Los Angeles Underground Film Forum

Los Angeles Underground Film Forum Los Angeles’s premier showcase of experimentation in film, video and audio based mediums.

LA Underground Film Forum (LAUFF) is Los Angeles’s premier showcase of experimentation in film, video and audio based mediums. It focus on avant-garde, art-house, independent and no/low budget filmmaking. Our program provides a venue for filmmakers to reinvent and explore new approaches, to foster new forms of media art and to build an audience for such work. We aim to present a wide range of work exploring the many definitions and interpretations of the concept of “underground”.

Congratulations to all the winners of Los Angeles Underground Film Forum 2026!🏆Best of the Festival:* Best Picture Award...
03/25/2026

Congratulations to all the winners of Los Angeles Underground Film Forum 2026!

🏆Best of the Festival:
* Best Picture Award: Big City Pizza (dir. Dusty Saunders)
* Jury Award: Hyodo's Paradise (dir. Jacque Rabie)
* Independent Spirit Award: This Is Also Sooth (dir. Ali Marashian)
* Audience Choice Award: McBrothel Training Video #1 (dir. Ayanna Dozier)

⭐️Best of Category:
* Best Underground Micro Short: The Sandman (dir. Brooke deRosa)
* Best Underground Short: Algorithmic Nudes Grapple with Entropy (dir. David R Witzling)
* Best Underground Feature: Big City Pizza (dir. Dusty Saunders)
* Best Experimental Micro Short: She Knocked Me Up (dir. Thomas Florek & Doug Gentile)
* Best Experimental Short: Transmutation (dir. Charlie Jimenez)
* Best Experimental Feature: This Is Also Sooth (dir. Ali Marashian)
* Best First Short: Nothing (dir. Yana Gukun)
* Best First Feature: This Is Also Sooth (dir. Ali Marashian)
* Best Narrative Short: Pretty Ugly Creature (dir. Cody Leonardo DeTurk)
* Best Narrative Feature: Big City Pizza (dir. Dusty Saunders)
* Best Documentary Short: Hyodo's Paradise (dir. Jacque Rabie)
* Best Documentary Feature: This Is Also Sooth (dir. Ali Marashian)
* Best Student Short: The Vase (dir. Gavin Nicholaus Park)
* Best Student Feature: This Is Also Sooth (dir. Ali Marashian)
* Best Foreign Language Short: 2nd Day & the End of the World (dir. Sara Koppel)
* Best Foreign Language Feature: This Is Also Sooth (dir. Ali Marashian)
* Best Animation: Big City Pizza (dir. Dusty Saunders)
* Best Cult Film: Nothing (dir. Yana Gukun)
* Best Erotica Film: McBrothel Training Video #1 (dir. Ayanna Dozier)
* Best LGBTQIA+ Film: Couple's Therapy (dir. kv Van Buskirk)
* Best Arthouse Film: I can see the moon, and sometimes I wonder (dir. Colby Lamson-Gordon)
* Best Slow Cinema: This Is Also Sooth (dir. Ali Marashian)
* Best Video Art Film: Nothing (dir. Yana Gukun)
* Best Indigenous Film: Couple's Therapy (dir. kv Van Buskirk)
* Best Screenplay (over 15 pages & under 25 pages): War Room (dir. Keenan Bannister)
* Best Screenplay (over 25 pages): IMAGEEEEeEEEEAT (wri. Abbas Akbarifathkohi)
* Best Drama: The Mime (dir. Kevin Barile)
* Best Comedy: Big City Pizza (dir. Dusty Saunders)
* Best Thriller: The Sandman (dir. Brooke deRosa)
* Best Genre (Horror/Sci-fi/Fantasy): Terminal Emulator (dir. Benjamin Capps)
* Best Music Video: ebb n flow (dir. River Weill)
* Best New Media: Elsewhere - The Burn-In (dir. Mark Rubbo)
* Best Vertical Video: Elsewhere - The Burn-In (dir. Mark Rubbo)

Congratulations to writer-director, Dusty Saunders, and voice actor, Sean Berrie, who played Boney! Their film, Big Pizz...
03/25/2026

Congratulations to writer-director, Dusty Saunders, and voice actor, Sean Berrie, who played Boney! Their film, Big Pizza City, won the Best Picture Award at the Los Angeles Underground Film Forum 2026! It was also awarded Best Underground Feature, Best Narrative Feature, Best Animation and Best Comedy!

