The 2025 Lighthouse International Film Festival (LIFF) has unveiled its program for this summer. The local festival, which takes places on Long Beach Island in New Jersey, will run from June 4 to 8, with special features including the U.S. premiere of Kirill Serebrennikov’s 2024 Cannes hit “Limonov: The Ballad” starring Ben Whishaw. Serebrennikov’s English-language debut was an IndieWire Critic’s Pick from the festival last year.
LIFF 2025 has not yet announced its opening night feature, but IndieWire can reveal that Uta Briesewitz’s “American Sweatshop” will close the festival. Highlights also range from the Centerpiece screening of “Omaha” with John Magaro and SXSW Jury Award winner “Slanted.” Jason Alexander will be the keynote speaker for the 25th anniversary of his feature, “Just Looking.” Elegance Bratton is also among the filmmakers who will be in attendance; the director is screening his documentary “Move Ya Body: The Birth of House” at the festival.
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“Conclave” producer Michael Jackman will be at LIFF for a Masterclass on independent filmmaking, while HBO docuseries director Sam Lipman-Stern (“Telemarketers”) will share his experience working with Josh and Benny Safdie, Danny McBride, and David Gordon Green for the true crime show.
Check out the LIFF 2025 program, with film descriptions provided by the festival, below.
Closing Night Film: “American Sweashop”
Director: Uta Briesewitz, USA/DEU, 100 min
EAST COAST PREMIERE
Daisy toils in a cottage industry of agencies that evaluate harmful and offensive pictures and videos uploaded to social media. With detached caution and a deranged sense of humor, they examine the millions of posts that get “flagged for review.” But one particularly violent video grabs hold of Daisy, luring her out of this office, away from the safety of her keyboard and into a dangerous world as she obsessively seeks to hold someone accountable. Courtesy of Brainstorm Media
Centerpiece: “Omaha”
Director: Cole Webley, USA, 83 min
Set against the backdrop of the 2008 economic crisis, Omaha follows a struggling father (John Magaro) who embarks on a road trip across the American West with his two children, Ella and Charlie, in search of hope and a better life. What begins as a seemingly spontaneous family journey gradually reveals deeper layers of both grief and resilience, as Ella starts to sense that her father’s intentions may be masking a more profound truth.
Centerpiece: “Slanted”
Director: Amy Wang, USA, 102 min
EAST COAST PREMIERE
Winner of the SXSW Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature. Chinese American teen Joan Huang just wants to fit in at her high school, but when she hastily undergoes an experimental medical procedure to become Caucasian, the consequences could be devastating in this biting speculative fiction satire. SXSW Grand Jury winner. Starring Shirley Chen, Mckenna Grace, Vivian Wu, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Amelie Zilber, Fang Du
Centerpiece: “Fantasy Life”
Director: Matt Shear, USA, 91 min
After losing his job as a paralegal, Sam Stein suffers a panic attack and stumbles into a job babysitting his psychiatrist’s three granddaughters. The girls’ mother, Dianne, is an actor whose once-promising career has stalled; she’s in a difficult marriage to David, a rock bassist. When David goes abroad on tour, Dianne and Sam discover an easy rapport as well as a shared history of mental illness. Sam joins Dianne’s family to babysit for the summer on Martha’s Vineyard, and he ends up in a house with the woman he pines for, her husband, the three kids, and all four grandparents, including his psychiatrist.
