Sunday, October 4th:
ALL DAY, ARTIST LOUNGE: Golden Bough Playhouse, Stanton Lobby, Monte Verde Street & 8th Avenue. Available for filmmakers and artists to network between scheduled panels, meetings, and parties.
At the Golden Bough Playhouse, Founders Theatre, Monte Verde Street & 8th Avenue:
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILMS:
9:00 AM- 9:30 AM, Holdfast Together: Keepers of California’s Kelp
Directed by Alec Walsh (Carlsbad, CA)
This short documentary dives beneath the surface of Northern California’s coastline to uncover a powerful story of loss, resilience, and restoration. Once-thriving kelp forests, vital underwater ecosystems that support marine life, coastal communities, and ocean health, have collapsed in recent years, with some regions losing over 90% of their kelp cover due to warming waters, disease, and an explosion of kelp-eating purple sea urchins. In response, a dedicated community of divers, scientists, and local organizations has come together to restore balance. Through hands-on efforts like urchin removal, long-term ecological monitoring, and pioneering work to recover the endangered sunflower sea star, a key predator in the ecosystem, these partners are working to rebuild what has been lost. At its core, Holdfast Together is a story of collaboration and hope. It highlights the people willing to descend beneath the waves, confront the crisis firsthand, and take action, one dive at a time, to bring California’s underwater forests back to life.
FILMMAKER Q&A TO FOLLOW. Runtime: 18:08, Founders Theatre
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILMS, cont’d:
Animation holds a unique power to spark deep emotions, yet it stands as the cinematic art form most threatened by generative AI. While animation is a true art form born from conscious intent, personal experience, and human storytelling, AI is simply a technological tool that mimics artistic styles without understanding meaning or consequence. CIFFest is proud to champion the global community of animators and animation students from around the world, offering them vital visibility and support through the festival.
9:30 AM-9:36 AM, Eliette’s Garden
Animation: Directed by Waverly Wang (Edmond, OK; UCLA)
A young woman grows a magical garden in her home as she enjoys spending time alone. But as flowers start to imprison her, she fights to open up her home again. Runtime: 5:35, Founders Theatre
9:36 AM-9:41 AM, Bobble Hat
Animation: Directed by Zitong Cui (China; UCLA)
This is an original story I created titled Bobble Hat, and its theme is friendship and loss. The overall style is like watercolor illustrations—vivid and colorful, without clearly defined objects. Everything is abstracted into shapes and lines. The inspiration for this story came from an image I once saw. I thought there must be a lot of interesting stories happening inside those little bubble chains. The two main characters are CO₂ and O₂, symbolizing photosynthesis in plants. In my story, they pilot bubbles together on various missions. Since CO₂ has one extra carbon atom, I designed it with a small bump on its head, which makes it feel insecure. But O₂ knits a hat for it to cover that bump. And the narrative structure is inspired by The House of Small Cubes, using a flashback approach to tell the story. Runtime: 5:10, Founders Theatre
9:41 AM-9:52 AM, BRIDGE -My Little Friends-
Animation: Directed by Kazuyuki Ishihara (First-time filmmaker; Japan)
“I’ll bring Shiro to you. I promise!” Jin, the cat, made this promise to Mugi, who is deeply sad about losing her beloved dog, Shiro. Jin loves Mugi very much and, after hearing the story of the “Rainbow Bridge” from his owner Aki, he decides to take Mugi to meet Shiro at the Rainbow Bridge! Can Jin heal Mugi’s sadness? With the help of nearby pigeons and squirrels, Jin’s great plan is now underway! Runtime: 09:30, Founders Theatre
9:52 AM-10:00 AM, Gauze
Animation: Directed by Noran Fikri Alezabi, Nicholas Arujah, Xinyue Ma, Yulin Yue, Xiaonan Zhou (First-time filmmakers; France; Gobelins)
14-year-old Zain, a Palestinian swimming champion, faces war and man-made famine. He becomes the sole caregiver to his little brother. When aid drops into the sea, desperate for food, Zain is forced to swim—not for passion, but for survival. Runtime: 7:47, Founders Theatre
10:00 AM-10:05 AM, Princess Unburied – Tales of Fantalia
Animation: Directed by Alisdair Xibin Zhang (Los Angeles, CA; UCLA)
