January Local Filmmaker Showcase

Join us for the first Local Filmmaker Showcase, presented on the third Wednesday of each month by SWAMP and HCAS in partnership with the River Oaks Theatre!

To kick off this new initiative, SWAMP is presenting an encore screening of select films from the EMERGE Artist Showcase of 2024.

The screening will be followed by a conversation with select filmmakers.

The Box | Joaquin Vargas | 10:00
A man searches for his sister in a ravaged land, while he navigates the thin line between humanity and desperation with a mysterious box he finds along the way.

Kufiya | 5:00 | Shahd Shahroor
At the bus stop, Shams, a young Palestinian woman waiting for her bus to arrive, is singled out by a “Karen,” who is on her way to her child’s birthday party. She criticizes the keffiyeh wrapped around her as a symbol of terrorism and a call for violence. The confrontation leads Shams to defend and clear up the tireless and baseless arguments made time and time again. Unable to see eye to eye, both women heatedly go back and forth until Shams compares the dying Palestinian children to someone “Karen” cannot ignore: her child.

The Summer of Love | Fraser Kershaw | 10:59
“Love weaves through the heart of an American college town, unfolding between two souls as it drifts through various places— Across generations, love shifts and evolves. Journey into the unseen realms where beginnings and endings meet, and forever reveals itself in a mental odyssey beyond the limits of perception. From the first spark to the final whisper, love transcends into eternity, even beneath the tree standing quietly at the center of everything.”

Autographed by God | Bill Doty | 9:40
Two missionaries meet a man claiming to be God. What should have been a great encounter turns into a fatal ending

Hidden Life | Chap Edmonson | 4:19
This cinepoem explores code-switching, cultural humility, and hidden complexities that lay behind simple stories of joy, trauma, and wonder rooted in the perpetual summer of Houston, as seen by one born here and by one who fled to here from atrocities in her wintry native land.

A Letter to Amilia | Jacob Spooner | 3:46
A person is haunted by the memory of their lost love.

Dead Drop | Julissa Guajardo | 2:48
After narrowly evading police pursuit, long-time partners in crime argue about why one always dates cops.

Hat Man | Jesus Kargue | 10:00
A man goes on a journey to find the Hat-Man and solve a peculiar mystery.

A Slice of the Wild | Philip Cooney | 4:50
A sneaky raccoon breaks into a guy’s house to steal his pizza; however, things don’t go according to plan and a scuffle unfolds.