Legacy
An inventive young girl contemplates the proper way to honor her dearly departed mouse.
Festival Year: 2013
Manufactured Fortunes
The cosmic significance and gastronomical value of fortune cookies might be debatable, but this batter-splattered, old- fashioned baking-and-packing machine takes on a meaningful life of its own.
Subway Train
Set to the funky beats of The Pop Ups, this music video features oddly morphing animals on their morning commute — and one epic pan-flute solo!
Head On
All aboard for a high-velocity electro journey through a futuristic video game world with flashing lights and driving techno music. At this speed, just don’t lose control and go off the rails.
Fata Morgana
There’s nothing like a cool refreshing drink in the middle of the desert. Unless it’s your last one…
Song of the Spindle
Man and whale go head to head in a battle of wits.
Animal Beatbox
Dogs and cats and dogs and cats and dogs and cats and dogs and cats and dogs and cats and dogs and cats and…
The Squeakiest Roar
The littlest lion in the family just can’t seem to find his big bad roar, but this little squeak might turn out to be his greatest asset.
How Can you Swallow So Much Sleep?
A little boy visits the moon as it exists in dreams — an iridescent orb surrounded by translucent jellyfish and cellophane streams. Based on an Italo Calvino short story.
(Baby) It’s You!
Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy attaches girl’s head to a robot body.
A Furtive Tear
A requiem for an operatic fish as he meets death on a skillet (from The Elixir of Love sung by Enrico Caruso).
Alimation
Spinning cakes create zoetrope animation effects — giving viewers new insight into the origins of cameras, projectors and animation…as well as a major craving for dessert!
A Drop of Honey
In a small village, a drop of honey can go a long way. Unfortunately, it’s not always so sweet. A parable about human misunderstanding and how small and seemingly insignificant actions can have outsized effects.
Apache
Neon paper cutouts create a continuously spiraling stage for an Apache guitarist and his Yeti band mate, as they perform a twangy throwback to 60’s surf-rock and spaghetti western soundtracks.
Red Sand
A little boy picks up a shell on an empty, secluded beach. Putting it to his ear, he becomes lost in the sounds of the sea.
A Different Perspective
A visit from an alien life form results in a change of perspective — in more ways than one.
Summer Bummer
From world-renowned animator and friend-of-the-festival Bill Plympton, a man with a case of shark paranoia has second thoughts before diving into his pool, reminding us that the greatest fear is fear itself…right?
Fresh Guacamole
PES is back with this latest (and Oscar®-nominated!) take on the culinary arts. Pass the chips! From the creator of past NYICFF favorites Western Spaghetti, The Deep, and Game Over.
Dangerous Migration Route
Birds happily winging their way south to Africa meet all manner of unfortunate ends, in this adorable animated ditty about the dangers of bird migration.
At the Opera
Juan Pablo Zaramella (creator of last year’s Luminaris) brings us his new film about a particularly moving night at the opera. Guaranteed to move you to tears!
Starry Starry Night
Starry Starry Night is the imaginative, whimsical and emotionally resonant coming-of-age story of Mei, a day-dreamy seventh-grader whose life seems to be falling apart around her. To escape her parents’ relentless bickering, Mei immerses herself in a fantasy world of her own creation, populated by oversized origami animals and shadowy beasts that tag along with her on what would otherwise be dreary daily excursions. Meanwhile, shuffled from home to home by his mother, troubled newcomer Jay avoids contact with his new schoolmates and becomes an instant target for their derision and taunting. Brought together by their shared loneliness (and love of shoplifting), Mei and Jay sneak away to her grandfather’s isolated cottage in the countryside in an attempt to escape a reality that nonetheless, comes crashing in on them. Based on the graphic novel by Taiwanese writer Jimmy Liao, Starry Starry Night is a charming and honest portrayal of all the wonderful, life-changing, sometimes-painful events that can happen when you’re 13 and finding your place in the world.
Assembly
Using paint-on-glass animation, Jenn Strom creates a beautiful tribute to the (disappearing) art of film splicing and editing, and to the all-women filmmakers of Studio D and founder Kathleen Shannon.
Hannah and the Moon
When Hannah’s mom is too busy to talk to her, she seeks the comfort of her only friend, the moon. But one day the moon disappears.
Small
When 12-year-old Noortje goes to the spa for her first massage, she is surprised to find a male masseur assigned to her. Massages are supposed to be relaxing — but with the unfamiliar feeling of a stranger’s hands on her skin, she has a hard time letting go!
Fifteen
It’s Vianney’s quinceañera, her fifteenth birthday, and she is getting ready for her party. But when things do not go as planned, the best efforts of parents and friends cannot change the fact that she is “not alright”.
Emmeline
A sweetly comic and playful celebration of what it means to be different — the fable of an awkward girl named Emmeline.
The House
In this dreamy, hypnotic film, images morph and flow through shifting frames of reference, making everything topsy-turvy, as a girl attempts to care for her grandmother within an ever changing house.
Ballet Story
With shades of Black Swan, jealousy and rivalry (and shards of glass) at a ballet school for girls.
Agnieszka
A young girl creates her own world in which she feels safe.
Astrid
Astrid is fed up with not being allowed to do what she likes, so instead of going home with her mom, she steps onto a passing bus and runs away to hang out with her friends. However this one transgression leads to another, and soon Astrid is facing a life or death question that she is not quite capable of handling.