Narrative Features Competition
“A Simple Machine”
USA, 97 MIN
DIRECTOR: MARK HOFFMAN
WORLD PREMIERE
Nick Allander has a marketing job, a serious relationship, and a problem: he’s drowning in debt. But before he and his partner, Marie, can take the next step in their relationship, Nick decides to simplify his life and devotes himself to fixing up an old bike. After secretly leaving his apartment to save on rent, Nick’s frugal strategies come to a head, forcing a difficult choice between committing to the woman he loves or devoting himself to a simpler existence. Expected to attend: director/writer Mark Hoffman, actor Richard Blackmon
“Best Man”
USA, 105 MIN
DIRECTORS: RYAN & ANTHONY FAMULARI
WORLD PREMIERE
John has been a struggling actor in LA for years. When his brother asks him to be the best man at his wedding and offers to help him find a stable career back home, John resolves to make one last push for Hollywood stardom. His newfound determination pays off professionally, but it strains his relationships. He lands a new manager and finds some acting success, but loses his girlfriend and puts his relationship with his brother on thin ice. And when John finally lands the audition of a lifetime, he learns that it’s on the same day as his brother’s wedding. Faced with an impossible choice, John decides to take the audition, miss the wedding, and lose his relationship with his brother in the process. At the audition, John delivers the performance of his life, but it’s not enough. John sacrificed everything for his dream, but is left with nothing. Expected to attend: director/writer Ryan Famulari, director/writer/actor Anthony Famulari
“Norma Dorma”
CHE, 87 MIN
DIRECTOR: LORENZ SUTER
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
Nothing feels normal for Norma. Her little son Lenny is growing so fast since her partner Henri disappeared. Norma struggles between work and her child. At night, her missed Henri is haunting her. Norma knows it must be more than «just a dream». One morning she wakes up mysteriously pregnant, caught between hope and fear. In her search for answers, Norma meets Mikka, a sleep researcher tied to Henri’s past. Mikka opens her eyes for another world. Norma climbs to surreal heights to see her family reunited. But the idyll of her dreams bring her closer to the abyss. On Norma‘s path of discovery she trips from familiar places into stranger lands than she could ever have imagined – not in her wildest dreams. Expected to attend: director/writer Lorenz Suter, actor Marina Guerrini and DOP/writer Stefan Kunzler
“Resentment”
USA, 83 MIN
DIRECTOR: NOAH MILLMAN
WORLD PREMIERE
A man walks into a bar to talk about a film. Another man waits in ambush to force him to confess. A woman watches to see that he doesn’t. Over the course of a long, booze-filled night, everyone is going to say what someone doesn’t want to hear. A taut, witty chamber drama inspired by the Mike Nichols classic, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” “Resentment” asks what it would happen if we finally let go of our resentments, and tried to live with the truth, however ugly it might sound. Starring Lawrence Gilliard, Jr. (The Wire, The Walking Dead), Patch Darragh (Succession) and Jen Ponton (Dietland). Expected to attend: director/writer Noah Millman, actor Jen Pnton
“River Returns”
JPN, 108 MIN
DIRECTOR: MASAKAZU KANEKO
US PREMIERE
In the summer of 1958, a riverside village is regularly threatened by typhoons. There, a boy named Yucha learns the local flood legend from a Kami-Shibai (paper theater) storyteller. He tells of a broken-hearted girl who drowned herself in a river pool deep in the mountains. It is said that her grief has caused great floods every few decades ever since. A great typhoon is approaching. Yucha sets off for the pool deep in the mountains, which even adults fear, in the hope of stopping the flood and soothing the girl’s sorrow.
Expected to attend: producer and sales agent Cathy Ni
“Sometime the Wolf”
USA, 92 MIN
DIRECTOR: WILLIAM GARCIA BIGELOW
WORLD PREMIERE
In this psychological debut film from writer/director William Garcia Bigelow, the lives of an expecting suburban couple are disrupted by a random act of violence. In the aftermath, Hal (Boris Granolic) and Rosalyn (Marisela Grajeda Gonzalez) navigate practical realities and growing tensions, exposing latent mental illness and a fractured domesticity. SOMETIME THE WOLF offers a quiet, voyeuristic look into a modern life as it contends with an uncertain future. Expected to attend: director/writer William Garcia Bigelow
“Thirsty”
USA, 112 MIN
DIRECTOR: EMILY ABT
A tenacious defense attorney embarks on a high stakes campaign to beat the incumbent mayor of Oakland. As election day approaches, she must reconcile the seduction of the political game with her own moral compass or risk losing it all. Starring Jamie Neumann, Kyra Sedgwick, and Thora Birch and Sung Kang. Expected to attend: director/writer Emily Abt
“You Are Not Alone”
CAN, 105 MIN
DIRECTORS: MARIE-HÉLÈNE VIENS & PHILIPPE LUPIEN
