The Movie Screeners Club is a night out for film lovers in Los Angeles.

Every third Thursday, we fill Gardena Cinema with short films, live Q&As, and a crowd that gets to decide the winner of the Audience Choice Award.

You will see fresh stories on the big screen, hear directly from the filmmakers, and be part of a community that celebrates short film together!

November Screeners Club

11 • 20

TICKETS

(Sold through Gardena Cinema)

Flyer by Diana

august Screeners Club

8 • 21

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LINEUP COMING SOON

Dig!

Runtime: 13 Minutes

Genre: Surrealist Thriller

The day after Caly and Adam move in together Caly goes missing; while suspicion mounts against him, Adam desperately attempts to unearth the truth behind Caly's disappearance.

dir. Alejandra Mena

Dentata!

Runtime: 8 Minutes
Genre: Horror, Comedy

A Father’s method of pulling out his daughter’s last baby tooth takes a, SHARP turn.

dir. Aaron Tovar-Bustos

Clear Day

Runtime: 14 Minutes
Genre: Drama

On her 30th birthday, a woman grappling with her new relationship is confronted by an event that will change the couple’s lives forever.

dir. Caitlin Woods

Manic Man

Runtime: 4 Minutes

Genre: Psychological Thriller, Cerebral Horror

Shane, battling social anxiety at a party, finds himself dissociating from his own body when social pressure pushes him to the brink, turning a simple gathering into a surreal escape from reality.

dir. Fritz Frauendorf

The Interns

Runtime: 12 Minutes

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Two unpaid immigrant interns from Canada and India struggle to get hired at a soul-crushing ad agency so they can stay in America, but come to realize that they actually want to stay for each other.

dir. Kathryn Kvas

The Heist

Runtime: 6 Minutes

Genre: Comedy

Love might be in the air for Anne and Westin, until their Uber driver Stella announces she has one stop to make before their home...

dir. Rida Qadeer

Shadow Dancing in the West

Runtime: 11 Minutes

Genre: Neo-Western, Cosmic Horror

When their father’s death forces them back to their family ranch to spread his ashes, two estranged brothers dance around their troubled past until a strange object falls from the sky.

dir. Scotty Felix

Right On!

Runtime: 14 Minutes

Genre: Dramedy

An aspiring writer uses increasingly desperate and unconventional methods to overcome a crippling ailment - writer's block.

dir. Dave Rosas

Patience

Runtime: 21 Minutes

Genre: Supernatural Period Drama

Based on a true 1917 case study, housewife Pearl Curran fakes a writing partnership with a ghost to have a career as an author.

dir. Adrian Hernandez

Our Venue

Gardena Cinema is a single screen treasure that has been part of Los Angeles film culture since 1946. Family owned and operated for decades, it has welcomed generations of film lovers and storytellers. With its classic charm and big screen experience, the cinema is the perfect home for the Movie Screeners Club.

GARDENA CINEMA

What to Expect

Films on the big screen at Gardena Cinema

Live Q&A with attending filmmakers

Audience Choice voting at the end of each program

Networking opportunities with the film community

Concessions available at the theater

Frequently Asked Questions

Attending the Showcase

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A Monthly Celebration of Independent Short Films

Where Emerging Filmmakers Share
Their Stories on the Big Screen

LEARN MORE

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OVERTURNED

The bond between four devout friends unravels when an unplanned pregnancy forces them to confront loyalty, morality, and each other.

14 min | dir. Meredith Vivian

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EL YAPPER

After a mysterious accident leaves him mute, Diego must confront isolation in a world that no longer understands him.

11 min | dir. Adam Perez

June Screeners Club

BUY TICKETS

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FITNA

An American Muslim Army chaplain must choose between duty and faith after a family is kidnapped in Iraq.

15 min | dir. Musaid Abdullah

OVERTURNED

The bond between four devout friends unravels when an unplanned pregnancy forces them to confront loyalty, morality, and each other.

