Entertainment

American Pavilion Cannes Emerging Filmmaker Showcase Lineup 2026

Published

4 months ago

April 30, 2026

The Cannes Film Festival is just around the corner, and The American Pavilion presented by IndieWire will be offering programming that helps filmmakers at all stages of their career learn, grow, and network. One of the most exciting events on our schedule is the Emerging Filmmaker Showcase, sponsored by Gold House, which gives emerging filmmakers and students from some of the best film schools in the world a chance to show their work during the biggest film festival of the year.

The lineup features 20 shorts from a diverse group of filmmakers, including multiple alumni of AmPav’s Cannes program. Deepening AmPav’s partnership with Gold House, this year’s showcase highlights films and filmmakers whose work reflects the rich diversity of global perspectives, cultures, and identities, underscoring a shared commitment to elevating underrepresented voices and fostering meaningful cultural impact.

Siobhan Thompson and Alex Song-Xia behind the scenes for a test shoot on 'The Greatest Treasure in the World'

WAKE IN FRIGHT, (aka OUTBACK), Donald Pleasence, 1971.

“I’m proud of this year’s showcase for shedding light on the emerging filmmaker’s creative storytelling and diverse voices in their narrative shorts, documentaries, and animated films,” Monika Skerbelis, director of the Emerging Filmmaker Showcase, said in a statement.

“We’re so excited to be a part of the Emerging Filmmaker Showcase again this year. We’re continually on the lookout for the next leading voices, and to meet these talented filmmakers at the most prestigious festival on the circuit is extra special,” Gold House co-founder and Chief Brand Officer Christine Yi added.

The 2026 Emerging Filmmaker Showcase will take place at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes on May 19 and 20. The complete lineup can be found below and more info on the showcase can be found here.

LGBTQ+ SHOWCASE FILMS

BIG BASS
2024, 13:46 min., USA, Documentary, LGBTQ+
Director: Drew Dickler
Producer: Nikki F Heyman, Jennie Kamin, David Sherwin
Cast: Drew Dickler, Cheryl Bruttomesso, Eva Malkasian
What does it mean to feel seen by others before you’re ready to see yourself? A filmmaker travels back to 1997 to revisit a dream-like memory from second grade that centers around her queer identity, her legendary PE teacher and a mysterious large plastic fish.

DANDELION
2025, 19:59 min., USA, Drama, Comedy, Coming-of-Age, LGBTQ+, American Film Institute Conservatory
Director: Fiona Obertinca
Writer: Corey Pinchoff
Producer: Tori Ichikowitz
Cast: Vic Michaelis, Ava Lalezarzadeh, Kristin Carey, Butch Klein, Sarah Cortez
In 1970s Los Angeles, rebellious queer teen MARGARET gets thrown out of yet another foster placement and finds herself in the company of a mysterious social worker who’s tasked with finding her a new home before the break of dawn. At odds and forced to travel the city together, Margaret realizes that running may not be her only option.

QUEERBAIT
2025, 10:07 min., USA, Erotic Thriller, LGBTQ+
Writer/Director: Nate Gualtieri
Producer: Bara Kim, Jesus Garcia
Cast: Sydney Mae Diaz, Matthew Floyd Miller
A precocious classics student is invited to dinner after he piques the interest of a tenured professor. But when his teacher’s mentorship starts to push boundaries, he’s forced to make a choice: protect his academic future, or preserve his dignity?

SO BE IT
2025, 7:28 min., USA, Animation, Documentary, LGBTQ+, University of Southern California
Writer/Director: Matthew Sorgie
Producer: Liya Yang, Shagun Kanwar
Cast: Rochelle (Shelley) Diamond, Barbara Belmont, Richard Zaldivar, Joselito Laudencia, Joe Heally, Gordon Bellamy, Bruce Keelan, Nitin Kale, Jim Raidl
So Be It is an animated documentary offering a rare and tender portrait of lifelong queer love. Through candid conversation, the film shares the stories of 5 LGBTQIA+ couples reflecting on resilience, commitment, and the privilege it is to love and be loved.

WELCOME TO TOOL SHED
2026, 22:11 min., USA, Documentary, LGBTQ+
Director: Daniel Talbott, Andrew Klaus-Vineyard
Producer: Rachna Khatau, Daniel Talbott, Andrew Klaus-Vineyard, Noel Do-Murakami, Jonah Sirota, Orphan Andy Films
A searing dive into the colorful community of queer senior citizens who congregate at the Tool Shed, a long-standing leather bar and sanctuary for queer people in Palm Springs, CA. The film examines the generation who never expected to become senior citizens in the face of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and decades of oppression, who now find themselves trailblazers again as the first openly LGBTQ seniors.

