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2026 Finger Lakes Film Festival Program

Below is the full program for the Finger Lakes Film Festival! We're excited to share these wonderful films on February 28.

Each block of films at The Smith Opera House will be followed by a filmmaker Q&A. 

Please note that although the screening blocks are set, film order is subject to change - so if there are particular films you want to see, please plan to attend the entire block. 

These films are not rated; we have done our best to indicate which films we feel may contain content unsuitable for the youngest viewers. If you have questions about the content of a particular film, please contact us! 

The DOVE BLOCK ** - Doors Open 10:00 AM 

  • Block 1 - 10:30 AM

    • Starting from Scratch - Levi Marsh - Baking a pie for the first time, a lonely widower works with quiet determination. In the process, he rediscovers hope and the sweetness of starting over.

    • Norma* - Priya Sanghvi, Dan Scott Goldstein - Norma's finally ready to move on from her ex-lovers. All she has to do is destroy the photos she keeps of them locked away in a safe. The problem? Her last boyfriend, Théo, swallowed the key.

    • Departing - Tomisin Sarumi - Three people visit a temple and summon Yoruba traditional Gods (Orishas) using traditional rituals involving dance and music. When these rituals are changed and Westernized they lose their ability to connect with the Gods.

    • Yahima - Rodolfo Lopez-Gutierrez - Yahima is a tribute to the Caguana Indigenous Ceremonial Park. This film re-imagines the world of the Arawaks and shares their culture, which inspired this origin story and the cast of characters within it.

    • Reflect - Ani Mencos - When Inés, a teenage girl, finds out she has three days to fit into a dress that isn't her size, she makes extreme decisions to make it happen.

    • Good Night, Sleep Tight - Claire Beseler - An observational exploration of the ceremonial nature of bedtime stories.

    • The Wandering Balloon - Leo Fajardo - A balloon decides to leave home and travel the world, but soon realizes that there is no place like home.

    • 35,567 Yup'ik Stories - Magnus Shipe - Middle School student creates his second film about his Yup'ik heritage by visiting a music band from his tribe that has reached global success, and like him, share their passion about their culture through the arts.

    • Dancing in the Stars - Lazar Javanovic - An unexpected incident reunites two estranged brothers, urging them to revisit their past and rethink their future.

    • Night Heist - Aldo Novo - Three high school losers desperate for popularity hatch a plan to steal a prized possession from the principal’s house.

    • Close Encounter - Jeph Porter - A skeptical teenage girl reluctantly joins her UFO-obsessed father on a road trip to a UFO convention, only to experience an otherworldly encounter that brings them closer together. 

* Contains mature content.

**Seating at The Dove Block is limited - we recommend arriving early. 

​The DOVE BLOCK**

  • Block 2 - 12:15 PM

    • The 8th of April, 2024 - Patrick Marshall - A trip to Vermont to experience the light and the dark of the total eclipse of the sun of the 8th of April, 2024.

    • dont.4get2smile* - Stefano Pennisi -After receiving a chilling call about a classmate’s unexpected death, a social-media-obsessed teen is followed by a mysterious account. Worried that it's all connected, she begins to fear that the account’s reach extends far beyond the limits of her phone screen.

    • The Kick - Mengshi Hu - One quiet night, a boy who dreams of being a soccer star plays in the middle of his neighborhood. The noise wakes everyone up. He struggles between his dream and reality. Can he keep chasing his goal, or will the world stop him?

    • Unfair Game - Riccardo Leto - A German sniper, stationed on the top floor of an abandoned building, waits for his enemy.

    • In Captivity of a Finger +2 - Zahra Dehaghani, Mohammadali Taheri, Ali akbar Ardeshir, Ismail Mokhtarian - An illiterate scarecrow is elected as manager of a city. But when the people realize that he has jeopardized their economy, they take back their votes and rebuild their city.

    • Don't F**k* with Ba - Sally Tran - A rag tag group of femmes in the depths of Chinatown band together, battling a rival gang to protect their community.

    • Baubo and the Belly Button Band - Avery Vang - Baubo and her belly-buttoned bandmates, Lipstick and Cake, throw a rocking concert to earn the love of their evil, belly-button-less, high-school classmates.

    • Full Month - Ash Goh Hua - Following the birth of her niece, Jing returns to Singapore for the newborn’s full month celebration. Here she is forced to confront her contentious relationship with her estranged mother and a traditional family politic—the causes of her departure a decade prior.​

    • Java Jive - Barrett Burgin - A thirsty young man tries to resist a hot drink.

* Contains mature content.

**Seating at The Dove Block is limited - we recommend arriving early. 

​The DOVE BLOCK**

  • Block 3 - 2:15 PM

    • CLAUD_IA* - Gabriel Furman -A cyber predator becomes the hunted when he preys on the wrong woman.

    • Shell Yeah - Sam Graff - A musician, his shells, and the surprising sounds they create.

    • Endzgiving - Tina Carbone - This is gonna be Will's last Friendsgiving.

    • Tether - Meredith Berg - On the first day of her job running a remote, isolated space station, Mickie receives mysterious transmissions and must quickly unravel their meaning with the help of a passing spaceship Captain, or an untold number of lives could be lost.

    • Krakens Maw - Miro Santeri Seppanen - A stubborn, young metal musician meets her idol, hoping he will become her mentor. Good news: he wants to include her in his next project. Bad news: it's not what she was expecting.