14 min | dir. Meredith Vivian

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RABBIT

Jamie takes his partner’s dog for a walk in the park and stumbles into something far more unsettling than expected.

09 min | dir. Jamie Granato

The Call

What would you do if an ex called you at 3am for what you think is a booty call—but it’s actually for something far more nefarious?

08 min | dir. Jeremy Bassett

Our Venue

Gardena Cinema isn’t just a theater—it’s a time capsule. Since 1946, this single-screen gem has stood as a testament to the magic of film, a gathering place for dreamers and storytellers alike. Operated by the Kim family since 1976, it’s weathered decades of change, transforming from a celebrated Spanish-language stage to a haven for first-run films. Today, Gardena Cinema holds its place as South Los Angeles’ last bastion of old-school moviegoing—an ode to the past, alive with the spirit of the present.

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Contact Us

We’d love to hear from you! Whether you're interested in sponsorship opportunities, collaborations, or have any general inquiries, our team is here to connect. We’re committed to building meaningful relationships and are excited to work with individuals and organizations who share our vision. Let’s explore how we can work together!

moviescreenersclub@gmail.com

14948 Crenshaw Blvd

Gardena, CA 90249

2025
2024
July
August
September
October
November
December
BAAAAAAAAAA
In a childlike dystopia, 5 bank robbers scrimmage through a city of crime, ducking and weaving through absurd escapades to evade the law's embrace.

25 min | dir. Alex Chang
No Heroes In The City
An off-duty security guard finds himself in a precarious situation when he tries to save the day.

11 min | dir. Dexter Pierce Jr.
Randy and Cyrus
Go To Hollywood
A documentary crew follows two men (Randy and Cyrus) on their quest to become the greatest rock band of all time.

15 min | dir. Noah Arrue and Joey Poliker
SOFI
When a young tomboy film photographer yearns to create again, she discovers a secret memory just outside her home.

06 min | dir. Vanesa Moreno
Stabby Stabby
A criminal organization realizes that there's a spy amongst them. Will they be able to find out who the rat is before they're all eliminated?

05 min | dir. Kenji McGuire
Technicians
Tasked with installing self-service manicure stations at a nail salon, an automation technician meets a Vietnamese American nail tech whose job he is there to replace.

16 min | dir. Kelly Luu and Kevin Luu
American Mustard
Two dudes find adventurous inspiration in their lunch.

03 min | dir. Jake Toohey
Civic
Civic follows Booker as he returns to South Central L.A. after several years away. Confined to the interior of his car, we watch as he interacts with the people and places he once knew—floating between moments of nostalgia and the subtle realities of a subconscious search for identity.

11 min | dir. Dwayne LeBlanc
In Person
Callie and Trey are looking for love, but not without a little extra help.

04 min | dir. Sophia Falk
Korean American
Witches Society
A lonely, anxious girl wishes to save her cancer-stricken father and befriends the granddaughter of a Korean shaman. Together, they create a secret witchcraft ritual, which leads to unexpected consequences.

12 min | dir. Michael K.Y. Yip
The Legacy of
Cideshow Studios
Southern California has been home to many bands and musicians who have changed the entire musical landscape. But how did they do it? Where did they go to establish their sound? The answer is found in the rehearsal space.

35 min | dir. Tanner Poppit
Second Chance
A desperate Mike discovers a life-changing technology, but as hope fades, he must decide how far he'll go for a second chance.

14 min | dir. Isaac Algurtia
When Jacob Jinkers
Came to Town
When a strange magical boy loses his glow, it’s up to the townsfolk of Hollow’s Edge to come together and help him restore it.

