The 2025 Universe Multicultural Film Festival Selections
Feature Films
Dragon Heart – Adventures Beyond This World |Japan| 1:59:00 Director: Isamu Imakake Two teenagers get drowned in the river. To come back to life, they have to explore the spirit world and find their purpose and mission in life. Their adventure starts from hell and continues into Shambhala and beyond. Can they come back to life?3
The Most Australian Film Ever! |Australia| 1:46:00 Director: Jonathan Sequeira Three migrant school kids (Korean, Sri Lankan and Croatian) form a band in the '80s. They fight racism and the music industry to take their Aussie punk music to the world. The Hard-Ons become the biggest independent Australian band of their time and blaze a trail overseas for other bands to follow.
Water Lilies |South Korea| 1:58:38 Director: Chanho Lee Hyowon and Eunseo, two teenage girls chasing fragile dreams, run away to Seoul seeking a new life. Living in a dingy basement, they struggle to survive. Hyowon aspiring to be an actress, Eunseo taking odd jobs. As Hyowon begins acting lessons, their bond is challenged by unspoken pain and emotional distance. Set against the backdrop of a relentless city, the film displays longing, survival, and the quiet weight of carrying another’s sorrow
The Secret of Immortal |China| 1:33:15 Director: Yixian Bu A Xinjiang road adventure film, the film tells a story interwoven with emotions, youth, suspense, humanity and other elements. A hundred years ago, an archaeological expedition team was buried in a secret place in Xinjiang, leaving only a rumor. A hundred years later, Ma Siyu, went to the Western Regions to find her father's secret. The wealthy businessman Qian Wanli also lured the members of the "Ono Band" to snatch the secret treasure for him, and the two parties formed a team to start an adventure..
Short Films
HOME |France| 11:58 Director: Sonia Suvélor After the death of her grandmother, Catherine returns to the family home in Etretat. One day, an intrusive stranger shows up to her doorstep..
This Land Is |United States| 19:59 Director: Bunnie Rivera This Land Is follows Jesse as he’s rescued from a life of squalor with his mother, to the loving arms of his grandmother – and then back again, by circumstance, to the harsh reality of neglect with his mother.
Documentary Short Films
Monisto |Russia| 32:15 | Dcoumentary Director: Gulnaz Galimullina Monisto traces the life of a Bashkir women’s coin-breastplate—once a protective, status-telling heirloom—through revolution, repression, and World War II, when women surrendered their silver to the war effort. Set around the yurt that marks every milestone in a young Bashkir woman’s life, the film follows the jewelry’s near-erasure and its modern revival by contemporary artisans, revealing Bashkir rites, traditions, and cultural resilience across the ages.
Passages: a Video Memoir |United States| 19:48 | Documentary Director: Harris Cohen A VETERAN TIBURON CA.BASED (SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA) DOCUMENTARIAN LOOKS BACK AT HIS TRANSITIONS. STARTING AS A VIET NAM WAR FILM EDITOR FOR CBS NETWORK - SPENDING YEARS IN THE KPIX SAN FRANCISCO FIELD PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT - FOUNDING MAGNETIC IMAGE VIDEO PRODUCTION FACILITY - THEN GOING ON TO MAKING AWARD WINNING DOCUMENTARY SHORTS FOR NON PROFITS AND FILM FESTIVALS
Youth Made & Student Films
A World Wonder! The Ruins of Sanxingdui |United States| 4:13 | Documentary | Youth-Made Director: Michelle Ahl An American student visited the Sanxingdui Museum in China and was captivated by its mysterious and magnificent cultural relics. With her camera, she recorded the sights and sounds of her experience and created this short film to share with her classmates and friends back in the United States. Through this project, she hopes to inspire more people around the world to discover and appreciate the rich beauty of ancient Chinese culture.
Love as Long as You Can |United States| 3:55 | Historical Drama | Youth-Made Director: Joy Pelletier Nuremberg, 1943. A German girl risks everything and harbors her elderly piano teacher, while avoiding the imminent threat of Nazi officers
Terracotta Fortune |United States| 13:51 | Historical Drama | Youth-Made Director: Joy Pelletier A tough detective navigates the underbelly of glamorous 1940s Shanghai
Music Videos
I don’t love my mother |France| 4:59 Director: Gerard Cuq A woman dives, through the iris of one eye, into water illuminated by rays of light. She sings about her dislove for her mother... until her rebirth?
Sisters United |United States| 3:47 Director: Weiji Miao “Our sisterhood forges love and empowers us Innovate and refine, transform and strive Let our voice spread throughout the world!” Music video promoting United Matriarchy Nations. Our mission: to preserve traditional matrilineal cultures by providing job opportunities, teaching digital literacy, and giving them a voice through cinema! Women throughout the world come together to support each other!
TV Episode
Don’t Look Now |United States| 26:00 | Comedy Director: Geno Marx A diverse group of teachers and staff at a training center for the visually impaired must navigate the daily challenges of working for an underfunded non-profit.
Songs and Audio Books
Songs
Who Are These Bugs? |United States| 1:02 Artist: Zachary Simpsona Song from the Children's Musical, "Cate and the Garden Bandits”
Buddha's Word |China| 7:40 Songwriter: Ming Ye Use sound effects and harmony to create the vastness of the universe and the mysterious vastness of the void
Audio Books
Hello Lingdingyang |China| 07:20/ episode Author: Wenbo Li This audio drama has 132 episodes, showcased a retired female director Ye Zhi, restart her life and career in the Lingdingyang beach, after 20 years, she full filled her dream. There are 13 voice actors played in this audio drama
Pickle: The story of Tangs |China| 09:28/ episode Author: Chenyu Tang This book has 28 episodes, tell special things that happening in the Tang’s family in diary style
