Join us May 10th – NFMLA Film Festival, featuring writer-director Jess Dang’s 'Surrender'
NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) hosts its May Monthly Film Festival, featuring our annual InFocus: Disabilities program, along with May Shorts, writer-director Jess Dang’s debut feature narrative Surrender, and an opening selection of student animation with the CSULB Animation Showcase.
Get your tickets now! May 10th, 2025 Film Festival | InFocus: Disabilities
The day opens with the CSULB Animation Showcase, a juried selection of student short films from California State University, Long Beach’s Animation program will show a variety of films in different mediums from CG, stop motion, traditional hand drawn and hybrid approaches. Each film is a result of at least 1 year of work and development and represents each director’s unique perspective and creative vision.
The day continues with May Shorts, a collection of comedy, drama and interpersonal tension of all stripes. This block of films is introspective, deeply thoughtful and delves into complicated dynamics, survival and fierce protective instincts.
Next in the line-up is InFocus: Disabilities, a program that spotlights disability both in front of and behind the camera. It features a blend of storytelling through the lens of visible and invisible disability, centering work made by disabled filmmakers and stories of disability told in close collaboration with their subjects or protagonists. From coming of age stories to romance to dramas to comedies and documentary work, this program showcases an impressive range of work from emerging talent.
The night concludes with writer-director Jess Dang’s first feature film, Surrender, a deeply personal and intimate story of a young woman grappling with gambling addiction, shining an honest and vulnerable light on the taboo yet much-needed conversation about addiction in Asian American communities.
Surrender was expanded from a short film of the same name that graced the screen at NewFilmmakers Los Angeles in May of 2023, and NFMLA is proud to welcome Dang back with the feature adaptation.
See trailers, synopsis and more.
Schedule Details
Program #1 – CSULB Animation Showcase
12:00 PM – 12:30 PM – Pre-Reception
12:30 PM – 2:00 PM – Program & Q&A
2:00 PM – 2:45 PM – Post Reception
Program #2 – May Shorts
2:30 PM – 3:00 PM – Pre-Reception
3:00 PM – 4:45 PM – Program
4:45 PM – 5:00 PM – Audience Q&A
Program #3 – InFocus: Disabilities
5:00 PM – 5:30 PM – Pre-Reception
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM – Program
7:00 PM – 7:15 PM – Audience Q&A
Program #4 – Feature Narrative | Surrender
7:15 PM – 7:45 PM – Pre-Reception
7:45 PM – 9:30 PM – Program
9:30 PM – 9:45 PM – Audience Q&A
Full program details available here.
Are you interested in submitting a film to NFMLA? 🎥
NFMLA showcases films by filmmakers of all backgrounds throughout the year, across both our general and InFocus programming. All filmmakers are welcome and encouraged to submit their projects for consideration for upcoming NFMLA Festivals, regardless of the schedule for InFocus programming, which celebrates representation by spotlighting various communities of filmmakers as part of the NFMLA Monthly Film Festival.
This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Submit your film for a future festival: Reach out to us today!
Comments
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What a great slate of programming! And congrats to Jess Dang on her first feature film.
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