The Runaway
In trouble with the juvenile courts and facing serious consequences, Sabrina must make a life-changing decision.
Age Range: 18
Annie: It’s the Hard-Knock Life
In 2012, over 5,000 young girls traveled to New York City to vie for a part in the Broadway revival of Annie and a bed in Miss Hannigan’s infamous orphanage. Only eight got a part. Director Joshua Seftel takes us backstage for a behind-the-scenes look at the creative chaos that is putting on a Broadway show — from the first auditions and early choreography, to dress rehearsal calamities and opening night jitters. You don’t need to love musicals to be fascinated by the process — and thoroughly charmed by the young performers who are the focus of the film. We first meet the girls as they are finding out they got the part (to much gleeful shrieking and involuntary jumping up and down) and we follow them as they move to New York and begin to navigate the difficult divide between middle-schooler and Broadway star. Along the way there are inevitable bumps in the road, triumphs, and set-backs, as they learn to trust one another, work together, and become friends.
Approved for Adoption
NYICFF proudly presents the North American premiere of this fascinating animated autobiography from filmmaker Jung Henin, one of thousands of Korean children adopted into Europe after the end of the Korean War. A series of gorgeously animated, sepia toned vignettes — some humorous and some poetic — track Jung from the day of his adoption as he meets his new (blond) siblings, through elementary school, and into his teenage years, when his emerging sense of identity begins to create fissures at home and to inflame the latent biases of his adoptive parents. Throughout all of this, Jung finds release in drawing – and the film we see is really the ultimate expression of what started as the doodles of a boy stranded between two cultures. The filmmaker tells his story using his own animation intercut with snippets of super 8 family footage, archival film, and new footage documenting his first trip to Korea. The result is an animated memoir like no other: clear-eyed and unflinching, humorous and wry, and above all, inspiring in the capacity of the human heart. This is a beautifully rendered and exceedingly moving story about the search for love, belonging, and a sense of self.
The Painting
In this wry parable, a kingdom is divided into the three castes: the impeccably painted Alldunns who reside in a majestic palace; the Halfies who the Painter has left incomplete; and the untouchable Sketchies, simple charcoal outlines who are banished to the cursed forest. Chastised for her forbidden love for an Alldunn and shamed by her unadorned face, Halfie Claire runs away into the forest. Her beloved Ramo and best friend Lola journey after her, passing between the forbidden Death Flowers that guard the boundaries of the forest (in one of the film’s most radiantly gorgeous scenes), and arriving finally at the very edge of the painting — where they tumble through the canvas and into the Painter’s studio. The abandoned workspace is strewn with paintings, each containing its own animated world — and in a feast for both the eyes and imagination, they explore first one picture and then another, attempting to discover just what the Painter has in mind for all his creations.
Rootless Heart
Two high school kids explore an abandoned house. There is something lurking in the dark.
The Runaway
A fifty Euro note. Chewing gum. A retractable dog leash. A stain on the wall in the shape of Australia. Each of these elements has its own unique story, but how do they fit together?
Bao
Bao loves taking the train with his sister. It’s the highlight of his day. But today, everything is different and nothing will ever be the same.
Feral
A wild boy is found in the woods by a solitary hunter and brought back to civilization. Alienated by a strange new environment, the boy tries to adapt by using the same strategies that kept him alive in the forest. A 2014 Oscar® nominated film.
Tastes Like Chicken?
The autobiography of a factory farm chicken that has a moment of lucidity and becomes aware of the tragedy of her existence.
9 Meter
Daniel’s mother is comatose in the hospital, hanging on to life by a thread. But he is convinced that she can hear him. To what lengths will he go to try to save her?
Swarming
A child discovers life inside a dead bird and starts to play with it.
US
In an empty, timeless space, funny little figures wander around with no apparent purpose…until one day a stone falls from the sky. What they do with it reveals the true nature of these off creatures.
End TV
In this intense, mixed-media, horror-parable-farce, the end of the world is televised and we count down together to the final big bang.
Kali, the Little Vampire
Academy Award®-winner Christopher Plummer narrates the story of Kali, a lonely young vampire desperate for companionship. He dreams of finding his place in the world — but will have to face his own demons before he can find a way into the Light.
Sleight of Hand
A man yearns to know his place in the world and how he fits in, when sometimes it’s better not to know.
Fly Mill
Porcelain dolls with cracked faces come to life in this nightmarish stop motion film (on par with the creepiest work of Jan Svankmajer), the dark story of a miller who collects dead flies and grinds them into bread for the ducklings he is raising.
Jamón
As the only pig in a human family, José has trouble fitting in. But after an encounter with the neighbor next door, he begins to come to terms with who he really is.
Audition
A prisoner facing the firing squad is given the chance to audition for the camp’s orchestra. Inspired by a true story.
Linear
A line is a dot that went for a walk.
The Big Beast
A legend says that a huge beast will come to eat you when you least expect it.
The Centrifuge Brain Project
Since the 1970s, scientists have been conducting experiments using specially designed amusement park rides to measure the increased brain wave activity and feelings of freedom they give to the riders.
Bon Voyage
Traveling from A to B is never easy, especially when all the passengers keep getting killed! Simple ballpoint-pen-on- paper animation uses slapstick humor to deliver a more serious message about immigration.
I Am Tom Moody
A surreal trip through the subconscious of a stifled singer as he struggles to stand on stage and sing.
Friendsheep
A wolf gets a job in an office surrounded by succulent sheep. He makes a good show at restraint until…
M + A, My Super 8
Two beautiful lifeless sisters, suspended in time or in memory.
Happy Life
On a stormy night, a boy hatches an egg from which a monster is born. Ashamed of his offspring, he takes it into the forest to try to get rid of it.
Bear Me
One day I found a bear. Or he found me. A short treatise on potentially harmful relationships.
Marcel, King of Tervuren
In this Greek tragedy — acted out by Belgian roosters — Marcel survives the bird flu, alcohol, sleeping pills and his son, Max. A true story!
Collectors
Whether it’s butterflies, shoes or friendships — collecting is a passion. One can never collect too much.