Fighting the Pain

Whether physical, emotional, or psychological, stories of struggle, endurance, the human spirit’s capacity to heal, adapt, rise above adversity, and the resilience required to confront it

July 7, 2026
5-8:30 PM

Court Square Theater
44-02 23rd St, Long Island City

See You Later

A man bids farewell to his father at his funeral.

Two men sitting on a striped sofa in a living room. One is bald and wearing glasses, the other has a beard and is also wearing glasses. There is a lampshade on a side table to the right, and a potted plant on the left. The wall behind them has a poster for a film called "AU REVOIR" with names of actors and filmmakers written above and below.

In Plain Sight

Two intertwined stories of cause, and effect. A story
highlighting the deep-rooted issues of silence, complicity, negligence, and unchecked cruelty that lead to a vicious cycle of violence doomed to repeat itself.

Two people with their eyes obscured by white rectangles, one of them pulling the other's shirt and making a facial expression, against a red background with promotional text at the bottom.

42 Seconds

Months after a mass shooting at a small town diner, the only survivors revisit the scene with hopes of healing from their shared trauma.

A single moment can last forever.

The cover of the book titled '42 Seconds: A Single Moment Can Live Forever' features a night scene of a restaurant with a neon 'Diner' sign, a tall cactus on the left, and a partly illuminated brick building. The title '42 Seconds' is prominently displayed at the top with a clock graphic around it.

No Mercy

Sonia, a quiet woman with an unremarkable life, is assaulted one night on the train. The shock leaves her silent, but something shifts inside her. Slowly, her gaze hardens, her movements grow sharper, more deliberate. An obsession takes hold : to find that man again. She watches him, follows him, learns every detail of his life. Until one day, their paths cross once more and this time, Sonia is no longer the same.

Promotional poster for a short film titled 'No Mercy', featuring a large axe with blood splatters and dark background, with white and red text.

A Mother’s Love

Beate, 43, lives with her husband Uwe and their eight-year-old son Benjamin in a small town. On the surface, they appear to be an ordinary family—yet they are still reeling from the tragic bus accident that claimed the life of their eldest daughter, twelve-year-old Jana. The loss continues to weigh heavily on Beate, piercing through her daily life like a wound that refuses to heal.

When Benjamin is unexpectedly summoned to the police for questioning, Beate learns that her own son carries partial responsibility for the accident.

Silhouette of a woman hugging a child in a dark background, movie poster for 'Mutterliebe' with text names at the top and bottom.

Sit with Me While I Die

A priest must reconcile his lifelong dogmatic views on suffering with real life pain, examining how we will die, the intersection of faith and death, and specifically with how we may, or may not, be called to suffer at the inevitable end. Set against the backdrop of medical aid in dying, and death with dignity.

Poster for the short film 'Sit with Me While I Die' featuring James Naughton and Mia Dillon, showing a man and a woman sitting side by side in a room with large window and sunlight streaming in.

His Monster

When his young daughter is mysteriously swept out to sea, a struggling alcoholic remains alone, hunting the woods to find what he believes is responsible.

A dark, mysterious poster featuring three people with serious expressions, including a man with a beard and deer-like antlers in the background, a woman with short black hair, and a young girl holding something close to her chest. A bottle is in the foreground, with an ominous red symbol and the movie title "His Monster." The tagline reads "Be Careful Out There."