Crossroads
Before I Wake — Christine Flemming, Tinshine Mont
Before I Wake explores the queer experience through the eyes of a younger sister struggling to connect with her older sister’s transformed state into adulthood and motherhood. As queer filmmakers, we are drawn to experiences and vulnerabilities that deviate from or conflict with gender norms, and to the psychological violence that arises from tensions like those: the alienation and confusion that emerge when traditional modes of womanhood embodied by family, friends, loved ones, or even strangers, no longer reflect our identity.
The film is also a commentary on how spaces constantly transform as urban development and gentrification invade city’s outskirts, and the lack of third spaces for adolescents. Before I Wake takes place in a dream, a nostalgic refuge preserving the protagonist’s memories, where the sisters ride their motorbike through familiar neighborhoods, revisiting childhood haunts and escaping their troubled home. The dreamscape contrasts with the narration that describes the real world, where those once-familiar places have been replaced by new structures. This transformation parallels the sister’s relationship, which in reality has grown distant and irreconcilable.
Queer loneliness become internal landscapes shaped by memory and absence. We cultivate this sense of longing and surrealism through subtle world-building: shots of a fallen tree, a silent playground, spiderwebs, and scattered, broken remnants of the past within an abandoned building. Memories construct a liminal world, neither fully alive nor entirely gone. It is the violence of being trapped between the past and estrangement. At the same time, memories also become fantasies: they are fragile means of survival through which we navigate grief and nostalgia. In dreams, we remember and feel, and then we wake up.
Christine Flemming (they/them) - Christine is a Thai, Yunnanese-Chinese and Swedish writer, filmmaker, and activist. Born in Chaing Mai, Christine moved to Bangkok for university and after graduation, they have been working in media production as a screenwriter, director and community organizer for more than 5 years. Christine has been curating film programs and facilitating filmmaking workshops to encourage, uplift and connect feminist and LGBT+ storytellers, artists and activists.
Tinshine Mont (they/them) - Tinshine's work explores themes of subconscious and queer desires and how they manifest in dreams and memories. Tinshine’s short film “Ethereal Creature,” is about two girls returning a fruit they stole from a Thai mythological Goddess. It competed at the 2018 Seoul International Women’s Film Festival and 2019 SeaShorts Film Festival. Tinshine’s third short film, “A Day Will Come” (2019) is a collaboration with Christine Flemming, with political themes about freedom of speech and forced disappearance. It screened at two exhibitions organized by Amnesty Thailand in 2022 and 2025. Tinshine’s latest work is part of the project “Soon to be Forgotten,” shot on 8mm film. It captures landscapes and migrant labor in Bangkok, and was exhibited at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) in 2024 and the Thai Film Archive in 2025.
The film is also a commentary on how spaces constantly transform as urban development and gentrification invade city’s outskirts, and the lack of third spaces for adolescents. Before I Wake takes place in a dream, a nostalgic refuge preserving the protagonist’s memories, where the sisters ride their motorbike through familiar neighborhoods, revisiting childhood haunts and escaping their troubled home. The dreamscape contrasts with the narration that describes the real world, where those once-familiar places have been replaced by new structures. This transformation parallels the sister’s relationship, which in reality has grown distant and irreconcilable.
Queer loneliness become internal landscapes shaped by memory and absence. We cultivate this sense of longing and surrealism through subtle world-building: shots of a fallen tree, a silent playground, spiderwebs, and scattered, broken remnants of the past within an abandoned building. Memories construct a liminal world, neither fully alive nor entirely gone. It is the violence of being trapped between the past and estrangement. At the same time, memories also become fantasies: they are fragile means of survival through which we navigate grief and nostalgia. In dreams, we remember and feel, and then we wake up.
Christine Flemming (they/them) - Christine is a Thai, Yunnanese-Chinese and Swedish writer, filmmaker, and activist. Born in Chaing Mai, Christine moved to Bangkok for university and after graduation, they have been working in media production as a screenwriter, director and community organizer for more than 5 years. Christine has been curating film programs and facilitating filmmaking workshops to encourage, uplift and connect feminist and LGBT+ storytellers, artists and activists.
