Chattanooga Film Festival Unleashes Final Wave with David Dastmalchian, 130 Shorts, and Wild New Premieres

David Dastmalchian joins CFF 2025 with a secret screening for the fest’s most chaotic lineup yet.

Chattanooga Film Festival Drops Final Wave of Programming: David Dastmalchian, 130 Shorts, and a Whole Lot of Chaos

If you thought Chattanooga was done, think again. Just when you thought your badge couldn’t buy more bang for your buck, CFF drops its final 2025 wave with a genre-packed gut punch—shorts, surprises, sneak peeks, and a guest-curated secret screening that’s bound to stir the weird pot even harder.

Joining the REDEYE secret screening club this year is none other than actor, author, and horror megafan David Dastmalchian, who’s bringing a hand-picked wild card of a film in partnership with Arrow Video. Knowing Dastmalchian, it’s going to be the kind of chaos we live for.

The final wave also includes the World Premiere of Alan at Night, a freaky-funny riff on internet fame gone feral, and the sneak preview of a not-yet-announced genre comedy that’s being kept under tighter wraps than your grandma’s silverware. Also on the list: Abigail Before Beatrice, a cult-wrecking emotional sledgehammer from Cassie Keet, led by festival faves Olivia Taylor Dudley and Riley Dandy.

But the real beast? This year’s shorts program tops out at 130 films, the biggest in CFF history. New works from Megan Duffy, Andrew Bowser, Chloë Levine, Chris McInroy, and Benjamin Percy are just the tip of the iceberg. Nine shorts blocks in total, covering every subgenre and mood, all accessible in person and virtually for those who can’t make it to the Chatt.

And in true festival fashion, it wouldn’t be a CFF update without some extra flavor: we’re talking live podcast tapings from Horror Queers, The Hip Pocket, Video Monsters, and Dread Central. Free tattoos, cocktail battles, and the Double Secret Cinema Society are all still very much in play—especially for those who help out with the fest’s ongoing “digital bake sale” to support their nonprofit mission.

From features like Solvent, Dark My Light, and The Only Ones to micro-monster madness like Frankenbabes From Beyond the Grave! and We Need to Talk About Balloons, the 2025 lineup is shaping up to be the most unhinged, heartfelt, and horror-forward yet.

If you haven’t already gotten your pass, now’s the time. If you’ve been waiting for the full drop to plan your festival watchlist—start building it now. The waters in Chattanooga are weird as ever, and the CFF crew just turned up the heat.

CFF 2025 FEATURE FILM ANNOUNCEMENTS (FINAL WAVE)

ABIGAIL BEFORE BEATRICE (d. Cassie Keet)

An isolated woman is confronted by her past when a fellow former cult member reaches out with news that their leader has been released from prison early. What happens when your search for love and acceptance leads you to a toxic relationship? How do you move on when you can’t let go?

ALAN AT NIGHT (d. Jesse Swenson)

World Premiere

When fledgling podcaster and prank-channel proprietor Jay Conley finds himself in sudden need of a roommate, he hastily welcomes a shy, Alabamian herpetologist named Alan into his Bushwick apartment. Despite his social clumsiness and a snore that could move needles on the Richter Scale, Alan initially proves himself to be an excellent houseguest. But soon his harmless quirks give way to increasingly alarming nocturnal behaviors and Jay reacts as any decent, young content-creator would - by capturing the proceedings on camera. As Alan's erratic conduct and mysterious symptoms escalate to a violent crescendo, our camcorder-wielding protagonist and his idler best bud must choose between their consciences, their safety and the allure of views, likes and subscribes.

BOB MORGAN’S JUST GOING TO TELL SOME STORIES (d. Tom Marksbury, Grayson Tyler Johnson)

Bob Morgan's Just Going to Tell Some Stories... about art and garbage, sex and drugs, aids grief, cultural subversion and being an outsider turned community icon. The story of an assemblage artist and queer Kentucky.

DARK MY LIGHT (d. Neal Dhand)

Detective Mitchell Morse's investigation into a beachfront serial killer is complicated by a hothead new partner, a severed foot on the beach, his fracturing relationship with his wife, and his own slipping sanity.

ITCH! (d. Bari Kang)

Amid a mysterious deadly outbreak called the ITCH. A widower and his estranged young daughter take sanctuary in a department store, only to realize the real terror is inside with them.

OLD WOUNDS (d. Steven Hugh Nelson)

An aspiring filmmaker documents a road trip with his girlfriend to meet her family. As he learns more about her past, they discover he's not the only one filming them.

