Festival Year: 2011

films

Sammy’s Adventures: The Secret Passage 3D

This delightful, kid-friendly eco-adventure utilizes the immersive 3D experience to the fullest: you will feel like you are snorkeling in a fabulously colorful, animated undersea world. When Sammy and his fellow turtle hatchlings are born, they face a dangerous journey from shore to sea, a trek that can seem like a marathon to a newborn sea turtle. Before they reach the surf, Sammy and a young female turtle named Shelly are scooped up by seagulls, and Sammy must act fast to save them both. Only hours old and already a hero, Sammy is almost too exhausted to continue on his path to the ocean, and the two part ways as Shelly begins her new life at sea. But a lifetime of adventure is in store for Sammy as he begins a 50-year odyssey, inspired by the real experience of a sea turtle. Along the way he gets washed ashore and adopted by a commune of hippies who draw a peace sign on his shell — carrying this proud symbol on his back, he crosses the globe making friends and facing obstacles from oil spills to natural predators as he tries to reunite with his long lost Shelly. Film features stunning, vibrant 3D visuals and a soundtrack peppered with pop songs from Bruno Mars and Michael Jackson.
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The Dreams of Jinsha

Five years in the making, Chen Deming’s Oscar®-shortlisted, animated feature blends Chinese history and mythology in a time-travel, fantasy adventure — as a young boy from Beijing hurtles back in time 3,000 years to the Jinsha Kingdom and finds himself at the center of an ancient prophecy. Entering a world of sweeping hand-drawn landscapes filled with serene rivers, spirit-filled forests, and seas of lotus blossoms, the boy Xiao Long meets a young princess riding a white lion, who escorts him to the palace of the Jinsha king. There he discovers that his arrival has been pre-ordained, and that the pendant that hangs around his neck — a gift from his father — has the power to either bring peace or unleash untold devastation upon the Kingdom and its people. Longing to return home, but also enchanted by his surroundings and newfound friends, Xiao Long faces a difficult choice between leaving the past behind, or staying and risking his life to save Jinsha. The animators clearly drew inspiration from the work of Hayao Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli fans will note references to Castle in the Sky, Nausicaa, and The Cat Returns) to create this epic but child-friendly fable about friendship, power, and self-sacrifice.
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Boy

Using his own childhood hometown as a luscious backdrop, Oscar®-nominated director Taika Waititi delivers a delightfully playful, delicately poignant film that gracefully scales comedy and drama and is simply a joy to watch. It is 1984, Michael Jackson rules the airwaves, and eleven-year-old “Boy” lives with his kid brother and a slew of cousins in a small, dirt-poor community tucked away amongst the lazy beaches of rural New Zealand. Boy spends his days trying to impress crush Chardonnay with his “Thriller” dance moves and fantasizing about the day his father will come home from jail to take him on amazing adventures. When his father finally does return, it is not for familial bonding, but to dig up the bag of money he hid while running from the police and to set up in the garage with his gang of hapless hooligans. It isn’t long before Boy realizes that his father is not the combination war hero/deep sea diver/rugby captain that he imagined him to be — but a loutish, selfish buffoon whose opulent delusions are even more childish than his own. It is a coming of age story for both father and son.
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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.
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Mia & The Migoo

NYICFF presents the world premiere of the new English language version of Mia & the Migoo, which was NYICFF opening night film in 2009 and went on to win Best Animated Feature at the European Film Awards. Created from an astounding 500,000 hand-painted frames of animation, the film is breathtakingly beautiful and thrilling adventure that pits wild-haired young heroine Mia against profit-hungry developers, with the future of life on Earth in the balance. One night Mia has a premonition. So after saying a few words of parting at her mother’s grave, she sets out on a cross-continent journey across mountains and jungles to search for her father, who has been trapped in a landslide at a disaster-plagued construction site on a remote tropical lake. In the middle of the lake stands the ancient and gnarled Tree of Life, watched over by innocent, bumbling forest spirits called the Migoo, who grow and change shape as they please, morphing from small childlike beings to petulant giants. It is the Migoo who have been sabotaging the construction to protect this sacred site and — now together with Mia — they join in a fight to find Mia’s father and save the Tree.
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Time of Eve