Tinshine Mont (they/them) - Tinshine's work explores themes of subconscious and queer desires and how they manifest in dreams and memories. Tinshine’s short film “Ethereal Creature,” is about two girls returning a fruit they stole from a Thai mythological Goddess. It competed at the 2018 Seoul International Women’s Film Festival and 2019 SeaShorts Film Festival. Tinshine’s third short film, “A Day Will Come” (2019) is a collaboration with Christine Flemming, with political themes about freedom of speech and forced disappearance. It screened at two exhibitions organized by Amnesty Thailand in 2022 and 2025. Tinshine’s latest work is part of the project “Soon to be Forgotten,” shot on 8mm film. It captures landscapes and migrant labor in Bangkok, and was exhibited at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) in 2024 and the Thai Film Archive in 2025.
Meet The Friends — C. Denise
Krys lives by a simple, self-preserving code: charm, conquer, and never, ever get close. A master of the fleeting connection, she glides through a series of romantic encounters with emotional detachment as her shield. Her number one rule? No meeting the friends. Friends mean investment, context, and the terrifying specter of a real relationship.
Her carefully curated world is upended when she meets Felicia, a woman whose wit and beauty is matched only by her disarming sincerity. For the first time, Krys is genuinely captivated. Just as they are on the verge of intimacy, Felicia makes a gentle but firm request: before they take things further, she’d like Krys to meet her closest friends.
The proposition sends Krys into a tailspin. To agree is to dismantle the very walls that have kept her safe from heartbreak. It’s a direct violation of her entire emotional playbook. But to refuse is to lose Felicia, the first person who has made her consider wanting more.
"Meet The Friends" is a poignant and tense short film that follows Krys over one nerve-wracking evening as she stands at a crossroads. She must choose between the safety of her old ways or the terrifying, vulnerable leap of faith required to possibly win the heart of a woman who values connection over conquest.
C. Denise is a fearless creative force, a writer, director, and producer dedicated to bringing authentic, humanizing stories to the screen. Born and raised with the resilient spirit of Detroit, Michigan, she honed her craft earning a Bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
A natural storyteller, Denise began writing scripts in her early twenties, cultivating a unique gift for crafting narratives that resonate with real life for real people. Her work is characterized by its emotional honesty, finding the delicate balance between laughter and the uneasy truths that have the power to change perspectives and change lives.
While *Meet The Friends* marks her directorial debut, it is the culmination of a lifelong dream and a profound personal journey. A breast cancer survivor diagnosed in 2017 and in remission since 2018, she now lives with a renewed vigor and strength, working tirelessly to manifest her ambitions. She credits her relentless pursuit of these dreams to the unwavering support of her loving wife of 16 years, Angie, and their son, Austin.
Driven by a powerful mission to humanize marginalized communities, C.Denise founded Nolo’s Child Productions** as a tribute to her late mother, Carolyn “Nolo” Nolan, and the strong familial legacy she left behind. With a strong faith in the power of manifesting, C. Denise is not just a filmmaker; she is a visionary poised to create a lasting impact, with many more powerful stories waiting to be told.
Her carefully curated world is upended when she meets Felicia, a woman whose wit and beauty is matched only by her disarming sincerity. For the first time, Krys is genuinely captivated. Just as they are on the verge of intimacy, Felicia makes a gentle but firm request: before they take things further, she’d like Krys to meet her closest friends.
The proposition sends Krys into a tailspin. To agree is to dismantle the very walls that have kept her safe from heartbreak. It’s a direct violation of her entire emotional playbook. But to refuse is to lose Felicia, the first person who has made her consider wanting more.
"Meet The Friends" is a poignant and tense short film that follows Krys over one nerve-wracking evening as she stands at a crossroads. She must choose between the safety of her old ways or the terrifying, vulnerable leap of faith required to possibly win the heart of a woman who values connection over conquest.
