INFLUX Indie Roundup: Independent Films Worth Discovering

From intimate family dramas and experimental documentaries to pop-punk nostalgia and forgotten historical tragedies, our inaugural Indie Roundup introduces five independent films and the filmmakers bringing these stories to the screen.

Independent filmmaking has always been about more than budgets, box office numbers, and big-name stars. It’s about telling stories that might otherwise go untold, exploring subjects that challenge audiences, and finding creative ways to bring a filmmaker’s vision to life.

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the INFLUX Indie Roundup, where we spotlight independent filmmakers and their latest projects. Our goal is simple: give independent films an opportunity to reach new audiences and help movie lovers discover something they might not find anywhere else.

This edition features five projects spanning drama, music, experimental storytelling, and documentary filmmaking.

Someone to Love Goose Explores Family, Grief, and the Complications of Inheritance

INDEPENDENT FILM | FAMILY DRAMA

Family relationships can be complicated under the best circumstances, but when grief, money, and competing responsibilities collide, even the strongest bonds can begin to fracture.

Someone to Love Goose, submitted by filmmaker Kyle Acosta, is a black-and-white family drama that explores the difficult emotional terrain of inheritance, obligation, and familial responsibility.

Following the death of their father, three brothers find themselves caught in a dispute over the family estate. The youngest brother, Goose, who is autistic and requires a caretaker, has inherited the family home. However, his mother and eldest brother, Dan, want to sell the property.

They turn to middle brother Tye, hoping he can convince Goose to relinquish his inheritance. What begins as a disagreement over property becomes a much deeper examination of loyalty, love, and the responsibilities family members have toward one another.

Presented in black and white, the film uses restrained performances and deliberate visual compositions to emphasize the emotional complexity of its characters. Rather than offering easy answers, Someone to Love Goose invites viewers to consider the difficult choices families face when individual needs conflict with collective expectations.

For audiences who appreciate intimate, character-driven dramas, this independent production offers a story rooted in recognizable human struggles.

Watch the film’s featured video: Someone to Love Goose on YouTube

High School Lullaby Brings Pop-Punk Nostalgia and Teenage Growing Pains to the Screen

INDEPENDENT FILM | COMING-OF-AGE DRAMA

The year is 2005, pop-punk is everywhere, and for one teenage musician, the biggest performance of her life is just around the corner.

High School Lullaby, submitted by Dave Stishan of Big Eddie Pictures, is a coming-of-age story that combines teenage friendship, music, and the difficult realization that life doesn’t always follow the plans we make.

Hayley is a high school junior preparing for the upcoming Battle of the Bands competition alongside her closest friends and bandmates.

With only nine days remaining before the big event, the stakes are high. Winning means earning a free recording session and the opportunity to cut a demo.

Unfortunately, Hayley has a secret.

Her father has been transferred for work, and the family will be moving away in just ten days. She hasn’t told her friends, and the looming departure threatens not only her musical ambitions but also the friendships that mean everything to her.

Set against the musical backdrop of the mid-2000s, High School Lullaby draws on the era when bands like My Chemical Romance, Green Day, Sum 41, and All Time Low helped define a generation’s soundtrack.

The film taps into the universal experience of growing up, when friendships feel permanent, dreams seem within reach, and unexpected changes can make everything feel uncertain.

For anyone who remembers the pop-punk explosion of the 2000s, High School Lullaby promises a nostalgic return to an era of loud guitars, teenage emotions, and friendships worth fighting for.

Learn more: High School Lullaby at Big Eddie Pictures

While They Smiled Examines the Holocaust Through the Disturbing Normalcy of Everyday Life

INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY | EXPERIMENTAL FILM

How do you tell a story about one of history’s greatest atrocities without showing the atrocities themselves?

That is the unsettling question at the center of While They Smiled, an experimental archival documentary submitted by filmmaker Alicia Hayes.

Constructed primarily from rare color home movies filmed by Eva Braun, the documentary examines the disturbing contrast between the seemingly ordinary lives of those close to the Nazi regime and the unimaginable suffering occurring beyond the camera’s frame.

Rather than relying on graphic historical imagery, dramatic reenactments, or conventional narration, While They Smiled takes a deliberately restrained approach.

Sunlit landscapes, domestic gatherings, laughter, and moments of apparent happiness become increasingly disturbing when viewed through the knowledge of what was happening elsewhere.

The film’s power lies in its use of silence, pacing, and visual juxtaposition, allowing audiences to contemplate the moral implications of what they are witnessing.

