Los Angeles International Underground Film Festival

Summer 2017 Selections & Winners

Summer 2017 Winners

“ Flame On ” Dir. Benjamin Pollack     ( Block 3   Tickets )

Like heavy metal rock? Goth rock legend, Daniel Ash (Bauhaus, Tones On Tail, Love And Rockets, Poptone) performs Flame On in Benjamin Pollack's music video.


“ Mimi’s Misadventure ” Dir. R.D. Womack II     ( Block 2   Tickets )

Nothing like a little sex, drugs, and revenge. Mimi tries a little of each while trying to get her life back in order.


“ Occam’s Razor ” Dir. Makan Talayeh     ( Block 1   Tickets )

On a winter night in 1986, three travelers are plagued by mysterious events at an isolated motel in Death Valley.


“ Oh Gallow Lay ” Dir. Julian Wayser     ( Block 1   Tickets )

OH GALLOW LAY is about activism, human potential, and the mechanism of catharsis.


“ Part Of Me Now: Living With Breast Cancer  ” Dir. Emily Gerhardson     ( Block 3   Tickets )

Part Of Me Now: Living With Breast Cancer targets the hardships and struggles those who've gone through Breast Cancer endure beyond their treatments. The film highlights a side to cancer that has yet to be focused on - the aftermath. It centers around the personal stories of individuals who will live with cancer in their bodies or as a lingering threat for the rest of their lives.


“ Revelation-The City Of Haze ” Dir. Mao Qichao     ( Block 3   Tickets )

Revelation - The City of Haze animation.


“ The Beauty Of Peace ” Dir. Yiwen Liu     ( Block 3   Tickets )

Samten, a Tibetan artist living in NYC, through designing a Buddha Temple in Tibet, maintains a close and unique relationship with his home country.


“ The Forerunner ” Dir. Tatiana Samano     ( Block 1   Tickets )

A story of a young woman in search of her mother. After searching for 10 years, she discovers ruthless operatives are after her.


“ The Phoenix Incident ” Dir. Keith Arem     ( Block 2   Tickets )

BASED ON TRUE EVENTS. A Keith Arem film: Investigation into the March 1997 disappearance of 4 Arizona men exposes a military cover-up of the largest UFO abduction in North America.


“ Tracking ” Dir. Robert Ford & John Robert Twohy     ( Block 1   Tickets )

John, a one man army, is tasked with taking out Dr. Joel Hartman but decides to help him instead. Now, tracked down by the company that ordered the hit, John must do all he can to protect the Doctor and to save the world.


“ True Colors ” Dir. Bethann Morgan     ( Block 1   Tickets )

In the world of cotton production, a scientist makes a discovery that could end the use of toxic dyes and pesticides - but creating change will be harder than she thinks.


“ Two Women ” Dir. Marcelo Brennand     ( Block 3   Tickets )

Two Women tells a story about emotions and the limits between love and friendship. How far does friendship go and where does love begin. In their youth, Sandra and Leticia perceived faithfulness as a bourgeois concept and, at the end, it is what causes them to collide, because they were no longer faithful to who they had been.




Best Film Audience Award

“The Forerunner” Dir. Tatiana Samano


Best Actor Audience Award

Felipe Samano III “The Forerunner”


Best Actress Audience Award

Shawn Lockie “True Colors”




Best Narrative Short

“ Occam’s Razor ” Dir. Makan Talayeh


Best Narrative Feature

“ The Phoenix Incident ” Dir. Keith Arem


Best Documentary Short

“ The Beauty Of Peace ” Dir. Yiwen Liu


Best Documentary Feature

“ Part Of Me Now: Living With Breast Cancer” Dir. Emily Gerhardson


Best Student Film

“ True Colors ” Dir. Bethann Morgan


Best Animation

“ Revelation - The City Of Haze ” Dir. Mao Qichao


Best Experimental

“ Oh Gallow Lay ” Dir. Julian Wayser


Best Music Video

“ Flame On ” Dir. Benjamin Pollack


Best Foreign Film

“ Two Women ” Dir. Marcelo Brennand


Best Script

“ Even A Just Man ”  by Mark Christopher Boyd


Best Director

“ The Phoenix Incident ” Dir. Keith Arem


Best Actor

John Robert Twohy “Tracking” 


Best Actress

Gilda Nomacce “Two Women”






Honorable Mentions

“ Crescent ” by Ryan Strauss

“ The Joyrider ” by Kirk Davis