FILMS

Hell, a stop-motion animation short directed by Parker Croft (As Easy As Closing Your Eyes, Suncatcher), is the first installment of the Hard Times anthology. Set on a dying farm on the outskirts of Ash Harbor, the film follows a patriarch slowly ground down by the machinery of despair—where endurance gives way to something far more existential. A haunting portrait of collapse told through dust, labor, and silence.

Carrying Capacity: The Hunt for Resilience, directed by Zach Montes (Denizens of the Steep), takes audiences into the rugged landscapes of Wyoming, where the future of bighorn sheep hangs in a delicate balance. As disease, habitat limitations, and growing populations threaten the herd’s survival, wildlife managers, scientists, and hunters are forced to confront difficult questions about what it truly means to protect a species.

The Liars of Black Mountain Road, directed by Parker Croft (As Easy As Closing your Eyes, Suncatcher), written by Parker Croft and Nolan Gould (Modern Family), with executive producers Abigail Breslin, (Little Miss Sunshine) and Elisa Croft (Suncatcher), is a story where a couple competes for the moral high ground at any cost.

Farmer’s Daughter, directed by Melissa Bloom (Adult Swim’s Robot Chicken and David O’Russell’s American Hustle), founder of The Sisters Bloom, an eco-conscious stop-motion animation studio in Kalispell, Montana.