CineYouth Program
Frames of Reference: Documentary
Screenings & Events
In-person Screening
Sat, Apr 20 @ 4:00pm CDT
at Facets
Virtual Screening
Available to stream globally April 22 @ 12:00pm CT through April 28 @ 11:59pm CT for a 48-hour watch window.
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
The Heel
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.
Blind Sighted
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.
Fursona
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.
The Capoeristas
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.
Brucey
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 
CineYouth Program
Pen, Pencil, Pixel: Animation
Screenings & Events
In-person Screening
Sun, Apr 21 @ 12:30pm CDT
at Facets
Virtual Screening
Available to stream globally April 22 @ 12:00pm CT through April 28 @ 11:59pm CT for a 48-hour watch window.
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
Kaine Interception
In this Lego stop-motion actioner, secret agent Kaine and his mysterious new partner April race to interrupt a jewel heist.
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?
Weathered
Teenagers share stories of adversity, resilience, and personal transformation in vulnerable interviews supported by vivid animation.
Attack of the Living Clay
In a tiny household world, a clay man improvises ingenious, violent methods to fight off a horde of zombies.
Why so blu
Blue brushstrokes on film capture life and loss.
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.
Twenty Twenty Three — To The Lighthouse
Drowning and stressed, a high school student asks herself, “Am I going crazy?”
Treasure Haunt
Longing for a single hug, a man traverses all boundaries and drinks the ghost potion, flying towards his love.
Headlands
Waves of nostalgia wash over an old woman as she dives deep into the water of her youth.
Echoes in the Sand
Hell-bent on finding his parents, Peter rebels against his robot guardian, bounding toward the voices in the desert.
Snake
In a heartfelt visual letter penned to his mother, a man dreams of her voice and of snakes in a field.
Sponsors
Presented by
CineYouth Program
Chronically Online
Screenings & Events
In-person Screening
Sat, Apr 20 @ 8:30pm CDT
at Facets
Virtual Screening
Available to stream globally April 22 @ 12:00pm CT through April 28 @ 11:59pm CT for a 48-hour watch window.
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
Basura
A compilation of strangers’ deleted phone videos paints a moving portrait of contemporary life.
Too Much Sand
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?
I, Chinese
An influencer’s racist commodification of his culture leads to an uncomfortable confrontation– with consequences that he never saw coming.
Ibex rebirth
Through pixelated and saturated images, an entity constantly surveys the world. Before it drifts off to sleep, it imagines a novel future.
AMPM
An obsessive workaholic pits his wits against a loud drummer in a battle for peace and quiet.
CineYouth Program
Odd, Very Odd
Screenings & Events
In-person Screening
Sun, Apr 21 @ 3:30pm CDT
at Facets
Virtual Screening
Available to stream globally April 22 @ 12:00pm CT through April 28 @ 11:59pm CT for a 48-hour watch window.
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
Picnic in the Clouds
After decades of marriage, Connie is ready to be rid of her husband George. She plans a special anniversary picnic accordingly.
The Pilot
A man enters a vaguely familiar sitcom apartment… with extremely unfamiliar results.
A Little Strange
Increasingly unsettling changes disrupt Ernest’s idyllic, repetitive life.
Academy
A disgraced dancer returns to her former academy to set the record straight…and settle a score.
The Hive Wedding
Socialite Mizzy summons a host of eccentric friends and strangers to her family’s dilapidated nightclub for her wedding.
CineYouth Program
Time and Texture: Experimental
Screenings & Events
In-person Screening
Sun, Apr 21 @ 2:00pm CDT
at Facets
Virtual Screening
Available to stream globally April 22 @ 12:00pm CT through April 28 @ 11:59pm CT for a 48-hour watch window.
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
Scared
A group of young people share their deepest fears using paper dolls and masks.
From the Void of Time
Two jailed men conjure hazy, summery renderings of time and memory.
After Love
In city apartments, an 18-year old and a middle-aged man form an intimate bond amid shared isolation.
The Shadow Puppet
A static, black and white window into the interior world of a man who believes himself to be a murderer.
Diegesis
Aimless on an empty beach, a wandering man tends to the bird in his pocket.
Misophonia
A multimedia representation of the daily overwhelm of living with a sensory-processing disorder.
build me through the image (constrúyanme a través de la imagen)
Mutliracial identity, queerness, and the construction of both are explored through archival footage and family artifacts.
212 W Van Buren St., Suite 400Chicago, IL 60607
Phone: 312.683.0121 | Fax: 312.683.0122
info@chicagofilmfestival.com
