FILM DIARY NYC is a biennial festival of experimental, autobiographical films that capture the personal history and daily experiences of the filmmaker. The 4th edition, “go to the mountains and pray,” features 170 new works by a diverse array of artists from across the world. The opening night shorts program, in its 4th year at Spectacle, features 9 films that represent the range of the festival programming: from the formally experimental to the observational; from documentary to auto-fiction; from found footage and new media to 16mm and analogue film techniques.
SATURDAY, JUNE 21 – 7:30PM w/ filmmakers in attendance (this event is $10)
RADIO JAMMER
dir. Jacob Kessler, 2025
United States. 20 mins.
A fragmentary 16mm portrait of the lonely lives that haunt Chicago’s underground rap scene.
SKINNY DIPPING
dir. E. Jane, 2025
United States. 8 mins.
An autodocumentary/video essay about my attempt to peacefully skinny dip in a lake in Maine as a private performance, reflecting on surveillance culture, performance, and the Black femme body.
POOR KNEE; [LOOSE TONGUE]; TRIGGER FINGER زانوی بیچاره؛ {زبان شُل}؛ انگشته شکسته
dir. Fatemeh Kazemi, 2025
Iran. 12 mins.
Contemplating the dissolution of our sorrows, how grief detaches from the body, floating through a digital dreamscape in search of refuge within fragmented memories, yet never quite finding its vessel.
JUST BELOW HEAVEN
dir. Cameron A Granger, 2025
United States. 9 mins.
A pigeon who lives a life of captivity as a test subject of behavioral scientist B.F. Skinner, dreams of freedom and the collapse of empire.
TRACE ON MY BODY
dir. YUE Hua, 2025
China. 3 mins.
In spring 2023, a physical illness forced me to re-examine my relationship with my body.
Drag me, drop me, treat me like an object
dir. Vega Royer-Gaspard, 2024
France. 7 mins.
In her teenage bedroom, a young girl spends her days writing about her growing obsession for her classmate.
EVERYDAYAF
dir. Art Jones, 2025
United States. 5 mins.
Black and white on the beach, re-manipulated news clips, and 3-dimensional wanderings.
FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT
dir Fadl Fakhouri, 2025
United States. 23 mins.
A poetry film that draws comparisons between haflat shabab (Palestinian bachelor parties), Oakland California’s illegal rave scene, and the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
SEEK BEYOND
dir. Louis Scantlebury, 2025
United Kingdom. 4 mins.
A brand slogan triggers a spiritual crisis.
TRT 96 MINS.