12 min | dir. Max Levine and Alex Schulman
Backwash
Two friends sit outside a fast-food joint as they find themselves discussing a decision that will affect multiple lives.

dir. Dalton Ibarra
Dead For A Living
Max Morris is a corpse actor expecting his big break. Will he become a star or fall flat like his characters?

dir. Sophia Falk and Gaby Dayan
Is Now A Good Time?
A bad day in the life of a Disney Marvel representative trying to bring joy to terminally ill children.

dir. Jim Cummings
May 1st
A man makes the most out of his May 1st.

dir. Gaby Dayan
The Stars Above
Eden Deckman, a young woman haunted by her past, must confront her deepest fears and the complicated relationship with her ex-boyfriend when he seeks her help for his injured girlfriend.

dir. Max Rose and Raphael Eidelman
Unit X
Compton’s superheroes save the day.

dir. Jerome Fellman
Velvet Sky
An aspiring young Filipino filmmaker gets tangled up in a toxic relationship with a director he idolizes after he agrees to mentor him.

dir. Charles Gray
How Do
Stoplights Work?
A young man. sean-experiences the unreal surrealism of the sad state of his day-to-day life. There are peaks and troughs in this life with a tiny bit of beauty to get us through it-so he tells himself.

16 min | dir. Sean Roche
Love Forevermore
A short stop motion film inspired by the short story, Spirits of the Dead, by E. A. Poe.

06 min | dir. Annette Bedrossian and Jeremy Mowery
The Reboot:
A Fight Club Story
Set in 1997 and 2024, 2 very different sets of Hollywood executives discuss making and re-making the movie Fight Club.

04 min | dir. Jen Sall
Twilight Time
When a sinister force creeps its way into a small town, two friends accidentally become caught in the web of its dark design.

19 min | dir. Marciel Delgado
The Painter
Pap, a former boxer turned recluse after his wife's death, clashes with his estranged granddaughter Jesse as she films a documentary about him. Through art, they must confront their shared grief or risk deeper despair.

19 min | dir. Jahanshah Vafaeisefat
En Garde
Two roommates struggle to connect until a magical realm changes everything.

04 min | dir. Michael Yu
Invention of Perception
After discovering a switch box that transforms her appearance, Rose Liverpool is drawn into a glamorous but dangerous fantasy world.

10 min | dir. Raphael Eidelman
Sylvia Says Goodbye
Sylvia faces a life-changing decision about her once-rosy relationship, guided by newfound friends.

03 min | dir. John Sylva and Ryan Heilman
The Red Hourglass
A strange encounter with a black widow spider leaves a young woman inexplicably pregnant, attracting the attention of a shadowy cult.

15 min | dir. B.C. Jones
Wabi-Sabi
An insecure woman’s date to a traditional tea ceremony spirals when she overanalyzes her best friend's advice.

19 min | dir. Josephine Green Zhang
Yolk
Two budget clowns get pranked by a bunch of teenagers. After bonding over their plight, an attempt is made at revenge.

12 min | dir. Joey Lopez
Dead For a Living
Max Morris is a corpse actor expecting his big break. Will he become a star or fall flat like his characters?

dir. Sophia Falk and Gaby Dayan
Second Chance
A desperate Mike discovers a life-changing technology, but as hope fades, he must decide how far he'll go for a second chance.

14 min | dir. Isaac Algurtia
Technicians
Tasked with installing self-service manicure stations at a nail salon, an automation technician meets a Vietnamese American nail tech whose job he is there to replace.

16 min | dir. Kelly Luu and Kevin Luu
Twilight Time
When a sinister force creeps its way into a small town, two friends accidentally become caught in the web of its dark design.

19 min | dir. Marciel Delgado
Yolk
Two budget clowns get pranked by a bunch of teenagers. After bonding over their plight, an attempt is made at revenge.

12 min | dir. Joey Lopez
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
Are You Asleep?
Plagued by nightly visits from eerie creatures that demand his sleep, Alan risks staying awake—only to uncover the horrifying truth of their intentions.

03 min | dir. David DeRosier
Champagne Social
An indecisive couple struggles on their plans for New Year’s Eve and a simple question spirals into a fear-driven examination of their long-winded, broken relationship.

13 min | dir. Ralph Torrefanca
Life in Prison for Marijuana |
“This Is Not Life”
The story of a father and daughter — in the wake of a life sentence for a nonviolent marijuana offense.

