This is Year Two for the Zero Film Festival, but the first time I’m listing it on the Underground Film Journal. ZFF is a bi-coastal event, with a week of films in Los Angeles, followed by a week in NYC. Looking over their schedules, it pretty much looks like the same group of films are screening in both cities. However, the lineup I’ve posted below if for the L.A. event, which will run Dec. 2-6.

Screenings are spread out between Hollywood, Echo Park and downtown L.A., so check the ZFF official site for locations. The festival is an eclectic mix of experimental films, political and social documentaries, animation and narrative features.

The one film you must not miss is Zach Clark‘s hilarious Modern Love Is Automatic, which has been tearing it up on the festival circuit this year. This is the film’s L.A. premiere and it’s about damn time! A bored nurse turned bored dominatrix bunks with an aspiring model who gets a job lying down with customers in a mattress store. It’s a totally creative and unique comedy.

Other films to check out are four short films by Winnipeg filmmaking couple Clint Enns and Leslie Supnet on the opening night. Enns directed the experimental Windshield Baby Game Boy Movie and Putting Yourself Out There; while Supnet is represented by the adorable Animated Heavy Metal Parking Lot and Fair Trade. Plus, during the music video showcase on the second night, there’s a video for the band Anamanaguchi directed by Jon Clark.

Here’s the full lineup:

Dec. 2
7:30 p.m.: “Rooftop Screenings”
Morgenrot, dir. Jeff Desom
Fossil Light, dir. Tony Gault
Sinking Moon, dir. Nahomi Maki
Tidal Wave, dir. Salise Hughes
How to Draw Clouds, dir. Salise Hughes
Untitled (Terrace to Mirror), dir. Alia Raza
Dirty (Is the Color), dir. Rodrigo
Necromantic, dir. Arden Wohl
Sunset Television, dir. Sunset Television
A Wagon Full of Mischief, dir. Joshua Martin
Lost Dog, dir. Crystal Moselle
Everything for Nothing, dir. Stephanie Dodes
Brethren Arise, dir. Brent Chesanek
Data Stream, dir. Mike Celona
175, dir. David Gutierrez Camps
Eulogy, dir. Ben Claremont
Halcyon Days, dir. Josephine Shokrian
122 Randon Seconds, dir. Karl Lind
Windshield Baby Game Boy Movie, dir. Clint Enns
Putting Yourself Out There, dir. Clint Enns
The Animated Heavy Metal Parking Lot, dir. Leslie Supnet (Watch online)
Fair Trade, dir. Leslie Supnet
Djinn, dir. Eliane Lim A
Intimations, dir. Kai-Ting Chuang
Trips, dir. Ben Russell

Dec. 3

6:30 p.m.: Bicycle Lane, dir. Jeffrey Ruggles. When his car dies, Don must resort to borrowing a female friend’s pink bicycle so he can get to a birthday party being held for the girl of his dreams. On his journey, he meets a plethora of interesting characters, including friends, co-workers, thieves, stoners and a narcissistic police officer.
Screening with:
The Golden Rule, dir. Meredith Rose

7:00 p.m.: “Sound of Zero: Music Videos”
Warpaint, dir. Dam Harding & Burke Roberts
Alexandra Hope, dir. Keith Musil
Rainbow Arabia, dir. Keith Musil
Polyamorous Affair, dir. Keith Musil
My Southern Can Is Mine, dir. James Gerrity
Anamanaguchi, dir. Jon Clark
Fox + Deer Jacqui Siler, dir. Jac Qui Siler
Do It to It, dir. Matthew Salton
White Piano, dir. Timothy Mcconville

8:00 p.m.: Rethink Afghanistan, dir. Robert Greenwald. The activist filmmaker sets his sights on Afghanistan, a country that has never been defeated by sheer force.
Screening with:
“Echo Park Film Center Young Auteurs Program”
A collection of films created by the children of the Echo Park Film Center. Curated by Film Center Founder, Paolo Davanzo.

8:30 p.m.: So Long Lonesome, dir. Cameron Beyl. After his girlfriend dies in an accident, a distraught man gets a chance to see her again when he becomes close to losing his own life.
Screening with:
Texas 1960, dir. Christopher Lepkowski
The 20 Second Rule, dir. Clay Delauney

Dec. 4

1:30 p.m.: Soul Biographies, dir. Nic Askew. A series of short films about what it means to be human.

