FlutterDirected by Vladimir Todorov

A grimly animated dystopian love story set in a smoggy, industrial urban jungle where pigs can fly—and manta rays and sharks, too. How could a world where whales serve the purpose of zeppelins be so dour? I don’t buy it.

Kitty and EllenDirected by Sean Weiner

These nonagenarian pals from New Jersey know how to rib each other, crack wise, and sow utter despair about the presidency of Donald Trump. Sean Weiner’s film sets this apartment-sized portrait of two women who escaped Nazi-dominated Germany and -occupied Austria against the increasing inevitability of 2016 election results, leaving us with two truths about time—it is unforgiving, and it repeats itself.

My Nephew EmmettDirected by Kevin Wilson, Jr.

A stripped down retelling of the lynching of Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi, that condenses its narrative to the events immediately before his murder and not long after. Alternatively atmospheric and jarring, Kevin Wilson, Jr.’s film feels a bit like a proof of concept for a full-length feature—and based on what’s on screen, one he ought to get the chance to build. Featuring a quiet, gutting performance by L.B. Williams as Mose Wright, Till’s uncle.

The Drone and The KidDirected by Imram J. Khan

Bringing home a piece of detritus to play with doesn’t lead to this much grief where we’re from. In this surprisingly light, touching short, a young boy in North Waziristan, Pakistan, finds an American drone that has crashed near his town; when he begins to speak to the machine, it lights up and speaks to him—a novel delivery of a familiar message, that the people our drones buzz above like to dance, collect, and explore the world around them, too.

The SandmanDirected by Lauren Knapp

If capital punishment is immoral, should anyone who deems it so refuse to participate in an execution? This powerful short is a profile of Dr. Carlo Musso, the physician is present for Georgia’s executions. The owner of a company that provides medical services to state prisons, he believes the death penalty is wrong but that it is more humane for a doctor to be present at each lethal injection. “Instead of a carcinoma, that person’s dying of a court order,” he tells director Lauren Knapp, who shows us the contours of an exceedingly difficult question but withholds judgement. “But he’s still dying.”

Showcase 3 screens Friday, Sept. 8 at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 10 at 5:30 p.m. at Landmark’s E Street Cinema