October 9-13, 2025

October 9-13, 2025
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Ain’t No Mercy for Rabbits

When Gramma gets sick, 7-year old Roan must learn to survive on her own in a world without drinkable water.

 

Impact // Filmmaker’s Voice

As a working-class, native Nebraskan who grew up with farmers as parents, I have seen and experienced the importance of our environment and the responsibility we have to care for it. However, I also have seen a blatant disregard for the damage we cause as the effects of climate change become deadlier and more tangible. In March, 2019, historic flooding hit Nebraska, forcing entire cities to evacuate, sweeping away millions of animals and even taking the lives of several Nebraskans. After seeing the impact these floods had on my home and family, I decided to tell a story that explores what could happen not only to our beautiful environment, but to the people who are fighting for it and who have minimal economical means of surviving in a world damaged by climate change.

“Ain’t No Mercy for Rabbits” is about 7-year-old Roan and Gramma who are fighting to survive in a nearly waterless world. Because of the timely, culturally significant story and the outstanding team that worked on the film, we strongly believe in “Ain’t No Mercy for Rabbits” and its ability to have a lasting impact on its audience. – Aliza Brugger

Alone Together

Precedes Mission: Joy – Finding Happiness in Troubled Times

Inspired by a true story. Isolated in an assisted living facility with only her caretaker, a grandmother battles her loneliness and fading memory as she searches for human connection through a series of family Zoom calls.

The Blackest Battle

It’s the Fourth of July in the not too distant future. Reparations have been paid to the African-Americans of Chief County—yet Black on Black violence rains down like a fiery storm. In this revolutionary hip-hop musical, Bliss and Dream, members of warring rap factions, fall in love while wrestling with making sense of their turbulent lives. Written by acclaimed DC theatre artist Psalmayene 24 and brought to life by an innovative team of illustrators and performers, our digital production of The Blackest Battle fuses the known and the new for an entirely original spin on urban conflict.

Are You Okay?

Precedes I’M FINE (THANKS FOR ASKING)

This bystander story is told through the perspective of a 15-year old girl, Raquelle, who witnesses her classmate Noah being bullied. When doing the right thing transforms Raquelle from bystander to victim, she finds herself trapped in the same emotional quicksand of her peers. At an age when social acceptance weighs heavy and the stress of social media follows you home, Raquelle and Noah learn that no one can make it through alone. “Are You Okay?” explores the impact that reaching out can have on someone in crisis.

Marianne’s Onion

Marianne’s Onion is a true story from the pandemic based on an interview with 86-year-old Marianne Ross, who miraculously found an onion, when she was in need of one, while hiking through the woods behind her house. The film follows her journey from first discovery, to the reactions of her community, to her hilarious and poignant musings on the meaning of unexpectedly receiving a seemingly mundane gift.

The Angler

A fisherman and young mother have a chance encounter when their lines become tangled. But in this story of a mother’s desperate love, there’s more beneath the surface.

Cupids

In this playful comedy, three kids worry that their beloved school bus driver will be lonely this summer without them. They set out to find her a partner and imagine the perfect matches.

GraceLand

A southern mom’s life is all shook up when her ten-year-old daughter claims to be a reincarnation of the king of rock and roll.

The Other Side

Set against the Ethiopian abandoned children crisis, two orphan brothers are faced with the reality of never being adopted.

Joy’s Garden

Edwin is no one’s ideal Dad. Can he step up when his estranged daughter Joy needs a home?

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