University of Southern California Cinematic Arts (Firm)

BLACK STORIES is a collection of films from the University of Southern California Cinematic Arts.

A man leads a monotone, humdrum existence until he suddenly falls in love. His world turns upside down after he meets a red-haired woman who manages to break his established routine. What follows is a short portrait of a difficult relationship marked by a struggle for control and preserving one's identity, and finally loss and depression. Shortlisted for Best Short Film at the **Academy Awards**.

Homeboy Industries, the world's largest gang intervention and re-entry organization, offers an unparalleled 18-month job-training program for recovering drug addicts and ex-gang members. The short documentary HOMEGIRLS intimately follows the lives of two of the programs' female participants, Maria and Joselyn, over four months as they attempt to leave the past behind and start anew.. Through cinéma vérité filmmaking, our complex subjects face daily...

In this short student film by **Oscar-winning** director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump), a man goes through his daily routine until he meets unexpected stress when an elevator won't obey his commands.

Once a successful Syrian actor, Jihad Abdo has now arrived in Hollywood as a refugee and struggles to reinvent his life and renew his career.. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Short at the Kuwait Int'l Film Festival.

A surreal, offbeat short film about a cockroach who falls in love with the woman whose apartment he infests. Roach shares Josephine's appreciation for early 20th century French classical music, and as she practices her accordion, he accompanies her on the violin, unbeknownst to her. They are perfect for each other. But, alas, Josephine has approximately 45,000 times Roach's body mass, and their reproductive systems are totally incompatible. Besides,...

At the beginning of the dream, Nadine is handed a picture of herself playing the violin. Stanley, a man in clunky glasses who accompanies Nadine through her dream, demands a performance, and a chorus of suited men on the other side of a wall of windows stare at her expectantly. Throughout the dream, Stanley repeatedly nags Nadine about not cheating. Nadine finds herself in a kitchen, mixing flour and other ingredients in a bowl. She stops before dumping...

An absurdist short comedy that follows three intersecting storylines, each of which deals with a different contemporary cultural/societal theme. Harold, a white man, is told by his doctor that nothing is wrong with him - and yet he can't seem to find use of his legs - so he has to crawl and drag himself everywhere. Karen, meanwhile, is out to dinner with a "man-splaining" man. Each time she escapes to the bathroom to pop a pill, she returns to find...

Chef Roslyn Spence trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, but her biggest critic remains her mother, a 94-year-old self-taught cook for Hollywood's biggest stars.

Jesse decides to profess her love to her best friend Roxanne with a grand gesture. What could possibly go wrong? Official Selection at the **Berlin International Film Festival**, **Frameline Festival** and **Outfest**.