22 min | dir. Leo Pfeifer | prod. Maximilian Stafford
That’s Not My Mother
Sarah, a precise and measured art gallery director, struggles with the duality of her emotional response over the death of her estranged mother.

15 min | dir. Amanda Sweikow
A Street Cat
Named Desire
Seeking refuge from a storm in New Orleans, a tourist's night of passion with a mysterious bartender unravels into a surreal trap of sex, drugs, and a scheming bar cat named Desire.

15 min min | dir. Eric Layer
Back in Brooklyn
A revenge-fueled pop-rock ballad that tears apart the glossy illusion of 1950s Hollywood, trading starry-eyed romance for raw, messy, and rage-fueled heartbreak.

04 min | by Keiva Bradley | dir. Emma Aikman
INFINITY!
On the cusp of greatness, Japanese-American dance duo Sunny & June become targets of their own country as WWII ushers in an era of fear, betrayal, and impossible choices.

11 min | dir. Benjamin To
Manpower 4 Hire
A woman finds a mysterious rock on the beach that temporarily ties her to the lives of two macho men.

14 min | dir. Ella Sinskey
The Lovers
Two women from rival criminal empires struggle to contain their attraction to each other, meanwhile the violent feud between their families threatens to tear them apart.

19 min | dir. Jurnee Woo
Aftershock
Following the Great Hanshin Earthquake,

a mother wakes up to a daunting reality.

04 min | dir. Sophia Almaraz
Blackjack
Nicole Tessi struggles to find balance between loyalty to her friends and commitment to her relationship in this slapstick comedy.

07 min | dir. Isaac Izard
BUZZKILL
A disturbed man makes a friend.

07 min | dir. Gaby Dayan
Mamá Sabe
A mothers relationship with her son

spirals down through a collection of voicemails.

06 min | dir. Joshua Alejandres
Office Games
Bitter sibling rivals George and Candace use the family office as a battlefield to wage war games with devastatingly personal consequences.

08 min | dir. Andrew Gilchrist
Silly Dream
An aspiring actress battles self-doubt and the echoes of a painful argument as she struggles to deliver the audition that could change her life.

08 min | dir. Cydney Bolton
WINTER
In the aftermath of a deadly virus outbreak, a biotech engineer relives the memories of the deceased.

25 min | dir. Alex Chang
Creative Reasoning
A comic book artist struggles to design a new character when a little girl bombards her apartment with chaos, bringing to light old memories the artist would rather leave behind.

13 min | dir. Katherine Isherwood
Deception
Sinead leaves her home in Bermuda for London after her grandmother falls ill, but the family she returns to isn’t what she expected.

16 min | dir. Keanu Richards
Directorial
Four legendary directors, one minute each – would it be enough to save YOUR movie?

16 min | dir. Christopher Mims
Distraction
A lonely soul fights to be seen by the one they love, only to fade further into the background.

04 min | dir. Ethan Neihart
It's Gone
When a prized chocolate egg goes missing after a college party, three roommates launch an absurd investigation that devolves into chaos, ultimately forcing them to confront their friendship dynamics and personal issues.

19 min | dir. Zack Abdulbaki
Left to Wonder
Two friends notice a stranger in a bar and begin contemplating his life story. His story is what they make of it...

06 min | dir. Cannyon Ramos
El Yapper
After a mysterious accident leaves him mute, Diego must confront isolation in a world that no longer understands him.

11 min | dir. Adam Perez
Fitna
An American Muslim Army chaplain must choose between duty and faith after a family is kidnapped in Iraq.

15 min | dir. Musaid Abdullah
Overturned
The bond between four devout friends unravels when an unplanned pregnancy forces them to confront loyalty, morality, and each other.

14 min | dir. Meredith Vivian
Rabbit
Jamie takes his partner’s dog for a walk in the park and stumbles into something far more unsettling than expected.

