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The Palm Springs International ShortFest, one of the world’s premiere festivals dedicated to short form film, has announced a 2025 lineup boasting an exceptional array of acting talent: Ian McKellen, John C. Reilly, Chris Pine, Alicia Silverstone, Domhnall Gleason, Rosie O’Donnell, Alan Cumming, Archie Panjabi, Haley Joel Osment, Finn Wittrock, Emma D’Arcy, Simon Rex, Jane Levy, and Roger Guenveur Smith, among many others.

Documentary shorts in the program include films directed by Geeta Gandbhir and Christalyn Hampton, Ömer Sami, and Glenn Kaino, among more than a dozen others.

The 31st edition of the festival, running June 24-30 in the famed Sonoran Desert town in California, will showcase 311 films hailing from 64 countries and territories. Of those, 45 are world premieres, 10 international premieres, and 36 North American premieres. Palm Springs International ShortFest is an Oscar-qualifying festival in five categories: Best of the Festival Award, Best Animated Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Live-Action Short Over...

Following its screening at the Tribeca Film Festival, My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To is now available in theaters and on digital services thanks to Dark Sky Films. Here's a look at an exclusive clip from the film:

"Dwight (Patrick Fugit) prowls the streets after dark. He searches each night for the lonely and forlorn, looking for people who won't be missed. Dwight takes no joy in this, but he needs their blood. Without fresh human blood, his fragile young brother Thomas cannot survive. Each death takes a larger toll, the burden of his crimes weighing heavier each time, threatening to crack his spirit. But Thomas (Owen Campbell) and his sister Jessie (Ingrid Sophie Schram) are all the family Dwight has left, and as a fiercely private and close-knit family unit, they depend on him and the rituals they've learned in order to keep their secret. But...

Untitled Horror Movie: "A comedy about making a horror movie from the director who brought you, Truth or Dare (2017). With their hit TV show on the brink of cancellation, six actors decide to film their own horror movie, unintentionally summoning a spirit with an affinity for violence."

Starring

Luke Baines (Shadowhunters) - @lukebaines Darren Barnet (Never Have I Ever) - @darrenbarnet Tim Granaderos (13 Reasons Why) - @timothygranaderos Claire Holt (Vampire Diaries) - @claireholt Katherine McNamara (Shadowhunters) - @kat.mcnamara Emmy Raver-Lampman (The Umbrella Academy) - @emmyraver Kal Penn (Harold and Kumar go to White Castle) - @kalpenn Aisha Tyler (Friends) - @aishatyler Kevin Daniels (Council of Dads) - @kevindaniels27 Lesly Kahn (Quantum Leap) - @leslykahn Sohm Kapila (Jane The Virgin) - @sohmkapila

Credits:

Directed by Nick Simon Written by Luke Baines & Nick Simon Produced by Bronwyn Cornelius, p.g.a., Marina Stabile, p.g.a. Producers Luke Baines, p.

Landing somewhere between intense, realistic family drama and arthouse horror, Jonathan Cuartas’ My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell it To is an oddly moving tale about social isolation, loneliness, and illness that resonates as a character study focused on the space of mourning. Dwight (Patrick Fugit) is a nightcrawler who spends his time hunting day laborers, the homeless, and other indigent persons living on the economic margins as a means of keeping his brother Thomas (Owen Campell) alive. Thomas, for all intents and purposes, is an undiagnosed vampire, warned by his waitress sister Jessie (Ingrid Sophie Schram) against leaving the house, especially during the day.

While Thomas’ origin story is never discussed––rather just accepted as a fact––Jessie and Dwight go to great lengths to create a happy household, bringing a karaoke machine into the equation and making sure Thomas’ basic needs are met while staying under the radar.