Age: 10+

programs

Kid Flicks: Pride

Kid Flicks: Pride is a celebration of self-expression, community, legacy, and love. Curated specifically for ages 9 and up, these shorts from around the world feature a wide range of LGBTQ+ identities and experiences in as many unique styles. Schoolyard matchmakers, a Belgian teen, a group of indigenous Hawaiian māhū, and more highlight the power that comes from embracing who you are.
films

Swimming with Butterflies

After missing bronze by 1/100th of a second at the 2016 Paralympic games, Austin-based swimmer Lizzi Smith shares what’s bringing her back to the pool—and bringing hope to the next generation.
films

Burul

Burul loves wrestling, but the coach won’t let her train at the boys’ gym, so she trains at home. She also gets unwanted attention from a neighborhood boy who wants to marry her.
films

Go My Way

All the advice Elisa receives to make Martin fall in love with her is to change not only her appearance, but also who she really is.
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Warrior Heart

12-year-old Vilja loves wrestling but is terrified of getting hurt. To make matters worse, Thea is the star of the wrestling club.
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Amplified

When Karate star Hind has her world distorted, she sways between tenderness and pain, silence and noise, the hidden and the manifest.
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Scrap Fabric

Fearing disapproval, a teenage trans girl secretly sews a prom dress from her mother’s scrap fabric.
programs

Girls’ POV

Not just for girls! These shorts feature stories of girls breaking the mold.
films

Winners

After arriving with her Kurdish family in Berlin, Mona is struggling to find her footing. Her hair is wrong, her accent’s wrong, and she misses home. Home is Syria, or at least it was before she was forced to flee. They’re safe now, but busy Berlin offers a different kind of chaos. Kids challenge teachers, mean girls pick fights, and Mona barely knows any German. What she does know is soccer, even if she vowed never to play after leaving her Syrian team and her cherished aunt Helin. Things don’t get any better when her new teacher and coach convinces her to join the team. Mona and her mates know that teamwork doesn’t come easy, but there’s only one way to win. Winners, a coming-of-age story with a fresh, 2025 perspective, comes to NYICFF after a world premiere at Berlinale and taking home the German Film Award for Best Children’s Film. Note: As mean girls are wont to do, they use some harsh language in this film.
films

Jippie No More!

a boy with down syndrome looks forward while a young woman standing beside him looks his way
Jippie’s sister is getting married, and the whole family is helping with the celebration. The good dishes are out, decorations are set, and Jippie is ready for the performance of a lifetime. Unfortunately, Jippie’s parents insist he sit this one out and leave the attention for the bride. No matter—there’s plenty to do on Grandpa’s rural estate. Plus, love is in the air, and it’s not just the bride and groom who are feeling it. When Lily arrives to help train Grandpa’s horse, it’s butterflies immediately for Jippie. And what better way to win her over than a song-and-dance show-stopper? If only Lily could stop staring at Jippie’s little sister long enough to look his way…Jippie No More! captures the chaos of one big family, where each member is so deeply entrenched in their own beliefs. But a genuine warmth and admiration for each other ensures that there’s no issue they can’t overcome. This program is supported by the Dutch Culture USA’s Future 400 program of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New York.
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Home Court

members of a girls' high school basketball team huddle on the court
This 2025 answer to Hoop Dreams follows a high school basketball phenom on her quest for college superstardom. High school is hard enough, but Ashley must face a pandemic, a knee injury, and a lack of understanding from her Cambodian immigrant parents as she rises through the ranks of the local basketball scene. On top of all that, she is constantly battling contradictions: squaring her modest home life with her elite private school persona, reconciling a love of sports while her parents work long days at the family donut shop, and curbing her passion (and sometimes fury) in order to effectively lead her team to victory. Luckily, she has the support of the dedicated and compassionate Coach Jayme and the community of local Asian American basketball leagues that date back to the 1930s. Ashley might just have what it takes to make it to the big time.

Note: Like many passionate, hotheaded teenagers, our protagonist uses some harsh language.
programs

Girls’ POV

This edition of Girls’ POV celebrates trailblazing young scientists who are developing creative solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. From a 19th century fossil hunter to today’s innovators, these girls lead the field!
films

In the End We’re All Music

In the microcosm of an indoor swimming hall, three women discover what it means to be strong in their own way.
films

Unibrow

When Leyla tries to fix her unibrow, she accidentally makes things worse. When the new girl at school offers to help make her brow smaller, Leyla feels her world begin to grow bigger.
films

It Was Up There

The true and hilarious story of a couple who, while driving through an unpopulated New Mexico desert, see something unexplainable up in the night sky.
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Sports Day

A girl struggles for her mom’s approval at a school sports event.
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Monsters

Roaa, Zainab, and Noe Noe all fled to the Netherlands for different reasons, but each girl has created an imaginary monster of her own.
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Zeb’s Spider

What begins as a way of coping with an uninvited arachnid soon takes on a monstrous life of its own.
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Little Birds

From a shelter in northern Mexico, the voices of boys and girls show that dreams survive even the most trying migrations.
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Daffy in Wackyland

In the first stop-motion Looney Tunes short ever made, we find Daffy Duck desperately chasing The Dodo through Wackyland in search of a simple meal.
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#DouDou Challenge

Olivia’s social media obsession leaves her abandoned in a highway service area, where her attempts to get off her phone take an unexpected turn. Directed by Julie Majcher, Alexandra Delaunay-Fernandez, Sixtine Emerat, Marine Benabdallah-Crolais, Scott Pardailhé-Galabrun, & Noémie Segalowicz
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Ethel

Ethel’s fascination with her late mother’s figure skating career puts her on perilously thin ice.
films

Spot the Differences

When nine-year-old Lottie discovers an opulent dollhouse in her attic, it looks a little too familiar…
Directed by Brune de Cerval, Fleur Larcena, Clémence Beauprez, Aurélie Lequien, Yohan Gameiro, & Samantha Liu
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Amor Eterno

Los Muertos come back to the land of the living to celebrate their time on earth.
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