A princess was murdered and turned into an undead creature by a necromancer. Until an ancient being awakened her consciousness. Runtime: 5:00, Founders Theatre
10:05 AM-10:11 AM, The High King’s Daughter
Animation/Music Video: Directed by Joël Gibbs (Ireland)
Ruairí, a lowly stable-boy working for the Irish royal household, is instantly smitten when he first sees the captivating and spirited High King’s Daughter. This romantic drama follows Ruairí and the Princess, as the playful friendship of their youth blossoms into love. The High King observes the growing attraction between the two and hatches a plan to keep them apart forever. Runtime: 4:59, Founders Theatre
10:11 AM-10:17 AM, The Pit
Animation/Horror: Directed by Yiru Deng (Los Angeles, CA; UCLA)
Longing to be accepted, a disfigured little boy descends into a mysterious pit that promises improvement, but as his body transforms, he begins to lose the very self he set out to improve. Runtime: 6:04, Founders Theatre
10:17 AM-10:24 AM, What Remains Above
Animation/Drama: Directed by Xiangzi Xu (China & Pasadena, CA; UCLA)
What Remains Above is an animated short film about memory, loss, and the passage of time. The protagonist, Mory—a fragment of Memory that has lost its “Me”—moves through the final chapter of his life without realizing it. As he struggles to maintain ordinary routines, his memories quietly disappear. Rather than vanishing, each forgotten memory falls into an inverted world below: a vast landscape composed of emotional fragments, distorted places, and echoes of experiences long past. While Mory’s present reality grows increasingly empty, the world beneath becomes richer and more alive, accumulating everything time has taken away. Through surreal imagery and environmental storytelling, the film explores the relationship between memory and identity, imagining forgetting not as erasure but as transformation. What Remains Above reflects on aging, mortality, and the possibility that what we lose may continue to exist in another form, even after we can no longer hold on to it. Runtime: 6:38, Founders Theatre
10:25 AM-10:30 AM, BREAK
10:30 AM-11:30 AM, INDUSTRY PANEL WITH Q&A: “The Aesthetics of Movies: Cinematography and Production Design,” with Film Independent Spirit Award-winner, Walt Lloyd (Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Pump Up the Volume, Kafka, The Perfect Storm) and BAFTA, Emmy, and Academy Award-nominated Production Designer Stephen Altman (Gosford Park, Ray, Capone, Grosse Pointe Blank). What does it take to capture a filmmaker’s vision through the lens of a cinema camera? What tricks of the trade should you use? What are best practices during production in the camera department? What goes into designing the “alternate reality” or “world” a film must create in order to truly captivate an audience? We invite you to go behind the scenes and hear from one of the industry’s most respected Cinematographers and one of the very best Production Designers in the industry. Moderated by CIFFest Co-Director, Lawrence Roeck, and Producer, Adrian Clark. This is a Do Not Miss Event. OPEN TO ALL PASS HOLDERS. Runtime: 1:00:00, Founders Theatre
11:30 AM-12:15 PM, BREAK
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILMS – cont’d:
12:15 PM- 2:10 PM, Tony Foster: Painting at the Edge
Documentary: Directed by David Charles Schendel (San Francisco, CA)
(Filmed in: United States, Bolivia, France, Nepal, Switzerland, United Kingdom)
Traveling mostly on foot, by raft or canoe English artist Tony Foster paints landscapes in the remotest of areas to bring awareness to wilderness destruction and climate change. His adventures have resulted in 14 major exhibitions across five continents spanning over three decades. Commissioned in 2019 by the Whitney Western Museum, we follow him as he rafts, canoes, and paints landscapes of the entire length of the Green River. Part adventure film and part biography, Painting at the Edge is one of the most intimate portraits of a living artist today. Exotically beautiful footage, interviews and archival footage evoke a new understanding of humans’ place on this planet and how we might change to save it.
FILMMAKER Q&A TO FOLLOW. Runtime: 1:40:00, Founders Theatre
2:10 PM-2:25 PM, BREAK
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE FILMS – cont’d:
2:25 PM-4:10 PM, The Novel
Mystery/Noir: Directed by Kellen Gibbs (Burbank & Pacific Grove, CA)
Stars Ka’Prise Colvin, Jordan Knapp, Richard Neil, and Diego Medellin.
