Navigation

Festival Archives: CineYouth

< Back to CineYouth schedule

CineYouth Program

Frames of Reference: Documentary

  Canada, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, United States     5 shorts | 53 minutes

Synopsis

These five incredible shorts function as a window into diverse forms of the human experience, highlighting courageous expressions of identity, examples of uplifting community, and insightful responses to common misconceptions.

Please note: Films in this program contain themes, images, and language that may not be suitable for all ages.

Films

A young woman gazes ahead with her hair draped over her eyes and her right hand clawed over her chest.

The Heel

Sofia S. Lomax | Connecticut | Age 22

Jules Daddio, also known as Skylar Grey, is an up-and-coming female wrestler from North Haven, Connecticut. Jules paints a picture of the professional wrestling ecosystem and grapples with the history of women’s progress in the sport.

A young man with a visual impairment closely inspects a clear mug of milk.

Blind Sighted

Mitch Davila Armendano | Colorado | Age 14

Mitch, Jaden, and Stevie, three young students with visual impairments who attend the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, detail common misconceptions and their struggles for accurate representation.

A red and white furry with fangs, black claws, and yellow goggles dances in front of the mirror.

Fursona

Aly Labbé-Hervieux | Canada | Age 21

In Pessamit, Canada, Aly reflects upon the importance of their fursona, Dexter. Dexter helps Aly bring joy to others through his extroverted and social attitude.

A group of aspiring martial artists excitedly prepares to engage in the Brazilian martial art of Capoeira.

The Capoeristas

Mariel Mudrik | Chicago | Age 21

A group of Chicagoans find companionship in the Brazilian martial art of Capoeira, exploring how it connects them not only to their community but also to their lost heritage.

A harnessed camel with no rider stands in the sand in front of a group of people conversing under an umbrella.

Brucey

Ayan Khalil Shammmalakh | State of Palestine, Saudi Arabia | Age 19

This multimedia documentary follows Brucey–sailing slang for anchor–and his family as they give insight into the fishing trade and their connection to the ocean in Gaza.

Sponsors

Presented by logo: Adobe Premiere Pro 217x75

< Back to CineYouth schedule

CineYouth Program

Pen, Pencil, Pixel: Animation

  Australia, Spain, United States     10 shorts | 47 minutes

Synopsis

Across these eleven shorts, you’ll find no single genre, theme, or medium, but you will find fantastical worlds, disarming emotional honesty, and vibrant displays of creativity. Whether drawn by hand, sculpted with clay, or animated digitally, these inventive shorts are sure to entertain and inspire.

Please note: Films in this program contain themes, images, and language that may not be suitable for all ages.

Films

A lego-animated hooded figure in a black cloak stands in front of a broken glass case.

Kaine Interception

Johnny White & Harry White | Colorado | Ages 16 & 14

In this Lego stop-motion actioner, secret agent Kaine and his mysterious new partner April race to interrupt a jewel heist.

An AI generated image of two white horses in a forest, bathed in an eerie glow staring in the distance

La infancia

Jesús García Nuño de la Rosa & Emiliano Reyes | Spain | Age 22

A man in a dark house is surrounded by an ethereal forest. Animals wander, children play, and fires burn. Is any of this real?

A black and white drawing of a spotlight shining on a plant, which is being rained on.

Weathered

Patrick Jang | California | Age 16

Teenagers share stories of adversity, resilience, and personal transformation in vulnerable interviews supported by vivid animation.

A zombie clay person stands impaled on pencil with another man, surrounded by paper houses.

Attack of the Living Clay

Jackson Milott | New York | Age 16

In a tiny household world, a clay man improvises ingenious, violent methods to fight off a horde of zombies.

A distorted, shadowy image of a large statue of a cross towering over a line of trees.

Why so blu

Danielle Arianna Picernos | Chicago | Age 22

Blue brushstrokes on film capture life and loss.

A hand-drawn robot boy stares, eye-twitching, body glitching, surrounded by pink-purple colour pencil strokes.

Trigonometry’s Ultimate Method to Putting the Fun Back in Your Own Funeral

April Aquino | Chicago | Age 22

Trigonometry’s untimely death inspires him to go out with one last hurrah, crashing his own funeral.

A digitally animated girl sleeps on her bed, her phone idle in the distance.

Twenty Twenty Three — To The Lighthouse

Chengyu Li | Ohio | Age 16

Drowning and stressed, a high school student asks herself, “Am I going crazy?”

A wide-eyed oulined ghost glowing, surrounded by hand-drawn images.

Treasure Haunt

Carlos Lerma | Chicago | Age 20

Longing for a single hug, a man traverses all boundaries and drinks the ghost potion, flying towards his love.

A cutout animated woman stands contemplating as stars hang and a bird perches on the tree behind her.

Headlands

Cecelia Clare | California | Age 20

Waves of nostalgia wash over an old woman as she dives deep into the water of her youth.

A young man in a flying suit swerves on his hoverboard.

Echoes in the Sand

Miles Isgrig | New York | Age 22

Hell-bent on finding his parents, Peter rebels against his robot guardian, bounding toward the voices in the desert.

A little boy in a foetal position as a dotted line snake is drawn around him.

Snake

Lewis Fuller Hill | Australia | Age 22

In a heartfelt visual letter penned to his mother, a man dreams of her voice and of snakes in a field.

