Age Range: 12

We’re crossing the Atlantic to pair up with far-flung Friends & Neighbors this year. Cinekid, The Netherland’s premiere film festival for children, comes ashore to share their best films. Featuring a range of different cultures and themes—from Old Amsterdam to New York—and fresh stories that keep history alive. Presented with support from  .   

We’re back with our second year of VR JR, a unique Virtual Reality mini-fest for kids and families. Explore the latest interactive VR experiences with us on March 2nd at SVA Theatre. Free, non-ticketed experiences available on a first come, first serve basis. Experiences will run all day.

Audiences for Short Films 3 are older and wiser. But what if you still can’t draw a straight line to save your life? Well, you won’t need to go directly from point A to point B if you follow this one MegaTrick. Switchbacks and other creative hacks are always handy, as hardworking Yover demonstrates what it takes to push through adversity. Meanwhile, the (cat) power of the cosmos can fuel you once you connect your charger to the energy and yin-yang fusion of Catmos.

Crawling with curiosity, creepiness, and mind-bending fantasy, Heebie Jeebies rewards quirky-minded audiences with unexpected tales. Epic creature clashes depict a landscape we’ll inherit if we’re not mindful in Hybrids. Take your mind for a ride with Floreana’s illustrated flights of fancy through unimagined possibilities. In a meticulously crafted stop-motion menagerie, Cerulia may seem like delicate porcelain, but as the eeriness mounts, it’s the audience who just might crack first!

In Girls’ POV, girls tell it like it is, and who doesn’t need a Field Guide to Being a 12-Year-Old Girl—whether you are, have been, or ever wanted to be one—in this wry comedy. The Shadow of Cairo must take on a different mission and guise in the face of harassment during her first superhero outing on the streets of Egypt. Blurring the line between expectations, reality, and representation, the girl in the animated My Body boldly reclaims her voice to tell the mirror how it really is.

Boys is back in town for a second edition of films redefining how boys can feel, think, and be. After he’s pressured to graffiti a wall, the boy in Granbad reveals his feelings—and his dyslexia. In Xavier, a father is told his son isn’t like the others, but he knows his fledgling drummer boy will find his own beat. Meanwhile, life in Curaçao may seem idyllic, but teens who feed themselves a diet of tough posturing and iguana stew make life challenging for a boy and his younger friend in Juni.