Dragon Con Independent Film Festival

Written/Directed by Jason Apuzzo; Produced by Govindini Murty

Two rambunctious Women’s Army Corps officers in WWII fight to save LA from alien attack. When a tough-as-nails female captain and her ditzy sidekick team up to make a documentary about women in the Army, they soon encounter a terrifying alien spacecraft at an abandoned bunker. Armed with only a 16mm camera, the heroines chase the UFO to Fort MacArthur, where they confront the invader in a massive nighttime air raid. UFO Diary recreates the Great LA Air Raid of 1942, and was featured in American Cinematographer for its spectacular cinematography and VFX.

Written/Directed by Nelson Lee; Produced by Mary Pat Bentel, Kelsi Reel Johnson, Jennifer Lee, Michael Lockridge, & Noah Hauessner

In a future where draconian laws are enforced to combat over-population, Nathan’s 40th birthday will be his last. As family and friends gather to celebrate and say their goodbyes, an estranged lover reemerges, forcing Nathan to confront a serious dilemma: How much is he willing to sacrifice in order to get back what was lost?

Written by Steve Desmond & Michael Sherman; Directed by Steve Desmond; Produced by Michael Sherman, Aaron Billet, Ryan Lewis, & Joe Russo

Jenn is a 10-year-old girl who has never seen sunlight or trees or houses. She’s spent her whole life in an underground bunker with her family, because outside the world has been overtaken by horrific monsters. While her family makes dangerous supply runs to the surface, Jenn is left in the lonely bunker. She fantasizes about fighting off the ferocious monsters and being free. This is the day that she goes outside.

Written by Sara X. Robin & Andrew Thalheimer; Directed by Sara X. Robin; Produced by Joseph Dwyer

The not too far future: mind-reading devices, so called “Listeners” are used in the name of security. Fe and Amy oppose the invasive technology, and have developed a technique to shut their minds off from the Listeners. When their friend Mags gets brutally arrested, Fe suspects Amy…and decides to take matters into her own hands.

Written by Michael Richardson & Josh Mawer, Directed by Josh Mawer, Produced by Michael Knott

A maverick neuroscientist, Lawrence, dies creating a mind-transfer device. His son, Edward, agrees to implant his father’s consciousness in his head and timeshare his body so Lawrence can refine his prototype. The work/life balance chafes at his girlfriend Sarina and adds a new dimension with his mother Jocelyn.

Glitches increase in the prototype and foreign memories surface. Grappling with misplaced grief and a slipping identity, Edward tries to contact Lawrence before he has to make a difficult decission.

Written by Geoff O’Rourke & Shane Ronan; Directed by Geoff O’Rourke; Produced by Martin Thomas & Shane Ronan

Humanity is at war. Only a rare group of children born with amazing powers can pilot the giant starships built to defend us from an intergalactic threat. Both sides will stop at nothing to control the power that the children wield.

Written/Produced/Directed by Robert Summers & Russell Summers

On an ordinary day, a stranger sits next to another man on a park bench. The stranger engages the reluctant man in conversation. But the meeting may not be so accidental, as the stranger explains aliens are infiltrating the human race. And neither man may be what they appear.

Written by David Gaddie & Steven Kelleher, based on a short story by Ken Liu; Directed by David Gaddie; Produced by David Gaddie & Quentin Little

Facing a terminal disease, a mother uses space travel and relativity to stretch her last two years over the lifetime of her baby daughter, visiting for only one night every seven years. Mother and daughter must negotiate to build a relationship despite the longing and estrangement that mark the moments they are able to share.