    • Whitch* - Hoku Uchiyama - After putting her daughter to bed, Aura discovers an intruder in her house: an elderly lady who acts strangely familiar, and who is hell-bent on performing a bloody ritual before midnight.

    • Wrong Guy - Brett Maline - When a disabled dude keeps getting mistaken for other disabled dudes, he and his best friend decide to lean in when he's mistaken again for a disabled celebrity.

    • Witness - Radha Mehta, Said Jaan - A revered small-town imam faces a crisis of faith when he must choose between upholding the values of his mosque or protecting the safety and spiritual belonging of a trans man congregant.

* Contains mature content

**Seating at The Dove Block is limited - we recommend arriving early. 

THE  SMITH - Doors Open 5:00 PM

  • Special Presentation - 5:30 PM

    • Geneva Falls - Bernie Garcia - A gothic horror tale created by youth filmmakers right here in the Finger Lakes, in association with The Dove Block Project. 

  • Block 1 - 6:00 PM

    • Outbound - Eli Jeffrey - An animation that follows a small robot on his journey to leave a desert planet. The film was sparked from a desire to merge the limitless possibilities of computer generated animation and filmmaking with hand-crafted, real life models and sets.

    • Deuce - Margot Budzyna - Two best friends are forced to confront their respective gender roles when one of them joins an all-boys baseball team.

    • Evenly Matched - Troy Tedeschi - A documentary short that explores the culture and community of competitive Yu-Gi-Oh!, a trading card game.

    • Tideline - Jason Harrington - A stop-motion short film crafted from materials gathered in the intertidal zone of a small cove on an island in Maine. Using rocks, seaglass, feathers, shells, and other found objects, the film explores the natural layering of colors.

    • Bloque - Miguel Ortiz - A struggling drummer trapped by a creative block embarks on an isolated journey through his memories, confronting the turmoil that stands between him and his rhythm.

    • Nine Interviews - Annie La Ganga - A stop-motion animation centered on a small, diverse group of devils and angels. In candid commentary, they offer insights on the intersection of their personal lives and professional milestones.

    • Steps - Josiah Moore - A disillusioned bride forces her jaded stepsister to drive the escape car from the scene of her wedding. On the run their views on love are challenged and their tense sisterhood is confronted head on.

    • Tiny Bites!!! - Maria Bouchard - A zombie baby discovers herself in a world of sweets beyond her wildest imagination.

    • Peach Melba - Dalton Allen - Burnt out at her dead-end job, Fe attempts to start her own business.

    • Come Home - Katelyn Park - While fighting on the phone with her dad, Della, a Korean-American daughter, gets sucked into an ocean of memories. Watching her younger self, Della feels the pain of the past and tries to find the courage to swim back up to find closeness with her father in the present.

    • Teddy and Tater - Lou Duchin - Teddy and his puppet, Tater, perform a weekly show at Smirk’s Playhouse. One night, an elegant woman in the audience catches Tater’s eye and leads Tater to question his gender. As Tater’s exploration of gender comes to light, Teddy must choose whether to support Tater at the risk of losing their chance at success.

​The SMITH

  • Block 2 - 8:30 PM 

    • Into the Spotlight - Nathan Scrivens - After a former headlining actress is injured and disfigured in a workplace fire, she resigns herself to an ordinary life in a boring office job. When a former coworker invites her to perform in a community theater presentation of "Macbeth," she learns that in order to heal herself, she needs to learn how to help others.

    • FASD and My Search for Compassion - Michael Champlin - The personal journey of self-advocate Emily Hargrave as she searches for her Life-giving parents and a better understanding of FASD, a neurological disorder that affects 1 in 20 children.

    • Jimmy's Older Sister* - Laura Paganello - As Tyler deals with the recent passing of his mother and two broken arms, he gravitates towards Sarah, his best friend's older sister, as she deals with the emotional damage of a recent sex-tape exposure. The two make an unexpected connection through their respective feelings of isolation, which escalates further when Sarah shows up at Tyler's house unprompted.

    • Reverb - Akhil Blessy - Exploring the intersection of memory and sensory perception, Reverb is a visual and auditory journey through a fragmented psyche. When a recurring distortion begins to bleed into his reality, the protagonist is forced to navigate a world where the past doesn't just linger—it repeats with haunting precision.

    • Tomorrow Will Be Better - Mez - A teenage girl must face her first night on the job as a waitress. Conflict arises, plots are revealed, leaving her with one truth: "Tomorrow will be better."

    • My Dear CaraMia - Lily Anninger - CaraMia Bacchiochi shares her story of addiction and unhoused living in Poughkeepsie, New York during the 1980s, which eventually led her to a life of sobriety dedicated to providing aid to those in the same city and position she was once in.

    • Morphic - Malik Maliki - Sami, an actor preparing for the role of a teacher who survived a school shooting, develops a mysterious growth on his back that triggers painful memories of his childhood in a war zone in Baghdad. With his health and career at risk, he must confront his past to heal before it's too late.

    • Oasis - Danielle Dukofsky - An animation that invites the audience on a journey through a bedroom abundant with nature. Guided by elegant creatures, we are transported into a meditative, tranquil, wondrous space.

    • Thrillogy* - Ryan Brady - 'All's Fair in Hell and Hot Wings' - An absurdist horror comedy in three parts.

    • Randy as Himself - Margaret Miller - A Hollywood production crew comes to West Texas to recreate the grisly murder of a local woman. Using locals to re-enact the crime, reality TV meets reality in this bizarre romantic comedy about the (show) business of murder.

* Contains mature content

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