“In the city of the dead fall in love an' fall in bed.”  You won’t find another shorts collection this full of laughs, surprises, and human connection than these shorts that orbit around a very grave subject. John and Dan Bell’s IT’S A WONDERFUL NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (US 2025, 8 min) is an irresistible mashup of Frank Capra and George Romero.  Director Kit Steinkellner devises a surprise development for a young couple which forces them to wonder ARE WE STILL MARRIED? (US 2026,12 min).  Two young nuns embark on a holier-than-thou competition that evokes some heavy emotions in Isabella Garcia’s IN HER YOU’LL FIND SANCTUARY (US 2026, 10 min).  In Joël Gibbs’s animated THE HIGH KING’S DAUGHTER (Ireland 2025, 5 min), a lush period romance about social class evokes something tender and mythic.  In Simone Stadler’s THE SPANISH LESSON (US 2025,12 min), a surprise student has some deeper resonance.  In Claire Harris Matson and Drew Brandon Jones’s very funny BEING DEAD SHOULD BE EASY (US 2025, 14 min), a shiva is the perfect place to discuss planning one’s own mortal passing.  And in Aleksandr Terekhov’s reflective MONUMENT (Poland 2026, 8 min), a grieving daughter finds comfort from an unexpected source. Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind program! —Sterling Hedgpeth