Leo, a lonely, anxious pizza delivery guy, stumbles upon John, a mysterious taxi driver seeking lonesome souls. This unusual encounter throws the young man into a dizzying delirium, disrupting his blossoming romance with Rita. As the leaves start falling from the trees, days are getting shorter, and the cold is settling in… Luckily, the first flames of love warm Leo’s heart, awakening in him an unexpected power. But beware: if you play with fire, you might get burned. Expected to attend: directors Marie-Helene Viens & Philippe Lupien
Documentary Competition
“Among the Palms the Bomb, or: Looking for Reflections in the Toxic Field of Plenty”
AUT/USA, 85 MIN
DIRECTORS: LUKAS MARXT & VANJA SMILJANIĆ MARXT
EAST COAST PREMIERE
The highest asthma rates among children in the United States, chronic nosebleeds, the haunting memories of Native American tribal genocide, the echoes of military atomic bomb tests during the Manhattan Project, the massive monocultural farming culminating in cataclysmic fish and bird die-offs, and the exploitation of illegal immigrants, are just a few of the narratives that come together and define the Salton Sea. The Historic Wendover Airfield Museum in Utah, a former military base that in 1944/45 played a pivotal role in the development of the Atomic Bomb, is the starting point of the film. The film’s overarching mission is to ignite a collective awareness of the ongoing environmental and socio-political catastrophe that has remained concealed for years. Expected to attend: directors Lukas Marxt and Vanja Smiljanic Marxt
“Been Here Stay Here”
USA, 86 MIN
DIRECTOR: DAVID USUI
Christianity and climate change collide on Tangier Island, where a close-knit Christian fishing community faces an existential threat as rising seas encroach upon their shores. Their centuries-old way of life, sustained by faith and the rhythms of the Chesapeake Bay, is now at a poignant crossroads—one that may force them from the only home they’ve ever known. Expected to attend: director David Usui
“Kid Racers”
USA, 86 MIN
DIRECTOR: CYNTHIA HILL
WORLD PREMIERE
KID RACERS is a documentary about five American families and the high-speed, high-stakes world of youth racing. Filmed in the final weeks of a grueling season, the film captures the last races at Millbridge Speedway, where 9-year-old drivers chase a championship—and parents double as coaches, mechanics, and mentors. Expected to attend: director Cynthia Hill, producer Sandra Davidson
“Shuffle”
USA, 81 MIN
DIRECTOR: BENJAMIN FLAHERTY
Winner of the Documentary Feature Grand Jury Prize at SXSW, SHUFFLE follows three individuals whose lives depend not on getting into treatment, but on getting out alive, and in the process, shines a light on the insurance-fueled cycle of addiction treatment fraud spreading across the country. With the filmmaker serving as narrator, using his own experience as a roadmap, these personal stories provide the framework for a more public investigation with the help of an FBI informant, an insurance analyst and the former Executive Director of a Philadelphia-based treatment facility. SHUFFLE unravels a web of public policy and private interest preying on a desperate population for the sake of profit.
Expected to attend: director Benjamin Flaherty, producer Carra Greenberg
“Solitary Road”
SWE, 76 MIN
DIRECTOR: JOHAN PALMGREN
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
There is a road in the middle of the wilderness far North of the Arcitic Circle. It was built 1955 and was supposed to lead from Kiruna, Sweden, to Bardufoss, Norway. The work was interrupted and now there is only a short fragment of a road of 20 kilometres between the mountains, without connection to the general road system. Along the road there are five villages, where time has stopped. There is no electricity nor any water. The villagers have transported old cars over the ice of Torneträsk from Kiruna to this unique place. The cars date from the 60 ́s and 70s. In this film we follow the everyday life along the road. Small stories and events are mixed with deeper portraits of people living close to the wild and untamed nature. Expected to attend: director Johan Palmgren
“Thaw”
USA, 88 MIN
DIRECTOR: ROBIN HAUSER
EAST COAST PREMIERE
Egg freezing is now a global phenomenon, used by women all over the world. But its outcomes can’t be known until years later, when the eggs are thawed and fertilized. Thaw follows three American women navigating difficult choices about their biological clocks, and questioning what “choice” actually means in this new era of eggs on ice. Expected to attend: director Robin Hauser, editor Jennifer Steinman Sternin
“The Little Things That Run the World”
USA, 105 MIN
DIRECTOR: DOUG HAWES-DAVIS
WORLD PREMIERE
Life on Earth is in the middle of a major re-alignment of species composition. The smallest of creatures – insects – hold the fabric of all life together. They are the most numerous of all animal groups on the planet. But insects are declining at an alarming rate throughout the world, threatening innumerable species, whole ecosystems, and even our food systems with collapse. This is story about untangling the mysteries as to why something so ubiquitous – and seemingly endless – could be on the cusp of disappearing entirely. It is also the story of heroic efforts to save these most vulnerable of creatures.