PATER NOSTER AND THE MISSION OF LIGHT (d. Christopher Bickel)

Max, a young record store clerk stumbles upon a rare vinyl LP and is drawn into the world of a 1970s hippie commune. An invitation to the remnants of the cult and its unholy spawn leads to grave circumstances for Max and her friends.

SOLVENT (d. Johannes Grenzfurthner)

While searching for Nazi documents in an Austrian farmhouse, a team of experts uncovers a hidden secret buried in its bowels. American expatriate Gunner S. Holbrook becomes obsessed with solving the mystery, and as his sanity wanes, he must confront an insatiable evil. Can he find redemption before it drains the life out of him?

THE ONLY ONES (d. Jordan Miller)

Six friends set out to a secluded house for a relaxing weekend away, when they unwittingly start a snowballing effect of chaos, death and paranoia. As the body count climbs, the survivors don't know who to trust, or who is next.

THEY WERE WITCHES (d. Alejandro G. Alegre)

Mia, an expert speaker in witchcraft, takes a trip to see a therapist. On the way she meets a group of young people who will begin to die one by one to bring an evil spirit back from death.

UNIVERSE 25 (d. Richard Melkonian)

Mott the angel is sent on a holy mission in London and Bucharest. In his search for a mysterious saint, he encounters a world that sends him off course and forces him to face his true identity.

CFF 2025 SHORT FILM ANNOUNCEMENTS (FULL LINEUP)

401 (d. Neal Tyler)

'77 (d. Christopher Perna)

A DIVINE COMEDY: WHAT THE HELL (d. Valerie Lee Barnhart)

A FOREST (d. Isabel Nola)

A HAUNTING AT ALMA DRIVE (d. Dalton Allen)

AGORAPHOBIA (d. Ashley Wong)

ALL KINDS OF ANIMALS (d. Becky Sayers)

ANIMAS FORKS (d. Samuel Blakesberg)

ANY LAST WORDS (d. Isaac Rathé)

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? (d. Zen Pace)

ARSON (d. Erin Broussard)

BAKING AND ENTERING (d. Lance Harbour, Cole Keisling, Andrew Lacy, Zach Legaux, Brooklynne Scivally)

BANANAHEAD (d. Christopher Greenslate)

BATHROOM SPIDER (d. Christine Weatherup)

BEAST OF THE NORTHWOODS (d. Harrison Reeder)

BEEF CREEK - Animated Pilot (d. Kurt Vinci, Seby X Martinez)

BLOODY MARIAN (d. Sommar Ashleigh Boulware)

BLUBBER (d. Chloë Levine)

BRICK BOY (d. Scott Vasey)

BUMP (d. Kyle Kasabian)

C.U.N.T. (SEE YOU NEXT TUESDAY) (d. Gabriela Perez Figuereo)

CAT & FISH (d. Nilram Ranjbar)

CEASE TO EXIST (d. Taylor Nodrick)

CHECK PLEASE (d. Shane Chung)

CHERRY-COLORED FUNK (d. Chelsie Pennello)

CHICKENBOY (d. Matthew Rush)

CLOSED CIRCUIT (d. Karl Redgen)

CANCER SZN (d. Zachary Green)

DAMN HANDY (d. Peter Filardi)

DAMNED (d. Lukas Anderson)

DAUGHTERS OF EVIL (d. Adam Taylor, Natasha Malone)

DEAD PET SHARK (d. Misha Gankin)

DEADLY DUELS VII (d. Justine Beed)

DESTROYER (d. Judd Myers)

DID MY HEART LOVE TILL NOW (d. Veronica Tullo)

DID YOU REMEMBER THE CAT? (d. Daniel Foster)

DISFIGURA (d. Jake Bradbury, Toni Blando)

DON’T BUY THE LIVERWURST (d. Nathaniel Hendricks)

DON’T SCREW THIS UP (d. Nathan Evans)

DON’T LOOK (d. John Wyatt)

DREAM AMERICAN (d. Greg Marcks)

ELDRITCH KARAOKE (d. Joe Loftus)

ELEGANCIA (d. Maria Shevtsova)

EMPTY JARS (d. Guillermo Ribbeck)

ENDZGIVING (d. Tina Carbone)

ESCAPE (d. Lorenzo Manetti)

FACES (d. Blake Simon)

FEED (d. Kara McLeland)

FOREVER YOURS (d. Elliott Louis McKee)

FRANKENBABES FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE! (d. Andrew Bowser)

FRENCH LESSONS (d. Anna Maguire, Kyle Greenberg)

HER HOUSE (d. Will Lee)

HI I JUST MOVED HERE (d. Alessandro Pulisci)

HIVE (d. Felipe Vargas)

HOWL IF YOU LOVE ME (d. John R. Dilworth)

