Make News, Make Noise Returns with ‘Fight or Flight’ Horror Shorts Tour
Make News, Make Noise returns with Fight or Flight, a program dedicated to horror, thriller and suspense short films created by Black, BIPOC and Disabled writer-directors. The announcement describes the lineup as one created by filmmakers who understand what it feels like to have instincts on high alert. The program brings together compelling shorts and fresh perspectives.
The program has partnered with The Black Film Space, NOVAC and American Cinematheque to connect underrepresented filmmakers with audiences. These collaborations bring together compelling shorts that offer new viewpoints. The tour begins in New York City at a creative hub in Long Island City and extends to additional cities.
The New York screening takes place on Thursday, October 29 at The Stuart Cinema & Cafe in Theater 2 at 37-18 Northern Blvd, Long Island City, Queens. The screening runs from 6:00 to 8:30 PM. An after-reception hosted with Black Film Space follows from 8:30 to 9:30 PM. Tickets cost $30.
The New Orleans screening is set for Saturday, November 7 at Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge located at 6621 St Claude Ave, Arabi, LA. The screening runs from 6:00 to 7:30 PM with free admission. The two announced stops establish the multi-city scope of the tour.
Connie Shi directs The Rebirth. She is a queer, mixed Chinese-American actor and filmmaker whose work has screened at Tribeca, Fantasia, Sundance, Outfest and LA Film Festival. She focuses on raw, female-led stories exploring vulnerability, identity and shame. Adjahni Dèsirè directs The Fool. He is a Haitian-American Army veteran and writer-director based in Brooklyn, New York.
Amir Moini directs Slashr. He is an award-winning horror writer and director known for pushing boundaries in the genre. After seven years directing Netflix video social campaigns he premiered Slashr at Screamfest in 2023. The film has since screened at more than 25 festivals across 12 countries. His second short Artichoke premiered at the Oscar-qualifying Hollyshorts Film Festival. Moini is a 2025 alumnus of the Ryan Murphy Half Initiative Director’s Program and part of the invite-only Nebula Creator ecosystem, which includes his most recent project, Noise Complaint – part of Sub/liminal, set to premiere in late 2026. He has served on juries for FilmQuest and Queer Screams Film Festival, belongs to the Motion Picture & Television Fund and recently joined the Outfest board.
Julisa Marcel directs the monster i made. She is a Virgin Islands-born and raised writer-director now based in Toronto. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte and progressed from set PA to writer-director in indie production. Her work centers the principle that Black women have a right to exist on their own terms. Jenn Santos directs HIGH & DRY. Santos is a Filipinx-American queer actor and director whose work examines cultural and gender identity against horrific backdrops. As an actor Santos appears as Kai Norris in Ryan Murphy’s 9-1-1 and Solia in Mindy Kaling’s The Sex Lives of College Girls. Santos’s films have screened at HorrOrigins Film Fest, NewFilmmakers LA, NYX Horror Collective’s 13 Minutes of Horror and San Diego Filipino Film Festival.
Nicolas Polixene and Sylvain Loubet direct Cut Me If You Can. Polixene, born in Paris and of Caribbean descent, won the Prix Océans at Cannes in 2015 for Papé, which screened at more than 70 festivals including Directors’ Fortnight. Loubet worked at Walt Disney France on campaigns for Disney, Lucasfilm, Marvel and Pixar. The pair co-wrote and co-directed American Dream in 2019, produced by CAVIAR, and later signed with Bien ou Bien Productions to develop a feature thriller set in the Bayou. Jared Leaf directs Spilled Milk. He is a Portland-based writer-director whose short was produced by Jordan Peele and won the HBO Short Film Award at the 30th American Black Film Festival. Leaf directed all ten episodes of season two of BET’s Churchy starring KevOnStage.