Expected to attend: director Doug Hawes-Davis
“The Shepherd’s Keeper”
ISR, 69 MIN
DIRECTOR: HADARA OREN
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
Bedouin shepherd communities (Palestinians) who live in the magical spaces of the Jordan Valley have to deal with a variety of pressures and threats, mainly due to Israeli Settlers and the IDF. The film follows the complexity of the ‘human layer’, that disturbs the peacefulness of the desert and awakens ancient struggles. All this, against the backdrop of, and perhaps in contrast to, the wonderful scenery of the desert.
Special Screenings
“John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office”
USA, 89 MIN
DIRECTORS: MICHAEL ALMEREYDA & COURTNEY STEPHENS
An essay film about the mysteries of consciousness and communication channeled through neurophysiologist and “psychonaut” John C. Lilly, a daring experimenter with dolphins and psychedelics. Lilly’s motto — “My body is my laboratory” — carried him into realms of radical self-investigation, while his research also helped bring dolphins and whales into the collective dreamlife of the 20th century.
Expected to attend: director Courtney Stephens
“Limonov: The Ballad”
FRA/ITA/ESP, 138 MIN
DIRECTOR: KIRILL SEREBRENNIKOV
US PREMIERE
The English-language debut of internationally acclaimed filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov will have its U.S. premiere on LBI, following its first screening at Cannes — where he also launched The Student, Leto, and recently, The Disappearance of Josef Mengale. A Russian dissident, Serebrennikov was wrongfully placed under house arrest by the Putin regime and has since fled to Germany, where he continues his work. In this provocative yet lavish and sensual biopic about controversial poet Eduard Limonov, Serebrennikov — along with co-writer and Oscar winner Paweł Pawlikowski — deepens his confrontational, love-hate exploration of his homeland’s culture and history. Anchored by a masterful performance from Ben Whishaw, the film delves into the radical and complex psyche of this rebel without a cause, examining Limonov’s conflicting motivations and his passionate calls for revolution for its own sake. Set across Moscow, New York, and Paris, the film weaves poetry, politics, relationships, politics, and nostalgia into a critical portrait of a charismatic, complicated, and deeply flawed artist.
Expected to attend: actor Andrey Burkovskiy
“Lovebug”
USA, 90 MIN
DIRECTOR: BLAKE KIASER
EAST COAST PREMIERE
Set in 1988 Los Angeles, LOVEBUG is a dramedy feature film that follows the story of Douglass, a young man who winds up convinced by his new and slightly older girlfriend, Gracie, to become the pornstar “Douggy-Style” under her management. Expected to attend: director/writer Blake Kaiser, actors Logan Pepper and Lena Torluemke
“ZZaslow K-427”
USA, 79 MIN
DIRECTOR: ROBERT HAM
Zzaslow K-427, honors the remarkable service of the longest tenured bomb-sniffing dog to ever serve in the U.S. Army, and how this unassuming black Labrador retriever saved lives, both on and off the battlefield, healing humans in extraordinary ways that are completely unexpected. Expected to attend: director Robert Ham, producer Adam Zaslow
Spotlight
“Creede USA”
USA, 94 MINS
DIRECTOR: KAHANE CORN COOPERMAN
EAST COAST PREMIERE
Creede is a tiny, remote, mining town where residents hold tightly to their heritage. When the townspeople brought in a theater company in 1966 to bolster the dwindling economy, they opened its doors to all manner of folk and progressive ideas. This is not quite what they had intended. Almost 60 years later, with these two worlds living side by side, Creede is a taut microcosm of current national divisions. Guns in classrooms? Pronouns, what now? Weaving intimate storylines of its nuanced residents, tense debates at town meetings and forays into its rich history, Creede USA offers a hopeful, humanistic and urgent glimpse at a community that must continually negotiate its common ground. Expected to attend: director Kahane Corn Cooperman, producer Innbo Shim
