Thank you to all the filmmakers who participated in the 2026 Lift-Off Sessions Volume 1!

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.

Lift-Off Sessions is designed to be the entry into the Lift-Off Global Network. A platform for the avant-garde, 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!

the river knows the way home

Director: Nguyen Vu Quoc Hung
Producer: Bao Ngoc
Country of Origin: Vietnam

Synopsis:

Trường (30) returns to his rural hometown carrying his mother’s urn after many years drifting in Saigon. He feels like a “tourist” lost in the very place he once called home, as the countryside has now been abandoned due to land redevelopment. Yet every time the sound of a flute echoes, the old ferry docks, the market, the deserted school… all awaken warm memories of his childhood.

Colombina

Director: Victor Vidangossi
Country of Origin: Chile

Synopsis:
An exhaustive portrait of Colombina Parra, singer-songwriter, writer and architect with multiple ties to Chilean popular culture. In front of the camera, her personal reflections on an artistic journey that has linked her since childhood to the fundamental heritage of her father, Nicanor, and direct uncles, such as Violeta and Roberto Parra

TUNNEL

Director/Producer: ÖNER KILIÇ
Writer: MUSTAFA YAHYA COŞKUN
Country of Origin: Turkey

Synopsis:
THE TUNNEL: “How Many People Can a Tunnel Connect to Life?” Despite all the destruction, Ottoman and Turkish traces are most clearly visible in Europe. As an example of perseverance and determination, he led the country during the period leading to Bosnia-Herzegovina's independence. The tunnel connecting it to the world was built. The Tunnel Changed the Course of the War and Brought Victory! In the war that lasted from 1991 to 1995, during which approximately 300,000 civilians were massacred, President Alija Izetbegović ordered the construction of a tunnel to break the Serbian siege around Sarajevo and bring humanitarian aid to the city.

Finding Light

Director/Producer: Paul Michael Bloodgood
Producer: Karen Bernstein
Country of Origin: United States

Synopsis:

Illuminated through the story of Holocaust survivor Naomi Warren, "Finding Light" takes the audience on a journey that is simultaneously situated in the past while making relevant connections to the present through the lens of dance.

Love/Hate

Director: Seth Dady
Writer: Cat Miller
Producer: Crystal Dady
Country of Origin: United States

Synopsis:
This short film dives into the messy, unfiltered reality of human depravity, of human struggle, of human vices, and of the often damning amount of shame and guilt that can accompany them.

Paradise Lost(English subtitles)

Director/Writer/Producer: suzuki gosi
Country of Origin: Japan

Synopsis:
Mishumi Toshiya, unfortunately, lost the winning lottery ticket.

His face pale, he pieced together a faint memory:
Just before, at the park he visited, the lottery ticket fluttered away when he fell.

Now, Mishumi's life-or-death search drama has begun.

The Treasure Conspiracy

Director/Writer: Jonny Gray
Country of Origin: Ireland

Synopsis:
Three men meet to plot a conspiracy

Good Enough Not To Die - A Diary From the Asklepion

Director: Erol Keyvan
Writer: Dilan Keyvan
Producer: Nazlı Pınar Aydın
Country of Origin: Turkey

Synopsis:
In the 2nd century A.D., the Asklepion of Pergamon was one of the most important healing centers of ancient Anatolia, a place where countless people sought relief from illness. Good Enough Not to Die renders visible the healing culture of this unique site where ritual practices and the early seeds of scientific medicine coexisted through the lived experience of a single patient.

The Walk

Director: Jackie Jorgenson
Writer: Grant Foxon
Country of Origin: United States

Synopsis:
Story of grief and letting go.

add a "comma"

Director: Quoc Hung
Country of Origin: Viet Nam

Synopsis:
Interactive documentary film about Quoc Viet, a Vietnamese young man, after one year of living and studying in the United States. The trials and tribulations in a foreign land transformed a cheerful, innocent person into someone withdrawn and lonely. However, it was this experience that became the "comma" in his life.

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.