CineYouth Program
Friday Night Frights
Screenings & Events
Virtual Screening
Available to stream globally April 22 @ 12:00pm CT through April 28 @ 11:59pm CT for a 48-hour watch window.
Synopsis
An array of frights await in this assortment of horror films. These shorts from around the world tap into our most primal fears and darkest secrets in unique, uncanny, and inventive ways.
Please note: Films in this program contain themes, images, and language that may not be suitable for all ages.
Films
Artist on the Go! (DS Advanced Unreleased Gameplay)
A surreal, nightmarish game in which the player (or the viewer) is confronted with abstract and frightening tasks to complete.
The Body
An abstract tone poem, which uses the human body as a landscape for a variety of sensations and processes.
Rat King
A young boy’s affinity for a dead rat brings dire consequences to himself and his local community.
The Veiling of a Heart
Devout Catholic Miriam is forced to choose between forbidden romance and religious obligation.
AMPM
An obsessive workaholic pits his wits against a loud drummer in a battle for peace and quiet.
CineYouth Program
Thinking Funny: Comedy
Screenings & Events
Virtual Screening
Available to stream globally April 22 @ 12:00pm CT through April 28 @ 11:59pm CT for a 48-hour watch window.
Synopsis
Navigating life and tragedy, these hilarious stories showcase characters in absurdist situations of all kinds. Thrown into the trenches of the human experience, our characters rise victorious holding the holy grail of humor in their hands.
Please note: Films in this program contain themes, images, and language that may not be suitable for all ages.
Films
Goodbye Herman
As Ryan shares the news of his departure, Herman comes to terms with this unexpected change in their friendship.
Ladke
In a twist of the classic Cinderella story, Saloni seeks out the boy with the flyest Nikes having never seen his face.
first date?
Dropped in the throes of Gen Z dating culture, Sammy and Kari explore the different facets of romantic relationships through their scintillating discussion.
Contagious Swagger
While Jeffrey tries to make the best impression on his girlfriend’s parents, his shoes prove to be an unexpected ally in the situation.
Body of Christ (Mi primera comunión)
As Pablo falls in love with the altar boy Sebastián, he finds that God has become an obstacle to their relationship in more ways than one.
The Murder
About eight minutes before her murder, a woman takes us on a journey to confront her killer’s arduous masculinity.
CineYouth Program
Pen, Pencil, Pixel: Animation
Screenings & Events
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
Shayda
Synopsis
Shayda, a brave Iranian mother, has fled her husband, finding refuge in an Australian women’s shelter with her six-year-old daughter. Over the Persian New Year, they struggle to find normalcy in Nowruz rituals and new beginnings. But when her estranged husband re-enters their lives, Shayda’s path to freedom is jeopardized.
Drawn from personal experiences, Iranian-Australian filmmaker Noora Niasari’s powerful debut feature is a poetic, beautifully crafted vérité portrayal of courage and compassion, anchored by a heart-rending performance by Zar Amir Ebrahimi (Holy Spider). Ebrahimi captures the vulnerability and conflict, but also the radiant soul, of an Iranian woman who boldly reclaims her human rights: to divorce her husband, dress as she chooses, and keep her child no matter the cost.
Screenings & Events
Sold Out/Rush Only? Learn when new tickets get released by signing up for our ticket availability email list!
Media
Film Credits
- Vincent Sheehan, Noora Niasari
- Noora Niasari
- Elika Rezaee
- Sherwin Akbarzadeh
- Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Osamah Sami, Leah Purcell, Jillian Nguyen, Mojean Aria, Rina Mousavi, Selina Zahednia
- Cate Blanchett, Andrew Upton, Coco Francini, Caitlin Gold, Lindsay Lanzillotta, Lois Scott, Naomi McDougall Jones, Nivedita Kulkarni
- Origma 45, Dirty Films, The 51 Fund
Late Night With the Devil
Synopsis
Jack Delroy, a fictional ’70s talk show host played by rising horror star (and Chicago native) David Dastmalchian (The Suicide Squad, Oppenheimer), is in trouble. Jack and his show Night Owls were once the biggest names in late night. But now, with his personal life marred by tragedy and his ratings in free fall, he’s struggling to keep up. So Jack and his producers cook up a controversial plan for their 1977 Halloween special: A live possession, as performed by parapsychologist Dr. June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) and 13-year-old Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), the sole survivor of a Satanic mass suicide. What could possibly go wrong?
Told in a found-footage style that purports to cobble together rediscovered master tapes with dailies from a French documentary crew, Late Night with the Devil harnesses the anything-goes excitement of live television and combines it with the sinister aura of ’70s exorcism movies to unleash a demon into the airwaves.
Actor Spotlight
We chatted with actor David Dastmalchian about Late Night With the Devil, making indie projects, his roots as a Chicago-based actor, and more.
Screenings & Events
Sold Out/Rush Only? Learn when new tickets get released by signing up for our ticket availability email list!
Media
Film Credits
- Derek Dauchy, Mat Govini, Steven Schneider, Roy Lee, Adam White, John Molloy
- Colin Cairnes, Cameron Cairnes
- Colin Cairnes, Cameron Cairnes
- Matthew Temple
- David Dastmalchian, Ian Bliss, Ingrid Torelli, Fayssal Bazzi, Rhys Auteri
- Glenn Richards
- Ben Ross, Rami Yasin, David Dastmalchian, Joel Anderson, Julie Ryan
- Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Spooky Pictures