ZARI
2024, 19:16 min., USA/India, Drama, Coming-of-Age, LGBTQ+
Writer/Director: Shruti Parekh
Producer: Kajri Akhtar, Shruti Parekh
Cast: Aesha Soni, Kamal Batra, Richa Kalra, Kundan Kumar
American teen Neelu feels like a fish out of water amidst preparations for her sister’s wedding in Delhi until she forges a brief and unexpected connection with Zeyb, a quiet sari store clerk who moonlights as an internet drag queen.

EMERGING FILMMAKER SHOWCASE SHORTS

THE DRIVE
2025, 12:21 min., USA, Drama, Suspense, Historical
Writer/Director: David Arrow
Producer: Leon Derriey
Cast: Amber Paul, Allen Guy Willcox, Rivers Duggan, Blair Newman, Victoria Spitalieri, Andrew Arrow, Emma Carpio, Madison Chung, and Candice Clarke
It’s a warm November day in the early 1960s, and Liz has just picked up the kids for her weekly carpool. Little does she know that this will be a drive she’ll never forget.

LAWYERED UP
2025, 18:48 min., USA, Sci-Fi, Dramedy
Writer/Director: Tatiana Blackington James
Producer: Tatiana Blackington James, Olia Zimarova
Cast: Virginia Reece, Jude Lanston, Josh Breslow, Susan Rudick
A betrayed woman hires a divorce lawyer who seems to be the perfect man. Is he too good to be true?

LUKI AND THE LIGHTS
2024, 10:40 min., USA, Animation
Director: Toby Cochran
Screenwriter: Toby Cochran
Writer: Toby Cochran, Sascha Groen, Janna Brouwer-Schouten, Anjo Snijders
Producer: Adrian Ochoa
Cast: Anjo Snijders, Kendra Vernon, Toby Cochran
LUKi, a charming and upbeat robot known for living life to the fullest, confronts a life-altering ALS diagnosis.

A MATTER OF TIME
2025, 9:14 min., USA, Drama
Writer/Director: Ana Milena Rojas Alarcon, Brian Patrick Hoffman
Producer: Ashlee Espinal
Cast: Priscila Buiar, Blanca Harnett, Brielle Dardashtian, Hilary Ervin, Garrett Cummings
Milena, a DACA recipient mother, faces a life-altering crisis one evening when her routine with her daughter, Sofia, is disrupted by an impending ICE raid. As ICE agents close in, Milena’s mother urges her to flee. In the midst of a tense escape, Milena encounters an ICE officer who, touched by a shared moment, offers her a brief chance to evade capture. The film underscores the personal and systemic struggles faced by immigrants.

MONSTER SLAYER
2025, 21 min., USA, Animation, Documentary
Director: Catie Skipp
Producer: Grace Oathout, Catie Skipp
Cast: Stephanie ‘Monty’ Montgomery (Self)
After Monty is assaulted at the strip club where she works, she weaponizes public art to exact justice against a system’s refusal to act.

POISONED SKIES
2026, 10:45 min., USA, Drama
Writer/Director: Caroline Friend
Producer: Nadia Fedchin, Caroline Friend
Cast: Julia Goldani Telles, Christopher Stanley, Kyle Mac, Michael Otis, Samuel Dunning
In 1954, an ambitious scientist on the brink of presenting groundbreaking pollution research is forced to make a moral decision when she becomes the target of a mining company responsible for a deadly smog disaster. Based on a true story.

SAVERIO
2025, 13:50 min., USA, Dramedy, Drama, Socially Conscious
Writer/Director: Ellen Ancui
Producer: Connie Jo Sechrist, Ellen Ancui
Cast: Quincy Cho, Roberto Medina, Scott Alin, Georgie August, Liv Lindell, Joy Hana Park, Renny Madlena, Pablo Sanfrancisco, Parion Roberts, Joanna Cretella
Mae, an ambitious, Korean American influencer, finds an elderly, Mexican man abandoned in her car, and must choose between her own ambition and an unsupportive healthcare system, and unwittingly journeys toward a new destination.

