Annual Awards 2025-2026 | Program 4: Edge of Danger

4:15 – 6:00 PM | Cinema #8 | Thrillers and Crime Stories | 🟠 16+

The Father, The Daughter, and the Hostage

Itamar Kasirer (Israel)
World Premiere

In a secluded and fortified cabin, a curious young girl lives with her overprotective father. He forbids her from leaving the house until she comes of age. According to him, the outside world is over.

21:50

Mesmera

Brendyn Gilbert (USA)
World Premiere

When a series of gruesome suicides plagues a small Northern California town, Detective Hill investigates a mysterious lead, resulting in a deadly encounter with an occult mesmerist responsible for the deaths.

17:57

Union Avenue

Gino Cazzali (USA)

In a city where social workers play more of a part in assisting the mentally ill out in the field, a social worker and an infamous police officer have to settle their differences and work as a team to make it through the night.

14:48

Public

Sam Knight (USA)
World Premiere

A pregnant addict spirals when she becomes the lookout for her dealer-boyfriend selling heroin from a public bathroom.

12:15

Thank You for the Ride, Aileen

JP Pullings (USA)
Los Angeles Premiere

Aileen is a teacher, now ride-sharing while her union resolves a strike. For her, driving is therapy. Her daughter is pregnant, her husband is ill, and life is drifting into uncertainty. Only her car frees her mind from the weight of it all. But one particular day—and its riders—becomes a stark reminder that danger and the unexpected are always just one drive away.

20:27

Clocking Out

Joshua Mueller (Germany)
USA Premiere

A woman wants to finally call it a day after a terribly long day at work. On her way home, a man who appears to be a police officer points out a supposed problem with her car…

15:31