Closing Night (Block One)

Bowery Film Festival is proud to screen the following selections:

• Lairs

  Directed by Emma Penaz Eisner
  

  Lairs, layers, liars: In this poetry film, hatred insidiously supplants a couple's love.

• Vizədənt

  Directed by Alexis Karl & Adam Torkel
  

  The Vizədənt navigates between the past and the present in a dystopian landscape, seeking meaning and hope in the solitude of a broken world. The film questions what it means to be human if one is all alone.

• Narcissus

  Directed by Grace Gao
  

  Under the familial pressure and countless rejections in her career, an Asian American actress blames everything on her appearance and blindly takes action to better herself.

• Ornamentation Is A Gift

  Directed by Ray Smiling
  

  When a girl is bullied she turns to her mom for advice, but years after the incident a tarot reading leads her to wonder if she’s learned the right lessons.

• Cherry Cola in the Autumn

  Directed by Haley Wetherington
  

  Two boundary-pushing young women with selfishly misguided, but debatably good intentions, murder their best friend’s abusive boyfriend.

• MANIFEST

  Directed by Alison Barton & Bonnie Dennison
  

  When fame-obsessed Beth believes she’s manifested her one shot at shedding her Panda Express uniform and leaving Shamokin, PA, she’ll stop at nothing to seize what she believes is her true destiny.

• Gestura

  Directed by Drake Woodall
  

  A performing artist faces her fears on stage.

• Bait & Tackle

  Directed by Lily Newton
  

  While on a beach vacation that becomes overwhelmed by her male-dominated family, bright-eyed Kimmy seeks out Melanie, the mysterious woman dressed as a mermaid in the hotel parking lot. Drawn to and accepted by this mermaid mother-figure, Kimmy is sucked into Melanie’s fantastical facade. But when Kimmy begins to see that the world isn't all cute fish and mermaids, she must decide whether to continue turning a blind eye to the harsher realities of the world, or embrace her inner shark.

• Laura Wants (A Husband) Healthcare

  Directed by Amy DePaola
  

  In a parallel time period where the government monitors genetic matching, a chronically ill but not visibly ill woman downloads a dating app to her monitoring device in an attempt to find a partner and secure health insurance. But when the app turns out to be a micro managing tool of the system's plan, she revolts, resulting in a lack of access to her own health status.

• Influx

  Directed by Daniel Uribe
  

  Influx is a poetic short film that sinks into the themes of domestic violence, alcoholism, and love. Inspired by Leslie Morgan Steiner's TED talk: ‘Why domestic violence victims don’t leave’. And by the countless stories of mothers trapped in abusive relationships and the power of love for their children.

• Gifted

  Directed by Kaisan Rei
  

  GIFTED is the story of, Nia, a hyper-empath, who wants nothing more than to be free from the pain that fills her days, but when her brother’s life is in danger, she must face the pain to save him.