EMERGING FILMMAKER STUDENT SHOWCASE FILMS

AT WHAT COST?
2025, 20:38 min., USA, Sci-Fi, Drama, University of Southern California
Writer/Director: Ant Roberson
Producer: Mike Werner, Charlotte Marcoulis, Simeon Payne-Narcis
Cast: Quincy Everidge, Ayanda Dube, Obum Eji, Raquelle Wallace
In a drought-ravaged future where society relies on a mind-altering government drug, an obsessive scientist must choose between curing his addicted younger brother or protecting his pregnant wife before the drug turns him into something inhuman.

BLOOKY: THE BOOK WHO WANTED TO BE READ
2026, 5:42 min., Canada/Mexico/USA, Animation, USC School of Cinematic Arts
Writer/Director: Pablo Diaz De Leon Hicks
Producer: Shagun Kanwar, Nathania Djuhar
Cast: Cherry Guo, Adrian Garci, Allie Costa, Christopher Borkovec, Arturo Pulido Tomas, Joshua Luper
A brand-new little book gets lost in the vast maze of a grand library and journeys through every section in search of where he belongs, only to realize that the most meaningful place to be isn’t always where you fit in best.

EAST DID MEET WEST
2025, 15 min., USA, Romance, Drama, History, Chapman University, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts
Director: Aiko Lozar
Writer: Aiko Lozar, Alexis Berganio
Producer: Alexis Berganio
Cast: Kev Martinez, Tatyana Aravena, Eliza Kanter, Sharon Gardner, Francisco Martin, Aaron Smithson, Seth Goyal, Adam Acosta
Inspired by the 1930s court case Roldan vs. Los Angeles County, Filipino Salvador Roldan and English Marjorie Rogers must find a way to convince an attorney to fight for their marriage despite the anti-miscegenation laws of the time.

FUEL UP
2026, 15:27 min., USA, Sports, Drama, University of Southern California
Writer/Director: Anne Koolen
Producer: Sonia Bhatia, Maggie Mingjun Zheng, Dhruvraj Singh Bhati
Cast: Casey Burke, Rick Kumazawa, Mark Simich, Joe Guintu
Haunted by the nightmare of her boyfriend’s deadly race car crash, Ava must conquer her fear of racing before she loses the dream they once shared forever.

HER WEDDING
2026, 19:20 min., China, Subtitles, Drama, Columbia University New York
Director: Qinting Wang
Writer: Qinting Wang, Tiankuo Men
Producer: Jieying Amy Wu
Cast: Yi Wang, Niu Sun
On the day of her arranged marriage, a bride reclaims the ceremony meant to contain her.

IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
2025, 11:34 min., USA, Documentary, Loyola Marymount University
Director: Megan Whitham
Producer: Megan Whitham, Hannah Butler
Cast: Taylor Leigh Aguilar
Halfway through her M.F.A. in film production, Taylor Leigh Aguilar unexpectedly goes blind, derailing the dream she chased since high school. Yet as she grieves her sight, she discovers that with flexibility and ingenuity, her filmmaking vision might not be lost after all.

KATTI (unfriend)
2026, 14 min., India/USA, Subtitles, Drama, Chapman University, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts
Director: Kanishka Aggarwal
Writer: Kanishka Aggarwal, Akshita Namjoshi
Producer: Kanishka Aggarwal, Wenfeng Li
Cast: Siyona Ailiani, Ashi Sharma
In a vibrant, multi-generational Indian household, 8-year-old Bittoo finds herself sidelined after the birth of her baby brother. Mischievous, observant, and desperate for affection, she seeks connection from her father, aunts, grandmother, even her exhausted mother but finds her only consistent, if reluctant, anchor in her teenage sister, Mitthoo. But even Mitthoo is pulling away, lost in her own secret.

Entertainment

Keke Palmer, Raven-Symoné Rail Against Hollywood for Failing Child Stars

Published

1 minute ago

August 27, 2026

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Keke Palmer and Raven-Symoné are taking Hollywood to task for failing child actors.

While talking on Raven’s podcast with wife Miranda Maday, titled “Tea Time,” Palmer tore into Hollywood for abandoning child actors once they age out of the industry.

“That’s what they do to child entertainers. That’s what people don’t understand – ‘why so-and-so went crazy,’” Palmer said. “First of all, I don’t believe people go crazy. I don’t. I don’t believe it’s just like that. Child entertainers – you have to understand, people say, ‘You are a has-been.’ Your life hasn’t even begun. You’ve done all of this stuff, and you’ve created all you’ve done. You’ve done years and years of work, and then people have decided you’re done just because you got older.”

