Red Rover
Mars rovers of a different kind challenge the local order in this quirky, stop motion sci-fi adventure that spins the term “alien” on its head.
Age Range: 12
How I Overcame My Fear of Humans
Dédalia the spider dreams of the big city—New York—home to 8 million people. There’s just one little problem: she’s afraid of them!
Louis’s Shoes
Louis, 8-and-a-half-years-old and autistic, arrives in his new school prepared to introduce himself.
Colza
Clarence, a precocious young lizard, schemes to steal a plane and take flight while the whole village is distracted by the greatest concert it has ever seen.
Joychild
Soft-spoken yet resolute, a young child remembers the joys and fears that go hand-in-hand with coming out, shot in beautifully evocative black and white 16mm film.
The Alien Nightmare
Mike, Bob, and Frank land on Earth for a routine scientific exploration, but when strange occurrences pop up, will these creatures from another planet chicken out?
Self Story
The inspiration for Becoming Ourselves: Breaking the Binary and screened at NYICFF 2020, Lou is back navigating the-ever challenging terrain of gender. But with inspiration from acclaimed filmmaker Céline Sciamma, they come into their own.
Nestor
Out at sea, Nestor is rattled by a lack of stability in this shifting, animated puzzle for the eyes and ears.
Tape
The balancing act of competitive sports, group dynamics, and budding attraction to another teammate challenge 16 year-old Rooney to rethink the rules of the game.
Chips
What feeds your spirit? one girl asks in this gentle, otherworldly tale.
In the Shadow of the Pines
Pining replaces embarrassment as one girl looks back on her experiences as a self-conscious student at the school where her Japanese immigrant father served as a janitor.
Purpleboy
When Oscar pops up out of the ground in a strange yet parallel world, he must remain steadfast to his budding identity as others try to tear him down.
Lazare’s Doing it Right
Lazare is an awkward soccer player. To tell the truth, he doesn’t know how to play at all, but maybe the beauty’s in the improv.
Zara and the Others: Miss Miss
Zara and her family are not like the others and when they remake the pageant-like Miss Competition, it’s a much more wacky “hit” than “miss”!
Sisters: The Summer we Found our Superpowers
Vega, 9, and her wild sister Billie, 5, are going on an overnight outdoor hike in the lush Norwegian woods. The trip is full of exciting climbs, silly jokes, and happy trekking until Dad pulls one acrobatic stunt too many, falling into a cave and injuring his leg badly. Unable to move, he asks Vega and Billie to get help. Anxiously retracing their steps, they know that everything depends on them now, as Vega tries to keep them focused on the goal despite setbacks, surprises, and Billie’s many distractions. They bravely face their fears, discover their superpowers, and find strength in their sisterhood.
Jackie & Oopjen
Twelve-year-old Jackie has made Amsterdam’s world famous Rijksmuseum her second home since her mother is always busy at her job there. As Jackie wanders the museum after hours, Oopjen Coppit, the woman depicted in Rembrandt’s famous 1634 painting, suddenly steps out of the canvas and into the middle of the gallery. Used to keeping her cool and problem solving, Jackie instantly decides to take Oopjen under her wing and help her search for her missing sister. Oopjen, a woman from the Golden Age, finds the 21st century to be a big adventure while Jackie finally finds a true friend.
Presented with support from:
Presented with support from:
Celebrating Black Stories
Black stories rightfully take the spotlight at NYICFF, as we highlight films that share the joy, determination, resilience and complexity of Black youth in a range of genres and styles. The films in this program are featured throughout our shorts programs and here in this curated program, underscoring the vibrancy of Black storytelling and allowing audiences to consider these works together in dialogue. In Ice Breakers, Josh Crooks is a young, gifted African-Canadian hockey player in an overwhelmingly white sport. But as he hones his talents he also discovers his passion is tied to a remarkable, though buried, heritage of Black athletes who helped pioneer modern hockey. Glowing in warm light and an attentive camera, Black Boy Joy is a beautifully filmed story of father and grandfather as they raise their young son with autism. Finally, in Broken Bird, we follow Birdie, a biracial girl raised by her Jewish mom, who spends a rare day with her father while preparing for both her Bat Mitzvah and stepping into adulthood on her own terms.
Becoming Ourselves: Breaking the Binary
These films explore identity beyond gender binaries, as queer kids shape their own ideas of who they are, finding possibilities of joy and community along the way. Discover powerful connections to the past when long-hidden histories are revealed in the Oscar-shortlisted Kapaemahu. Or break through distance and discomfort in The Name of the Son to find unexpected closeness to family. Create new relationships to yourself, your body, and others through sports in the short doc Joy Run.
Broken Bird
Birdie, a biracial girl raised by her Jewish mom, spends a rare day with her father while preparing for both her Bat Mitzvah and to step into adulthood on her own terms.
Black Boy Joy
Ice Breakers
Josh, a gifted African-Canadian hockey player in an overwhelmingly white sport, hones his skills and discovers a remarkable, buried heritage of Black athletes who helped pioneer the sport.
Joy Run
Reimagining athletics as an inclusive space for all, this colorful and lively short doc revels in the joyful connections we make to ourselves and others every day.
The Name of the Son
Like many teens, 13-year-old Lucho is uncomfortable with himself and distanced from those around him. Yet when he vacations with his father and sister, he discovers a new understanding.
Kapaemahu
This Oscar® shortlisted film uncovers the healing power of the past when the long-hidden histories of four stones and the legendary spirits in them are revealed.
Girls’ POV
The intrepid and insightful girls of this 2021 slate aren’t afraid of exploration, be it through the sometimes rough waters of friendship, the challenges of climate, or through artistic experimentation. The girls in Under the Skin hold their breath training for a synchronized swimming meet while navigating the twists and turns of competitive friendships. Father and daughter bond over their indigenous roots and art in OTANIMM/ONNIMM, a lovely and loving film with a range of inventive animation and photographic techniques.
Presented with support from
Presented with support from
Short Films Two
With shorts for ages 8+, Short Films Two features deeper themes and multilingual films with English subtitles. Stop motion equals nonstop action in Wild Lea, as a feral Colombian cat goes from lonely to loved, but can she learn to settle down with her new makeshift family? And when Parisian Vanille is forced to spend the summer with her auntie in Guadeloupe, she just may realize that big city ways are not nearly as spirited as she discovers her Carribean roots and uncovers a big mystery. In the doc Dear Future Me, 6th graders wrote letters to their future selves; fast-forward to 2020 when the now 12th graders re-read them with alternately surprising, bittersweet, and hilarious results.
OTANIMM/ONNIMM
Father and daughter bond over art and their indigenous family roots in this lovely and loving story, crafted with a range of inventive animation and photographic techniques.
Sol
A resilient mother races to teach her daughter all that she knows to weather the effects of climate change.
Under the Skin
A team of swimmers hold their breath training for a synchronized swimming meet while navigating the twists and turns of competitive friendships.
Cats vs. Progress
If you haven’t gotten your fill of creepy felines, follow along for a cliffhanger and see who wins the dark battle of the ages.