3:30 p.m.: “Short Films”
Tiger, dir. James McFay
Multiplayer, dir. Eric Bay Anderson
The Rambles: “I Just Wanna Sleep With You”, dir. Nate Miller

6:30 p.m.: “Short Films”
The Cake, dir. Joe Grazulis
Scorn, dir. Brent Armfield
Signal From Shore, dir. Peter Flaherty
Latte America, dir. Jesse Clark
Going Nowhere Fast, dir. Shawn Adams
The Parallax Parallel, dir. Michael Clark
Yes Sir, No Ma’am, dir. Brad Bores

8:30 p.m.: Modern Love Is Automatic, dir. Zach Clark. A nurse whose heart isn’t in her job anymore moonlights as a dominatrix. (Watch this underground film streaming online)
Screening with:
Liminal, dir. Stephen Keep Mills

10:30 p.m.: “Mind Expanding Animation Showcase”
Sinking Moon, dir. Nahomi Maki
Nature Break, dir. Mike Hollingsworth
Together!, dir. David Sheahan
Birth, dir. Edson Oda
Graduation, dir. Gameli Anumu
Insurgency of Ambition, dir. Anya Belkina Boston
Country Muhammad, dir. Zlatko Lubovac Sarajevo
Craig T. Squirrel, dir. Mike Hollingsworth
Jelly Fishers, dir. Steven Subotnick
Night and Day, dir. Tuzlic Berin
Potion Master, dir. Edith Cheng
Rescued, dir. Peter Parlegreco
On the Rise, dir. John Tupper
My Life as Cherry, dir. Jennifer Yu
I Don’t Know Where, dir. Tuzlic Berin
Touch, dir. Gary Mirabelle

Dec. 5

12:00 p.m.: “Short Films”
If I…, dir. Tim Brown
Salt and Vinegar, dir. Karyn Childs
Baju, dir. Muhammad Azhar Bin Mohamed Shukor
Searching, dir. Tatsuma Kyono Tokyo
Apolo Bunder Mumbi, dir. Naren Multani
Mother “Mae”, dir. Luis Antonio Pereira
Contra, dir. Ben Bernschneider

1:30 p.m.: God Is American, dir. Richard Martin-Jordan. This documentary profiles the inhabitants of the island of Tanna in the South Pacific who pray to the American flag and believe an American pilot, John Frum, is their prophet.
Screening with:
Lilly, dir. Filippo Ticozzi

5:30 p.m.: Mitsein, dir. Aparna Malladi. After a woman sees a portrait of herself hanging in an art gallery, she goes looking for the artist who painted her without her knowing about it.
Screening with:
About Husbands, Lovers and Shoes, dir. Angelo Defanti

7:00 p.m.: “Experimental Cinema”
Auctioned Off (Home Movies Bought on eBay), dir. Rocking Chair Frank
When I Stretch Forth My Hand, dir. Omar Robert Hamilton
Bridget and John, dir. Seth Camillo
Perfect Space, dir. Daun Chung
Fish Nightmare, dir. Nastia Lytvyn
Lyrist, dir. Cooper Roberts
Law and Order, dir. Tino Schwanemann
Icy Waters, dir. Craig Calman
Ghost Conversations, dir. Jeremy Bessoff
Magintude of the Continental Divides, dir. Chris Coleman

8:30 p.m.: Colin, dir. Marc Price. A teenage boy is bitten by a zombie and becomes one himself. In his undead state, he wanders his suburban home looking for living flesh to eat.
Screening with
The Sirens, dir. Sarah Adina Smith
Without, dir. Natalia Andreadis

10:30 p.m.: “Film & Music Marathon”
Twilight of the Idols, dir. John Gross
Newlyweds, dir. Caleb Green
Ludwig, dir. Oxana Vertinskava
Ripe, dir. Jessie Kahnweiler
Desiderata, dir. Hugh John Murray
Easter, dir. Stacey Dodge
Heist, dir. Brian and Jeffrey De Vore
Drawling on the Moment No. 11: Refuge, dir. Sheldon Cohen
SecTor 12, dir. Norman Tumolva
Headspace, dir. Margarita Iosif
Evening Int., dir. Reginald Oldham
MAH: Moving Around Heidegger: “Meditate”, dir. Janeann Dill
Baram and Hamza, dir. Zaid Abu Hamdan

Dec. 6

1:30 p.m.: Honeymoon in Kabul, dir. Ian Hamilton. This documentary follows newlyweds Maggie Haertsch and Jean Paul Bell as they go on a mission to bring medicine and humor to the wartorn city of Kabul.

3:30 p.m.: Blue Gold: World Water Wars, dir. Sam Bozzo. This documentary explores the controversial attempt by major corporations to control the world’s public water supplies.

For more info, please visit the official site for the Zero Film Festival.