Sponsors

Presented by logo: Adobe Premiere Pro 217x75

< Back to CineYouth schedule

CineYouth Program

Chronically Online

  Philippines, Sweden, United States     4 shorts | 57 minutes

Synopsis

Can you stomach the seedy underbelly of the web? Take notes from a generation born and dying on the internet, as they confront memories of cringe, arrogance, and obsession.

Please note: Films in this program contain themes, images, and language that may not be suitable for all ages.

Films

A group of teens in a car excitedly smile while one holds a microphone, singing a song.

Basura

Aries C. Ferrer | Philippines | Age 22

A compilation of strangers’ deleted phone videos paints a moving portrait of contemporary life.

Two men in red tank tops, one looking down at his phone, sit in a dark room in front of a phone on a tripod.

Too Much Sand

Rosso Pérez Bueno | Sweden | Age 21

As a toxic substance slowly ravages a celebrity’s body, the question left to ask is, how far would you go for the advertising money?

A young Chinese man in a traditional Chinese hat smiles as he takes a selfie with a group.

I, Chinese

Keith Leung | New York | Age 22

An influencer’s racist commodification of his culture leads to an uncomfortable confrontation– with consequences that he never saw coming.

A distorted photo of a gloved hand gving a thumbs-up in front of a patch of forest floor

Ibex rebirth

Elijah Valter | Chicago | Age 22

Through pixelated and saturated images, an entity constantly surveys the world. Before it drifts off to sleep, it imagines a novel future.

< Back to CineYouth schedule

CineYouth Program

Odd, Very Odd

  Ireland, United Kingdom, United States     5 shorts | 45 minutes

Synopsis

Expect the unexpected in these colorful, wildly offbeat shorts. In this utterly unique showcase, a cast of eccentric characters (both on camera and behind it) will dash every expectation of tone, performance, and good taste– and you’ll be all the better for it.

Please note: Films in this program contain themes, images, and language that may not be suitable for all ages.

Films

A young man and an older woman sit on the shore of a river beside a picnic basket.

Picnic in the Clouds

Malik Clyde Terrab | New Hampshire | Ages 20

After decades of marriage, Connie is ready to be rid of her husband George. She plans a special anniversary picnic accordingly.

A bearded man in a gray suit stands ominously behind a couch.

The Pilot

Max Hendrickson & Gerry Sweeney | Ireland | Age 18

A man enters a vaguely familiar sitcom apartment… with extremely unfamiliar results.

A man in old-timey clothes stands with a cardboard box in his hands under the awning of a house.

A Little Strange

Joanna Song | California | Age 20

Increasingly unsettling changes disrupt Ernest’s idyllic, repetitive life.

Old pictures and a ballet trophy sit on the shelf of a dance studio.

Academy

| United Kingdom | Age 20

A disgraced dancer returns to her former academy to set the record straight…and settle a score.

A young woman watches an opulently-dressed elderly woman from afar in the reflection of a mirror.

The Hive Wedding

Sam Kerns | Chicago | Age 22

Socialite Mizzy summons a host of eccentric friends and strangers to her family’s dilapidated nightclub for her wedding.

< Back to CineYouth schedule

CineYouth Program

Time and Texture: Experimental

  Hong Kong, Kyrgyzstan, United Kingdom, United States     7 shorts | 61 minutes

Synopsis

Some rules are made to be broken. Singular and diverse experiences of identity, sensation, isolation, and time are translated into stunning images and sound. The resulting seven films play like something of a dream, capturing the feeling of being alive as only cinema can.

Please note: Films in this program contain themes, images, and language that may not be suitable for all ages.

Films

Figures dressed in black wear masks made with brown paper bags and marker. One with a frightening, smiling face is centered.

Scared

Children Laboratory ATOM | Kyrgyzstan | Ages 10-14

A group of young people share their deepest fears using paper dolls and masks.

A hazy, black-and-white still shows a remote road lined by foliage disappearing into fog.

From the Void of Time

Lok Yiu Wong | Hong Kong | Age 21

Two jailed men conjure hazy, summery renderings of time and memory.

In an apartment living room, a man kicks his feet up and plays with a cat on the couch.

After Love

Chris Derek Van | Chicago | Age 19

In city apartments, an 18-year old and a middle-aged man form an intimate bond amid shared isolation.

Centered in a grayscale still of trees by residential buildings, the flag of the United Kingdom stands out in full color.

The Shadow Puppet

Macsen Russel | United Kingdom | Age 21

A static, black and white window into the interior world of a man who believes himself to be a murderer.

A crossfade centers a hand squeezing a jacket pocket within the lens of a camera.

Diegesis

Zahni D’Angelo Gulbronson | Chicago | Age 19

Aimless on an empty beach, a wandering man tends to the bird in his pocket.

Viewed from behind, a student sits at a classroom desk in front of a blackboard and presses on her headphones.

Misophonia

Caitlin Lenz | Iowa | Age 20

A multimedia representation of the daily overwhelm of living with a sensory-processing disorder.

A person falls through space, superimposed beween a pair of black-and-white eyes. Subtitles read "Look at me" and "Mirenme."

build me through the image (constrúyanme a través de la imagen)

Paula Hung | New York | Age 20

Mutliracial identity, queerness, and the construction of both are explored through archival footage and family artifacts.