The Lower East Side Film Festival returns to the neighborhood for it’s 15th year on Thursday, May 1st – Monday, May 5th.
Touting “5 Days of Cinema, Culture and Chaos in the Lower East Side,” this year’s jury members include actor and downtown fashion icon Julia Fox, Rachel Dratch (Saturday Night Live), Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets and Disney’s The Book of Boba Fett) and Emmy-nominated, Peabody Award-winning director, writer, and rapper Slick Naim.
In a fun tribute to their 15th anniversary, the lineup includes a screening of TRUE CRIME, TRUE BEGINNINGS: The Catfish 15-Year Retrospective with Nev Schulman. They write, “In 2011, Catfish made its New York Premiere at the very first Lower East Side Film Festival in a small pop-up storefront on Norfolk Street. Fast forward 15 years, and we’re celebrating this groundbreaking documentary with a special 15th Anniversary screening and a live conversation with the film’s subject Nev Schulman.”
The opening night film is the New York Premiere of The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick, directed by Pete Ohs (Love and Work) and starring Zoë Chao (Nightbitch), Jeremy O. Harris (Slave Play on Broadway, Zola), Callie Hernandez (La La Land), and James Cusati-Moyer (Maestro). The film follows a weekend retreat gone unsettlingly wrong—homemade meals, parlor games, and an ominous tick bite that unravels reality.
This year’s Marquee Spotlight is the New York Premiere of FOR WORSE, a sharp, laugh-out-loud, and emotionally honest directorial debut from Amy Landecker (Transparent), who also stars alongside Bradley Whitford, Nico Hiraga, Missi Pyle, Gaby Hoffmann, and Ken Marino.
Also making its New York Premiere is MICRO BUDGET, a deliriously meta indie comedy from Morgan Evans, starring Brandon Micheal Hall, Nichole Sakura, Bobby Moynihan, Maria Bamford, and Chris Parnell.
Also highlighted is MAD BILLS TO PAY, the feature debut by New York Joel Vargas, a favorite at Sundance that screened at Berline as well as New Director New Films (MoMA/NY Film Fest).
LES Film Festival’s beloved and wacky curation of short films returns this year with “Mind F*uck Shorts,” “Sexual Tension Shorts,” “Big Apple Short Films” and more.
Find tickets HERE.
The full lineup is below:
Special Screenings
THE TRUE BEAUTY OF BEING BITTEN BY A TICK (Opening Night Film & Party | New York Premiere)
Directed by Peter Ohs. Starring Zoë Chao, Jeremy O. Harris, Callie Hernandez, and James Cusati-Moyer.
Thursday, May 1 at 8:30PM | Village East Cinema
*Ticket includes access to the opening night party featuring an open bar, DJ, and special guests.
THE BIG JOHNSON (Closing Night Film & Party | New York Premiere)
Directed by Lola Rocknrolla. Featuring NYC legend Dean Johnson
Monday, May 5 at 7:30PM | Village East Cinema
*Ticket includes access to the closing night party at The Slipper Room featuring an open bar, DJ, and announcement of 2025 Award Winners.
FOR WORSE (Marquee Spotlight | New York Premiere)
Directed by Amy Landecker. Starring Liv Hewson, Amy Landecker, Bradley Whitford, Nico Hiraga, Missi Pyle, Gaby Hoffmann, and Ken Marino.
Saturday, May 3 at 7:30PM | Village East Cinema
NOT ONE DROP OF BLOOD (Stay Indie Project Spotlight)
Directed by Jackson Devereux, Lachlan Hinton
Sunday, May 4 at 6:30PM | DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema
TRUE CRIME, TRUE BEGINNINGS: The Catfish 15-Year Retrospective with Nev Shulman
(15th Anniversary Screening)
Directed by Ariel Schulman, Henry Joost. Featuring Nev Schulman
*Featuring a conversation with subject Nev Schulman
Sunday, May 4 at 8:30PM | DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema
Feature Films
BATTERSEA
Directed by T.J. Sandella and Jad Adkins. Starring Nancy Kimball and Jesse Howland
Friday, May 2nd at 7:30pm | Village East Cinema
MAD BILLS TO PAY (OR DESTINY, DILE QUE NO SOY MALO)
Directed by Joel Vargas. Starring Juan Collado, Destiny Checo, Yohanna Florentino and Nathaly Navarro
Saturday, May 3rd at 3:00pm | Village East Cinema
MICRO BUDGET (New York Premiere)
Directed by Morgan Evans. Starring Patrick Noth, Emilea Wilson, Jon Gabrus, Nichole Sakura, Brandon Micheal Hall, Jordan Rock, and Bobby Moynihan
Saturday, May 3 at 5:00PM | Village East Cinema
ALI EATS AMERICA (New York Premiere)
Directed by Roush Niaghi, Greg Morris. Featuring Ali Allouche, Jen Danko, José Andrés Puerta, and Anthony Bourdain
Sunday, May 4 at 3:00PM | DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema
Short Film Programs
‘BIG APPLE, SHORT FILMS – NY FILMMAKER SHORTS’
NYC through the eyes of its own: graffiti, drag queens, skateparks, subway cars, and clowns.
Thursday, May 1 at 6:30PM | Village East Cinema
‘9 TO 5 SHORTS’
Workplace comedies, dirty jobs, CEOs, PTOs, OOOs – it’s just another day at the office for these short films.
Friday, May 2 at 7:00PM | Village East Cinema
‘MIND F*CK SHORTS’
Our classic genre-bending shorts showcase of mind f*ckery is back! Equal parts vulgar, feral, kinky, trippy, and kinda buddy-comedy-road-movie-death-y.
Friday, May 2 at 9:00PM | Village East Cinema
‘SEXUAL TENSION SHORTS’
Unrequited lust, three-somes, chance encounters, and dates-gone-blowjob – we’ve all been there…? Fall in love with these flirty, steamy, awkward, provocative shorts.
Saturday, May 3 at 4:30PM | Village East Cinema
‘BIG FEELS SHORTS’
Get ready to feel it all. These fearless filmmakers dive deep into what it means to feel – love, loss, joy, hope, and everything in between.
Saturday, May 3 at 8:00PM | Village East Cinema
Special Events
OPENING NIGHT PARTY (Access included with ticket to the Opening Night Film.)
Thursday, May 1 at 8:30–12:00AM | Village East Cinema
FILMMAKER RECEPTION
Friday, May 2 at 3:00–5:00PM | Village East Cinema
CLOSING NIGHT PARTY AT THE SLIPPER ROOM
Monday, May 5 at 9:30–12:00AM | The Slipper Room
