Lens on Life

This documentary-drama hybrid explores the dangerous human impact of social networking, with tech experts sounding the alarm on their own creations.

UJANG (12/M) is memorizing Pancasila (Indonesia’s state ideology) all night, accompanied by his MOTHER (30/F) and FATHER (35/M), for his school exam. While Ujang is studying, he faces one distraction after another, disrupting his focus. These distractions stem from issues (both in the real world and online) that conflict with the values of Pancasila that Ujang is trying to memorize.

Lena is a bright, disabled girl who, after years spent studying at home, is keen to get back to school. She is assigned to a special class for disabled pupils who have to present themselves before a school commission at the end of the year in order to prove that they merit being moved back into a "normal" class. Her enervated teachers, however, show absolutely no desire to motivate the students and help them improve; on the contrary, they try to quash right from the start any interest Lena shows in more complex study material. Nevertheless, Lena soon involves herself in the school routine and gets together with classmate Anton. Yet their transparent happiness is not to everyone's liking and repercussions soon follow.

In a world dominated by social media, an obsessive influencer fixated on her ex meets a cab driver with dark secrets. Their lives become entangled in a dangerous spiral of obsession, betrayal, and love, leading to unexpected consequences for everyone.

The seemingly casual reunion of three old friends at an out-of-the-way repair shop masks a hidden agenda fuelled by the arrival of a privileged young yuppie.

During a nationwide moral panic caused by a recent spike in teenage suicides two federal investigators are sent to a small Russian town to review a cold case involving a suspicious death of a schoolgirl. Initially seeing their task as a mere PR stunt both gradually start to loose their focus as they venture deeper into the paranoid world of conspiracy theories surrounding the case.

Besieged by writer’s block and the crushing breakup with Tessa, Hardin travels to Portugal in search of a woman he wronged in the past – and to find himself. Hoping to win back Tessa, he realizes he needs to change his ways before he can make the ultimate commitment.

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A brother odyssey set in a workers' environment during a cold winter. We follow two brothers - their routines, habits and rituals - and a violent feud that erupts between them and another family.

The main character accepts an award for his short film.

A content moderator is tasked with purging offensive media from the internet. When she witnesses a crime in a video, she is lured away from the safety of her keyboard as she obsessively seeks to hold someone accountable.

Heleno has a disease unknown to most of the population. In the course of their suffocating routine, situations arise that defy the usual in society. But is it really Heleno's illness that prevents him from adapting to the world?

"A socially anxious college student reluctantly heads to a party attempting to make new friends. Nande Walters directs “Who Are You Really?”, an experimental portrait of insecurity characterized by a raw, youthful energy. Anya walks into the room and immediately feels like everyone is judging her. Eventually she strikes up a conversation with a young man, but neither really knows what to say and it doesn’t go anywhere. After struggling through the awkward night, she’s surprised to learn that an extroverted friend didn’t fare much better. Walters is only 19 years old, one of the youngest we’ve ever featured on NoBudge, and her film is the work of an artist still learning her craft but she clearly knows the feeling she’s after and captures it with pops of style and a touching closing monologue." -Kentucker Audley

After a popular teen falls to her death, her best friend basks in the glow of the social media attention, while their rival seeks to avenge the past and uncover the truth behind the mysterious death.

In an alternate 2019, people have lost the ability to talk to each other. James (Matthew Ruf) is in search for deeper connections within the behemoth of online dating and hookups that manifest the digital world around him.

In 2007, a young actress fresh from social media fame sees her life implode. Re-emerging into the public eye a decade later with a tale of captivity and murdered parents, the enigmatic Connie Castille has a story to die for.

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Young Oksana puts her newly born Denis in a baby box. Sixteen years later she steals him away from a children's home, intent on making amends for her maternal neglect, and to exploit him to earn money in a corrupt legal system.

Brad seeks approval while vacationing in Iceland.

Nina, mid 20’s, is a visual artist whose art depicts the feminine beauty of all women but struggles with self-identity as a multicultural millennial woman. While flipping through social media her frustration leads her to brood over old photos of complex stages in her life. She’s inspired to create a portrait that represents her personal voyage to self confidence and finally see her beautiful self.