Swarming
A child discovers life inside a dead bird and starts to play with it.
Festival Year: 2013
Ashton’s Presents
Impatient for his birthday, Aston whiles away the hours gift wrapping everything he can lay his hands on. When the big day arrives, he discovers that the “real” present is not always the best one.
End TV
In this intense, mixed-media, horror-parable-farce, the end of the world is televised and we count down together to the final big bang.
Kali, the Little Vampire
Academy Award®-winner Christopher Plummer narrates the story of Kali, a lonely young vampire desperate for companionship. He dreams of finding his place in the world — but will have to face his own demons before he can find a way into the Light.
The Vacuum Kid
A charming 12-year old boy shares his unusual passion for vacuum cleaners.
Siblings
An emotional family drama emerges at the dinner table. Dad has something to say and things will never be the same. The tense conversation is intercut with flashbacks of beautiful grainy super 8 footage, showing the joyful bond between three siblings as they contemplate the life that was, is, and will be.
Grandmother
When sleeping at her grandmother’s house in the countryside, a little city girl becomes spooked by the wrinkled, weather-worn old woman and the unfamiliar surroundings. In this beautifully animated fable she learns that it is our roots that give us strength.
Day of the Dead
With sugar skulls, sweet-smelling marigold petals, and joyful songs, a family welcomes back its ancestors in this spirited and colorful tribute to a unique holiday.
Macropolis
On a conveyor belt in a toy factory, a rejected rubber kitty is thrown into a trash bin. Outside, he meets up with a similarly rejected rubber dog — and together they set out on a journey to try to catch up with their comrades already packed up in the delivery van and on their way to the toy store.
Fly Mill
Porcelain dolls with cracked faces come to life in this nightmarish stop motion film (on par with the creepiest work of Jan Svankmajer), the dark story of a miller who collects dead flies and grinds them into bread for the ducklings he is raising.
The Fox and the Chickadee
Mr. Fox thinks he has Chickadee right where he wants her: trapped and ready to be eaten. But the cunning little Chickadee knows where the farmer hides the key to the chicken coop. If only Mr. Fox will cooperate, the two can work together to steal that much larger and more delicious feast.
Marvin
Marvin was born with a hole in his head and one day something important falls out. His brain. However after some searching about, he realizes he has more fun without it.
Goat Herder and His Lots and Lots and Lots of Goats
Beneath a fuchsia sky, a goat herder leads his flock of goats up and down the mountains of Spain. Inspired by the filmmaker’s daughter, this multi-award winning film uses a lovely muted color palette, beautiful design and subtle humor to excellent effect.
The Centrifuge Brain Project
Since the 1970s, scientists have been conducting experiments using specially designed amusement park rides to measure the increased brain wave activity and feelings of freedom they give to the riders.
Friendsheep
A wolf gets a job in an office surrounded by succulent sheep. He makes a good show at restraint until…
I Am Tom Moody
A surreal trip through the subconscious of a stifled singer as he struggles to stand on stage and sing.
Bon Voyage
Traveling from A to B is never easy, especially when all the passengers keep getting killed! Simple ballpoint-pen-on- paper animation uses slapstick humor to deliver a more serious message about immigration.
Audition
A prisoner facing the firing squad is given the chance to audition for the camp’s orchestra. Inspired by a true story.
Lola
Two dolls in a toy store are separated when a customer decides to buy one of them. In search of his lost partner, the other embarks on an emotional journey around the world.
Happy Life
On a stormy night, a boy hatches an egg from which a monster is born. Ashamed of his offspring, he takes it into the forest to try to get rid of it.
M + A, My Super 8
Two beautiful lifeless sisters, suspended in time or in memory.
Red
A silhouette of a lonely girl runs through the woods. Something in the shadows is following her. In this stylized but gruesome take on the classic fairy tale, little Red exacts vengeance for the death of her grandmother.
Choir Tour
It’s a wild free-for-all when a famous boys’ choir breaks away from their conductor while on tour in Seoul and causes mayhem in the hotel. Cool graphic design, wonderful visual humor and music, beautiful music!
Paper Touch
Paper cutouts and corrugated cardboard burst into origami action to create a hybrid pinball-pachinko machine in this gorgeous and highly imaginative stop-motion short.
Snack Attack
Waiting to board the train, an old lady just wants to eat her cookies in peace. But the young punk on the platform next to her seems intent on sharing her snack…or is something else going on here?
Animated Amusements
Using time-lapse photography, carnival rides come to life, dancing and jumping like neon monsters in the night.
The Little Bird and the Leaf
It’s winter. At the end of a branch hangs a single leaf. A little black bird comes along to water it — but just as the bird reaches the end of the branch, a swift winter wind carries the leaf away.
Stargate
Manipulated footage of a carnival ride becomes increasingly more kaleidoscopic, fragmented, and intense, disintegrating at last into nothingness.
Animation Hotline
From NYICFF alumnus Dustin Grella (Prayers for Peace), an ongoing series where the filmmaker creates daily mini-films by animating messages left on his Animation Hotline voicemail. Leave a message!
Elia
In this stunning watercolor-come-to-life, a young girl is preparing for a trip to the beach with her dad — and decides that her pet goldfish should come along for the ride!