C. Denise is a fearless creative force, a writer, director, and producer dedicated to bringing authentic, humanizing stories to the screen. Born and raised with the resilient spirit of Detroit, Michigan, she honed her craft earning a Bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
A natural storyteller, Denise began writing scripts in her early twenties, cultivating a unique gift for crafting narratives that resonate with real life for real people. Her work is characterized by its emotional honesty, finding the delicate balance between laughter and the uneasy truths that have the power to change perspectives and change lives.
While *Meet The Friends* marks her directorial debut, it is the culmination of a lifelong dream and a profound personal journey. A breast cancer survivor diagnosed in 2017 and in remission since 2018, she now lives with a renewed vigor and strength, working tirelessly to manifest her ambitions. She credits her relentless pursuit of these dreams to the unwavering support of her loving wife of 16 years, Angie, and their son, Austin.
Driven by a powerful mission to humanize marginalized communities, C.Denise founded Nolo’s Child Productions** as a tribute to her late mother, Carolyn “Nolo” Nolan, and the strong familial legacy she left behind. With a strong faith in the power of manifesting, C. Denise is not just a filmmaker; she is a visionary poised to create a lasting impact, with many more powerful stories waiting to be told.
Blossoming Wasp : Nessa Norich & Anooj Bhandari
Sai is a counterfeit artist who convinces himself that the money he fabricates will change his family’s grief. Bullied by beautiful yet irreverent figments of his imagination, Sai confronts his own grief through the spectrum of implications his counterfeit practice could have on his family.
Blossoming Wasp is a queer South Asian story about a family’s grief in the wake of losing its patriarch. After the death of his father, Sai, a counterfeit artist, convinces himself that the money he fabricates will change his family’s grief. On his mom’s first birthday after his father’s passing, Sai is confronted by the spectrum of implications his counterfeit practice could have on his family, forcing him to face the depth of his own grief. Blossoming Wasp straddles reality and delusion. Sai moves through his everyday life in a daze, bullied by beautiful yet irreverent figments of his memory and imagination, the specters of his grief hovering. His bereavement casts perception into confusion: What is real anymore? What matters?
Nessa Norich is a Brooklyn-based writer, director, and performer who creates satirical works for screen and stage. Her talent and passion have led her to international training at Jacques Lecoq, and professional opportunities presenting her original works across the U.S, Europe and the UK, notably at the Edinburgh Fringe, the British Film Institute, Joe’s Pub, Battersea Arts Center, New Orleans Fringe, the Louvre, Hammerstein Ballroom, and Soapbox Theater in Oslo, NY Live Arts among others. Nessa’s film Jelly Bean, which she wrote, directed, and starred in, was the official selection of 21 international festivals, including its World Premiere at Flicker’s Rhode Island, where Nessa received the award for Best Actress. Nessa is a recipient of many awards and grants, including the 2022 NYC Women’s Fund for Media and the Mem Global Grant. She has developed works at The Getty Villa, The Orchard Project, Mount Tremper Arts, and NACL residencies.
Anooj is an Artist focusing on experimental non-fiction and magical realism, who believes deeply in art as a process to ask quiet questions publicly. Drawn to aesthetics that sit somewhere between a Shel Silverstein drawing and an episode of the Twilight Zone, he is intrigued by the ways the endearing softness of illustration and the eerie mysticism of the unknown can weave together to ignite communal daydreaming. He is an ensemble member of the New York Neo-Futurists, and collaborates with Agile Rascal, a bicycle touring theater troupe, and Radical Evolution where he has been co-commissioned for SoHo Rep’s 2027-2028 season. Past residencies have included the Lighthouse Residency at the BEAM Center, and The Bandung Residency with the Asian American Arts Alliance and the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporic Arts. Anooj is a 2023 MacDowell Fellow, a current Jerome T. Hill Artist Fellow, and Fulbright Fellow in Creative Writing.
