Short Films Three
Age Range: 12
Kirikou and the Sorceress
The first feature from Azur & Asmar creator Michel Ocelot is one of the most stunningly beautiful, poetic, and entertaining films ever created for children and ushered in a modern renaissance in French feature animation. The film is an exquisitely animated African tale of a small boy, Kirikou, with extraordinary abilities. When he discovers that his village is cursed by Karaba, a terrifying sorceress, Kirikou sets off on an adventure to rid the village of Karaba’s curse by understanding what has made her so angry. With an original soundtrack by Youssou N’Oour, Kirikou and the Sorceress is the winner of dozens of animation awards, including the Grand Prix at Annecy, and has become an absolute classic of animated cinema. NYICFF first premiered Kirikou at the 2000 Festival, and Michel Ocelot is currently a member of the NYICFF jury.
Mai Mai Miracle
Shinko spends her days running barefoot among the endless green wheat fields in her small country village, imagining she is playing 1,000 years ago when the area was the local capital and home to a beautiful young princess kept hidden from society. Shinko gets a new partner for her games when she befriends Kiiko, a shy transfer student from Tokyo whose nice clothes and modern luxuries immediately set her apart from the other kids. Together, the two girls spend their afternoons daydreaming, building dams, chasing animals, and living an otherwise simple and idyllic life—until looming adolescent responsibility and harsh grown-up truths begin to encroach on their make-believe world of princesses and castles, and it becomes increasingly difficult to disentangle fantasy from reality. Director Sunao Katabuchi worked with Hayao Miyazaki as assistant director on Kiki’s Delivery Service, and the influences show, from Mai Mai‘s stunning animation and exalting focus on nature, to the film’s nostalgia for the endless days of summer, and the tender portrayal of a young girl at the transition between childhood and adult.
Little White Lies
Set in 1931 Germany, the gripping, beautifully-executed new feature from Marcus Rosenmüller, writer/director of NYICFF 2008 favorite Grave Decisions, foreshadows coming fascism through the microcosm of a school. Based on the novel by Anna Maria Joki, the film centers on Alexander, an A class student who accidentally spills ink on a book he borrowed from a friend in the B class. Taking the easy way out, Alexander destroys the evidence and denies everything. This seemingly innocent and harmless lie has devastating consequences, as it is used as the basis for a hate campaign against the B class, ultimately hinting at situations far more serious than schoolyard politics. Dreamlike, darkly atmospheric visuals straight out of the German Expressionist tradition, with gothic lighting, long, shadowy corridors, abandoned factories, and dusty shops create a fable-like feeling both timeless and foreboding in this thought-provoking and highly-engaging parable about how lies, big and small, can accumulate unexpected consequences.
Note: Some non-graphic violence and a brief, sexually suggestive scene.
Note: Some non-graphic violence and a brief, sexually suggestive scene.
Oblivion Island
The creators of Ghost in the Shell mix exquisitely detailed 2D backgrounds with modern 3D character designs in a dazzling animated adventure that plays like Alice’s fall through the rabbit hole into a world of topsy-turvy, anime dream-logic. When Haruka misplaces a hand-mirror that was a keepsake from her mother, she stumbles upon a portal to the subterranean world of Oblivion Island, a place where strange masked creatures gather up all the childhood trinkets humans abandon as they grow older and attend Dream Theaters where they can watch and feel the memories locked in these forgotten objects. The land is ruled by an evil overlord, The Baron, who craves the power created by the memories locked in Haruka’s cherished mirror—a power that will allow him to rise beyond his world of discards and take over the world of humans. Aided by Teo, a lowly junk collector, and Cotton, her old stuffed animal brought back to life, Haruka struggles to recapture the mirror from The Baron, and to rediscover the fleeting moments of childhood love and friendship that are among life’s most precious treasures.
The Secret of Kells
Don’t miss this award-winning animated masterpiece from the producers of Kirikou and the Sorceress and Triplets of Belleville! The Secret of Kells has taken top prizes at festivals worldwide and has been nominated tor an Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature. Magic, fantasy, and Celtic mythology come together in a riot of color and detail that dazzle the eyes in a sweeping story about the power of imagination and faith to carry humanity through dark times. Young Brendan lives in a remote medieval outpost under siege from barbarian raids. But a new life of adventure beckons when a celebrated master illuminator arrives from foreign lands carrying an ancient but unfinished book, brimming with secret wisdom and powers. To help complete the magical book, Brendan has to overcome his deepest fears and venture into the enchanted forest where mythical creatures hide. It is here that he meets the fairy Aisling, a mysterious young wolf-girl, who helps him fulfill his dangerous quest.
