The quest for understanding can be just as fraught with trepidation as the fight against paranormal spirits. In Rebellion, women confront preconceptions, families challenge tradition, and unlikely allies find the courage to push against impossible circumstances.

A languid desert serves as the backdrop for two women confronting their preconceptions of each other in Sara & Fatima. An open door hints at potential doom in Run From It, while wedding jitters bring three generations of women face-to-face with Unwedding.

At the heart of these stories are characters who push back. Some seek to protect the people they love, some confront the consequences of past decisions, and others resist forces they never expected to face. Their rebellions may be quiet or chaotic, like in By Any Means, humorous or frightening. Still, each emerges from a desire for something different: understanding, freedom, security, or simply the chance to determine their own fate.

Adverse Possessions and Lethal Ethel, both horror films, center rightfully disgruntled protagonists who confront corporeal manifestations of the oppressive horrors lurking within modern life. Whether it's the continued colonial legacy of this country, the wedge patriarchal competition can create between women, or the struggles with affordable housing, these stories take the everyday and mundane to amplified heights.

Programmer, Safia Abdigir