The Lower East Side Film Festival<\/a> returns to New York April 30-May 4 at the Village East Cinema to champion independent movies in Manhattan.<\/p>\n IndieWire exclusively announces the lineup and star-packed jury for this year\u2019s edition. The festival will open with Sundance favorite \u201cRun Amok<\/a>,\u201d from writer\/director NB Mager and starring Alyssa Marvin, Patrick Wilson, Margaret Cho, Elizabeth Marvel, and Molly Ringwald. The film<\/a> centers on a teenage girl who stages a musical to confront the aftermath of a school tragedy.<\/p>\n The festival will close with another Sundance pick, David Shadrack Smith\u2019s documentary \u201cPublic Access<\/a>,\u201d about New York\u2019s public access TV boom in the 1970s and \u201980s.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A highlight of this year\u2019s festival will be a 25th-anniversary screening of Terry Zwigoff\u2019s cult favorite \u201cGhost World<\/a>,\u201d starring Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson as disaffected teens on their way out of high school, adapted from Daniel Clowes\u2019 graphic novel. Select cast members will be in attendance for a Q&A.<\/p>\n Back for its second year, the Lower East Side Film Festival\u2019s Stay Indie Project development lab adds a Stay Indie spotlight screening with the\u00a0New York City premiere\u00a0of\u00a0\u201cThe Ark.\u201d The film takes us inside eastern Ukraine at the start of Russia\u2019s 2022 invasion, where a family\u2019s quiet rural life is upended overnight.<\/p>\n \u201cMovies are meant to be experienced together, in a room full of strangers, where something unexpected can happen,\u201d said Festival Director Roxy Hunt. \u201cAs the media landscape continues to evolve, LESFF remains proudly independent, creating a home for bold voices, creative risks, and filmmakers who are pushing the boundaries of what storytelling can be.\u201d<\/p>\n The feature lineup also includes the world premiere of the surreal dark comedy \u201cHomunculus,\u201d from Owen Kibby; \u201cOccupy Cannes,\u201d Lily Hayes Kaufman\u2019s documentary about the battle for independent art at the Cannes Film Festival; Mtume Gant\u2019s \u201cThe Hand That Feeds\u201d; Lucy Sandler and Mechi Lakatos\u2019s \u201cDanny Is My Boyfriend\u201d; Jessica Barr\u2019s \u201cThe Plan\u201d; and Ethan Fuirst\u2019s \u201cCan\u2019t Get Over It.\u201d<\/p>\n The film jury features a compelling lineup of talent from both sides of the camera: actor Mamoudou Athie<\/a>; actor Lucas Hedges; actor\/filmmaker Avan Jogia; \u201cThe Alabama Solution\u201d co-director Charlotte Kaufman; actor Arian Moayed; actor\/writer\/director Mary Neely; Francesca Scorsese; producer Christine Vachon; director Whitney White; and actor Constance Zimmer.<\/p>\n Additionally, more than 30 short films will premiere at the festival. Passes to Lower East Side Film Festival are now on sale, with tickets available starting April 15.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"YOU,](\"https:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MCDYOME_UV002.jpg?w=300&h=168&crop=1\")
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