Also includes 3 shorts from the Student Filmmaking Workshop

ASABIYYA [solidarity]: The historic protests against the University of Texas' complicity in funding the genocide in Gaza on April 24, 2024 made international news after university administration deployed state troopers on peaceful protestors. Ammer Qaddumi, the first to be arrested that day, must navigate a suspension from the school, his lawsuit against the university and continuing activism while he remains off campus. ASABIYYA [solidarity] follows the relationship between Ammer and his sister Lamar in the year after the major protests and their continued local activism despite limitations, long after news cameras have turned away.

Director: Leila Saidane, 15 minutes

Everything I'm Not, Everything I Am: Clayton Nonhof, a high schooler, learns how to process pressure.

Director: Xavier Alexander, 9 minutes

M-I-C-H-A-E-L: M-I-C-H-A-E-L is a 2025 Lone Star Emmy Award-winning documentary directed by Alejandra Becerra that tells the extraordinary true story of Michael, the oldest known person in the United States living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). Diagnosed at just five years old and given only until age 15 to live, Michael has defied every medical expectation, reaching the age of 58 with unwavering faith, resilience, and purpose.

Director: Alejandra Becerra, 14 minutes

Mirror Kisses: A young man, anxious for a date, practices conversing with himself in the mirror only to fall in love with his own reflection.

Director: Alexis Truman, 4 minutes

Mold: Talan has become a prisoner in his home after a life threatening mold takes a hold of Talan's life, warping his reality. Distorting and contorting the only safe space he has, his own mind. Is this Mold truly a danger, or is it what he tells himself?

Director: Ramiyah Brooks, 4 minutes

Squall Mouth: In the heat of a Texas summer day, Olivia accompanies her father to a barbecue with plans of selling a hunting dog that Olivia has raised and trained. When Sam and Olivia arrive at the barbecue, she’s determined to prove her dog’s ability. However, she instead finds herself grappling with the uncomfortable sense of her body becoming the center of unwanted attention. As a result, she is forced to contend with the power dynamics of their community while finding her voice as a young woman.

Director: Eva Chaitman, 14 minutes

Freakshow: While a group of mimes are getting ready for a performance, one of them reaches a breaking point.

Director: Caleb Hernandez, 3 minutes

Levels: Built around the psychological cage of corporate ambition, this film explores the immortal cycle that keeps its victims climbing. It begins with the trap of curiosity: the gamble that the next level might finally be the roof masks the brutal reality that stepping up locks one in until the level is finished. This upward push isn't driven by determination, but rather by a fear of responsibility; turning around means confronting the heavy weight of expectation and reliance. Then, as the climb takes its toll, the sunk cost fallacy strips away the illusion of choice. One convinces themself that the suffering must have some significance, that salvation is just one step higher. But ultimately, the system reveals its darkest truth: it is entirely self-sustaining. There is no roof, no man at the top operating the machine. It is an infinite, empty mechanism that survives solely by abusing its victims until they become the abusers.

Director: Rishi Porwal, 8 minutes