Thank you to all the filmmakers who participated in the First-Time Filmmaker Sessions Volume 7!

The festival platformed hundreds of films, each project worthy of recognition and celebration. We want to extend a giant thank you to everyone who took part and a special congratulations to all the incredible talent that went into making these projects.

First-Time Filmmaker Sessions is designed to be the entry into the Lift-Off Global Network. A platform for the avant-garde, FT Sessions isn't about selecting the 'best' or most 'commercial' projects; it is about providing a screening opportunity for everyone, connecting these new and emerging voices with new audiences. An option we hope highlights and educates each month!

A Detour in the Sun

Director: Mojtaba Minavand
Writer: Mohammad Taha Amiri
Producer: Yaser Faryadras
Country of Origin: Iran

Synopsis:
An elderly blind man loses his sheep in the village and, together with another man, sets out to search for it.

Rigid

Director/Producer: Jeremie Fiore
Writer: Jackie Gabay
Country of Origin: United States

Synopsis:
After a violent outburst at his girlfriend’s strip club gets her fired and puts the cops on his trail, a volatile young man spirals through a chaotic morning of betrayal, addiction, and emotional warfare—until a shocking pregnancy revelation forces the couple to confront whether their love is salvation… or a ticking bomb.

Scenes from My Childhood Home

Director/Writer/Producer: Saarsha Shalini Lucas
Country of Origin: Australia

Synopsis:
Scenes and conversations from within the four walls that made me who I am today.

Joy

Director/Producer: Joan Michel
Writer/Producer: Rashad Wright
Producer: Erby Beauvil
Country of Origin: United States

Synopsis:
JOY is a deeply personal cinematic adaptation of a poem born from a lifetime of survival. Through a series of intimate, memory-driven vignettes, the film follows a Black man reckoning with the many versions of himself he has had to bury from a bullied boy and battle-hardened soldier to a survivor of violence, loss, and impossible expectations of masculinity.

After Eden

Director/Writer: Ameya Keni
Producer: Meghana Keni
Country of Origin: India

Synopsis:
After years apart, two childhood friends reunite and spend the day together at a city zoo. What begins as a lighthearted fun-filled visit slowly turns introspective as they move from enclosure to enclosure, observing monkeys, deer, bears, and other animals in their captivity. Their casual remarks about the animals grow increasingly pointed, even revealing subtle tensions and unspoken disappointments within their own lives.

The Callback

Director/Writerr: Latham Gaines
Producer: Leo Allan
Country of Origin: New Zealand

Synopsis:
When a grueling callback leaves a young couple competing for the same breakthrough role, the fragile boundary between their love and their ambition begins to fracture.

404 Life Not Found

Director/Writer/Producer: Karthikeyan Muthukrishnan
Country of Origin: United Arab Emirates

Synopsis:
Noel once stopped his bicycle in the rain just to watch a rainbow. Over nineteen years, chasing every skill the world demanded, he forgot that moment existed. A short film about the quiet cost of becoming everything — and losing the person who was already enough.

One Breath and Then Nothing

Director/Writer/Producer: Neda Ghaffari
Country of Origin: Iran

Synopsis:
In a remote villa, a group of young friends gathers after the suspicious death of their friend caused by a drug overdose.
However, the situation quickly spirals out of control as they become trapped in a surreal mafia-style game.

As the game unfolds, each of them is forced to confront their hidden and dark motives connected to the girl’s death.
Step by step, the boundaries between reality, illusion, and guilt begin to dissolve.

By the end, it is no longer clear who the real victim is — or who the killer might be.

The Spirit of New Orleans

Director/Writer/Producer: Mitchell Teitelbaum
Country of Origin: United States

Synopsis:
Travel the streets of New Orleans with Award Winning TV Host Joanna Petriccione

M1 M2 M3

Director/Producer: Padmanabhan Haridas
Country of Origin: India

Synopsis:
When Madan, a gig worker preparing for government exams, receives an old laptop from Michael, he uncovers unfinished scripts created by Michael’s late mother—a teacher developing an innovative game-based approach to simplify mathematics. As the two trace her unfinished work, buried personal guilt and painful memories surface, revealing the human consequences of academic pressure. Together, they decide to carry forward her mission.

Museum of Illusions Barcelona

Director: Mitchell Teitelbaum
Producer: Honey Grace Rodriguez
Country of Origin: Spain, United States

Synopsis:
Join award winning host Joanna Petriccione as she takes you through Barcelona’s two famous museums - The Museum of Illusions and The Big Fun Museum for mind bending illusions

THE APE OF GOD

Director/Writer/Producer: Jason Ziad Saikaly
Country of Origin: Lebanon

Synopsis:
A happening that connects perspectives of lost souls discovering a mysterious chain of voyeurism and obsession, that leads them to encounter the devil.

35mm

Director/Writer/Producer: David Adam Ettedgui
Producers: Samantha Salamoff, Kendall Pasley
Country of Origin: United States

Synopsis:
An out-of-work actress takes a job as a projectionist and discovers a mysterious 35mm film that eerily mirrors her life. Her reality begins to unravel as she starts becoming part of the film itself.

The Hedge

Director/Writer/Producer: Ed Mannion
Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Synopsis:
The Hedge is a manic episode; a fantasy horror about two bored brothers who, during the Covid lockdown, discover a time-twisting portal whilst playing in their garden. When one of them gets trapped inside the hedge, they are both taught a lesson in the power of nature and consumerism.

Under the Bark

Director/Writer/Producer: Daniel Ross Dieguez
Country of Origin:Cuba

Synopsis:
Fiffe, a street theater artist who devoted his entire life to astonishing audiences, stumbles every day upon various obstacles that prevent him from continuing with the art he loves. He rejects the monotonous and empty theaters of a demotivated, emigrating Cuba. In his nights, he will uncover an entire world of dreamlike stages within his own mind that will give him hope.

The Lift-Off Season Awards is an annual event that celebrates the very best of indie film. Following each Lift-Off film festival, films that have excelled in their respective category are short listed for a Season Awards Nomination.  At the end of the year, once all the 12 city-based festival have taken place, the shortlisted nominated films are reviewed again by the jury and Official Nominations are designated.  Click here for more information about the Lift-Off Season Awards.