Blossoming Wasp is a queer South Asian story about a family’s grief in the wake of losing its patriarch. After the death of his father, Sai, a counterfeit artist, convinces himself that the money he fabricates will change his family’s grief. On his mom’s first birthday after his father’s passing, Sai is confronted by the spectrum of implications his counterfeit practice could have on his family, forcing him to face the depth of his own grief. Blossoming Wasp straddles reality and delusion. Sai moves through his everyday life in a daze, bullied by beautiful yet irreverent figments of his memory and imagination, the specters of his grief hovering. His bereavement casts perception into confusion: What is real anymore? What matters?
Nessa Norich is a Brooklyn-based writer, director, and performer who creates satirical works for screen and stage. Her talent and passion have led her to international training at Jacques Lecoq, and professional opportunities presenting her original works across the U.S, Europe and the UK, notably at the Edinburgh Fringe, the British Film Institute, Joe’s Pub, Battersea Arts Center, New Orleans Fringe, the Louvre, Hammerstein Ballroom, and Soapbox Theater in Oslo, NY Live Arts among others. Nessa’s film Jelly Bean, which she wrote, directed, and starred in, was the official selection of 21 international festivals, including its World Premiere at Flicker’s Rhode Island, where Nessa received the award for Best Actress. Nessa is a recipient of many awards and grants, including the 2022 NYC Women’s Fund for Media and the Mem Global Grant. She has developed works at The Getty Villa, The Orchard Project, Mount Tremper Arts, and NACL residencies.
Anooj is an Artist focusing on experimental non-fiction and magical realism, who believes deeply in art as a process to ask quiet questions publicly. Drawn to aesthetics that sit somewhere between a Shel Silverstein drawing and an episode of the Twilight Zone, he is intrigued by the ways the endearing softness of illustration and the eerie mysticism of the unknown can weave together to ignite communal daydreaming. He is an ensemble member of the New York Neo-Futurists, and collaborates with Agile Rascal, a bicycle touring theater troupe, and Radical Evolution where he has been co-commissioned for SoHo Rep’s 2027-2028 season. Past residencies have included the Lighthouse Residency at the BEAM Center, and The Bandung Residency with the Asian American Arts Alliance and the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporic Arts. Anooj is a 2023 MacDowell Fellow, a current Jerome T. Hill Artist Fellow, and Fulbright Fellow in Creative Writing.
I Might Regret This : Aurélie van Oost
When a notification shatters the bliss of a perfect night, a French expat spirals into an absurd journey across Berlin, haunted by questions she can't ignore.
After a blissful night with her boyfriend, Zoé, a French expat living in Berlin, wakes up to a fertility notification that abruptly shifts the morning. What begins as a simple search for the morning-after pill quickly turns into an absurd journey through the city.As Zoé navigates pharmacies, strangers, and a language she doesn’t fully understand, she is confronted with unsolicited advice, awkward encounters, and subtle forms of mansplaining that blur concern with control. Moving through a foreign city that both fascinates and isolates her, the day unfolds in unexpected ways.Between chaotic moments and quiet reflections, Zoé finds herself facing questions about love, responsibility, and autonomy, questions that, despite involving two people, often seem to land on her shoulders alone.Blending dark humor with intimacy, I Might Regret This follows one woman over the course of a single day as an ordinary errand becomes a deeper confrontation with expectation, choice, and the pressure surrounding procreation.
Director: Aurélie van Oost:
Drawing from her nomadic childhood and adolescence across Europe and Asia, director Aurélie van Oost recently moved from Montréal to Berlin to fully dedicate herself to filmmaking. L Might Regret This is her second short film in collaboration with actress Eva Lomby.
In Berlin, Aurélie continues to develop her cinematic and multimedia practice, creating short narrative works and writing new projects. She has also directed several music videos, one of which was nominated for Best Music Video at the Berlin Music Video Awards.
Her sharp eye for layered characters and distinctive perspective set her apart as a bold new voice in contemporary filmmaking.
