CineYouth Program
Key Frames: Animation
Screenings & Events
Virtual Screening
Available to stream Mon, April 28 @ 12:00pm CT through Sun, May 4 @ 11:59pm CT for a 48-hour watch window.
Synopsis
A wide range of animation forms and topics swirl together in this jam-packed program of 12 inventive works. Whether expressed by hand-drawn images, clay figures in stop-motion, or digital tools, these films are filled with creativity, emotion, and authenticity.
Please note: Films in this program contain themes, images, and language that may not be suitable for all ages.
Films
Perfect Casting
Told through dynamic visuals and quirky character designs, this animated tale follows the founding of an unlikely friendship. A skilled costume designer struggles to collaborate with an asocial creature actor who is scarily good at playing his monster character.
Eggs Benedict
This offbeat claymation cleverly recounts a man’s relationship through a stage performance, an apt setting for the sometimes overwhelming feelings of new romance.
Paper Love
When a princess decides to escape from a possessive ruler, she wonders if her desire for freedom will triumph over the king’s despotic visions. Paper Love is brought to life through animated paper cut-outs and an entrancing score that together showcase the filmmaker’s inventive imagination at just nine years old.
Stay
On his birthday, a young man reflects on the lonely, mundane life that he shares with his beloved pet bird. This touching story depicted through artful 2D animation, coalesces into an unexpected revelation about their bond and explores themes of grief and healing.
Atlas
Experience an alternate world where gravity is reversed in this meditative mood piece that will leave you on cloud nine. Utilizing multiple animation styles and serene sound design, Atlas’s observational opening methodically swells toward a euphoric conclusion.
A Spell to Break
As countless summoning requests begin to pile up, an overexerted young witch makes a crucial mistake in this 2D animated tale about the power of community and friendship.
Voices of the Mountains
Past and present collide in this intimate look into a town destroyed by mudslides. Blending animation with live action, Voices of the Mountains dissects our complex relationship with nature.
With Tits
Young women on a high school basketball team fight their principal to change their sexist team name in this raunchy comedy.
A Chance Meeting with My Divine
Duine, an Irish teenager, grapples with their gender identity and reflects on their past while walking alone at night. Their reverie is interrupted by Féiniúlacht, a divine spirit.
Illumination
When a man returns home exhausted from work, his daughter picks up his laser pointer and uses her imagination to help him rediscover his passions.
The Vickerilla Family Reunion
A mellow and charming reflection on 10 years of family reunions is told through watercolor illustration and evocative sound clips.
The GOAT
When two beloved animators and former friends announce new films on the same day, one of them makes it his mission to finish his film first. As the deadline approaches, the animator spirals out of control.
A Real Pain
Synopsis
This emotional comic journey follows mismatched cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin), who reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. But their adventure takes a turn when the odd couple’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history. Eisenberg, who also wrote and directed, has created a film that deftly mixes the humorous and the heartrending. Fueled by its witty and sophisticated script and winning performances, especially Culkin’s magnetic portrayal of the wild-card relative you can’t — and may not even want to — control, A Real Pain subtly transforms into a compassionate story of family, forgiveness, and resilience.
Screenings & Events
Sold Out/Rush Only? Learn when new tickets get released by signing up for our ticket availability email list!
Media
Film Credits
- Dave McCary, Ali Herting, Emma Stone, Jesse Eisenberg, Jennifer Semler, Ewa Puszczyńska
- Jesse Eisenberg
- Robert Nassau
- Michał Dymek
- Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan, Liza Sadovy, Daniel Oreskes
- Erick Eiser
- Ryan Heller, Jennifer Westin, Michael Bloom, Kevin Kelly
- Topic Studios
- http://www.topicstudios.com
Sponsors
Comedy Program Partner
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The Girl with the Needle Pigen med nålen
Synopsis
Karoline, a pregnant factory worker living in post-WW1 Copenhagen, is struggling to make ends meet. Fearing her unborn child will be doomed to a life of poverty and hardship, she searches for a solution. By chance (or is it fate?) she meets Dagmar, a friendly woman who runs an illegal adoption agency hidden behind the facade of a candy store. Seeing a way out, Karoline accepts a job as a wet nurse. But she slowly begins to realize that things are not what they seem. Director Magnus von Horn, helmer of the Gold Hugo-winning Sweat, returns to the Festival with this expressive, nightmarish, Gothic fairytale. Sublime black and white photography, long shadows, and grimy streets conjure a striking, if grim, vision of early 20th century Copenhagen that hides dark secrets and unsettling truths.
Screenings & Events
Sold Out/Rush Only? Learn when new tickets get released by signing up for our ticket availability email list!
Media
Film Credits
- Malene Blenkov, Mariusz Wlodarski
- Vic Carmen Sonne, Trine Dyrholm, Besir Zeciri
- Nordisk Film Production, Creative Alliance, Lava Films
212 W Van Buren St., Suite 400
