Harvey Milk was an outspoken human rights activist and one of the first openly gay U.S. politicians elected to public office; even after his assassination in 1978, he continues to inspire disenfranchised people around the world.
A voodoo doll must find the courage to save his friends from being pinned to death.
Francesco takes an unsparing look at the most pressing challenges of the 21st-century, asking deep questions about the human condition. The film is guided by Pope Francis who, with tremendous humility, wisdom, and generosity, offers moving lessons from his life that illuminate what it will take to build a better future. In doing so, he addresses issues such as climate change, immigration, peace and religious tolerance, LGBTQ support, gender and identity justice, and economic equality.
As the sun rises, we witness two male bodies emerge from the darkness. The younger of the two attempts to sneak out on the older man he just slept with.
When an aged man feels the need to confess to the new catholic priest, his gay lover of many years is hurt and upset.
Serena starts reflecting on the commitment in her own relationship with Donielle when she is asked to be the maid of honor for her former lover Tisha's wedding.
A chronicle of lives lost in a school shooting. In the wake of another tragedy, we get a glimpse of each victim and see who they were, who they loved, who they hurt, and who they wanted to be.
Amanda has been dreaming of having her own real-life book romance. When one day, she stumbles upon a penny, her wish starts to become reality as it leads her to Felicity. Brought together by one very lucky penny, their paths cross, and sparks fly between the two.
An early student film directed By Francis Ford Coppola during his time at UCLA School of Film and Television. This short would later be expanded on in Coppola's debut feature, Tonight for Sure
When Cassandra witnesses a drunken encounter between her friend and her roommate, she is compelled to investigate if it was consensual.
Writer-director Robert Wheaton’s story of a shy guy, Mark (Parros), trying all the wrong moves to meet the right girl rides high on a romantic sensibility. Although at first it’s hard to imagine the handsome Mark having trouble with the ladies, Parros gives a charming performance as the nice guy who finishes last. UCLA’s north campus features prominently as this would-be Romeo’s ever-hopeful hunting ground.
Jamaa Fanaka’s first project plays off the Blaxploitation’s genre conventions, an adaption of Goethe’s “Faust” presented with a non-synchronous soundtrack and superimposed over a remake of Super Fly (1972). Often out of focus with an overactive camera, the film immediately exudes nervous energy, but unlike Priest’s elegant cocaine consumption in Super Fly, Willie’s arm gushes blood as he injects heroin. A morality tale in two reels. —Jan-Christopher Horak
A former cop works in purgatory and processes people going to heaven and hell. One day, his 20 year old son appears.
Cultural traditions blend as a Japanese American family celebrates Christmas and a young girl tries to find her place within the family structure.
Daydream Therapy is set to Nina Simone’s haunting rendition of “Pirate Jenny” and concludes with Archie Shepp’s “Things Have Got to Change.” Filmed in Burton Chace Park in Marina del Rey by activist-turned-filmmaker Bernard Nicolas as his first project at UCLA, this short film poetically envisions the fantasy life of a hotel worker whose daydreams provide an escape from workplace indignities. —Allyson Nadia Field
As a woman anxiously awaits her overdue period, she performs African-based rituals of purification. She cleans house and body, and calls on the spirits (Orishas in the Yoruba tradition), receiving much needed inspiration and assurance in a dream. The film combines beautifully intimate still and moving images of the woman’s body and home space, along with playful stop-motion sequences. —Jacqueline Stewart, UCLA Film and Television Archive
Ben Caldwell’s Medea, a collage piece made on an animation stand and edited entirely in the camera, combines live action and rapidly edited still images of Africans and African Americans which function like flashes of history that the unborn child will inherit. Caldwell invokes Amiri Baraka’s poem “Part of the Doctrine” in this experimental meditation on art history, Black imagery, identity and heritage.
The Angler claims he will use a toxin which will kill sea life unless a ransom is paid. Aquaman races to stop him.
An improvised late '60s short-subject student film, and debut movie of Charles Burnett, done in the neo-realist, documentary film style. A day-in-the-life South Central L.A. tale about a rag-tag group of unemployed black male pals.
An eight-year-old boy experiences his first heartbreak when he falls in love with his male third-grade teacher.