Raven, who was a child star herself, having starred on “The Cosby Show,” “That’s So Raven” and the Disney Channel Original Movie “The Cheetah Girls,” agreed with Palmer. She said it should come as no surprise that so many former child stars act out once they reach a certain age.

“And then they wonder why we act the way we – I say we very clearly,” Raven said. “We get old. So, you’re saying that I’m only useful in this life when I’m younger and making you money and making you laugh? The rest of my life doesn’t matter to you?”

The pair’s conversation comes in the wake of Hayden Panettiere’s death. The actress was a major star in her youth – appearing in things like “Remember the Titans” and NBC’s “Heroes.” When news of her death hit, plenty were quick to call out the Hollywood system and how people did not do enough for Panettiere or those like her.

“I’ll miss you. I’m so sorry you suffered,” Jack Coleman, who played Panettiere’s father on “Heroes,” wrote. “I’ll remember how happy you were on set and on the European press tour; how you championed Tess when she was being bullied; your commitment to animal welfare and the courage to put yourself in harm’s way to protect them. I only wish you had been given that same protection.”

Palmer did think that with the continued rise of content creators, there was a signal of how things could be better. Now that so many more are having their lives out there from an early age, she hopes people will offer more care for child stars as they grow.

“Everybody’s online and being perceived like we were being perceived as kids, and you know, it was only a certain avenue you could go to be looked at publicly like that,” Palmer said. “Now you can be a YouTube family, and they could know you when you came out the womb. So more people are actually having the same experience that we’ve had in different scales, in different niches, or worldwide.”

She added: “I think it lets people say, ‘Well, hey, wait a minute. There’s something we’re not talking about here.’ I think that’s something we’ve had a lot of experience with.”

movies

Judge Hears Arguments On Returning Trump’s Name To Kennedy Center

Published

10 minutes ago

August 27, 2026

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A federal judge heard arguments on Thursday in the latest challenge to the Trump-controlled Kennedy Center‘s effort to install the president’s name on the complex, this time twice on its facade and once to designate the grounds for him.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, however, stopped the center’s lawyer from bringing up the “dilapidated” condition of the center, referring to it as a “non sequitur” to the issue at hand: Whether the board can return Trump’s name to prominent locations at the complex.

Earlier this month, the Kennedy Center board voted to add “Renovated and Restored by President Donald J. Trump” to the front facade below the inscription, “The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” Once a $100 million threshold is met for an endowment, another inscription would be placed below that one to read, “Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.”

The board also voted to rename “the physical site and grounds upon which the center sits” as the “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.”

Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), an ex officio member of the board, is seeking a court order to stop the naming, as her attorneys argued that it violates a statute and the judge’s previous order. After the center’s board voted to add Trump’s name to the center, rebranding it as the Trump Kennedy Center, Beatty sued, arguing that only Congress could change the name of the complex, as it was designated as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy in 1964. Cooper agreed, and issued a preliminary injunction in June that forced the center to revert to the original name and remove lettering on the front facade of the complex.

At the hearing, DOJ attorney Brantley Mayers, representing the center, argued that the latest plans for recognizing Trump are not a “renaming.” He also contended that it did not violate a congressional law in 1983 that restricted any other memorials at the complex. He noted that the board’s resolution “was quite clear that it wanted to recognize” Trump’s “ongoing contributions,” as memorials recognize something that happened in the past.

But Cooper noted that the planned inscriptions are written in past tense.

Earlier this week, in a court filing, the center’s attorneys warned that if Trump’s name wasn’t returned to the center, it would jeopardize its future, even pointing to the potential need for demolition.

The judge declined to go into those arguments, stopping Mayers as he started to talk of the condition of the complex.

“That is all fine and good, but what does that have to do with what Congress intended?” the judge asked. He later said that nothing in his earlier order prevented the center from proceeding with renovations, with Congress allocating more than $250 million for repairs as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Nathaniel Zelinsky, one of Beatty’s attorneys, said that the name change plans were an “outright defiance” of the judge’s injunction and an act of “massive bad faith.” He argued returning Trump’s name to the complex amounted to a rebranding, while Congress also intended the grounds and land the center sits on to solely honor Kennedy. He pointed to a past proposal, ultimately never realized, to construct a Kennedy Plaza on the grounds, saying that it was “another indication Congress didn’t intend name [the complex] for anyone other than Kennedy.”

