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CineYouth Program
Pen, Pencil, Pixel: Animation
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
![CY24 KAINEInterception 1200x600 A lego-animated hooded figure in a black cloak stands in front of a broken glass case.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CY24_KAINEInterception_1200x600-300x150.jpg)
Kaine Interception
In this Lego stop-motion actioner, secret agent Kaine and his mysterious new partner April race to interrupt a jewel heist.
![CY24 LaInfancia 1200x600 An AI generated image of two white horses in a forest, bathed in an eerie glow staring in the distance](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CY24_LaInfancia_1200x600-300x150.jpg)
La infancia
A man in a dark house is surrounded by an ethereal forest. Animals wander, children play, and fires burn. Is any of this real?
![CY24 Weathered 1200x600 A black and white drawing of a spotlight shining on a plant, which is being rained on.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CY24_Weathered_1200x600-300x150.jpg)
Weathered
Teenagers share stories of adversity, resilience, and personal transformation in vulnerable interviews supported by vivid animation.
![CY24 AttackoftheLivingClay 1200x600 A zombie clay person stands impaled on pencil with another man, surrounded by paper houses.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CY24_AttackoftheLivingClay_1200x600-300x150.jpg)
Attack of the Living Clay
In a tiny household world, a clay man improvises ingenious, violent methods to fight off a horde of zombies.
![CY24 WHYSOBLU 1200x600 A distorted, shadowy image of a large statue of a cross towering over a line of trees.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CY24_WHYSOBLU_1200x600-300x150.jpg)
Why so blu
Blue brushstrokes on film capture life and loss.
![CY24 Trigonometry 1200x600 A hand-drawn robot boy stares, eye-twitching, body glitching, surrounded by pink-purple colour pencil strokes.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CY24_trigonometry_1200x600-300x150.jpg)
Trigonometry’s Ultimate Method to Putting the Fun Back in Your Own Funeral
Trigonometry’s untimely death inspires him to go out with one last hurrah, crashing his own funeral.
![CY24 TwentyTwentyThree ToTheLighthouse 1200x600 A digitally animated girl sleeps on her bed, her phone idle in the distance.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CY24_TwentyTwentyThree_ToTheLighthouse_1200x600-300x150.jpg)
Twenty Twenty Three — To The Lighthouse
Drowning and stressed, a high school student asks herself, “Am I going crazy?”
![CY24 TreasureHaunt 1200x600 A wide-eyed oulined ghost glowing, surrounded by hand-drawn images.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CY24_TreasureHaunt_1200x600-300x150.jpg)
Treasure Haunt
Longing for a single hug, a man traverses all boundaries and drinks the ghost potion, flying towards his love.
![CY24 Headlands 1200x600 A cutout animated woman stands contemplating as stars hang and a bird perches on the tree behind her.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CY24_Headlands_1200x600-300x150.jpg)
Headlands
Waves of nostalgia wash over an old woman as she dives deep into the water of her youth.
![CY24 EchoesintheSand 1200x600 A young man in a flying suit swerves on his hoverboard.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CY24_EchoesintheSand_1200x600-300x150.jpg)
Echoes in the Sand
Hell-bent on finding his parents, Peter rebels against his robot guardian, bounding toward the voices in the desert.
![CY24 Snake 1200x600 A little boy in a foetal position as a dotted line snake is drawn around him.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CY24_Snake_1200x600-300x150.jpg)
Snake
In a heartfelt visual letter penned to his mother, a man dreams of her voice and of snakes in a field.
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