A young South African boy from the Johannesburg ghetto named Tsotsi, meaning Gangster, leaves home as a child to get away from his helpless parents. Now a teenage thug, Tsotsi finds a baby in the back seat of a car he's just stolen. He decides that it is his responsibility to care for the infant and in the process learns that maybe the criminal life isn’t the best way.

Precocious teenager Juliet moves to New Zealand with her family and soon befriends the quiet, brooding Pauline through their shared love of fantasy and literature. This friendship gradually develops into an intense and obsessive bond.

Feisty, fiercely independent and firmly rooted in place, 90 year-old Mabel Robinson broke barriers back in the 40s when she became the first woman in Hubbards, Nova Scotia, to launch her own business—a hairdressing salon where she still provides shampoo-n-sets over 70 years later. Weaving animation and archival imagery with intimate and laugh out loud moments in the salon, the film celebrates the power of friendship, doing what you love and staying active. With no desire to retire anytime soon, Mabel gives voice to a generation who are not front and center of cinema or the pop hairstyles of the day, and subtly shifts the lens on our perception of beauty and the elderly.

Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in an attempt to contact the long-estranged father the boy never knew. She reunites with an old friend, an outspoken transgender sex worker, and befriends a troubled actress and a pregnant, HIV-positive nun.

A young transgender man explores his gender identity and searches for love in rural Nebraska.

Women are the protagonists of this documentary. Girls and women of varied ages tell us the difficulties of living their whole lives in refuge and their desires for the future.

Fledgling screenwriters retreat to a quiet country manor to work on their script, but a constellation of needy characters produces constant interruptions.

A white melfa (Sahrawi traditional dress) contains the written desires of a group of young Sahrawi women.

Mina has a panic attack at the checkout of a DIY shop and falls into Pierre's arms. This is the story of a slightly mad girl, a guy who's too normal, a big pair of pruning shears and an old piano teacher.

Dorothy is an elderly woman who struggles with loneliness and is suffering the loss of her late partner. Strange and inexplainable happenings begin to follow her around the house, causing her unease. That is until she uncovers the cause and resists her family’s contempt, unveiling a curious and heartwarming relationship.

"A socially anxious college student reluctantly heads to a party attempting to make new friends. Nande Walters directs “Who Are You Really?”, an experimental portrait of insecurity characterized by a raw, youthful energy. Anya walks into the room and immediately feels like everyone is judging her. Eventually she strikes up a conversation with a young man, but neither really knows what to say and it doesn’t go anywhere. After struggling through the awkward night, she’s surprised to learn that an extroverted friend didn’t fare much better. Walters is only 19 years old, one of the youngest we’ve ever featured on NoBudge, and her film is the work of an artist still learning her craft but she clearly knows the feeling she’s after and captures it with pops of style and a touching closing monologue." -Kentucker Audley

Rusty has been bailed out of bad situations more than once by his understanding but distraught mother, Mary. When Mary starts dating a psychologist, Bob, Rusty connects with the man and begins talking to him about his problems. As Rusty benefits from the therapy sessions, his best friend, Dallas, still very involved in illegal and dangerous activities, takes issue with Rusty going straight and cleaning up his life.