“The Librarians”
USA, 90 MINS
DIRECTOR: KIM A. SNYDER
As an unprecedented wave of book banning largely addressing race and LGBT issues is sparked in Texas, Florida, and beyond, librarians under siege join forces as unlikely defenders fighting for intellectual freedom on the front lines of democracy. Filmmaker Kim A. Snyder (Newtown, Us Kids, 2025 Oscar®-Nominated Death By Numbers) takes us to an unexpected front line where librarians emerge as first responders in the fight for democracy, free access to information, and our First Amendment Rights. As they well know, controlling the flow of ideas means control over communities. Expected to attend: director Kim A. Snyder and subject Martha Hickson
“Move Ya Body: The Birth of House”
USA, 91 MINS
DIRECTOR: ELEGANCE BRATTON
In the chaos of Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park, a teenage usher named Vince Lawrence witnessed the fiery backlash against disco—a sound that defined freedom and pride. Undeterred by the hostility, Vince used his earnings to buy a synthesizer, setting in motion a journey that would change music forever. Venturing into the underground sanctuary of The Warehouse, where Frankie Knuckles spun revolutionary sounds, Vince teamed up with Jesse Saunders to form Z Factor, a scrappy collective of visionaries who captured the pulse of Chicago’s underground on wax. Their track, On and On, became the first recorded house music anthem, sparking a movement that transformed a local DIY culture into a global phenomenon. From those gritty Chicago streets to festival stages worldwide, Vince’s story is an electrifying testament to how a dream, born in the ashes of rejection, ignited a genre that continues to unite and liberate people across the globe. Expected to attend: director Elegance Bratton, producer Chester Algernal Gordon
“Sunfish (& Other Stories on Green Lake)”
USA, 85 MINS
DIRECTOR: SIERRA FALCONER
EAST COAST PREMIERE
As a single summer unfolds around Green Lake, the lives of its residents and visitors intertwine in moments of change and self-discovery. A girl bonds with her grandparents through sailing and birding, a boy battles for first chair at a prestigious arts camp, a fisherman and a young mother are an odd pair in pursuit of adventure and the perfect catch, and two sisters savor their final days running a bed-and-breakfast before college pulls them apart. Expected to attend: director/writer Sierra Falconer
Darkhouse Features
“Dangerous Animals”
AUS, 93 MIN
DIRECTOR: SEAN BYRNE
When Zephyr, a rebellious surfer, is abducted by a shark-obsessed serial killer and held captive on his boat, she must figure out how to escape before he carries out a ritualistic feeding to the sharks below. Courtesy of IFC Films/Shudder
“Cafe 404”
GRC, 90 MIN
DIRECTOR: ALEXANDROS TSILIFONIS
US PREMIERE
Darkly comedic thriller set in a forgotten roadside diner, where a mysterious bag of cash offers a glimmer of hope to owner Jimmy and his eclectic crew. As greed and desperation mount, the team confronts internal conflicts and external threats in a desperate bid to save their crumbling sanctuary
Expected to attend:: director Alexandros Tsilifonis, actors Dimitri Gripari and Margaux Karayianni
“O Horizon”
USA, 107 MIN
DIRECTOR: MADELEINE ROTZLER
EAST COAST PREMIERE
O Horizon stars Oscar nominees Maria Bakalova and David Strathairn and is written & directed by Emmy Award winner Madeleine Rotzler. A neuroscientist mourning the loss of her father is suddenly able to speak with him through a new technology, causing her to question everything from her relationships to her life’s work. Expected to attend: director/writer Madeleine Rotzler
“The Junction”
USA, 40 MIN
Director: AJ Lambert
Following the death of Rose’s dad, she and her mother Annie move to the town where James Dean died on a dangerous road. Rose starts seeing things and slowly deteriorates, while her frustrated mother becomes obsessed with an unknown girl killed at the famous intersection. Their bond unexpectedly leads Annie back to where she belongs.
