Revolutions Per Minute - Alex Roper, Baltimore, MD, 3 min, dv
There are many ways to celebrate the 4th of July. Packing a record player full of fireworks is just one of them.

Beige - Ramsel Ruiz, San Francisco, CA, 2 min, dv
With a narrator's voice that would make Ira Glass proud, Ruiz presents a gripping look at the suburbs through the eyes of someone blind to every color, except one.

By Any Other - Derek Frank, Somerville, MA, 15 min, 16mm
Highly stylized acting and directing do justice to Frank's jagged story about two lovers alternately questioning the meaning of identity and ruminating on 20th century intellectual history. They're also making coffee and nibbling toast.

Making Love (Out of Nothing At All) - Michelle Dean, San Francisco, CA, 1.5 min, dv
Animated hot dogs fly through the universe singing along to Air Supply.

Hang Time - Craig Gerber, Los Angeles, CA, 7 min, dv
A cleanly told story about making your way to the top, falling to earth, and doing it again, as told from the perspective of a guy who likes jumping around in elevators.

School Yard - Paul Kolsanoff, San Francisco, CA, 5 min, 16mm
If this weren't set in Stalinist Russia it would be a hackneyed tale of playground dos and don'ts. But it's set in Stalinist Russia, so it's a taut tale of gulag justice.

Pop Song #2 - Meesoo Lee, Vancouver, Canada, 5 min, video
If you ever wished you could take a nature special and set it to your own music, then wish no more. The fact that a bunny with a bobcat on its tail is running for its life makes it all the better (or worse).

To Hug and To Squeeze You - Wago Kreider, Brooklyn, 2 min, video
With increasing dizziness, Kreider intercuts footage from a wedding in the 60s with film from a local zoo. After a while the point is clear: the social conventions of animals are really all the same.

I'm With Stupid - Ben McCormick, San Francisco, 4 min, dv
Various inanimate objects - a tortilla, an apple, a glass of orange juice - confront their fears and plan their future. The title is well chosen.

The Son of Samsonite - Mike Olenick, Cincinnati, 10 min, dv
A commingling of ticker-tape headlines and personal declarations of the heart. Shot with the graphic impact of an advert, viewers are forced to tear their attention asunder while trying to decode the multiple texts. Is the fate of the world at stake? Are mixed messages the last ones ever heard? Yes, no, maybe.

Chicken, Shrimp - Michelle Dean and Nicole Socia, San Francisco, CA, 1 min, dv
It would take longer to describe this surrealistic Rorschach flashcard of a film than to show it, plus we wouldn't know how to begin.

Hunter Dawson - Andrew Dickson, Portland, OR, 10 min, dv
Where do the knuckleheads on reality TV come from? Who aspires to share their life with the masses? These questions are answered with this window into the mind of Portland's next Blind Date wannabe. We present you with Hunter Dawson's audition tape.

Nada - Joshua Clayton, Sue Costabile, and Ruben Fleischer, , San Francisco, CA, 4 min, dv
This stop-motion clipped-art music video for San Francisco rapper Gold Chains calls to mind the brain-melting animations of Terry Gilliam and the gothic mayhem of Hieronymus Bosch. The slick beats and sweet vocals make the ride intoxicating.