META
Interconnection, form, function, flow: all these big ideas about change and growth sprout in playful ways when creatures shape shift and dance to the rhythm of discovery.
Age Range: 5
Star Bound
When six-year-old Jerry gets together with his uncle Joey, a Mission Operations Engineer at NASA, they have so much—a galaxy’s amount—to talk about.
Poum Poum!
Poum Poum! is a musical film that celebrates the simple joy of hitting drums, scribbling on paper, splashing paint, or making cymbals screech.
Frank & Emmet
Frank and Emmet are two life-long friends and show-business partners who, after weeks of drifting apart, sit together to address head-on the one thing they’ve never talked about: one of them is a puppet.
Best Birthday Ever
Little Charlie is a small rabbit who lives with his loving family and pets in a house at the edge of town. Like many five-year-olds, he goes to a kindergarten and plays with his friends in the neighborhood, basking in the delight of his parents’ complete attention. But all of that changes with the arrival of his baby sister, Clara. When the chance for adventure with his best friend, Monica, arises, Little Charlie—eager to make his own mark and maybe a little jealous—hops to it.
Bonus: Shorts for Tots 2021
Share your love of cinema with your little ones with Shorts for Tots curated to charm and delight our youngest viewers, ages 3+, in their very first screen experiences. Little Emi in The Yogi Walrus craves ice cream and always wants more, but learning to savor is the cherry on top. Meanwhile, in Kenya’s Symphony, a stubborn 5-year-old reluctantly heads off to a performance with her mom, but when the music starts, will a passion bloom? Young Mido wants to be part of the band, but needs to adjust his wild and wooly style amidst a troupe of cool creatures in Mido and the Instrumals.
Best Birthday Ever
Little Charlie is a small rabbit who lives with his loving family and pets in a house at the edge of town. Like many five-year-olds, he goes to a kindergarten and plays with his friends in the neighborhood, basking in the delight of his parents’ complete attention. But all of that changes with the arrival of his baby sister, Clara. When the chance for adventure with his best friend, Monica, arises, Little Charlie—eager to make his own mark and maybe a little jealous—hops to it.
Shorts for Tots
One small step for a boot, one giant step for a tot will keep you apace in this shorts program filled with gleeful hops of fun. In the international Premiere of Franzy’s Soup Kitchen, it’s all intergalactic good vibes as resident alien chef Franzy stirs up some groovy nourishment to share across the atmosphere. In Step By Step, little red boots join the cinematic pantheon of ruby red slippers and red shoes to confirm there’s no place like home. And we’re always down for the ever-growing glow of Magic Light Pictures, who this year debut its newest small but mighty tale, Superworm!
DisneyNature’s Polar Bear
Narrated by two-time Academy Award® nominee Catherine Keener (Capote, Being John Malkovich), Disneynature’s Polar Bear tells the story of a new mother whose memories of her own youth prepare her to navigate motherhood in the increasingly challenging world that polar bears face today.
Poupelle of Chimney Town
Our wide-eyed, top-hatted, scruffily charming young protagonist Lubbichi—such a big name for a little boy—has a very big job to do: serving as a busy chimney sweep in his enormous and gritty post-industrial town. With all the factory soot in the air, Lubbichi and the townspeople haven’t seen the sky in years, but that won’t stop this plucky boy from dreaming of the stars. His dreams get even closer to reach when he befriends Poupelle, a gentle giant robot made of trash whose heart beats as true as any human one. Based on the beloved Japanese manga and filled with amazingly detailed CG worlds of complex, inventive devices and fantastical landscapes, this ragtag buddy movie brushes, clanks, and sweeps its way through the debris to dazzle eyes, hearts and minds. Chim, chim, cher-ee, indeed.
Cupids
This whimsical comedy love letter to New York’s essential workers follows a whole class on the last day of school as they scheme to find the perfect partner for their adored bus driver, Ms. Cheryl, and save her from a lonely summer without them.
Mama Has A Mustache
In this fully-animated, wildly collaged documentary, kids ages 5 to 10 share their thoughts about how they experience loving, inclusive worlds that aren’t bound by traditional gender binaries.
Battery Daddy
Everyone relies on attentive Battery Dad to keep things well-powered and smoothly-run, but when a field trip’s downpour hits, will he still have the power to keep his cool and save the day?