“The Strange Dark”
USA, 84 MIN
DIRECTOR: CHRIS MESSINEO
“The Strange Dark” is a Sci-Fi Thriller about a man who believes he can tell the future, his family who thinks he’s crazy, and the agents who are after him. This twisted tale is told in one night, and one location, as this family tries to find a way to survive. Described as a “Sci-Fi Comedy of menace”, “The Strange Dark” has played at dozens of festivals around the world, winning award for Acting, Screenwriting, and Best Feature. Expected to attend: Director Chris Messineo
“Surf Film: A Marble in the Jar”
DIRECTOR: GREG BROWNING
USA, 70 MIN
WORLD PREMIERE
Amid crushing losses and fleeting triumphs, “A Marble In The Jar” captures professional surfer Tatiana Weston-Webb’s journey to find meaning beyond medals and trophies, through the conscious collection of life’s small victories. Expected to attend: producer/cinematographer Scott Smith, producer/cinematographer John Detemple, subject Tatiana Weston-Webb
Events
A Conversation with Jason Alexander: The Artist Behind George Costanza
While best known for his iconic portrayal of George Costanza on Seinfeld, Jason Alexander is also a gifted filmmaker, director, and writer with a rich and varied career in entertainment. In this special keynote event, the Lighthouse International Film Festival is proud to spotlight his creative work behind the camera. Join us for a candid and insightful conversation as Alexander shares personal stories from his decades in showbiz, explores his evolution as a creator, and reflects on the current state of the industry. This is a rare opportunity to hear directly from one of television’s most recognizable faces—and one of its most thoughtful voices.
Anniversary Screening: “Just Looking”
USA, 97 MIN
DIRECTOR: JASON ALEXANDER
Jason Alexander, the special guest of the Lighthouse International Film Festival, is publicly renowned for his comedic performances as the iconic George Costanza in Seinfeld. But the brilliant actor is also a very talented filmmaker, and the festival is proud to honor him with a 25th anniversary screening of his sophomore directorial work, Just Looking, a coming-of-age drama starring Gretchen Mol and Patti LuPone. Set in 1955 Bronx, Just Looking follows Lenny, a sex- obsessed teenager finishing 8th grade, who dreams of witnessing the act of love over the summer. Sent to stay with his aunt in Queens, Lenny makes new friends, meets a charming young nurse named Hedy, and ends up learning a few unexpected lessons about life and love. Join us for a special screening and discussion with Director Jason Alexander, Producer Mike Jackman, and Writer Marshall Karp.
“Freeheld” Screening and Discussion
DIRECTOR: CYNTHIA WADE
Detective Lieutenant Laurel Hester spent 25 years investigating tough cases in Ocean County, New Jersey—protecting victims’ rights and putting her life on the line. In the last year of her life, after a terminal cancer diagnosis, she found herself fighting her most personal battle for justice: for the woman she loved. Cynthia Wade’s Freeheld—the Academy Award-winning documentary short of 2007—first brought this story to the screen, which inspired a feature-length drama starring Julianne Moore, Elliott Page, and Michael Shannon eight years later. Join us for a special screening of Freeheld, followed by a compelling panel discussion with filmmaker Cynthia Wade, Hester’s former colleagues from the police force, and local activists as they reflect on Laurel’s legacy and the ongoing fight for equality.
Masterclass
Michael Jackman
Acclaimed filmmaker Michael Jackman, producer of the Oscar-nominated “Conclave,” will join the Lighthouse International Film Festival for a Masterclass that offers a rare behind-the-scenes look into his creative process, his journey through independent filmmaking, and insights into the making of “Conclave.”
Sam Lipman-Stern
Sam Lipman-Stern began his filmmaking career shooting silly home videos in a New Jersey call center where he worked as a kid. Years later, he revisited the footage from his former workplace and its unusual culture of booze, drugs, and pranks—only to uncover a major billion-dollar corruption case. That discovery became the foundation of “Telemarketers,” the Emmy-nominated hit HBO docuseries. Now based in South America, Lipman-Stern returns to his home state, and specifically to Lighthouse, to discuss his adventures from telemarketing to television and share the wild stories behind creating the series—the coincidences and calculated steps that shaped this unconventional project and ultimately caught the eye of HBO and executive producers Danny McBride, David Gordon Green, and the Safdie Brothers
