Manhattan Film Festival

With college drawing to a close, a group of friends are left to re-examine themselves and their relationships over the course of a weekend.

The survivor of an unknown apocalypse struggles to navigate the physical and mental hardships of isolation. When all hope is lost, a stray dog enters their life and reminds them of what it means to be alive.

“Otra Vida” explores three converging immigrant stories as they grapple with their experience to achieve the American Dream. The film begins with the arrival of Pepe, a young boy from Mexico, to the United States on a mission to find his uncle Paco. We follow Pepe as he makes his way into the city where he meets and passes the torch off to Sara, a middle-aged immigrant with a young son Diego. Sara's arc touches on the reality of being an immigrant while doing her best to support her son. She eventually meets Paco as he goes in for an interview at Sara's workplace. A reflection of the immigrant experience following years of struggle and uncertainty, Paco finally has a chance at the dream.

Adam is stuck in a mundane, 9-5 life in New York. Nearing the brink of personal collapse, he meets Eva. As she enters Adams’s life, a new world opens. Will Adam succumb to the crippling reality he has created, or rise to a free and infinite one? This debut from filmmaker Matthew Appleby is an intimate exploration of mental health, technology, relationships and the many realities we exist in.

The Other Side is a portrait of Nikki Bell and her journey from a teen sex trafficking survivor to a powerful advocate for other survivors in Worcester, MA. Over the past 8 years, she’s set up an extensive network of support services to help women in her community overcome addiction, trauma, isolation, stigma, and violence associated with the commercial sex industry. Then the world changed seemingly overnight. When the pandemic began, Nikki’s drop-in center was forced to close, preventing her team from providing food, clothing and support services to those in need. Nikki and her staff of survivors began risking their own health and safety to continue providing invaluable aid.