The Incident at Tower 37
A guard at a futuristic water tower intercepts a covert band of amphibian creatures trying to destroy the tower to rehydrate their planet.
Country: United States
The Dancer
This uplifting true story about orphan Satish shows shades of Slumdog Millionaire. Beautiful village and pastoral scenery and quick-cut montages revel in the bustling colors, sounds, tastes, and textures of India, while Satish’s indomitable spirit and joyfulness prevail against all odds.
First Position
One of the most talked about films at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, First Position follows six astoundingly gifted, unbelievably disciplined young dancers vying for a spot in the Youth America Grand Prix. Considered one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world, the NYC showcase provides students the opportunity to dance for scholarships to the world’s top dance schools and land contracts with renowned companies. Joan Sebastian, 16, from Cali, Colombia dances to create a better life for himself and his family. Miko, 12, from Palo Alto, pursues her love of ballet with the help of (or perhaps in spite of) her perfectionist Tiger Mom. Michaela, 14, was adopted as a toddler from war-torn Sierra Leone and fights through injury to overcome stereotypes that keep many black dancers out of the spotlight. And then there’s Gaya from Israel, who at only 11 years old dances with a poise, control and maturity that is simply astonishing to behold. With tensions building as we progress to the make-or-break finals, the film supplies all the drama you would expect — but even more than a dance movie, First Position captures the universal trials and triumphs of childhood across all walks of life.
Let’s Make Out
From the creator of last year’s Chicken Cowboy, a musical tribute to the innocent joys of smooching and booty-shaking.
Murphy’s Shorts
A chubby kid on a diving board keeps bouncing higher and higher, as sister, dad, and baby watch from below with growing anticipation and concern.
Floyd the Android
An inquisitive android can’t seem to keep his head on straight in this playful short on teleportation.
Keenan at Sea
This adorable, hummable tune from NY acoustic pop group The Girls is the theme song for the 2012 festival! “A salty sea and a boat for three as we sail past the coral reef…we wave goodbye to the sandy beach far away…la la la la!”
Marcel the Shell with the Shoes On
An up-close and personal interview with internet video star Marcel, a tiny shell with one eyeball, two shoes, and a really great personality!
Backwards
A love story so backwards, it has to be told in reverse.
Book Girl and Cabinet Girl
A sweet and tender story of friendship, jealousy, and love. Book Girl and Cabinet Girl meet and become friends. But then Scissors Boy comes along and cuts them apart.
Extinction of the Sabertooth House Cat
Though scientists have conjectured, none could truly say what caused the demise of the Sabertooth House Cat. But not this hard-hitting documentary reveals startling new evidence to detail the dramatic last moments of one of Earth’s littlest known creatures.
Bottle
This transoceanic love story, animated in stop motion on the beach, forest, and undersea, details a long distance friendship that blossoms between a sandman and a snowwoman who exchange gifts via a bottle in the water. But sand and snow cannot withstand water, so how can the two hope to be together?
Metro
A young girl chases a mysterious fox through a secret door and into a subterranean wonderland to retrieve her stolen train ticket.
The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger
The latest film from NYICFF’s favorite hometown hero, Bill Plympton is a factory farming fable about the power of advertising, the meaning of life, and ultimately the test of a mother’s love.
(Notes On) Biology
Probably the most exciting lesson on etoecology you’ll ever receive combines rotoscoping and stop-motion animation to literally illustrate what really goes on during biology class (parents, look away).
The Girl and the Fox
An enemy becomes a friend as a young girl has a life-and-death encounter with a snow fox at dusk in the frozen forest.
Salaam Dunk
One part More than a Game, two parts Bad News Bears, this thoroughly charming and eye-opening sports doc offers a glimpse of hope and possibility for life in Iraq through the vantage point of a girls college basketball team. In its second year of existence, the American University of Iraq women’s team has never won a single game – not surprising in a culture where team sports are strictly for men and when most of the players have never touched a basketball (some even show up to tryouts in high heels!). Yet what they lack in talent they make up for in spunk, executing every drill and taking every direction from Connecticut English teacher-turned coach Ryan, whose earnestness sometimes plays like parody as he rallies his motley but endearing group into game shape. Through interviews and homemade video diaries, team members share their experiences before leaving war-torn homes and finding refuge at the university, where Kurds, Sunnis, Christians and Shiites are all welcome. Though the basketball is laughable (they lose one game 68 to 2), filmmaker David Fine captures every pass and nail-biting free throw as if he was filming for ESPN, and provides an overcoming-the-odds spirit so strong that the viewer can’t help but cheer for the rag-tag team. But the true heroes are the girls off court. Though a world apart from the lives led by most New York girls, what comes through in the film are not the differences but the similarities.