Struggling writer, Calvin Connally, takes interest in an aspiring actress after learning of her father’s untimely death.
FILMMAKER Q&A TO FOLLOW. Runtime: 1:28:00, Founders Theatre
4:10 PM-4:20 PM, BREAK
BEST INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE SHORT FILMS:
4:20 PM-4:50 PM, Something Pointless
Directed by Asa Bailey (Silo, Virtual Production Supervisor). (Wales/United Kingdom)
Produced by International Emmy-nominee David Cormican (Tokyo Trial) and Academy Award-winners, Shawn Christensen, Brenden Hubbard and Damon Russell (Curfew). Cinematography by BAFTA-winning DOP Keefa Chan.
Stars BAFTA-winner, Owen Teale (Game of Thrones, Robin Hood, Torchwood, The Last Legion), Sophie Thompson (Eat Pray Love, Gosford Park, Emma, Four Weddings and a Funeral), SAG Award-nominee, Sule Rimi (Andor, The Day of the Jackal), and Leo Harris (The Count of Monte Cristo, Lost Boys & Fairies, Casualty).
When a bullied young boy discovers an elderly man quietly covering a forgotten brick wall in painted eggshells, an unlikely friendship forms—and a “pointless” act becomes something transformative. This a Do Not Miss Event. OPEN TO ALL PASSHOLDERS.
FILMMAKER Q&A TO FOLLOW. Runtime: 14:19, Founders Theatre
4:50 PM-5:50 PM, INDUSTY PANEL WITH Q&A: “Cutting-Edge Production Innovation in the Film and Television Industry,” with Asa Bailey, a Welsh filmmaker, director, and technology pioneer whose career sits at the intersection of cinematic storytelling and cutting-edge production innovation. Recognized internationally for leading virtual production and AI-native workflows on major series for platforms such as Apple TV+ (Silo), Netflix (100 Years of Solitude, El Eternauta), Disney/Nat Geo (When Sharks Attack 360) and more, Bailey has helped redefine how films and television are made in the 21st century. Founder of BAI-LEY Studios and creator of the .DAVE metadata standard — a system that embeds authorship, rights, and creative provenance at the point of capture — Bailey is widely credited with pioneering the Camera-to-Compute™ pipeline, uniting real-time visual effects, AI, tracking, and creative control into a single, on-set workflow. Moderated by CIFFest Co-Directors, Lawrence Roeck and Annette Andersen Caton, and Producer, Adrian Clark. This is a Do Not Miss Event. OPEN TO ALL PASS HOLDERS. Runtime: 1:00:00, Founders Theatre
5:50 PM-6:00 PM, BREAK
BEST INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE FEATURE FILMS:
6:00-7:45 PM, Washed Up
Comedy/LGBTQ: Directed by Isabel Moncloa Daly (First-time filmmaker; Cornwall/United Kingdom)
Stars Anna Ivankovic, Carys Glynne.
In the coastal Cornwall village she calls home, Morwenna – also known as “Scummy” (a bad Cornish joke) – is reeling from a breakup, navigating the impending sale of her house after the death of her grandfather, and struggling to make ends meet as an artist. In walks Inga, a strange fur-clad woman passing through the area. But after an awkward one-night stand, Scummy discovers that Inga isn’t exactly a woman at all: she’s a nomadic Selkie, a creature from Celtic mythology who shifts from seal to person by taking on and off their fur coat. Soon enough, Scummy is caught up in a whirlwind situationship with someone whose feelings are as fickle as the sea. It’s a kooky, bittersweet tale of learning to let go of the people and places you love most.
FILMMAKER Q&A TO FOLLOW. Runtime: 1:25:00, Founders Theatre
7:45 PM-8:00 PM, BREAK
8:00 PM-10:00 PM, AWARDS & VIP FILMMAKER PARTY SPONSORED BY THE MONTEREY COUNTY FILM INSTITUTE (MCFI)
- Tribute to Hayden Panettiere
- Presentation of BofA’s Commitment to Excellence Filmmaker Award
- The Golden Bough Awards– designed for CIFFest by Ashley Bennett Stoddard
- Individual Filmmaker and Screenwriter Awards
PARTY TO FOLLOW. Runtime: 2:00:00, Founders Theatre