By focusing on the ordinary moments preserved in Braun’s home movies, the documentary raises uncomfortable questions about indifference, complicity, and the human capacity to maintain a sense of normalcy in the presence of extraordinary evil.

While They Smiled does not attempt to reconstruct the Holocaust through familiar documentary conventions. Instead, it challenges viewers to consider what historical images reveal, what they conceal, and how the absence of visible suffering can itself become deeply unsettling.

For audiences interested in experimental filmmaking and historical documentaries that challenge traditional storytelling, While They Smiled offers a provocative examination of memory, morality, and the disturbing contradictions of human behavior.

Learn more: While They Smiled at Vero 8 Pictures

Broken Transforms Personal Tragedy Into an Experimental Exploration of Grief and Survival

AWARD-WINNING SHORT FILM | EXPERIMENTAL DRAMA

Filmmaker Aaron Braxton draws upon deeply personal experiences for Broken, an award-winning experimental short film adapted from his award-winning stage play.

Inspired by a devastating tragedy within Braxton’s own family, the film explores grief, psychological trauma, and the extraordinary resilience required to survive profound emotional loss.

At the center of the story is Cynthia, a mother whose deteriorating emotional state unfolds through hallucinations, intoxication, and an increasingly fractured perception of reality.

Rather than presenting her experiences through conventional narrative structure, Braxton employs evocative imagery, fragmented perspectives, and an immersive soundscape to communicate the psychological and emotional dimensions of grief.

Music also plays an important role in the production.

Braxton wrote, performed, and co-composed the original song “I’m Still Here,” which accompanies the film’s emotional journey. Interwoven with atmospheric sounds of thunder and rain, the composition reflects Brandon’s enduring love for his mother.

An award-winning writer, actor, and director, Braxton works across multiple creative disciplines, bringing his experience in theater and storytelling to a cinematic project that emphasizes emotional authenticity over traditional narrative conventions.

Broken explores what happens when loss becomes so overwhelming that the mind struggles to reconcile itself with reality. At the same time, the film considers the enduring power of love and the courage required to continue living through unimaginable circumstances.

For viewers drawn to experimental cinema and deeply personal storytelling, BROKEN offers an intimate examination of grief and the complicated process of survival.

Learn more: Aaron Braxton’s official website

The Escuminac Disaster: Beneath the Surface Revisits a Forgotten Canadian Maritime Tragedy

INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY | HISTORY

In 1959, a devastating storm off the coast of New Brunswick claimed the lives of 35 fishermen and boys, leaving families and communities struggling with the consequences of one of Canada’s most tragic maritime disasters.

More than six decades later, documentary filmmaker Brenda Malley revisits those events in The Escuminac Disaster: Beneath the Surface, a feature-length documentary exploring not only the tragedy itself but also the social and economic conditions that contributed to its devastating impact.

Many of the fishermen came from impoverished rural communities, operating small wooden boats with limited equipment. Some vessels relied on old automobile engines and lacked basic navigational tools, including radios and compasses.

The storm’s aftermath was equally heartbreaking, with bodies washing ashore for weeks and months afterward. Some victims were never recovered.

Through archival materials, historical testimony, and interviews with survivors and family members, the documentary examines how the disaster affected the people left behind.

It also explores the controversy surrounding disaster relief efforts and the social divisions that shaped attitudes toward poor and Acadian fishing families in postwar New Brunswick.

For Malley, the documentary represents a significant personal transition. After 33 years working in public safety as a government probation officer, she turned to filmmaking to give overlooked individuals and communities an opportunity to share their experiences.

Research contributed by Concordia University Professor Emeritus Ron Rudin helped inform the documentary’s historical examination.

The Escuminac Disaster: Beneath the Surface is ultimately about more than a storm. It is about remembrance, survival, and ensuring that the experiences of those affected are not lost to history.

Film information submitted by Brenda Malley. No public film link was supplied.

Have an Independent Film Worth Sharing?

The INFLUX Indie Roundup is dedicated to highlighting the filmmakers, productions, and stories that deserve greater visibility.

Whether you’re preparing for a festival screening, announcing a release, sharing a new trailer, celebrating an award, or introducing audiences to your latest project, we want to hear about it.

Independent filmmaking thrives when audiences have opportunities to discover new voices, and we’re happy to help make those connections.

Have news about your independent film? Submit your project for consideration in an upcoming edition of the INFLUX Indie Roundup.