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April 23, 2025 at 5:45 PM PT
Marina Theatre
Calendar SFFILM Festival

Shorts 2: Under Precarious Circumstances

TRT: 109 min

Thrust into moments of upheaval, characters navigate shifting power dynamics, personal reckonings, and the weight of irreversible choices in this…
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After What Happened at the Library
Directed by Syra McCarthy USA | Short Films | 15 min
After a terrifying, real-life encounter, a drag queen grapples with overwhelming public attention, struggling to reclaim their identity and peace in the aftermath of the unsettling event.

After What Happened at the Library

Bad for a Moment
Directed by Daniel Soares Portugal | Short Films | 15 min
A disastrous team-building event leads an architect to confront the unintended consequences of his latest project, the gentrification of a lower-class neighborhood.

Bad for a Moment

Buick
Directed by Michael Godere USA | Short Films | 12 min
In 1990s New Haven, three teenagers cruise the city, blasting Brand Nubian’s latest album, but their carefree night takes a violent turn when they decide to catch a late movie.

Buick

Dawn Every Day
Directed by Amir Youssef Egypt | Short Films | 20 min
In 1956 Egypt, at a crowded family party, young Nabil struggles to understand its social dynamics and his place in the adult world.

Dawn Every Day

Memories of Zhi
Directed by Mingxin Li China, UK | Short Films | 23 min
After accidentally killing a boy, 16-year-old orphan Zhi seeks refuge in a Buddhist monastery, unknowingly forming a bond with the victim’s mother, leading to a tense journey of deception, fate, and redemption.

Memories of Zhi

Nine Days in August
Directed by Ella Knorz Germany | Short Films | 17 min
After she discovers she is pregnant,18-year-old Lea navigates the complex bureaucracy of having an abortion.

Nine Days in August

Retirement Plan
Directed by John Kelly Ireland | Short Films | 7 min
Upon retirement, a man reflects on the joys, opportunities, monotony, and loneliness of his new life stage and contemplates on what comes next in this poetic Irish animated film.

Retirement Plan

Program Description

Thrust into moments of upheaval, characters navigate shifting power dynamics, personal reckonings, and the weight of irreversible choices in this powerful collection. These stories highlight the tension between control and vulnerability, forcing individuals to confront societal structures, their own limitations, and the unpredictable nature of fate. In these narratives, some young people navigate the fragile threshold between innocence and responsibility, while others struggle with the tension between ambition and accountability. Other characters face the final chapters of life, reckoning with solitude and legacy, or wrestling with the lingering echoes of trauma and public scrutiny. Across time periods and landscapes, each story immerses us in a world where control is fleeting, stability is an illusion, and survival, be it emotional, physical, or social, demands resilience. Together, these films paint a compelling portrait of lives in flux, shaped by forces both personal and systemic. —Amir George