Short Films One
Families abound in all forms in Short Films One, so whether you get a charge from the wacky humor that fuels Battery Daddy, are tickled by the fuzzy, feel-good inclusiveness of Mama Has a Mustache, or driven to delight by the kismet of NYC schoolkids aiming to make righteous bus connections in Cupids, you’ll have plenty of charmed chances to find your tribe! Full lineup to come…
DisneyNature’s Polar Bear
See it before it hits theaters! Narrated by two-time Academy Award® nominee Catherine Keener (Capote, Being John Malkovich), Disneynature’s Polar Bear tells the story of a new mother whose memories of her own youth prepare her to navigate motherhood in the increasingly challenging world that polar bears face today.
Centerpiece Spotlight: Turning Red
Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red introduces Mei Lee (voice of Rosalie Chiang), a confident, dorky 13-year-old torn between staying her mother’s dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. Her protective, if not slightly overbearing mother, Ming (voice of Sandra Oh), is never far from her daughter—an unfortunate reality for the teenager. And as if changes to her interests, relationships and body weren’t enough, whenever she gets too excited (which is practically ALWAYS), she “poofs” into a giant red panda! Directed by Academy Award® winner Domee Shi (Pixar short Bao) and produced by Lindsey Collins, Turning Red releases on March 11, 2022.
Poupelle of Chimney Town
Poupelle of Chimney Town is the story of young Lubicchi living among the thick smoke from the chimneys of his isolated town, yearning to see the “stars” — to know the truth — his father always told him about. One Halloween night he meets Poupelle, a man made of garbage, and together they look to the sky as their adventure begins. Spectacularly beautiful, filled with inspiring performances and splendid music and sound effects, and produced at Tokyo’s famed STUDIO4ºC, Poupelle of Chimney Town brings laughter, tears and joy.
NYICFF Kid Flicks One
Jump-start your little ones’ love of cinema with Kid Flicks One, curated to charm all ages and especially introduce our youngest viewers, ages 3+, to their very first screen experiences.
Vivo
From Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation—the studio that brought you Oscar® winner Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and this year’s critically acclaimed blockbuster The Mitchells vs. The Machines—comesVivo, an animated musical adventure featuring all-new songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Tony, Grammy, and Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of Hamilton and In the Heights. Vivo follows a one-of-kind kinkajou (aka a rainforest “honey bear,” voiced by Miranda), who spends his days playing music to the crowds in a lively square with his beloved owner Andrés (Buena Vista Social Club’s Juan de Marcos). Though they may not speak the same language, Vivo and Andrés are the perfect duo through their common love of music. But when tragedy strikes shortly after Andrés receives a letter from the famous Marta Sandoval (three-time Grammy-winning Latin pop legend Gloria Estefan), inviting her old partner to her farewell concert with the hope of reconnecting, it’s up to Vivo to deliver a message that Andrés never could: A love letter to Marta, written long ago, in the form of a song. Yet in order to get to Marta, who lives a world apart, Vivo will need the help of Gabi (newcomer Ynairaly Simo) – an energetic tween who bounces to the beat of her own offbeat drum to fulfill his owner’s wishes. – Netflix
Vivo Q&A
Join us for a free Q&A featuring Oscar®-nominated director Kirk DeMicco and voice star Ynairaly Simo of Vivo! We’ll discuss the inspiration behind the film, animating different locations, making a musical, and answer your questions!
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.
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
Teachers, sign your class up here.
Presented in partnership with
Sum of its Parts
Umbrellas
Safe and dry, Kyna has her dad’s love and protection to carry her through…until her dog, Nana, needs a rescue.
a film by m+m
Two wacky wizard friends bump and cruise through a fantastical land, powered by green in more ways than one!
Leaf
A larger-than-life sailor is reminded of home when a passenger’s daughter brings aboard a tiny red leaf, inspiring a grand new journey.
Athleticus: Sled
Puffins vs. seals. Who will win the big score in this slippy, slidey downhill race?
Catgot
Colors and sounds share a sonic dance in this enveloping jam for the senses.
Orgiastic Hyper-Plastic
Buttons and fasteners, toy ponies and kittens, bright action figures and straws that are bitten: these are a few of your favorite things to invite to this lively, stop-motion plastic farewell dance.
A Lynx in the Town
You’ve heard of King Kong, now meet this king cat, a giant feline who falls for the big city, with its skyscraper scratching posts and inhabitants who marvel at her size.