Program
ALOK / U.S.A. (Director: Alex Hedison) — A compelling portrait of Alok Vaid-Menon, acclaimed nonbinary
author, poet, comedian, and public speaker. Executive-produced by Jodie Foster. Nonfiction. Biography.
LGBTQ+. Cast: Alok Vaid-Menon, Dylan Mulvaney, Chani Nicholas.
Alex Hedison is an internationally acclaimed photographer, artist, and actress. She is a critical
voice in both the artistic and LGBTQ+ communities. ALOK marks Hedison’s directorial debut. She
currently lives in Los Angeles with her wife, Oscar-winning actor/director Jodie Foster, and their
dog, Ziggy.
Bug Diner / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Phoebe Jane Hart) — A dissatisfied marriage, a secret
crush, and workplace fantasies come to a head in a diner run by a mole with a hot ass. Fiction. Animated.
Comedy. Cast: Jacob Levy, Phoebe Hart. 2024 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Jury Award: Animation.
Phoebe Jane Hart is an artist and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Working primarily in
stop-motion animation, Hart creates films that focus on the human psyche through dark humor
and surreal imagery. She graduated with an MFA in experimental animation from California
Institute of the Arts. Her short JamieSonShine has screened at Slamdance and won a Director’s
Choice Award at the Thomas Edison Film Festival.
Dream Creep / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Carlos A.F. Lopez, Producers: Megan Leonard, Bobby
McHugh, Jonathan Caso, Zeus Kontoyannis) — A couple awakens in the night to sounds emanating from
an unlikely orifice. Fiction. Horror. Cast: Ian Edlund, Sidney Jayne Hunt.
Carlos A.F. Lopez is a multifaceted filmmaker with over a decade of experience in the Seattle
underground/DIY scene. His short film Ghosting the Party premiered at Nashville Film Festival
2017 and won a Special Jury Prize. Previously Lopez produced The Procedure, winner of the
Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
Essex Girls / U.K. (Director: Yero Timi-Biu, Screenwriter: Busayo Ige, Producers: Angela Moneke, Simon
Hatton) — After an incident at her high school pulls her into the orbit of the only other Black girl in her
year, “Essex Girl” Bisola is plunged into a journey to discover a whole new side of herself. Fiction. Drama.
BIPOC. Women-Centered. Cast: Busayo Ige, Corinna Brown, Maisie Smith, Adrianna Bertola, Krysstina
Frempong, Rebecca Dike.
Yero Timi-Biu is an award-winning writer-director who recently directed on ITV drama Three
Little Birds and was second unit director on BBC/Amazon thriller Chloe. Timi-Biu has also written
on shows for Sky and Netflix and has original shows and adaptations in development with studios
internationally. Her shorts have played in competition at festivals such as London Film Festival
and Hamptons International Film Festival.
Pathological / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Alison Rich, Producers: Bridgett Greenberg, Ingrid
Haas, Avtar Khalsa, Peter Principato, Todd Ruhnau) — A woman who’s a pathological liar wakes up one
day to discover her lies have become true. Fiction. Comedy. Women-Centered. Cast: Alison Rich,
Meaghan Rath, Luke Cook, Adam Lustick, Heather Pasternak, George Kareman.
Alison Rich is a comedic writer, director, and actor. She’s pumped to return to Sundance with her
narrative short Pathological. Her previous short Training Wheels played at the Festival in 2022.
Rich currently has a feature in development with Becky Sloviter (Palm Springs). Her writing
credits include SNL and The Goldbergs. Acting credits include The Other Two, The Goldbergs,
and Drunk History.
Pisko the Crab Child is in Love / Japan (Director and Screenwriter: Makoto Nagahisa, Producer: Yasuo
Suzuki) — Pisko’s father is a crab while her mother is human. Pisko falls in love with her teacher but is
heartbroken when he leaves her because she is half-crab. Pisko finally finds love and companionship with
her friend Kubokayo. Fiction. Comedy. International. BIPOC. Women-Centered. Cast: Aiko Kano, Saya,
Maki Fukuda, Kanta Sato. 2024 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Special Jury Prize for Directing.
Makoto Nagahisa was born in Tokyo and became a film director after working in advertising. In
2017, he wrote and directed the short film And So We Put Goldfish in the Pool, which won the
Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. His feature film We Are Little Zombies
was part of the official selection for Berlinale and other international film festivals. Upcoming
projects include directing a TV series produced by A24.
The Masterpiece / Spain (Director and Producer: Àlex Lora Cercós, Screenwriter and Producer: Lluis
Quilez, Screenwriter: Alfonso Amador, Producers: Sandra Travé, Josemari Martínez, Néstor López) —
Leo and Diana, a wealthy couple, meet Salif and Yousef, two scrap dealers, at a recycle center. Offering
them more junk, Diana invites them to their mansion, but the immigrants actually might be the ones with
something she wants. Fiction. Drama. International. Cast: Daniel Grao, Babou Cham, Melina Matthews,
Adam Nourou, Guido Grao. 2024 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Grand Jury Prize.
Àlex Lora Cercós is a Spanish filmmaker, winner of seven Emmys and two Gaudí Awards, who
has been nominated for a Goya and for the Student Academy Awards. The Masterpiece is his
third movie at Sundance. Unicorns is his first feature. He has also co-written and edited We Are
Living Things (2022) and co-directed The Fourth Kingdom (2019) and Thy Father’s Chair (2016).