Annual Awards 2025-2026 | Program 9: Growing Up

11:00 AM – 12:35 PM | Cinema #10 | Stories of Childhood and Youth | 🟢 All Ages

Blu’s

Rajesh PK (India)
California Premiere

Growing up freely in harmony with nature, witnessing her beautiful environment being swallowed up by industrialisation, Blu decides to fight for the wildlife, meadows, rivers and trees before they disappear completely.

09:46

Once Upon A Time In My Village

Charlie S Tang (China)
California Premiere

In a small town bound by rigid tradition, two brothers uncover a widow’s secret, forcing them to choose between loyalty and the harsh judgment of their community.

05:00

I Love You More Than Dinosaurs

Tyler Coon (USA)

Two childhood sweetheart’s once-playful love is put to the test by the stresses of adulthood–exposing to them the funny and painful truth about needing to grow up… Literally.

14:55

Satomi

Rayner Wang (Hong Kong/Japan/USA)

Mayumi has the skill, the voice, and the passion to be the perfect performer. The only problem: she suffers from stage fright. After her audition at a talent show goes awry, she has an inadvertent encounter with her favorite star, who just so happens to be a living anime.

11:42

Hard Boiled Eggs

Yi Meng (USA)

Yu, a 10-year-old Chinese American girl, hates hard boiled eggs, partly because her mother enforces them as the mandatory breakfast. When she starts suspecting her mother’s infidelity, she rushes to investigate; yet a harsher reality awaits.

13:21

Once More, Like Rain Man

Sue Ann Pien (USA)

A young autistic actress navigates a day of stereotypes and challenges, while her father struggles to support her path—together finding humor, frustration, and resilience.

15:04

Unruly

David Ernesto Herrera (UK)

A rebellious teenager, haunted by addiction and the death of her sister, is taken against her will to a “troubled teen” program that promises academic excellence and therapeutic reform. Instead, she is thrust into a rabbit hole of humiliation and corruption, forced to endure a cult-like system designed to break her.

07:00

Patakha

Rohit Relan (USA)

Radha, an 11-year-old girl in rural India, loses her school bag on her first day of work at a firecracker factory. Patakha follows her journey to retrieve it — and the hope for the future that has been taken away.

15:20