Pack your bags and load up your spaceship! You’ll want to bring the whole family along for these colorful creations from around the world.

A Stellar Vacation!

Noah Shin | Pennsylvania | Age 14

An overworked asteroid yearns to escape from the drudgery of his daily life. Little does he realize, his exciting getaway will have a global impact!

The Sick Egg

Analia Rivera | Texas | Age 14

A visibly unwell egg seeks help from a friend, who decides to try and make some soup. Things take a turn when the distracted egg accidentally bungles the recipe.

Bigfoot Took my Photo!

Sasha Espinosa | California | Age 22

Johanna unveils the star attraction of her Sasquapolis museum: photographic proof that Bigfoot is real! Things get complicated when Bigfoot himself breaks in to steal the evidence.

FLY

Students from Toon Club & Centrum Sztuki Dziecka | India/Poland | Age 10-14

A collaborative effort from students based in India and Poland, who make creative use of a regular school notebook (flipbook style) and a paper plate (animation on phonotrope).

ZOOPARK

DRF Children Animation Studio | Kyrgyzstan | Age 8-12

Framed through a series of metaphors based on a variety of zoo animals, this distinctive rotoscoped animation explores the environment, culture, and texture of Kyrgyzstan’s capital city Bishkek.

Dumplings

Johanna Xue | New York | Age 22

A father shows his love by cooking delicious meals, but can magic in the kitchen be the glue that makes his daughter stick around through her journey to adulthood?

Who’s Better

Hugh Laurent Durnford-Dionne | Canada | Age 20

When challenged by a snail, two fuzzy creatures participate in a series of absurd exercises in order to determine which one is truly the best. But is it a rigged contest?

Space Race

Shane Dioneda | Chicago | Age 22

Though they may be tiny, these two Astronauts aren’t afraid to dream big as they compete in an operatic race to claim the moon for themselves.

In Sight

Wendy Lu, Natalie Tran, Cindy Zhi | Australia | Age 22

Wondrous and joyfully animated, this short follows a young troublemaker and her dog as they set out on a journey up a mountain to shoot down the brightest star in the sky.

Please note: This film will only appear at the in-person screening and will not be part of the streaming presentation.

Monsters of Mine

Lana Nguyen | California | Age 22

A lonely girl uses high-tech glasses to fill her world with imaginary monster friends. When the glasses break, she comes to recognize the value of true human connection.

Paying tribute to the endurance and adaptability of family, these portraits of parents and grandparents acknowledge their strength and resilience over time.

Kaudo (The Gift)

Natalie Paton | Canada | Age 20

An immigrant family wrestles with cultural differences during Christmastime when their young son Amir expresses excitement about his Secret Santa assignment at school.

I Hope You Remember This Moment

Apoorba Misra | Minnesota/India | Age 22

Inspired by the fear she felt when her father fell into a coma, the filmmaker contemplates the reconstruction of memories and the temporal links between past, present and future.

Blue Belt

Liam Harrington | Australia | Age 22

Set in a laundromat in the early 2000’s, Blue Belt explores the isolating experience of a financially strapped single mother trying to provide for her son.

desiderium.

Emma Albrecht | North Carolina | Age 21

On a long-awaited trip to their mother’s childhood home in North Dakota, the filmmaker and their mom explore feelings of loss, guilt, and joy on returning home.

Vinyl Beginning

Lulu Chiang | Taiwan | Age 16

An 80-year-old man reminisces about the good old days spent in a vinyl record shop, bringing his past selves to life by riding the melodic waves of his memories.

Impermanence

Vejune Sidaugaite | Chicago | Age 22

Audrone grew up in Soviet-occupied Lithuania and spent her life thinking that tattoos were reserved for soldiers and criminals. At age 53, she decides to get her first tattoo.

Come get a bellyful of laughs (perhaps some turkey, chips, and hotdogs, too) in these quirky and all around hysterical shorts.

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

индейка (Turkey)

Theo Baldwin Edwards | Louisiana | Age 16

Dressed as a turkey, an earnest young man goes door-to-door fundraising for his church’s Thanksgiving Hurrah. Things take a turn when he meets a mysterious Russian bodybuilder fanatic.

I Thought Everyone Loved Chaos!

Kevaughn Reid | Florida | Age 19

A behind-the-scenes look at the lovable (if slightly dysfunctional) Fillmore High’s theater class, as they rehearse for a show that they never got to put on.