Eva Lomby:
Eva Lomby began storytelling through movement in the south of France. A trained dancer who left home at 15 to pursue ballet, she was told early at the Conservatoire de Marseille: “You have something to say.” She went on to dance on prestigious stages, performing repertoire from Nacho Duato and Maurice Béjart, and later in the stage musical The Lion King.
She then made a grand jeté from stage to screen, appearing as a ballerina antagonist in the Amazon Studios feature Birds of Paradise directed by Sarah Adina Smith.
Her first short film as an executive producer and lead actress, Might Regret This, has already received festival recognition, including awards for Best Actress and Best Produced Script. Inspired by her life in Germany and sparked by a moment in a pharmacy, the film blends sharp humor with feminist perspective. Alongside acting, Lomby also works as a movement director, continuing to shape stories through the body while developing bold characters and scripts that move between drama and comedy.
After a blissful night with her boyfriend, Zoé, a French expat living in Berlin, wakes up to a fertility notification that abruptly shifts the morning. What begins as a simple search for the morning-after pill quickly turns into an absurd journey through the city.As Zoé navigates pharmacies, strangers, and a language she doesn’t fully understand, she is confronted with unsolicited advice, awkward encounters, and subtle forms of mansplaining that blur concern with control. Moving through a foreign city that both fascinates and isolates her, the day unfolds in unexpected ways.Between chaotic moments and quiet reflections, Zoé finds herself facing questions about love, responsibility, and autonomy, questions that, despite involving two people, often seem to land on her shoulders alone.Blending dark humor with intimacy, I Might Regret This follows one woman over the course of a single day as an ordinary errand becomes a deeper confrontation with expectation, choice, and the pressure surrounding procreation.
Director: Aurélie van Oost:
Drawing from her nomadic childhood and adolescence across Europe and Asia, director Aurélie van Oost recently moved from Montréal to Berlin to fully dedicate herself to filmmaking. L Might Regret This is her second short film in collaboration with actress Eva Lomby.
In Berlin, Aurélie continues to develop her cinematic and multimedia practice, creating short narrative works and writing new projects. She has also directed several music videos, one of which was nominated for Best Music Video at the Berlin Music Video Awards.
Her sharp eye for layered characters and distinctive perspective set her apart as a bold new voice in contemporary filmmaking.
Eva Lomby:
Eva Lomby began storytelling through movement in the south of France. A trained dancer who left home at 15 to pursue ballet, she was told early at the Conservatoire de Marseille: “You have something to say.” She went on to dance on prestigious stages, performing repertoire from Nacho Duato and Maurice Béjart, and later in the stage musical The Lion King.
She then made a grand jeté from stage to screen, appearing as a ballerina antagonist in the Amazon Studios feature Birds of Paradise directed by Sarah Adina Smith.
Her first short film as an executive producer and lead actress, Might Regret This, has already received festival recognition, including awards for Best Actress and Best Produced Script. Inspired by her life in Germany and sparked by a moment in a pharmacy, the film blends sharp humor with feminist perspective. Alongside acting, Lomby also works as a movement director, continuing to shape stories through the body while developing bold characters and scripts that move between drama and comedy.
Afterlife : Sia Rass
Sasha, a Russian-American filmmaker living in New York, returns to Moscow as her grandparents prepare for their belated Orthodox wedding. With her camera and a list of questions, she follows them through memories, routines, and sixty years of imperfect devotion. As their story unfolds, Sasha confronts her own sense of displacement—torn between cultures, searching for a self that feels fully hers.
Sia Rass is a Russian-born filmmaker based in Canada. Her work blends documentary and fiction to explore identity, vulnerability, and the ways we change — willingly or not. AFTERLIFE is her first narrative-driven short, inspired by intimate interviews she recorded with her grandparents, whose relationship and memories guided the film’s emotional tone.
Sia Rass is a Russian-born filmmaker based in Canada. Her work blends documentary and fiction to explore identity, vulnerability, and the ways we change — willingly or not. AFTERLIFE is her first narrative-driven short, inspired by intimate interviews she recorded with her grandparents, whose relationship and memories guided the film’s emotional tone.
