Thank you to all the filmmakers who participated in the 2026 Lift-Off Sessions Volume 5!

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!

Not For Profit

Director/Producer: Tre'ymaine Eason
Director/Producer: Merrill Sampson
Writer/Producer: Andre Eason Jr.
Producers: Carlton Hunte, Carlton Hunte
Country of Origin: United States

Synopsis: Not For Profit is a workplace mockumentary about burnout in the helping professions—told from inside a system that depends on emotional labor but rarely sustains the people providing it.

Astral

Director/Writer: Miguel Angel Mengó
Producer: Antonio Savinelli
Country of Origin: Spain

Synopsis:
Isabela is found in the middle of the forest after days missing. One night, Isabela had dreamed of crossing the barriers of space and time, where a girl exactly like her, Daniela, returned her gaze.

The Last Host

Director: Seif weslati
Writer: Ghada BenSalah
Country of Origin: Tunisia

Synopsis:
The world collapsed, but his mission remained. Navigating the echoes of a lost civilization, a father hunts for his missing son across a landscape of ruins and emptiness—a testament that even at the edge of extinction, love refuses to be extinguished.

Mouse the Traveller

Director/Writer/Producer: Aleksandr Drepak
Country of Origin: Russian Federation

Synopsis:
Mouse lives inside a world built on repetition. In a textile factory of smoke, steel, and stitched silence, every day unfolds with mechanical precision: wake, work, return, repeat. Small, observant, and painfully out of place, he drifts through an existence that leaves no room for desire, beauty, or wonder.

Wounded

Director/Writer/Producer: Chris Khaukha
Writer: Stephen Wanyina
Country of Origin: Uganda

Synopsis:
A young Christian woman wrestles with the pain of betrayal until a heartfelt encounter and honest prayer lead her from bitterness to healing through the power of forgiveness.Her struggles shows that forgiveness isn’t about forgetting or feeling good. It’s about obedience and surrendering the right to hate.

Thémis

Director/Writer: Baptiste Messina
Writer: Kaïs Gagliardo
Country of Origin: France

Synopsis:
During a birthday party, a young man is entrusted with a mysterious bag by a stranger. A bag he must not open. A bag he must not talk about. A bag he must deliver to someone else within 24 hours.

Farewell

Director/Writer: Grace Gill
Country of Origin: Germany

Synopsis:
In the fading glow of a once-vibrant theater, a clown performs a final, intimate show for his dying wife, seated alone on a chair. The stage, once filled with shared laughter and life, becomes a space of aching devotion as he summons every trick, tumble, and tear-stained smile to pierce the quiet sorrow between them, his act becomes a desperate, beautiful ritual of love—one last attempt to make her laugh before the curtain falls. Farewell is a tender and haunting portrait of grief, memory, and the power of performance in the face of loss.

After You

Director/Writer/Producer: Julian Saw
Country of Origin: Thailand

Synopsis:
A man meets a girl at a coffee machine and fell in love at first sight, sank into imagination.

The Man Who Leapt Into the Fountain

Director/Writer/Producer: Bruno Falabella
Country of Origin: Brazil

Synopsis:
A man approaches a point of no return.

UNMASKED

Directors/Writers: Dimitris Galatas, Fragkiskos Arapai
Country of Origin: Greece

Synopsis:
Sofia, a woman in her mid-20s battling depression, stumbles upon a peculiar mask on the roadside and brings it home. Soon, strange things begin to happen. An irresistible urge to put on the mask develops and the lines between what is real and not begin to blur.

DO YOU LØVE ME

Director: Dimitris Galatas
Writer/Producer: Sofia Papadaki
Country of Origin: Greece

Synopsis:
Sofia desperately tries to keep her relationship with Andrew by any means necessary. Soon, things take a turn for the worse.

Star Crossed

Director/Writer/Producer: Rachel Pearson
Director/Writer: James Eldridge
Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Synopsis:
Anticipating a proposal from Jamie, Ella gets excited for a surprise romantic weekend but will things go to plan after a shocking revelation?

You Have Something That's Mine

Director/Writer/Producer: Martin Klanert
Country of Origin: Germany

Synopsis:
A woman finds something in the woods that doesn't belong to her. What starts as small mistake turns into a deadly encounter.

Rose

Director/Writer: Susan Daniel
Producer: Richard Tauheulu
Country of Origin: Australia

Synopsis:
Struggling to pay rent, a promiscuous artist begins to take up Sex Work, only to realise it's not what she thought it would be.

Open Until

Director/Writer/Producer: Marky Hugh
Country of Origin: Canada

Synopsis:
An 82-year-old female massage therapist continues to run her small clinic with unwavering dedication. Though her aging body reminds her of time passing— she refuses to slow down. Despite exhaustion and occasional forgetfulness, she never loses her passion for healing others. Day after day, she treats patients and even mentors a new therapist, proving that compassion, purpose, and a lifetime of service can endure far beyond physical limits.

Bruce Dickinson - Tears of the Dragon - Orchestra - 2026

Director: LEO LIBERTI
Director: ANTOINE DE MONTREMY
Writer: BRUCE DICKINSON
Producers: BRENDAN DUFFEY, RAFAEL PENSADO
Country of Origin: United Kingdom

Synopsis:
This year (2026), besides marking Iron Maiden’s 50th anniversary, Bruce Dickinson reimagines his classic Tears of the Dragon exactly as he had always envisioned it, now accompanied by a full orchestra. But instead of creating a traditional music video, he presents a poetic short film that blends music and dance, rich in subtext and filled with Easter eggs, with his music serving as its emotional and narrative backbone.

After The Party

Director/Writer/Producer: Keagan Shiva
Country of Origin: Malaysia

Synopsis:
After a Christmas party, the host is left to sit in the silence of his house. He reminisces of pass Christmases that were filled with laughter and joy.

A BRUSHSTROKE ( UN COUP DE PINCEAU )

Director/Writer: Stéphane Martinet
Producer: Adeline Burger
Country of Origin: France

Synopsis:
Pierre, an internationally renowned painter suffering from writer's block, hasn't painted in his preferred genre since his wife's funeral. On the advice of his best friend and agent, he paints a nude. It's a masterpiece. A violent snowstorm the following night shatters the painting and destroys the artist's studio. At dawn, Pierre discovers the devastation. A woman is lying on his sofa. She tells him she is the woman in his painting…

Mudslide

Director/Writer/Producer: Savannah Brandow-Viens
Country of Origin: Canada

Synopsis:
On a beautiful summer day, two siblings are enjoying the summer heat when one of them gets the idea to build a homemade waterslide. Chaos ensues as everything turns into a muddy mess.

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.