🌺 Long before colonization imposed its own ideas of gender, māhū held a place of honor in Native Hawaiian culture. Their stories carry a legacy of identity, resilience, and aloha that deserves to be celebrated. MĀHŪ: A Trans-Pacific Love Letter joins the lineup for NFMLA’s November Monthly Film Festival, featured in the InFocus: Indigenous Cinema program. 🎬✨ Synopsis: Through a multimedia theater production blending hula, chant, and contemporary music with intimate interviews, MĀHŪ explores gender fluidity from a Native Hawaiian perspective. As acclaimed transgender Native Hawaiian artists prepare to open a show in Honolulu, they share intergenerational stories about navigating their identities and reclaiming a cultural tradition rooted in inclusivity, diversity, and aloha. MĀHŪ: A Trans-Pacific Love Letter 🎥 Director: Lisette Marie Flanary 🎬 Producers: Patrick Makuakāne, Joe Wilson, and Dean Hamer 🎭 Staring: Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Iwalani Hoʻomanawanui Apo, and Kaumakaiwa Kanakaʻole 🎟️ Learn more: newfilmmakersla.com/events/

👑 Behind every smile is a story the world may never see. For Isabela, one unexpected encounter could change everything. Party Princess joins the lineup for NFMLA’s November Monthly Film Festival, featured in the November Shorts program. 🎬✨ Synopsis: Isabela, an undocumented Brazilian woman in her mid-30s, scrapes by as a costumed princess on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, masking her fear of deportation behind a bright smile. On the final day of her immigration paperwork deadline, she finds a lost toddler dressed just like her. With time running out, Isabela must keep Nina safe while racing across the city to meet with her immigration lawyer—a meeting that could determine her future in the U.S. Party Princess 🎥 Director & Writer: Daniel Barosa 🎬 Producers: Beatriz Gallo, Nikolas Maciel, and Will Kim 🎭 Cast: Caco Ciocler, Vika, and Nick Edmunds 🎟️ Learn more: newfilmmakersla.com/events/

We're pleased to announce our partnership in the United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪 with the Sharjah Intl Film Festival for Children & Youth (@SharjahICFF), along with the addition of four new NFMLA Board members! Aditya S. Ezhuthachan, @PessahLawGroup Niels Juul, “Ferrari” producer & founder of @NoFatEgo shingle Susanne Ault, Variety VP of Event Programming Joyce Liu-Countryman, Producer & Interim Director of Physical Production, @NBCUniversal NFMLA curated two of our alumni filmmakers, Mike Elsherif and Amir Youssef, and each will have their film showcased as part of the Festival in Sharjah! 🌍 Thank you to Nick Vivarelli at @Variety for sharing this news. 🫂 🔗 Read more here: variety.com/2026/film/global…

🕊️ The wounds of war don’t always fade with time. Sometimes, the past finds its way back when we least expect it. Fugue joins the lineup for NFMLA’s November Monthly Film Festival, featured in the November Shorts program. 🎬✨ Synopsis: To ensure their young son has a better life, Ola and her husband, Andrzej, a veteran, flee war. During their escape, Maciek witnesses an event that will change their lives forever. Years later, he still struggles with (war) trauma. When Maciek ends up in intensive care after an accident and memories of his childhood start to resurface ever more vividly, Ola finally has to face her demons. Fugue 🎥 Director: Joël Duinkerke ✍️ Writer & Producer: Julia van de Graaff 🎭 Starring: Jan Wieczorkowski & Koen Ruitenbeek 🎟️ Learn more: newfilmmakersla.com/events/

🎬✨ Thank you, and Congratulations to the incredible filmmakers and talented creatives who shared their work with us at the NFMLA October Film Festival | InFocus: Veteran Cinema! 🇺🇸🎥 Witnessing the artistry showcased this month was one of the many highlights of the evening! From a survivor reclaiming her voice, embracing cultural reckoning, and drawing strength from her ancestral power in the pursuit of justice, to an unexpected connection formed during a routine night shift that inspires a new perspective on life, the themes explored resonated deeply with the audience in attendance! We look forward to seeing you November 12–15 for four days of screenings at the multi-day DocuSlate Documentary Film Festival, featuring the Monthly Film Festival and a special InFocus: Indigenous Cinema spotlight on November 14 at South Park Center in Los Angeles!

DocuSlate 2026 in the Trades! 📰🌟 An extreme thanks to our friend Matthew Carey and Deadline for covering our NFMLA DocuSlate 2026 Documentary Film Festival taking place from November 12th, November 13th & November 15th! We have a thrilling lineup across seven film programs, highlighted by 12 documentary shorts and five documentary features! 🔗 You can read the full article on Deadline here: deadline.com/2026/10/2026-do… 🎟️ To get tickets to any of the DocuSlate Festival days, click the link in our bio!