Divination Dave

Georgia Madden | United Kingdom | Age 19

Dave, a crisp-loving couch potato, finds himself on a journey of accidental enlightenment when his favorite flavor of salty crisps runs out and he seeks answers from a mysterious crystal.

It Only Hurts When I Laugh

Ahmed & Armaan Sultan | Chicago | Age 22

When a regular at his hot dog joint signs him up for a stand-up gig, Isaac, a shy twentysomething, realizes he may have what it takes to kill in comedy — literally!

Two Beers

Zach Robinson | Montana | Age 21

Lifelong friends Graham and Adrian have secret feelings for each other, which are brought boiling to the surface when they become trapped in a room with a bomb.

BIG KIDS

Brendan Lee Hickey | Washington | Age 20

Uneasily teetering on the precipice of adulthood, aloof burnout Steve and his buddies embark on a zany quest to find a lost tamagotchi from his childhood.

In the face of society’s confining norms, the individuals in these films persevere and celebrate their queerness, gender fluidity, and identities.

Counter Conformity

Isabella Chiappini | Florida | Age 18

Diving deep into fluidity and the relationship between gender and clothing, this documentary celebrates different ways of expressing your true self and identity.

Unacceptable

Joseph Aguilar | California | Age 15

Forced to choose between being with the girl she loves and living by her father’s rules, a young high schooler seeks to carve her own path.

One Lift at a Time

Flo Singer, Ben Dame | California | Age 21

Navigating the challenges and gender politics of professional weightlifiting, a young transgender athlete shares an intimate look at their accomplishments and obstacles they’ve overcome.

Dare

Johanna Halbartschlager | Austria | Age 17

Without dialogue, this short skillfully illustrates the difficulties and complexity of contemporary interpersonal relationships as it depicts the daily lives of three individuals and their attempts to fit in.

Pure

Natalie Jasmine Harris | Maryland | Age 22

On the eve of her cotillion ball, Celeste, a seventeen-year-old closeted poet, experiences an unexpected new love that shifts her role in the traditional rite of passage.

Please note: This film will only appear at the in-person screening and will not be part of the streaming presentation.

Claymation, digital collage, 16mm photography, and triptych displays are but a few of the formal devices out to use in these exciting explorations of our evolving world.

In Search of Mount Analogue

Leonardo Pirondi | California | Age 21

Using 16mm film to capture computer-generated images, the filmmaker brings to life the imagined, metaphorical, and mysterious island from the 1952 surrealist novel Mount Analogue.

Vodník Many Years After the Rainstorm

Emma Penaz Eisner | California | Age 19

Many years after his hideous crimes, the fiendish water creature Vodník from Czech folklore surfaces in San Francisco to recount his beguiling tale.

COCOABEAN

Tanya Bittar Massally | United Kingdom | Age 19

Through spoken word poetry and associative imagery, this piece powerfully embraces the nature of what it means to be of BAME (Black, Asian, and minority ethnic) background.

You are not far, for you are everywhere

Cole Greenberg | Nevada | Age 20

A diary film odyssey that captures the thoughts, feelings, experiences, and environments of Las Vegas during the early days of the pandemic.

Letting the light in

Viktor Gelbek, Leanne Butter, Malu de Kruijk, Liza Chernik, Panayiota Georgakopoulou | Greece | Age 17-20

The stresses of daily life are illustrated through rapid fire camera movement and a chaotic urban sound design, eventually giving way to the peaceful quietude of the natural world.

@scroll_alice

Céline Ufenast | United Kingdom | Age 22

Our love-hate relationship with Instagram and photo-editing mania are personified through digital voices in this unusual and invigorating collage animation.

Please note: This film will only appear at the in-person screening and will not be part of the streaming presentation.

Amaranthine

Nolan Barry | Chicago | Age 21

A sole figure, who populates a planet of just one, seeks comfort in their contemplation of death and the life that precedes it in this ethereal stop motion animation.

Kamayan

Minerva Navasca | Canada | Age 19

Juxtaposing an outdated American informational film on dinner etiquette with the traditional Filipino way of eating, this work deftly confronts the idea of “correct” table manners.

St Clair W

Emily Ryder | Canada | Age 22

A fleeting and tender exploration of love, loss, and the relationship we have with our own memories as seen through the lens of queer female relationships.

How To Make Kimchi (or How To Be Korean)

Jonathan Lee | Michigan/Vermont | Age 20

Weaving together intimate family footage, folk tales, and archives of the Korean War, the filmmaker wrestles with questions of belonging as a Korean American.