Mayers, though, argued that Congress did not prevent the board from designating areas of the center for certain individuals. When Cooper asked if that meant the board could recognize Barack Obama or George W. Bush at certain parts of the complex, like a garage, Mayers agreed.

Beatty sat with her attorneys during the hearing. Also there was Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, whose wife, Allison, is among the board members. During a brief break to address an audio issue, Lutnick huddled with DOJ lawyers.

The judge raised some jurisdictional concerns over ruling on Beatty’s emergency motion as Trump is appealing. He did not indicate exactly when he would rule, but pressed Mayers on the deadline of Sept. 8. The center has committed to refraining from installing Trump’s name until that date, but not after. Mayers said that the timing was the board’s decision.

The judge also sounded weary that he was being asked to render a ruling so quickly, during a high time for summer vacation.

In his May ruling, the judge also barred the center from embarking on a two-year closure for the renovations, concluding that the board failed to consider options and the full impact. In the meeting this month, the board considered options presented by a consultant, and against moved to shutter almost all of the complex. The judge’s injunction, though, remains in effect.

movies

Ellen Pompeo To Star In ‘Not A Sound’ Drama In Works At Hulu (Exclu)

Published

23 minutes ago

August 27, 2026

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EXCLUSIVE: In March 2005, one freshman ABC drama, David E. Kelley‘s Boston Legal, wrapped its season in the Sunday 10 PM slot to make room for another rookie, Grey’s Anatomy starring Ellen Pompeo, which launched in the time period a week later.

Twenty one years after that handover, Pompeo and Kelley have come together for a new drama project, Not a Sound, in which Pompeo, known for her role as Dr. Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy, will play another medical professional. It has been set up at Hulu for development through 20th Television where the Kelley was once based for 22 years and where Pompeo is under an overall deal.

Not a Sound is written by David E. Kelley Productions President Matthew Tinker and Annakate Chappell — who worked together as writers on Kelley’s Big Sky –– based on Heather Gudenkauf’s novel of the same name, with Azazel Jacobs (His Three Daughters) set to direct.

In it, after losing her hearing in a devastating hit-and-run, disgraced ER nurse Amelia Winn (Pompeo) and her fiercely loyal service dog discover the murdered body of a former colleague — pulling Amelia into a deadly mystery that could finally reveal the truth about the accident that changed her life.

Chappell executive produces alongside Jacobs and David E. Kelley Prods.’ Kelley and Tinker and Calamity Jane’s Pompeo and Laura Holstein. 20th Television is the studio.

Matt Tinker, Annakate Chappell and Azazel Jacobs — L-R: Matthew Tinker, Annakate Chappell and Azazel Jacobs

Getty/ennifer Gluck/Courtesy

Pompeo recently received two green lights from Hulu, for a second season of anthology series Good American Family, which she is executive producing, and dramedy pilot Chicks, which she is starring in and executive produces. She is partnered on both with Katie Robbins.

Additionally, Pompeo stars in and executive produces ABC’s venerable medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, which is headed into its 23rd season. She also executive produced spinoff series Station 19 and is an executive producer on the upcoming Grey’s offshoot set in West Texas, which will premiere in midseason 2027. Pompeo is repped by CAA, Linden Entertainment and Hansen Jacobson.

Tinker oversees David E. Kelley Prods.’ slate across film, television, and new media. He executive produces for the company the upcoming second seasons of Apple TV’s Presumed Innocent and Margo’s Got Money Troubles as well as the new Netflix series Myron Bolitar. As a writer, he worked on Kelley’s ABC drama series Big Sky, which 20th TV co-produced with A+E Studios, alongside Chappell. Tinker is repped by CAA and Yorn, Levine, Barnes.

Chappell is a supervising producer on CBS’ hit drama series Tracker and is writing the feature Bingo, with Robin Wright attached to direct and star. She is repped by CAA, Echo Lake and Yorn, Levine, Barnes.

Jacobs’ 2024 Netflix film His Three Daughters earned him a Gotham Award and Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay. In television, Jacobs served as co-writer and executive producer on Doll & Em for Sky/HBO and directed both seasons. He is repped by CAA, manager Stuart Manishil at Novo, and attorney Jerry Dasti.

Gudenkauf was repped in the deal by Lucy Stille at Lucy Stille Literary on behalf of Marianne Merola at Brandt & Hochman Literary agents.