Covering territory explored by Blade Runner and I, Robot (the film makes frequent allusions to Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics), Time of Eve is an exquisitely drawn, sci-fi allegory that probes questions of artificial intelligence while flirting with the moral and personal implications of human-robot romance. It is the future and household androids are becoming common. Completely lifelike and indistinguishable from humans, androids are programmed to serve with devotion — so it is no wonder that high schooler Rikuo begins to have unsettling feelings towards his android Sammy, feelings heightened when he discovers a curious phrase recorded in her activity log, “Are you enjoying the Time of Eve?” Investigating with his buddy Masaki, they discover an enigmatic underground café, a robot safe-zone, where androids and humans interact as equals — in apparent violation of guidelines set by the all-powerful Robot Ethics Committee. Inside the café distinctions between human and android are blurred and both seem to reveal layers of emotional complexity not apparent in the outside world.
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All That Cats

In this series of short animations, a duo of hip hop cats perform beatbox rhythms to transform everyday situations into musical experiences.
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Lightness

Sofia wants to be a movie director and constantly follows her mother and teen sister, Lola, around with a camera. But while capturing her footage she makes the discovery that Lola secretly writes odes to hunger and longs to turn into a butterfly and “be taken by the wind.”
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We are Boys

In this sun-bleached ode to boys’ life, two best friends spend the waning days of summer pestering their neighbors, sailing their boat, catching frogs, and savoring the final, fleeting moments of their time together before one goes off to high school.
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Muscles

A teen girl pulls the head off a Barbie doll and attaches it to the muscle-bound body of a male action figure. But the heart of the film falls on the girl’s younger brother, a gentle outcast struggling to define his masculinity against a backdrop of violence with a sister in training to be a competitive bodybuilder and parents who spar in the boxing ring to see who will wash the dishes.
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Minnie Loves Junior

A beautifully shot film about a little boy who loves the sea, and a little girl who loves the boy.
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Ghild

A story about a boy who was born a giant. Featuring Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville) and Harland Williams (Half Baked).
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Crossing

Boy meets girl in a story about perception.
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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.
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Who’s There?

Two boys hatch out of eggs and have an imaginative adventure. Sometimes as friends, sometimes as rivals, they build a house to protect themselves from the wolf.
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Monstre Sacré

In a twist on Hans Christian Anderson, a baby dinosaur is hatched into a family of ducklings and grows into a misunderstood monster and international superstar.
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Dust Kid

Waking up late on a cold winter’s afternoon, Eujin finds a small dust kid under her bed —a miniature version of herself sitting alone and dejected in the shadows.
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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.
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Scary Therapy

A vampire with first-date nerves, a zombie struggling with his brain-eating disorder, and a human-fly with parental issues. Everybody needs a little help from time to time.
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Whistleless

In this fun, sweet, musical cartoon, a little bird struggles to find his voice in a world full of different noises. A colorful, hand-drawn gem from NYICFF alum Siri Melchior (Dog Who Was a Cat Inside, Mambo) makes its first East Coast appearance following a run of major fests including Berlin, Toronto, Annecy, Seoul, and many more.
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Mobile

Isolated on the edge of society, a cow tips the balance of destiny when she attempts to make a friend.
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How the Shammies Bathed

Collage and mixed media animation create a textural feast, with adorable animated characters designed in patterned fabrics, burlap, and buttons. A foreboding “drip-drop” coming from a dark room turns out to be only water in the tub — it’s bath time for the Shammies!
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Love & Theft

Iconic figures from Betty Boop to Mao Zedong morph into one another in ever intensifying animated loops in this psychedelic tour-de-force from Andreas Hykade.
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I-Do-Air

A young girl is afraid to dive into the pool. Retreating to the locker room, she holds her breath and floats to a serene place within her head. Later she sees two unexpected creatures swimming gracefully under the water and takes a plunge into their magical world. This BAFTA winning film has played Berlin, LA and other top fests.
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Little Miss Eyeflap

A fantastical and magical fable of a young woman caught between two cultures. Little Miss Eyeflap is sent to grandma’s house wearing a cap with blinders, so she will not be enticed by distractions along the way. But everything is so beautiful! Magic butterflies, snow capped mountains, flowering meadows, and an earnest young lover in lederhosen.
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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.
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The Persistent Resistance of Vision

This experimental animated film mimics the optical illusion effect of a thaumatrope (look it up) by rapidly alternating still drawings of a bird, a cage, and a Cheshire-like cat to start-and-stop electro-circus music.
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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.
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Don’t Go

Awesome, thumpy, electronic disco music propels this non-stop chase scene of a movie — as a cute, pink-bellied, one-eyed CGI bunny gets chased around an apartment by a live action black cat.
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