You don’t need to go to Utah to see Sundance’s Short Film Festival — it’s right in your backyard.

This year’s edition is making a tour stop in Baltimore Thursday through Sunday with multiple showings at Station North‘s Parkway Theatre. The seven films tackle topics from people pleasing to the tourism industry, all in less than 20 minutes each.

The Sundance Institute is a nonprofit organization that supports emerging talent in film and storytelling, best known for its home festival in Park City, Utah. The Parkway has its own history going back more than a century, screening everything from silent films to early Paramount pictures. The Maryland Film Festival acquired the building in 2017 and added two 80-seat theaters alongside the historic 400-seat theater.

For $13, you can watch the mind-bending, action-packed and heart-wrenching films chosen for this year’s festival in one 100-minute program. Here’s what you need to know about them before you go.

‘Debaters’

• Running time: 10 minutes; language: English

“Debaters” somehow manages to capture a stressful whirlwind of academic overachievement in just 10 minutes. Writer and director Alex Heller was inspired by her time as a judge for high school debate tournaments in the Chicago suburbs, and provides a brief peek into the intense environment.

“Debaters” follows Anubhav (Sripadh Puligilla) during his first congressional debate tournament. The topic: Should the federal minimum wage be raised? Anubhav is tasked with refutation, a position that proves challenging in front of his cutthroat teammates and working-class judges.

‘Susana’

• Running time: 15 minutes; language: English, Spanish

Susan (Bonnie Hellman Brown) is a middle-aged woman traveling alone around Mexico City. When she meets a group of young Americans, Susan centers her own entertainment at the cost of native and local people.

“Susana,” created by Amandine Thomas and Gerardo Coello Escalante, explores the relationship between modern tourism and the people of Mexico City. As Americans flock there for vacations and migration, Mexican folks are priced out of their own neighborhoods.

Working-class Mexicans were cast in the smaller roles, scouted by production on location in Mexico City. It’s the second short film in a trilogy about the Mexican American relationship through different perspectives.

‘Azi’

• Running time: 14 minutes; language: English

Okay, maybe this short film is the most tense. Think: a subtler “Call Me By Your Name.” Seventeen-year-old Persian-American Azi Rahimi (Dior Negeen Goodjohn) goes on vacation with her best friend Morgan, Morgan’s father, and the father’s new girlfriend Elizabeth (Breeda Wool).

Thus begins an illicit dance between Azi and Elizabeth as the two wrestle for agency and control at the expense of their hosts. The camera remains close to the action, capturing forbidden feelings of desire and longing in the summer heat.

“Azi” is written and directed by Montana Mann, a Persian American whose personal experiences inspired the short film. The short is bold, yet secretive, soft, but electric. It may evoke varying opinions on the power dynamic between a girl coming-of-age and an older woman willing to play her games.

‘We Were The Scenery’

• Running time: 15 minutes; language: Vietnamese, English

In 1975, a Vietnamese couple escaped by boat to the Philippines. As refugees in a camp, the pair took a decently paying job as movie extras. The film, “Apocalypse Now,” is a famous retelling of the Vietnam War. But few know the bodies of real Vietnamese refugees seeking asylum in the Philippines were used as extras, a backdrop to the trauma of their nationhood.

“We Were The Scenery,” directed by Christopher Radcliff, is an eye-opening documentary about a couple and the life they built. It’s worth watching solely for their charming banter and bizarre facts about director Francis Ford Coppola’s on-set habits.

‘Hurikán’

• Running time: 13 minutes; language: Czech

In a strange tonal shift, “Hurikán” is a black-and-white, hand-drawn, 2D animation starring an original comic book character from director and writer Jan Saska.

Hurikán is a pig-man creation with a perpetual hangover and an unquenchable thirst for beer. When the keg is tapped at his favorite beer stand — coincidentally where his crush works — he races across Prague to find a replacement and impress the bartender.

Hurikán is an action-packed journey through the Žižkov district, all in the name of hops and yeast.

‘Such Good Friends’

• Running time: 11 minutes; language: English

“Such Good Friends” is a cautionary tale for people pleasers. Emma (Niamh O’Neill Culhane), stuck in a toxic friendship, tries to assert herself and end her doormat tendencies. What happens next sends her into the eye of the storm — bad patterns, manipulation and zero boundaries — all while keeping a dark secret at bay.

Bri Klaproth and Jon Walkup created this short to specifically explore a friendship breakup, rather than a romantic one. It’s a dark comedy turned emotional horror, both absurd and anxiety-ridden, about dismantling a childhood friendship.

‘Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites’

• Running time: 19 minutes; language: Central Khmer

The most heartwarming piece in the lineup, “Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites” is a deep exploration of queerness and grief in Cambodia. Creator Chheangkea Ieng was inspired by his own relationship with his grandmother. Although she died when he was young, it comforted him to imagine her watching over him — especially because he was her favorite.

The film takes place during the Qingming Festival: a day when Cambodians visit the tombs of family members. Grandma Nai (Saroeun Nay) notices her favorite grandson, Meng (Bonrotanak Rith), seems unhappy courting a rich girl.

Chheangkea’s autonomous ghost allows Grandma Nai to push her grandson in the right direction — though Meng must decide in the end. The cast are members of the queer community in traditional Cambodia.