Karol, the Vampire Queen
On the day of her eighth birthday party, Karol just wants to be a vampire queen. Her family isn’t so supportive of her unique aspiration.
Award: Audience Award
Squeegee Boy
On a quest for belonging and acceptance, a trans teenager yearns to become part of a tight-knit group of squeegee boys in Baltimore city.
The Queen’s Flowers
Honolulu, 1915. Emma makes a special gift for Queen Lili`uokalani, the last monarch of Hawai`i.
Hoofs on Skates
Two friends discover the joys of the ice—both above and below. From NYICFF Award-winning filmmaker and two-time Fest alum Ignas Meilūnas!
Tabby McTat
The Oscar®-nominated (and NYICFF Award-winning) Magic Light Pictures returns to share the adventure of a tabby street cat and his busking friend.
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.
Gugu naGogo
When a lunar eclipse stops her late-night letter exchanges, 12-year-old astronomer Gugu must find a way to reconnect with her beloved Gogo (grandmother) who lives far away in Zimbabwe.
More than Hair
Sitting for the first time in a barbershop, a young black boy discovers power of black hair.
Architect A
Architect A constructs every house to resemble a person’s life, using their memories to build a thriving, living, and breathing structure beyond all imagination.
The Smeds and the Smoos
Smeds vs Smoos, Reds vs Blues: the age old story of competing tribes and star-crossed matches gets a hilarious and charming new spin in this latest interplanetary delight by Magic Light Pictures.
The Fall
Leafie is a plucky little maple leaf who loves to groove. But when their latest performance takes an unexpected turn, the harsh realities of the season come crashing down.
Generation Impact: The Coder
Jay Jay Patton was only 13 when she designed and built an app to help kids connect with their incarcerated parents, inspired by her own experience. Now she is creating a coding academy to help other kids do the same.
Franzy’s Soup Kitchen
Lonely alien Chef Franzy discovers that her special pink soup is not just delicious, but also magical when she shares it with hungry creatures living on a strange planet.
Charlotte
Charlotte is a testament to the power of art to endure, affront, and thrive, even in the face of impossible circumstances. This beautifully animated saga is based on the life of Charlotte Salomon, an aspiring painter living in Germany during the Nazi rise to power. As hard as it is to gain acceptance to the art academy as a girl, Charlotte’s Jewish background makes achieving her dream even harder, and soon her entire community’s existence is threatened. Eventually she is forced into exile with her difficult, emotionally distant grandparents before finding safe, loving harbor in the South of France. Charlotte’s new host wholeheartedly encourages her artmaking. The result is a decades-spanning, boldly ambitious visual autobiography that confronts the perils of war, a family legacy of mental illness, and dashed dreams. Featuring the voice of Keira Knightley, Charlotte paints the legacy of a little-known artist whose impact lasts long beyond her brief life.
Note: film contains intense moments depicting the reality of World War II Europe, suicide, and sexual content
Note: film contains intense moments depicting the reality of World War II Europe, suicide, and sexual content
Moominvalley
Tove Jansson’s delightful universe is back, premiering exclusively at NYICFF with all the Moomincapers you could ever wish for in three new episodes. It’s a battle to decide who’s in charge in Brisk and Breezy when camper and notorious mischief-maker Little My runs Mr. Brisk through a series of tests to prove his mettle. Next, leave it to Moomintroll to get into a muddle inadvertently following valley rogue Stinky down a foul path to thievery, only getting into more rot when trying to make things right. Finally, the Moominfamily must postpone their winter hibernation while Moominmomma (voiced by Rosamund Pike) keeps something under wraps in Winter Secrets.
It Was Only A Rock That Looked Like Someone
Adam and Steve are two astronauts with a mission: they have to send space samples to Earth with the help of a robot. The work starts to wear thin, especially for Steve. That is, until he starts to see very familiar faces in the stones of the planet.
Mum Is Pouring Rain
Jane is looking forward to spending Christmas with her mom, but she is sent unknowingly to her Grandma’s instead. The holidays turn out to be quite an adventure as Jane meets new friends—including a giant vagabond who lives in the forest. As she learns to open herself to others, Jane gives her mother the necessary strength to get back on her feet.
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.
Ink
Being a neat freak is easy when you’ve got eight arms and live underwater, but try keeping up with this octopus teacher’s hilarious lesson!
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.
Vanille
When Parisian Vanille is forced to spend the summer with her auntie in Guadeloupe, she discovers her Carribean roots and uncovers a big mystery
Tulip
Tulip, a tiny child born from a flower, explores a wondrous miniature word in this little story with a big message of acceptance at its Thumbelina-inspired heart.
Fahim, the Little Chess Prince
In this true-to-life story, Fahim journeys from Bangladesh to France with his father and seeks to train with a chess grandmaster. When coach Sylvain (Gerard Depardieu) accepts Fahim into a challenging chess class, he transforms his fate in more ways than one in a heartwarming testimony to a father’s determination, the kindness of strangers, and one boy’s courageous will to succeed.
Note: Some mature language; scenes of political persecution and refugee hardship, including some violence
Note: Some mature language; scenes of political persecution and refugee hardship, including some violence
My Life in Versailles
Life in a castle sounds like a piece of cake, but not for Violette, who must move into one with her uncle, the caretaker of the Palace of Versailles.
The Snail and the Whale
The latest from NYICFF alum Magic Light Pictures (Zog) rolls out gigantic waves of big-screen beauty and charming voicing by Sally Hawkins. When a tiny snail longs to see the world, it hitches a ride onto a great big, grey-blue humpback whale. Together they go on an amazing, gloriously animated journey, past icebergs and volcanoes, sharks and penguins, and marvel at the vast wonders of the world, and size seems like strength to the snail. But when the whale is beached in a bay, it’s the tiny snail who just might save the day.