Turtle: The Incredible Journey
This awe-inspiring nature film follows the personal story of a single loggerhead turtle, one of hundreds of adorable, vulnerable babies born in the sands of the Florida coast, as she grows into a strong-willed adult braving the six-thousand mile journey that has been the species’ perilous ritual for millions of years. Critically acclaimed for “visually resplendent” nature footage on par with Planet Earth or March of the Penguins, Turtle features sweeping aerial shots and vast, majestic underwater seascapes that underscore the epic scope of the journey with a survival adventure as tense as any Hollywood thriller.
In the Attic
Legendary Czech stop-motion master Jiri Barta’s first feature in over 20 years is a diabolically inventive tale, four parts Toy Story and one part David Lynch, as a group of abandoned toys stage an ambitious rescue of their kidnapped friend. Set behind the doors of a dusty attic, an adorable doll named Buttercup lives in a steamer trunk and plays mom to a motley group of friends: the station master Teddy Bear; lumpy ball Schubert; and the Quixotic marionette knight, Sir Handsome, who attacks his enemies valiantly with a sharpened pencil. But in this enchanted world where every day is a birthday, evil is lurking. One day, a black cat appears, kidnaps Buttercup, and takes her to the Land of Evil ruled by the villainous Head, a maniacal Cold War military bust who commands an army of mechanical, mustachioed cockroaches and an all-seeing spying eye. Both a spooky children’s fairy tale and a Soviet-era allegory, In the Attic marks a career highpoint for Barta who, along with Jan Svankmajer and the Brothers Quay, made stop-motion animation an art form and paved the way for modern hits like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, and Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Summer Wars
NYICFF 2010 opens with the scintillating new feature from emerging anime star Mamoru Hosoda. Kenji is a teenage math prodigy recruited by his secret crush Natsuki for the ultimate summer job—passing himself off as her boyfriend for four days during her grandmother’s 90th birthday celebration. But when Kenji solves a 2,056 digit math riddle sent to his cell phone, he unwittingly breaches the security barricade protecting Oz, a globe-spanning virtual world where millions of people and governments interact through their avatars. Now a malicious AI program called the Love Machine is hijacking Oz accounts, growing expontentially more powerful and sowing chaos and destruction in its wake. This “intriguingly intelligent” cyberpunk sci-fi story is a visual tour-de-force, with the amazing world of Oz as the highlight. Like the internet as conceived by pop artist Haruki Murakami, Oz is an hallucinatory pixel parade of cool avatar designs, kung fu jackrabbits, toothy bears, and a bursting rainbow of colors.
Member Screening: Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken
Sweet, awkward 16-year-old Ruby Gillman is desperate to fit in at Oceanside High, but she mostly just feels invisible. She’s math-tutoring her skater-boy crush, who only seems to admire her for her fractals, and she’s prevented from hanging out with the cool kids at the beach because her over-protective supermom has forbade Ruby from ever getting in the water. But when she breaks her mom’s #1 rule, Ruby will discover that she is a direct descendant of the warrior kraken queen and is destined to inherit the throne from her commanding grandmother, the Warrior Queen of the Seven Seas. Featuring the voices of Lana Condor, Jaboukie Young-White, Toni Collette, and Jane Fonda!
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken
Sweet, awkward 16-year-old Ruby Gillman is desperate to fit in at Oceanside High, but she mostly just feels invisible. She’s math-tutoring her skater-boy crush, who only seems to admire her for her fractals, and she’s prevented from hanging out with the cool kids at the beach because her over-protective supermom has forbade Ruby from ever getting in the water. But when she breaks her mom’s #1 rule, Ruby will discover that she is a direct descendant of the warrior kraken queen and is destined to inherit the throne from her commanding grandmother, the Warrior Queen of the Seven Seas. Featuring the voices of Lana Condor, Jaboukie Young-White, Toni Collette, and Jane Fonda!