HUMAN RESOURCE (d. Henry Chaisson)

I DREAMT OF BEING AN ACTRESS (d. Isabel Nola)

IS THAT A MIME? (d. Michael Spencer)

IT DRAWS CLOSER (d. Joshua David Matthews)

KRAKENS MAW (d. Miro Santeri Seppanen)

LOLA (d. Grace Hanna)

LOUD (d. Adam Azimov)

MANNY WOLFE (d. Trevor Neuhoff)

MASKS (d. Andre LeBlanc)

MEEET (d. Laama Almandani)

MIRROR MAN (d. Jakob Owens)

MODEL CITIZEN (d. Rachael Dahl)

MR. STATIC (d. Mike Williamson)

OK/NOTOK (d. Pardeep Sahota)

OPEN WIDE (d. Sam Fox)

PARKING LOT SEAGULLS (d. Michael Curtis Johnson)

PHROG (d. Brandon Vallee Ross)

POCKETMAN (d. Ericka Clevenger)

POP MONSTERS (d. Megan Brooks)

PUMPKIN GUTS (d. Bryan M. Ferguson)

RADIATION (d. Peter Collins Campbell)

RANDY AS HIMSELF (d. Margaret Miller)

RED IRON ROAD: IN THE HEAT (d. Sam Chou)

REM (d. Blair Bathory)

ROUGE (d. Nicholas Jackson)

SECOND DATE WITH WET SARA (d. Creston Whittington, Evan Enderle)

SEMPRE AVANTI (d. Matthew Barber, Nathaniel Barber)

SEVERED (d. Megan Duffy)

SEWING MACHINE (d. Tyler William Hagen)

SICK DAY (d. Hughes Ransom)

SIN EATER (d. Corey Simpson)

SKEETER (d. Chris McInroy)

SLOW (d. Rebecca Berrih)

SLUSH (d. Ashley George)

SOMETHING’S WRONG WITH KIT (d. Lida Everhart)

STRINGS (d. Ava Pearson, Eleanor Smith, Nina Zandvliet)

STRIYA (d. Paige Campbell)

SUPPER (d. Joshua Ryan Dietz)

SWEET DREAMING (d. Andrew Laudone)

TEAGAN AND HIS BROS (d. Ronald Short)

TERROIR (d. Casey Rogerson)

TETHER (d. Meredith Berg)

THE ANGEL (d. Barrett Burgin, Jessica Burgin)

THE ANOMALIST (d. Matt Farren)

THE BEGUILING (d. ​​Ishkwaazhe Shane McSauby)

THE BOHANNONS - NIGHT CONSTRUCTION - Official Music Video (d. Matt Eslinger)

THE CONFECTION (d. Christopher Jason Bell)

THE CREATURE OF BLOOD LAKE (d. Dylan A. Young)

THE FLACALTA EFFECT (d. Rochée Jeffrey)

THE GIRLIES (d. Natalie Couture)

THE HUMMING GROWS (d. Aughbar)

THE KEY CLUB (d. Lee Boxleitner, Sam Boxleitner)

THE KOLA TAPE (d. South Turk)

THE LAST THING SHE SAW (d. Anthony Cousins, Rebecca Daugherty)

THE LILY & THE SCORPION (d. Charlie Netto)

THE PLEDGE (d. Jackson Stofka)

THE PRINCESS OF COYOTE PALMS (d. Danielle McRae Spisso, Stephen Vanderpool)

THE SELKIE (d. Sara Friedman)

THE THINGS WE KEEP (d. Joanna Fernandez)

THE TRAVELER (d. Matthew Scheffler)

THE TRAVELER & THE TROLL (d. Adam Murray)

THE VANITY (d. Megan Rosati)

THERE IS NO ANTIMEMETICS DIVISION (d. Adria Marie Lang)

TIL DEATH DO US PART (d. Bronwyn Blanks-Bludell, Alexander Protich)

TIN SOLDIERS (d. Aris Federman)

TO WRITE THE ENDING (d. Shaler Keenum)

TWO BREATHS (d. Kateryna Kurganska)

VHX (d. Alisa Stern, Scott Ampleford)

VOTE FOR WYRM (d. Benjamin Percy)

WAKE (d. Sean Carter)

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT BALLOONS (d. Jennifer Bonior)

WHAT’S LEFT (d. Ryan Gentle, Austin Quarles)

WRONG GUY (d. Brett Maline)

YOU WAKE TO FIND YOURSELF ALONE IN THE WOODS (d. Brad McHargue)

YOU’RE AN ANGEL (d. Zachary Eglinton)

YOUR HUSBAND WAS A GOOD MAN (d. Jamie