Congratulations to director, Ali Marashian! His film, This Is Also Sooth, won the Independent Spirit Award at the Los An...
03/25/2026

Congratulations to director, Ali Marashian! His film, This Is Also Sooth, won the Independent Spirit Award at the Los Angeles Underground Film Forum 2026! It has also been awarded Best Experimental Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Foreign Language Feature, Best Slow Cinema, Best Student Feature and Best First Feature.

Congratulations to director, Jacque Rabie, and producers, Tegan Slattery & Matthew Wassong! Their film, Hyodo's Paradise...
03/25/2026

Congratulations to director, Jacque Rabie, and producers, Tegan Slattery & Matthew Wassong! Their film, Hyodo's Paradise, won the Jury Award at the Los Angeles Underground Film Forum 2026! It has also been awarded Best Documentary Short!

Congratulations to actor-writer-editor, Lauren Levitt, director-cinematographer, Ayanna Dozier, and musician, Christophe...
03/25/2026

Congratulations to actor-writer-editor, Lauren Levitt, director-cinematographer, Ayanna Dozier, and musician, Christopher Myrick. Their film, McBrothel Training Video #1, won the Audience Choice Award at the Los Angeles Underground Film Forum 2026! It was also awarded Best Erotica Film!

Congratulations to director, Cody DeTurk! His film, Pretty Ugly Creature, has been awarded Best Narrative Short at the L...
03/25/2026

Congratulations to director, Cody DeTurk! His film, Pretty Ugly Creature, has been awarded Best Narrative Short at the Los Angeles Underground Film Forum 2026!

Congratulations to director, kv Van Buskirk, and editor, Amber Alexis! Their film, Couple's Therapy, has been awarded Be...
03/25/2026

Congratulations to director, kv Van Buskirk, and editor, Amber Alexis! Their film, Couple's Therapy, has been awarded Best LGBTQIA+ Film and Best Indigenous Film at the Los Angeles Underground Film Forum 2026!

Congratulations to director, Yana Gukun! Her film, NOTHING, has been awarded Best Cult Film, Best First Short and Best V...
03/25/2026

Congratulations to director, Yana Gukun! Her film, NOTHING, has been awarded Best Cult Film, Best First Short and Best Video Art at the Los Angeles Underground Film Forum 2026!

Congratulations to director and stunt coordinator, Kevin Barile, and lead actor, Ed Nathan Mecate! Their film, THE MIME,...
03/25/2026

Congratulations to director and stunt coordinator, Kevin Barile, and lead actor, Ed Nathan Mecate! Their film, THE MIME, has been awarded Best Drama at the Los Angeles Underground Film Forum 2026!

This year, we celebrate our 10th year anniversary at LA Underground Film Forum! Thank you everyone for making the 2026 e...
03/25/2026

This year, we celebrate our 10th year anniversary at LA Underground Film Forum! Thank you everyone for making the 2026 edition so memorable. It was lovely seeing old and new faces comee together to celebrate films that continue shape and make cinema history. Lets keep creating and keep showing up for each other! Because together, we inspire each other to live full and meaningful lives.

2026 OFFICIAL SELECTION 🎥 Big City PizzaDir. Dusty Saunders, USAAs tension rises in the big city for the Omniball Champ...
02/14/2026

2026 OFFICIAL SELECTION
🎥 Big City Pizza
Dir. Dusty Saunders, USA

As tension rises in the big city for the Omniball Championship, Boney, a skeleton pizza delivery man starts his shift. Animated entirely from Boney’s POV in one continuous, unbroken take, we follow his delivery route where every stop is weirder than the last.

2026 OFFICIAL SELECTION 🎥 This is Also SoothDir. Ali Marashian, Iran & United StatesA man knows he will leave his home...
02/14/2026

2026 OFFICIAL SELECTION
🎥 This is Also Sooth
Dir. Ali Marashian, Iran & United States

A man knows he will leave his homeland, so he starts documenting. After his departure, there are radical shifts in his life, but also stubborn constants. Developed over six years, the film traces a personal cartography of Solitude, contemplating the role of cinema in healing the artists, if such a role indeed exists.

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