BIFF SHORTS: JUSTICE IN VIEW

Evocative shorts exploring social and intersectional justice issues. Stories about changemakers, risk takers, dreamers and healers. Runtime is 109 minutes.

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"Somebody to Lean On"

Gabrielle Burton (Dir), 15 minutes, USA, New York Premiere

Director Gabrielle Burton in attendance.

Inside a prison in rural Ohio, a group of people gather every Wednesday afternoon to do something unexpected: make music together.

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"Juan & Ito Go Viral!"

Jonny Diaz (Dir), 7 minutes, USA, World Premiere

Director Jonny Diaz and Star Ron Trujillo in attendance.

Two vending hustlers seek acceptance into America, while filming a live stream.

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"In Exchange for Flesh"

Sandro Ramani + Corey Devon Arthur (Dir), 15 minutes, USA, World Premiere

Corey Arthur and Sara Kielly, both incarcerated, allege that the U.S. government is sanctioning the sexual abuse of millions of Americans through a ritual known as the strip frisk; a daily practice that blurs the line between safety and abuse.

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"Heartbreak on Bailey"

Alexander AlexSpeaks Montilla (Dir), 5 minutes, USA

A poetic exploration through the eyes of a longtime East Side resident watching the block change in real time: vacant buildings where homes and businesses once stood, new development rising around what’s been left to decay, and the quiet erosion of a community.

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"Notes on Courtwatch"

Kate Levy (Dir), 10 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

In early summer of 2025, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials began detaining migrants at their asylum hearings, an ad-hoc network of New Yorkers began showing up to the Kafkaesque court houses.

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"terrestrial sea"

Cathy Lee Crane (Dir), 15 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

Director Cathy Lee Crane in attendance.

Water and paths of migration converge to shape the borderlands along the U.S./Mexico boundary when staging actors in a politicized landscape leads to the rupture of fiction for fact.

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"Rebellion Becomes Duty"

Rui Da Casta (Dir), 8 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

Director Riu Da Casta in attendance.

A Rochester, NY-based veteran protester steps into the role of organizer for the first time transitioning from being a face in the crowd to being the voice that leads it.

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"Border Crossing 2025"

January Marie Rogers (Dir), 16 minutes, Six Nations of the Grand River / Canada, Western New York Premiere

Director January Marie Rogers in attendance.

The Indian Defense League of America, a small group of organizers in the Six Nations of the Grand River celebrate their 98th annual border crossing event, a tradition founded in 1928 in response to the enacting of the Jay Treaty.