Explore the creativity and talent showcased in this year's lineup, and prepare for an unforgettable experience. Don't forget to purchase your tickets and enjoy the show!
2025 Festival Program
Festival Opening
Downtown Cinema, 814 S 3rd St, 2nd Floor, Las Vegas, NV 89101
Oct 11, Doors Open 12:30 pm
Desert Waves Film Festival presents
a Vegas Filmmaker Spotlight - Special Screening
Chasing Chasing Amy
By Sav Rodgers
Block 1
Screening 2:45 pm - Q&A to follow
Block 1 Runtime: 1 hour 4 minutes
Category: Music Video Runtime: 3 minutes 20 seconds Her breakout song, “Country Couture,” epitomizes her brand. The single and its infectious music video, which has garnered significant attention, showcase high fashion and a luxury lifestyle while highlighting Cali's down-to-earth personality. The song has been streamed over 600,000 times, continuing to gain traction across music platforms.
Category: Student Film, Las Vegas Film Runtime: 6 minutes 43 seconds Alora struggles to work things out with herself after a big fight with a friend. She has to face different parts of herself to see if she's really the problem.
Category: Short Film, Las Vegas Film Runtime: 10 minutes 30 seconds “Decision” is a drama exploring the themes of friendship, the migrant diaspora, and overcoming the past. Our main character Ramon, has to come to terms with past experiences to make a decision to solve his immigration status. The story touches on the reality that many immigrants face in an ever changing political climate.
Category: Music Video Runtime: 4 minutes 46 seconds Artist Featured - Nita Songwriter - Crystal Santos Music Director - Kriss Lewis Music Video Editor - Jerett Tufono
Category: Short Film Runtime: 7 minutes 49 seconds A online marketplace reseller with a perfect reputation gets a review that taints his five star status hurting him financially. With their back up against the wall they are bent on getting the review changed by any means.
Category: Short Film Runtime:10 minutes 32 minutes Inspired by true stories, an emergency doctor struggling under the weight of life-and-death decisions must confront his own hidden traumas as he teaches a young medical student what it truly means to save a life.
Category: Short Film, Las Vegas Films Runtime: 20 minutes When five individuals attend court mandated therapy they reveal a little too much about the circumstances that landed them there.
Block 2
Screening 4:00 pm - Q&A to follow
Block 2 Runtime: 1 hour 15 minutes
Category: Short Film Runtime: 16 minutes 9 seconds Tales speak of a man, one of history and legend. Witness this story of a powerful military warrior who holds a secret to his power, something unseen to this feudal time...
Category: Short Film, International Film Runtime: 13 minutes 6 seconds Symmetrical stiffness Perfectionism artist Oh Ju-bom's perfect daily life begins to distort.
Category: Short Film, Las Vegas Film Runtime: 11 minutes 9 seconds A conflicted hitman faces a moral crossroads when he discovers his next target is a fellow operative who has gone rogue, forcing him to confront the true cost of his own loyalty and humanity.
Category: Short Film, Las Vegas Film Runtime: 22 minutes 30 seconds An engaged couple's lives turn upside down after deciding to tell each other their deepest secrets.
Category: Short Film Runtime: 12 minutes 21 seconds Derek, a husband and father of one, comes to terms with life, politics, and climate change during an existential conversation with a therapist.
Block 3
Screening 5:25 pm - Q&A to follow
Block 3 Runtime: 1 hour 4 minutes
Category: Short Film, Las Vegas Film Runtime: 20 minutes 9 seconds Graham, a reserved Marine veteran, attends AA meetings but struggles to open up about his past. By day, he works through his inner battles in an unusual way—by suiting up in medieval armor and joining a local combat group. When a rough hit knocks him out cold, it triggers memories of a fallen friend and pushes him toward a breaking point. With the help of a teammate Graham begins a journey of healing.
Category: Student Film Runtime: 3 minutes 53 seconds What is real and what is illusion? What is reality, and what is virtual? The boundary becomes blurred. It’s a mist she struggles to navigate. As she tries to connect with herself and others, only to find herself more lost.
Category: Music Video Runtime: 2 minutes 58 seconds “Astray” by Wednesday Again is a melancholic yet visually poetic music video that follows a young woman as she drifts through emotional isolation and inner conflict. Set against quiet, moody backdrops and slow, dreamlike cinematography, the video explores themes of lost connection, longing, and the search for direction.
Category: Short Film Runtime: 14 minutes 40 seconds Holly is a high-strung millennial who’s delighted to have her favorite younger cousin, Jessica, visit for the weekend. Jessica has other plans, and shares news that changes Holly’s understanding of identity, maturity, and family.
Category: Short Film Runtime: 22 minutes 23 seconds A stand-up comedian hangs up his microphone until an unlikely friendship with a young girl inspires him to give the stage another shot.
Block 4
Screening 6:40 pm - Q&A to follow
Block 4 Runtime: 1 hour 10 minutes
Category: Short Film, Las Vegas Film Runtime: 8 minutes 47 seconds Two siblings clash while navigating their own journeys through grief.
Category: Short Film Runtime: 4 minutes 44 seconds Composer/producer/filmmaker/sound engineer/singer-songwriter Mo Milan lays bare the ache of self-erasure in a desperate, irreverent bid for connection — as her one-woman project, Cocoa Pastel.
Category: Short Film, Las Vegas Film Runtime: 29 minutes 23 seconds A serial killer cop with an alter ego has to play twisted games to get back the corpse of his most recent victim, before someone else finds her, but the games will take him on a mind bending journey.
Category: Short Film, Las Vegas Film Runtime: 27 minutes A recently-divorced professor of mythology tries to inspire his teenage daughter with a fairy tale on the night she leaves home to live with her mother, but considering the state of the world- it will take more than fantasy to reach her.
Filmmaker Challenge Screening
&
Festival Awards
Screening 8:00 pm
Awards to follow
Approximate Runtime: 1 hour