🎬 Stories of heritage. Stories of connection. Stories that remind us we’re never truly alone. Join us November 14th for NFMLA’s November Monthly Film Festival, featuring November Shorts, our annual InFocus: Indigenous Cinema, and the Los Angeles Premiere of Anima. ✨ Featuring: Program #1 – November Shorts 2:30 PM – 3:00 PM – Pre-Reception 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM – Program 5:00 PM – 5:15 PM – Audience Q&A Program #2 – InFocus: Indigenous Cinema 5:15 PM – 5:45 PM – Pre-Reception 5:45 PM – 7:30 PM – Program 7:30 PM – 7:45 PM – Audience Q&A Program #3 – Feature Narrative | Anima 7:45 PM – 8:15 PM – Pre-Reception 8:15 PM – 9:45 PM – Program 9:45 PM – 10:00 PM – Audience Q&A 📍 South Park Center, DTLA 🕒 2:30 PM – 10:00 PM PST 🎟️ Learn more: newfilmmakersla.com

❤️‍🔥 In a world where everyone is curating an image, being your authentic self can be the most vulnerable thing of all. Jerk Chicken joins the lineup for NFMLA’s October Monthly Film Festival, featured in the InFocus: Veteran Cinema program. 🎬✨ Synopsis: A sexy online cook show influencer hosts a different hottie as her co-host week after week, until one particular fun guy insists on having more. Jerk Chicken ✍️🎥 Writer & Director: Andrea Gilkey 🎥 Producer: Tanishka Juneja 🎟️ Learn more: newfilmmakersla.com/events/

🤝 Growing up may take you down different paths, but some friendships have a way of bringing you right back where you started. Furious & Fat Cat: Homecoming joins the lineup for NFMLA’s October Monthly Film Festival, featured in the InFocus: Veteran Cinema program. 🎬✨ Synopsis: After taking different paths in life, two childhood best friends, one a former Wall Street playboy, the other a virginal, video game loving former Correctional Officer, reunite as roommates on the South Side of Chicago where it all began. Now in their late 20s, they learn to live together and navigate life's ups and downs in hilarious fashion. Furious & Fat Cat: Homecoming @FuriousandC ✍️🎥 Writers & Directors: Kevin "K.L." Reeves and Pierre Sutton Jr 🎥 Producers: Kevin Reeves, Pierre Sutton Jr and Brad Wilford 🎟️ Learn more: newfilmmakersla.com/events/

💌 Beneath the masks we wear and the cool we try to maintain, there’s a simple truth: we all want to be loved. Please joins the lineup for NFMLA’s October Monthly Film Festival, featured in the October Shorts program. 🎬✨ Synopsis: Please is a dark comedy about humankind’s desire to love and to be loved. An animated short centred around neediness, intimacy and romance. Told through a series of loosely connected, tender and absurd scenes, the film follows people who are searching for closeness and acceptance. In a world that preaches self-control, the film explores the sides we try to hide, such as feeling needy and pathetic. The stories overlap and reappear, gradually forming a larger portrait of collective longing. Please ✍️🎥 Writer & Director: Anna Mantzaris 🎥 Producers: APPARAT, Passion Pictures, Kuli Film, Mikrofilm, Böhle Studios 🎟️ Learn more: newfilmmakersla.com/events/

❄️ In the Arctic, there’s no room for uncertainty, no easy escape, and no guarantee of what comes next. Breaking Ice joins the lineup for NFMLA’s October Monthly Film Festival, featured in the InFocus: Veteran Cinema program. 🎬✨ Synopsis: Set in the vastness above the Arctic Circle, Breaking Ice reveals the human stories of women serving aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy as they navigate missions at the intersection of national security, scientific research and exploration. Breaking Ice ✍️🎥 Writer, Director, and Producer: Mary Ellen Scherl 🎟️ Learn more: newfilmmakersla.com/events/

🎤 BUILDING FEAR: HOW HORROR FEATURES GET DEVELOPED AND FUNDED📣 📆 WHEN: OCTOBER 16TH at 2:00 PM PT on ZOOM We are pleased to announce this month's virtual conversation moderated by producer and manager Peter Katz, with Producers Eric B. Fleischman (the Wonder Company) and Peter Phok (Phok Productions). They'll discuss how a horror feature gets developed, pitched, and funded, as well as what producers look for in a potential project, how independent films work differently than studio projects, and what a filmmaker should do to get their project in a good position to be picked up. 🎟️ Click the link below to secure your tickets! newfilmmakersla.com/events/

