Age Range: 18

programs

SWOP

Based on the beloved, Emmy and NYICFF award-winning short Heads Together, this new series follows three wacky friends Sef, Wesley, and Marjory. One day, they discover an abandoned washing machine with mysterious powers: it lets you swap heads with someone else! This presents the three BFFs with a range of amazing possibilities…and side-splitting challenges. As they take turns trying on each other’s heads, they literally see the world through new eyes. Will their new perspectives help them discover a whole new world of possibilities, or get them into a mess? Well, the sayings tell us there are many sides to every story and two heads are better than one. Run, don’t walk (but please hold onto your head) to the slapstick silliness of SWOP.
programs

NYICFF Friends & Neighbors: Canada

Conversation-starting films from up north
These thought-provoking Canadian films take a deep dive into identity: what it means, and how it shapes our past, present, and future.
films

My Octopus Teacher

After years spent filming some of the planet’s most dangerous animals, Craig Foster was burned out. He decided to put a halt to his career to reconnect with his own roots – the magical underwater world of the kelp forest off the coast of his hometown of Cape Town, South Africa. For nearly a decade, Craig went diving daily in the icy cold waters, ditching wetsuit and scuba rig in one of the most predator dense places on earth. The octopus he met and tracked became first his subject, then his teacher, showing him things no human had ever witnessed. Shot over eight years, with 3,000 hours of footage, My Octopus Teacher documents a unique friendship, interaction, and animal intelligence never seen before. Now streaming on Netflix.
programs

Best of the Fest 2021

We’ve tallied the votes, and the results are in. These are the shorts with the highest votes, according to YOU. Watch these Festival favorites before we announce the winners on Monday, March 22.
programs

Flora and Ulysses Special Event Q&A

Join us for a live Q&A with author Kate DiCamillo and director Lena Khan on 3/11 @ 1pm ET This is a Q&A event. Stream Flora & Ulysses now on Disney+. Disney’s Flora & Ulysses is a comedy-adventure based on the Newberry Award-winning book about 10-year-old Flora, an avid comic book fan and a self-avowed cynic, whose parents have recently separated. After rescuing a squirrel she names Ulysses, Flora is amazed to discover he possesses unique superhero powers which take them on an adventure of humorous complications that ultimately change Flora’s life—and her outlook—forever.

Teachers, sign your class up here.

Presented in partnership with

    
films

Devenir

What if becoming doesn’t lead to an end, but instead is a process of being?
films

Mother Didn’t Know

Told through exquisitely rendered stop motion, this poetic fable illuminates a path to reconnection for one young girl. 
films

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. 
films

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. 
films

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?
films

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.
films

Nestor

Out at sea, Nestor is rattled by a lack of stability in this shifting, animated puzzle for the eyes and ears.
films

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. 
films

Chips

What feeds your spirit? one girl asks in this gentle, otherworldly tale. 
films

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.
films

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.
programs

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:

     
programs

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.
programs

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.
films

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.
films

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.
films

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.
films

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.
films

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.
programs

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
films

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.
films

Sol

A resilient mother races to teach her daughter all that she knows to weather the effects of climate change.
films

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.
films

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.
stay connected
about us
New York International Children’s Film Festival has presented thoughtful, provocative, intelligent film for all ages for over 25 years. Find your story. LEARN MORE
© New York Int'l Children's Film Festival