selected films
Hiding in Plain Site: International Public Art Short Film Festival (HPS) is grateful to all of the filmmakers who submitted work for consideration. In early October our team of global jurors reviewed submissions and selected the following 12 films for inclusion in our inaugural festival collection.
Several preview events are scheduled, starting October 25, 2026 in Minneapolis. Interested in hosting a screening of HPS? Please contact festival director Jack Becker at beckerjack54@gmail.com
THE CODE
Marina Trash / Svyatoslav Kozlov
Russian Federation
THE CODE captures the energy of the Urban Morphogenesis street art festival in Odintsovo, Russia. This music-driven documentary short follows artists transforming residential buildings into an open-air gallery. It is part of a larger documentary project exploring art, the people who create it, and the communities who live alongside it.
Runtime: 2:39
SHAPING THE PUBLIC
Dawn Mikkleson
USA / Venezuela
A determined group of artists occupy a vacant lot in an impoverished and violent part of Caracas, Venezuela, transforming it into a home for a thriving arts scene receiving national and international acclaim.
Runtime: 10:00
GERO
Kuesti Fraun
Germany
A portrait of a man and his passion. Gero Pempelforter is living in a world full of art, but actually it's just about getting the nail in the wall.
Runtime: 6:00
FILLING THE VOID
John Akre
USA
"Filling the Void" documents a public art project created by Randy Walker in collaboration with the youth of Kulture Klub Collaborative at YouthLink in Minneapolis. His sculpture, a framework waiting for various kinds of art to be created on it, was built on the site of a drop-in center for young people who didn't live in traditional housing situations.
Runtime: 5:28
THE LEGACY
Linda Covit
Canada
Covit/Nguyen/NORR present captivating images of the artwork Lord Stanley’s Gift Monument (Ottawa) in the pubic square, accompanied by commentary by the artist Linda Covit, and two professionals from the art milieu, Mona Hakim and Jean-Yves Bastarache. Context, design and historical relevance are explored in this powerful commemoration of one of Canada’s most cherished national emblems.
Runtime: 5:41
THE LAST ROOSTER: ARTIST LEN ZUKS
Directed by James Hyams / Produced by Jay Jay Jagathesan
Australia
Len Zuks, the unlikely alchemist, forges mythic creatures and whimsical figures from the abandoned steel and rubber of everyday life. The Last Rooster reveals how, through his hands, refuse becomes revelation, and the discarded gains dignity.
Runtime: 10:00
JOINED AN AVALANCHE NEVER TO BE ALONE AGAIN
The film follows the creation of Irijalba's three-part installation with "Pannotia" (2023), a geotechnical core sample sculpture; "The Wave" (2023), a low-tide wave made of 100% recycled asphalt; and "The Fence" (2023), salvaged fencing from the FDR Drive. The project invites viewers to consider how cities like New York can adapt and evolve in the face of environmental challenges, and how artists can play a role in shaping that conversation.
Runtime: 10:00
New Jersey Monuments to Migration and Labor
Andrew Urban, co-directed by Jon Kaufman and Arlene Fernández
USA
This film documents and explores the work of the New Jersey Monuments to Migration and Labor (NJMML) — a public art and history initiative dedicated to recognizing the histories, labor, and cultural contributions of immigrant and migrant communities across New Jersey. The film addresses what it means to produce public art that elevates and makes visible immigrant experiences, at a time when ICE raids and violence has transformed the very meaning of public space.
Runtime: 5:30
GHOST RIVERS
Bruce Willen
USA
Ghost Rivers (2020–2024) is a 1.5-mile-long permanent public art installation that maps a lost stream buried below the streets of Baltimore. Across 12 installation sites, this monumental project explores the hidden history and path of Sumwalt Run, where it now flows through underground culverts. Spanning two Baltimore neighborhoods, Ghost Rivers offers visitors a glimpse of forgotten histories and lost ecologies. Along the way the project draws connections between Baltimore’s watershed, its social history, and the evolving relationships between natural and human environments.
Runtime: 4:30
LAUNCH PAD FOR CONSCIOUSNESS
Ezry Keydar
Israel
In 1986, Ezra Orion (1934–2015), an Israeli sculptor and poet, initiated the second phase of the Mitzpe Ramon Desert Sculpture Park on the rim of the Ramon Crater. He created the work "Field of Rocks" as the largest component of the park: a 100 by 200 meters sculpture. This film presents Orion's work, vision, perception, & concept of tectonic sculpture and its supposed emotional impact on the viewer's consciousness. The film uses motion-controlled time-lapse photography and excerpts from Orion's book Intergalactic Sculpture (2001) to depict his work.
Runtime: 5:40
KALEIDOSCOPE OF LOVE
Pablo Jones
USA
Produced by Big Animal Productions LLC, in association with collaborating artists and 1,000+ community members, this collective art action is a love poem to our city and is dedicated to all those who went out into the street to resist the terrorization of our neighborhoods. A story of a public art project that grew out of Minneapolis as a message to the world!
Runtime: 3:26
VIVA CITY
Viva Cidade / Directed by Fernanda Giulia Bulgarelli Santos and Brenno Bertolaccini Machado
Brazil
In a hostile São Paulo, full of illusions, Clarice discovers a world in the act of tagging, in which she explores with the company of Tag, a living graffiti of her authorship, while both of them seek to find their places in the world.
Runtime: 14:40