
R
Best LGBT Feature Film
This film follows the life of Stevie Chapman (Rocky Shay), a perpetual screwup running on empty., who has escaped rehab again and is now on the run,out to make amends and reconcile with her estranged, gay son, before skipping town for good.
Executive produced by Patty Jenkins (WONDER WOMAN, MONSTER), announces a bold new voice in director:William Means, while Rocky Shay’s fearless, darkly comic, and deeply human performance as the bonkers yet endearing Stevie - stands as one of the great breakout performances of the year.
IFS PREMIERE
9:30pm
May 17th Regal Cinemas / L.A. LIVE 14