The Mammoth Lakes Film Festival (MLFF) has announced the program for this year’s 11th edition, taking place in-person from May 21-25 at venues across Mammoth Lakes, California.
“We are excited to present a slate of bold and innovative films for this year’s festival,” said Festival Director Shira Dubrovner. “We thrive on giving filmmakers a platform to present highly personal work in a live theatrical setting, the way films should be experienced, bringing stories to light that open up our awareness — the first step toward positive change within ourselves as well as out in the world.”
Among the selected films will be the World Premiere presentation of the indie animated feature Take off the Blindfold, Adjust Your Eyes, Look in the Mirror, See the Face of Your Mother, from Chicago-based auteur Jonni Peppers (jonnipeppers.com), which builds on “The Blindfold” narrative series begun with the shorts anthology known as Wasteland, Secrets and Lies in the Town of Sinners and the 2022 feature Barber Westchester.
The filmmaker describes the project, formerly known as Saliatos Season 2, as “basically about the universe waking up to itself, reckoning with memory, prophetic visions and shedding old systems through force.”
MLFF will also present a diverse lineup of animated shorts from the U.S., Canada and Europe, some of which will be making their national or continental premieres in the scenic California town.
Animation highlights include:
Features:
- Take off the Blindfold, Adjust Your Eyes, Look in the Mirror, See the Face of Your Mother (U.S.A.) – A cartoon in a genre of its own, this sequel to Barber Westchester and Secrets and Lies in a Town of Sinners starts with a Der Wienerschnitzel employee getting a hot dog extracted from their eyeball and progresses to the universe is waking up to itself, prophets receiving visions, and God-defying towers formed in hedonistic abundance toppling over. Directed and written by Jonnï Peppers. World Premiere
Shorts:
- Anansi the Spider (U.S.A.) – Anansi the Spider must outsmart the jungle’s fiercest predators… Or end up as someone’s lunch! Directed by Jared Hall.
- And a Little for Me (U.S.A.) – What begins as a typical, summer beach day: an afternoon of surf, sun and dinner, escalates into a theft and a riot. Why? Directed by Kathryn Roake.
- Avant de Rentrer (France) – Lost along the road, someone enters the forest… Directed by Arthur Bonneau. N. American Premiere
- Confetti (U.S.A.) – Separation, fever dreaming, and a deflated celebration. Directed by Amanda Bonaiuto.
- Doh God (U.S.A.) – A kid named Lily struggles with depression and an existential crisis in a world made entirely out of PlayDoh. Directed by Nathan Siskel.
- Gemini (U.S.A.) – Sarah and her two cats go about their separate lives. The cats have strange dreams about their desires, and Sarah develops an unshakable paranoia that something is wrong with them. Sarah’s paranoia bleeds into her social life, and her two cats have their dreams come true. Directed by Jamie Steele Griffiths.
- In Dreams (U.S.A.) – Wrapped in bandages, a burn victim is tended to by a futuristic hospice service. Directed by Josh Shaffner.
- Les Bêtes (U.S.A.) – A mysterious rabbit with a set of magic keys summons a host of strange creatures to entertain a wicked king and his decadent court in this dark stop-motion animated fantasy inspired by the works of Ladislas Starevich. Directed by Michael Granberry.
- Mnemonic (U.S.A.) – House thinks thought, has realization. landscape in translation.. Directed by Raffaele Gans-Pfister.
- Organza’s Revenge (Canada) – A broke artist travels across the galaxy to seek revenge on her ex-lover in an attempt to cure her mysterious illness. Directed by Walter Scott. U.S. Premiere
- Pubert Jimbob (Belgium) – Pubert Jimbob, a young man, enters a strange reality after getting turned away from his home by an enigmatic figure, who throws him a lighter at his doorstep. A car crash leads to Jimbob meeting Nadine, a lump with a mouth. He brings her to a hospital, where he eats her surgically removed ‘bluehead’. A strange encounter in a toilet finally convinces Pubert Jimbob to return home from his bizarre journey. Directed by Quirjin Dees. U.S. Premiere
- Tortured Artist (U.K.) – Some artists never get a break… until they do! An aspiring artist struggles with negative self-talk and unfair comparisons with his peers. Can his only fan save him from himself? Directed by Thomas Laurance. U.S. Premiere
Discover the 2025 MLFF program and purchase tickets at mammothlakesfilmfestival.com.