09 min | dir. Jamie Granato
Sometimes A Fantasy
In pursuit of his best friend’s girlfriend, Jack descends into a cinephile fantasy, determined to rewrite the story in his head into something real.

21 min | dir. Omar Salas Zamora
Termite
After learning he’s set to be executed next week, Hank takes the news in stride. His only real concern is finding a ride.

10 min | dir. Ian White
The Auteurs
Three film students with nothing in common attempt to bring a childhood script to life. Personal insecurities and clashing visions threaten to derail their comeback.

23 min | dir. Aaron Myers
Whiz Palace
Two dreamers tumble down a rabbit hole while searching for a bathroom in Downtown LA.

05 min | dir. Jack Cohen
Climate Can Change
Adam and Rebecca meet for the first time.

06 min | dir. Mykel Montes
Pookie & Peanut
When his beloved Pookie is kidnapped, Peanut will fight across the desert to save him.

11 min | dir. Ethan Gathman
Scorpion Cocktail
Two broke college students get arrested at the Mexican border when their trunk full of contraband chocolate eggs leads them into the custody of the border patrol.

29 min | dir. Zack Abdulbaki
Teenage Wasteland
Childhood best friends prepare for their last ever high school party before growing up.

19 min | dir. Joshua Prem
The Call
What would you do if an ex called you at 3am for what you think is a booty call, but is actually for something far more nefarious?

08 min | dir. Jeremy Bassett
A Certain Method
Runtime: 14 minutes

Genre: Horror, Comedy

A struggling method actress kills at the audition of her life.

dir. Veronica Johnson
DONNA
Runtime: 12 minutes

Genre: Comedy

Three different men are hoodwinked by a catfish and spend the day together in a Burbank hotel.

dir. Omar Salas Zamora and Calvin Picou
flowers
Runtime: 18 minutes

Genre: Dark Comedy

A struggling waitress is having the worst day of her life until she meets a heartbroken customer whose luck just rival her own.

dir. Matthew Oquendo
objects in mirror
Runtime: 2 minutes

Genre: Experimental Animation

Through experimental animation, "Objects in Mirror" explores the enduring weight of grief and guilt, revealing how loss reshapes vision, and patching reality with haunting what-ifs.

dir. Nandini Sarkar
solid
Runtime: 14 minutes

Genre: Dramedy

Newly single Coles spends the day avoiding her empty apartment.

dir. Grace Gregory
sunflower girl
Runtime: 13 minutes

Genre: Drama, Coming-of-age

When a 13-year-old Chinese-American girl has the opportunity to go skateboarding with her crush, it comes at the cost of abandoning her little sister.

dir. Holly Mai-Kin Kaplan
two of a kind
Runtime: 14 minutes

Genre: Drama

When their father dies, Chip is forced to become legal guardian of his estranged, disabled brother.

dir. Blake Tamarkin, prod. Anthony Casabianca, Evan Adams
watch your step
Runtime: 2 minutes

Genre: Animation, Dark Comedy, Adult

A mischievous little boy gets what's coming to him.

dir. Christine Vu

august Screeners Club

Dig!

Dentata!

Clear Day

Manic Man

The Interns

The Heist

Shadow Dancing in the West

Right On!

Patience

GARDENA CINEMA

When and where does the Movie Screeners Club take place?

How long is the event?

How do tickets work?

Is there assigned seating?

Is there an age restriction?

How does the Audience Choice Award work?

Will food or drinks be available?

Can I meet the filmmakers?

Is parking available?

Are pets allowed?

Attending the Showcase

Where Emerging Filmmakers Share Their Stories on the Big Screen

June Screeners Club

Our Venue

Contact Us

Backwash

Dead For A Living

Is Now A Good Time?

May 1st

The Stars Above

Unit X

Velvet Sky

A Certain Method

DONNA

flowers

objects in mirror

solid

sunflower girl

two of a kind

watch your step

Where Emerging Filmmakers Share
Their Stories on the Big Screen