Suzume
From the visionary director of worldwide phenomenon Your Name. (NYICFF 2017)! In the quiet town of Kyushu in southwestern Japan, Suzume encounters a young man who’s looking for a door. When she comes across a single, weathered door standing upright in the midst of ruins, she is drawn by its power. Suzume reaches for the knob… Doors begin to open one after another all across Japan, unleashing destruction upon any who are near. It’s up to Suzume to close the portals and prevent further disaster.
Suzume
From the director of the acclaimed Your Name. (NYICFF 2017). On the other side of the door, was time in its entirety…As the skies turn red and the earth trembles, Japan stands on the brink of disaster. But one determined teenager, Suzume, sets out on a mission to save her country. Able to see the supernatural forces that others can’t, it’s up to her to close the mysterious doors spreading chaos across the land. A perilous journey awaits as the fate of the country rests on her shoulders.
Mamá
A mother-son road trip in the swampy Florida Everglades veers off course, locking the passengers out of their car. They’ll have to figure out another way forward, on the road and in their relationship, to get back on solid ground.
I Scream, You Scream
An ice cream man sets out to create a banger of a beat the world has ever seen in an attempt to rekindle a dream and reconnect with his son.
Lonely Castle in the Mirror
Kokoro has had enough of the buzzing bells, shouting teachers, noisy hallways, and mean classmates at her middle school when she decides to just stay home. Bored and trapped, she finds a portal in her bedroom mirror that whisks her away to an enormous castle, where she’s greeted by the mysterious and gruff Wolf Queen—a wolf in girls’ clothing or the other way around, she’s not sure. Along with six other smart but world-weary students, she must follow all of the Queen’s rules, including a strict curfew. They are all in search of a magic key, hidden somewhere in the castle, that will grant whoever finds it any wish they want. As they conspire over strategy and share their stories, bonding in a place that’s free of fear and judgment and learning when to make (and sometimes break) their own rules in the name of friendship. Maybe the adults will begin to understand that it’s the circumstances, and not the kids, that need to change in this meaningful anime adapted from Tsujimura Mizuki’s popular YA novel.
The Soloists
In a small village ruled by ridiculous laws, three singing sisters and their dog get a joyful reprieve by rehearsing for the Annual Autumn Festival. But an unexpected event will disrupt their plans.
The Wood Thrush
An elusive bird’s song draws a girl into the forest, where an epiphany inspires her to seek a life at odds with her father’s own plans for her future. This film is supported by Science on Screen®. Science on Screen® is an initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre, with major support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
The Originals
New York-bred Matty “Square” Ruggiero and his childhood friends think back on what it was like to grow up playing in the streets of South Brooklyn, with all its joys and hardships, in the 1970s.
Tank Fairy
Ten-year-old Jojo, cast out by classmates and misunderstood by his stern, single mom, is inspired to live out loud by his fierce, propane-toting fairy godmother.
Sierra
The story of a son so willing to make his racing-obsessed dad proud that he turns himself into a car tire.
Home of the Heart
Omid, an Iranian immigrant now living in France, has a fateful encounter that takes his breath, and heart, away. Or maybe he left it behind in his beloved homeland.
The Sistine
Vincho artfully makes the most of another man’s trash as he builds his greatest creation in this opulently and sustainably minded stop motion stunner.
Outside
Ten-year-old Fynn learns that being cool isn’t about finding the perfect spot to hang in the neighborhood, but something entirely different.
My Duduś
A mother’s love gets a little squirrely when her son leaves home and she finds a furry replacement in this true-to-life, believe-it-or-not doc.
Trophy
Hyper-focused Dominique wants just one thing: to become the best hockey player in her league, and her father who trains her demands no less. But when she secures a coveted trophy, whose win is it?
Spotless
With her mom struggling to make ends meet, teenage Ruby doesn’t want to bother her when her period comes around. So she’s forced to find a solution for a basic need all by herself.
Secondary
A daughter grapples with her mother’s anger and how it made her who she is today.
Kissy And The Shark
Kissy has enough on her mind worrying about her mother and grandmother, but her caring instinct takes hold when she finds and tries to rescue a small stranded shark washed up on a littered LA beach.
With a Wool Ball
A ball of wool, a catchy song, and beautiful felted stop motion tell this boldly-colored tale of a girl who weaves ponchos and steeps hot maté to keep her friends toasty in the hills of Argentina.