Mars Needs Moms 3D
Be the first person on the planet to see Mars Needs Moms, Disney’s new 3D space adventure comedy from motion capture pioneers ImageMovers Digital (Polar Express) and producer Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump). Based on the beloved book by Pulitzer Prize-winning Berkeley Breathed, the film centers on sarcastic ‘tween Milo who is chafing under the rules and regs of a nagging mother he doesn’t appreciate. But when Mom is kidnapped by Martians in desperate need of Earth moms to raise their unruly young. Milo stows away on a spaceship in hot pursuit — and lands in an awe-inspiring, red-hued, futuristic world where the combination of wild technology and zero gravity provides plenty of fun and danger. With the help of slacker/hacker earthling Gribble and Martian girl-pal Ki, Milo sets out on a quest to find and save his mother. Featuring the voices of Seth Green, Joan Cusack and Dan Fogler.
Cinderella Moon
Based on the earliest known version of Cinderella, the Chinese tale “Ye Xian” from 768 A.D., cinematographer Richard Bowen’s wonder-filled feature debut is a gorgeous and enchanting fairytale, with exquisitely ornate costumes, dazzling scenery shot in Yunnan Province, and an underlying message that is as timely today as it was thirteen centuries ago. In a mythical kingdom, a girl is born. The village shaman had foretold a boy and Mei Mei’s father is sorely disappointed. Years later with her mother gone, Mei Mei is left with nothing but a pair of bejeweled slippers and the hope that one day she will get to dance at the Festival of the Full Moon. Meanwhile, the kingdom has been thrown out of balance — the moon is stuck in the sky — and the handsome young king is commanded by his mother to take a wife to restore the celestial harmony. But the king refuses to have a child with a woman he does not truly love. One day, peering through a telescope from his island home, the king spies Mei Mei floating on air in her magical slippers. Convinced that he’s seen an angel, he sets out in search for her— but she runs off, losing one bejeweled slipper along the way.
Chimpanzee
NYICFF is thrilled to present the first New York screening of the new Disneynature film from the award-winning directors of Earth. Sumptuously shot in the rain forests of Africa, Chimpanzee tells the true-life story of an adorable young chimp named Oscar. Oscar’s playful curiosity and zest for discovery showcase the intelligence and ingenuity of some of the most extraordinary personalities in the animal kingdom. The world is a playground for little Oscar and his fellow young chimps, who’d rather make mayhem than join their parents for an afternoon nap. Working together, Oscar’s chimpanzee family — including his mom, Isha, and the group’s savvy leader, Freddy — navigates the complex territory of the forest. But when Oscar’s family is confronted by a rival community of chimps, he is left to fend for himself until a surprising ally steps in and changes his life forever. As with the groundbreaking earlier Disneynature films, Chimpanzee boasts unparalleled nature photography and gives us an intimate first-hand look into the life of our closest relatives, while telling a truly remarkable story of family bonds and individual triumph.
The Wonder Hospital
A boy with a misshapen head looks to improve his appearance through the wonders of plastic surgery and altered reality, in this super creepy hospital/funhouse film.
Ghild
A story about a boy who was born a giant. Featuring Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville) and Harland Williams (Half Baked).
The Sandpit
Intricately “re-animated” with over 35,000 individual photos, the filmmaker presents a day in the life of New York City as you’ve never seen it before. The city seems shrunk down to the size of a Playmobil set, with water taxi’s bobbing, toy-like steam shovels moving jerkily on miniature construction sites and car taillights streaming together in streaks of red and white as they head up the FDR.
Dr. Breakfast
The newest film from NYICFF alum Stephen Neary (Let’s Make Out, Chicken Cowboy) manages to exceed both his previous entries in its twisted lovability. One day at breakfast, a man’s soul bursts out of his eyeball. While the soul roams the Earth in search of delicious things to eat, two neighborly deer care for the man’s catatonic body, showing him the meaning of friendship.
Vlog
A teenage runaway documents her pre-dawn escape, videotaping a tearful goodbye to her sleeping family, she slips out the door, hops on her bike, sticks in her ear buds, and is free.
The Yellow Balloon
The true story of a dramatic event that takes place on a New York City subway, featuring a little girl and her yellow balloon.
Paint Showers
Out of a swirling cosmos of paint, comes a downpour of color and texture washing over all.
Enrique Wrecks the World
An unfortunate chain of events is set in motion when a boy shoots at a bird with a slingshot. Tasteless and crass. A hilarious blood bath. Parents, please leave the room.
Hairy
Two teenage girls head to a remote spot to be alone in the sun and listen to music. Farah is visiting from the US, while her cousin Nilou was raised in Iran and is much more inhibited about her body and her sexuality. But Farah is determined to shake up Nilou’s conservative ways.
Diversity
This instructive cartoon teaches important lessons of life, like how to do the happy dance.