Schedule

The 10th HIDFF (AUG 2024)

10th Season Schedule
This event will be held at the Sherry Theater in North Hollywood on August 10th 2024.
For details on the venue location, see our Festival page.

BLOCK A - Aug 10 at 11:20am

IF(FY) (USA)
Directed by Lesego Vorster, Ross Lelliott, Osiokeh Ikharo
Written by Osiokeh Ikharo
Cast: Dulo Folarin-Harris (African Time Pilot), Kittie Kaboom (Cita's World, The Boondocks, Lilo & Stitch the series), Jaimi Gray (Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir, Talking Bratz, Rainbow High), Harrison Knight, Isaac Fletcher, Sherrick O'Quinn
Ifeanyi has been planning his first move; he just needs an in. Or maybe an unobstructed view. His intentions are dubious but pure. He swears! After getting a pity-invite, he finally gets the chance he’s been waiting for. But will it be too late?

THIS LAND IS (USA)
Written & Directed by Bunnie Rivera
Cast: Gloria Laino, Hunter Rocha, Edward Padilla, Tricia Castañeda-Guevara
This Land Is follows Jesse as he’s rescued from a life of squalor with his mother, to the loving arms of his grandmother – and then back again, by circumstance, to the harsh reality of neglect with his mother.

INTERNAL (USA)
Written & Directed by Winter Tomisato
Cast: Aubrey Marie Scott, Makena Diller, Arielle Garcia, Tajzia Holmes, Neha Mangipudi, Stacie Sloan, Steph Rogers, Andrea Freeman
When a young woman’s ailing mother makes a personal request, she is forced to wrangle her fractured internal monologues that threaten to destroy both her identity and her relationship.

CONVERTIBLE (USA)
Written & Directed by Amirah Adem
Cast: Khadijah Abdullah, Neamah Hussein
Two young hijabi adults, Rida and Jamila attend a party. After the party, Rida discusses her decision to not wear a hijab all the time. Rida then makes a decision about whether to tell her parents that she no longer wears her hijab.

MINIFIG (USA)
Directed by Tapio Tokunaga
Written by Tapio Tokunaga, Julia Pai
Cast: Jingbei "Sebastian" Bai, Megumi Morino, Albert Lew
When Pokka and Pokka's mother, Ati, build a LEGO house together, Pokka notices weird knocks echo from the inside of the house. Consumed by its opening door, Pokka finds himself in his childhood memories of LEGO blocks, Ati's bed-reading, and his recent birthday party with his family members. However, his memories gradually collapse into the fact of his family loss which he has been avoiding for far too long.

SOñANDO AMERICA (USA)
Directed by Judit Angel
Cast: Jesus Angel, Ofelia Angel, Antonio Arellano, Moises Ruiz
Soñando America follows the story of Jesus and Ofelia, undocumented immigrants originally from the small town of Degollado, Mexico. In this documentary we travel to Degollado, Mexico and visit the hometown of the subjects to get a view of their past lives. This short documentary follows their story of crossing the border and struggling to achieve the American dream from the most intimate view of the director, their eldest daughter who discovers first truths along the way.

LEGACY VOICES 2: NEW GENERATION (Canada)
Directed by Akil McKenzie
Cast: Edwin Terry, Edwin Scott, Richelle Papin, Azelin Phillips
Elderly members of the Halton community return to share their experiences as some of the first Black people to live in Ontario’s Halton Region.

JASMINE (Ireland)
Written & Directed by Ellen Costa
Cast: Sebastian Mok, Fan Fan Ling
Jasmine spends her life yearning for love. Despite of her beauty and talents, she had been forced into the mistress culture, only becoming the second choice. Many personal disappointments cause Jasmine a mental breakdown and she wants to give up.

BLOCK B - Aug 10 at 1:45pm

THE EKSPATS - WE'RE GOING TO AFRICA (USA)
Directed by Ron Myrick
Written by Salman Zoueihed, Omotunde Akiode, Damilare Sonoiki, Jeffrey O'Brien
Cast: Glenn Steinbaum, Sarah Widmann, Ike Amadi, Sofia Moorefield, Jacques Moorefield, William Moorefield, Dan Hofstadter
An animated clash of cultures comedy TV series of an all-American family that relocates to Nigeria.

THE PARADISE ROAD (USA)
Written & Directed by Lisa Marie Tedesco
Cast: Mandahla Rose, Shelly Ro
Two women tie the knot and embark on a romantic excursion to a west coast sea-side town for a moment of happiness and seclusion before inevitably coming to terms with a life-altering decision.

THE FUSCOS (USA)
Directed by Jennie Girardo
Written by Ashley Gianni, Danielle Beckmann
Cast: Ashley Gianni, Stacie Capone, Danielle Beckmann, Stacy Snyder, Frank Zagottis
The three estranged Fusco sisters come together on the eve of their Mob Boss father's funeral to fight for liberation amid the male-dominated landscape of 1975.

HAPPY TOGETHER (USA)
Written & Directed by Zahier Turner
Cast: Andre Haskett, Justin McCleskey, Joshua Bowman, Eric Ackerman
When his best friend goes missing, a young man must choose between rebellion and compliance in a society where happiness is enforced.

ONYOTA' A:KA. (PEOPLE OF THE STANDING STONE) (Canada)
Written & Directed by Karan Dhillon
Cast: Anthony Ireland
A documentary detailing a heartwarming and inspiring story that shines light on the enduring strength and compassionate spirit of the Onyota' a:ka people.

BEYOND THE RING (South Africa)
Directed by Mari Geldenhuys, Malcolm Rainers
In the South Africa township of Khayelitsha, a young female boxer confronts the spectre of gender-based violence by immersing herself in the world of boxing, seeking empowerment and courage in the face of pervasive fear.

BLOCK C - Aug 10 at 4:00pm

RAMADAN AMERICA (USA)
Directed by Huriyyah Muhammad, Ijaaz Noohu, Amy Omar, Kashif Pasta, Jumai Yusuf, Asad Butt
Written by Halimah Iman, Sarah A. Mostafa, Wahab Shayek, Sarwat Siddiqui, Faroukh Virani, Jeff Chanley
Cast: Rizwan Manji (Schitt's Creek, The Magicians), Hina X Khan, Kausar Mohammed (The Flash, Jurassic World: Camp Cretacious), Behzad Dabu, Moneer Yaqubi
A first-of-its-kind feature-length film anthology written by, directed by, and starring American Muslims.

BLOCK D - Aug 10 at 5:30pm

FORTUNE COOKIES (UK)
Written & Directed by Brenda Lee
Cast: Siu Hun Li (Anthony, British People, Chimerica, Johnny English Reborn), Belinda Duong (The Missing Chinese Girl, The Watchmaker), Carmen Pat (Goodbye Mr Vampire), Rob Firth (Guardians of the Galaxy, American Monster)
Set in a Chinese takeaway in England in the 1990s, a daughter has a dream of becoming an actress. Her family have a dream of being on their favourite gameshow. Her father has a secret that could cost his family everything. Guess who's coming with dinner?

BLOCK E - Aug 10 at 7:15pm

ONLY GOD KNOWS EVERYTHING (South Korea)
Written & Directed by Seung Hwan PAEK
Cast: Seung Ho SHIN (DP - Netflix), Myung Hoon PARK (Parasite), Ji Eun HAN, So Min JEON
A Catholic priest who heard the confession agonizes over revenge.

AWARDS PRESENTATION

Awards will be presented at 9:25pm on August 10.

Previous season schedule