Shorts Program: Midnight Madness | Reeling 2026: The 44th Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival

From the darkest corners of the mind: the crazed, the twisted, the very, very itchy—these shorts are the perfect nightcap. Iris is hooked on Ichor, a mysterious and powerful party drug that offers strength and euphoria at the cost of an unquenchable thirst for human blood, but when Iris finds herself out of Ichor, blood, and time, she takes to the streets to hunt for more in BLEEDERS (dir. Carssan T. Morrissey; U.S.). As dream life bleeds into waking reality, a woman haunted by her Puritan ancestor must confront the terror buried deep within her bloodline in LADY PURITAN (dir. Gustine Füdickar, Justin Streichman; U.S.). THE HOLD (dir. Ashley James Panton; UK) follows commitment-phobe Nathan as he begins to regret his decision to hook up with drunken stranger Adrian who passes out in his bed. But can Nathan, a sufferer of horrific night terrors, keep this well-hidden secret? Tyler’s ex reappears, pulling him into a spiral where love and obsession blur in the experimental short DARK BUNNY (dir. Will Miller; U.S.). In EVERGREEN (dir. Luke McCormick Gardiner; U.S.) a queer couple confined to their decaying apartment grapples with an immaculate conception. An ordinary immigration interview. What could possibly go wrong—in PERMANENT RESIDENCE (dir. Bi An; U.S.). Our final twisted tale of the night, FOUR ITCHY BOYS (dir. Andrew Hebert; U.S.), follows four young men, quarantined for an unexplainable, unrelenting itch, prepare for a live-stream press event to prove they’re not the monsters the world believes them to be. Join us after the screening for a discussion! Iona Bodem will moderate an exclusive conversation with director and screenwriter of Bleeders, Will Miller.