🌲 Recovery can be a lonely road, but sometimes the smallest knock on the door can change everything. Cabin Time joins the lineup for NFMLA’s October Monthly Film Festival, featured in the October Shorts program. 🎬✨ Synopsis: A recently sober single mom spirals in solitude in a remote Sierra cabin, when a neighbor knocks with no eggs and a whole lot of feelings. Cabin Time ✍️🎥 Writer & Director: Lina Patel 🎥 Producers: Daniel Talbott, Tina Carbone, Andrew Klaus-Vineyard 🎟️ Learn more: newfilmmakersla.com/events/

🐦‍⬛ Sometimes, the world feels a little less frightening when you have someone worth facing it for. My Bird Is Sick! joins the lineup for NFMLA’s October Monthly Film Festival, featured in the October Shorts program. 🎬✨ Synopsis: When her pet crow (and only friend) falls ill, an ancient hag living in self-imposed exile must venture to the modern world for help. My Bird Is Sick! ✍️🎥 Writer & Director: Rebecca Halfon 🎥 Producers: Olivia Rodrigez, Rhyan Elliott, Rebecca Halfon 🎟️ Learn more: newfilmmakersla.com/events/

🎖️ For some, the fight for a better future means risking everything, even when the country they serve refuses to see them as one of its own. No Man’s Land joins the lineup for NFMLA’s October Monthly Film Festival, featured in the InFocus: Veteran Cinema program. 🎬 Synopsis: A young Mexican soldier has enlisted in the cold and brutal trenches of World War I to ensure himself citizenship in America. No Man’s Land 🎥 Co- Directors: Reed Keenan and Kristian Grimaldo ✍️ Writer: Liam Buckley 🎥 Producer: Vanessa Lopez 🎭 Starring: Liam Buckley Reed Keenan Erick Ferrufino Elisa Hegedus Caydence Johnson Chloe Lim William Altermann Kristian Grimaldo 🎟️ Learn more: newfilmmakersla.com/events/

🎥 NFMLA x AFM is back! We’re so excited to partner with the American Film Market for another superb year of film magic!✨ From November 10–15, 2026, the global film and television community gathers in Los Angeles for the @AFMOFFICIAL Registration is OPEN: tr.ee/AFM26Registration Join 8,000+ producers, sales companies, buyers, financiers, filmmakers, creators, and entertainment executives from 85+ countries — across the Market, The AFM Sessions, The AFM House, The Summit, LocationEXPO, the Innovation Hub, and more.All under one defining theme: The New Global Screen Economy. #AFM2026 #AmericanFilmMarket

🕊️ Grief is something we all experience, but learning how to live with it is a journey we rarely take together. How We Grieve: The Art of Grieving joins the lineup for NFMLA’s October Monthly Film Festival, featured in the October Shorts program. 🎬✨ Synopsis: A new traumedy docuseries hosted by two filmmakers (who happen to be siblings) exploring all the ways people grieve in order to process their own losses and fear of their turn in the urn. Follow along on this journey as they get people to talk about the stuff no one (especially their Arab family) wants to talk about. How We Grieve: The Art of Grieving 🎥 Co- Directors: Meghan Ross and Justin Ross ✍️ Writer: Meghan Ross 🎥 Producers: Meghan Ross, Justin Ross, Sami Abdou, Breven Angaelica Warren 🎟️ Learn more: newfilmmakersla.com/events/

👀 Every friend group has that one person nobody trusts. But what if there’s something far more terrifying hiding beneath the surface? Not John joins the lineup for NFMLA’s October Monthly Film Festival, featured in the October Shorts program. 🎬✨ Synopsis: After recently traveling to Europe together, a group of six friends discovers one of them might have come back as a changeling. Not John ✍️🎥 Writer & Director: Teresa Decher 🎥 Producers: Abigail Bloom, Laura Huie, Samantha Schoen, and Alana Wright 🎭 Starring: Emmy Browning Tim Fox Moe Jeudy-Lamour Anita Kalathara Dave Merheje Victoria Ratermanis 🎟️ Learn more: newfilmmakersla.com/events/

🎤POWER PITCHING WORKSHOPS WITH JIM ARNOFF📣 WHEN: October 19th* @ 7:00PM PST & October 20th @ 10:00AM PST Master the art of the pitch! On October 19th & 20th, entertainment career coach and talent agent consultant, Jim Arnoff, will be hosting an interactive workshop built around live feedback. Learn exactly how to read the room, handle questions, and elevate your sizzle reels or scripted series ideas. Click the link below to secure your tickets!! *Limited availability on October 19th 🎟️: newfilmmakersla.com/events/