CineYouth Festival 2024

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Starting April 19th CineYouth Festival kicks of its 19th year bringing shorts from around the globe by filmmakers from ages 10 to 22. CineYouth 2024 will be hosted at FACETS (1517 W Fullerton Ave Lincoln Park). Starting April 22nd you have the ability to stream the programs which are available globally through Sunday April 28th. You can find more ticketing information here.

  • Jacob Sutton, Adelaide Wilson | Chicago | Ages 21 & 22

    Shot on Super 8 Vision 3, this music video compiles stop-motion, vignettes, and performance to showcase a coming-of-age ballad.

  • Laya Bena Hartman & Jiaxin Wei | Joliet | Age 21

    Rising young basketball star Lisa Thompson navigates expectations on and off the court as the number one-ranked player in Illinois.

  • Andres Carlos | Chicago | Age 20

    An abstract exploration of history, belonging, memory, and knowing from an immigrant perspective.

  • Isis Gullette | Chicago | Age 18

    Young and unrequited love between two friends reaches a breaking point, rendering their relationship’s future uncertain.

  • Raine Yung | Chicago | Age 22

    A self-portrait of trauma, dilemma, objectification, and relief told through a collection of experimental shorts.

  • Jason Hart | Chicago | Age 22

    Struggling to grieve the loss of a family member, a young boy spirals into self-harm before finding relief in an unlikely source.

  • Jadyn Proulx  | Chicago | Age 19

    The friendships and intimacies (and lack thereof) that color the life of a 19-year-old college student.

  • Olivia Santiago | Chicago | Age 16

    Go in-depth with an After School Matters program that guides teens through crafting murals for the Belmont-Cragin community.

  • Adamson Novak | Chicago | Age 21

    A parody PSA that focuses on the real threat walking among us.

  • Sam Friedman, Casey Wangman, Maddie Morse, Ryan Magrisi | Evanston | Age 21

    One man’s wacky quest to solve a basic math problem spirals into chaos.

 

  • Nathan William Frost | Montgomery, Illinois | Age 17

    A surreal, nightmarish game in which the player (or the viewer) is confronted with abstract and frightening tasks to complete.

  • Justine Borlagdan  | Philippines | Age 20

    An abstract tone poem, which uses the human body as a landscape for a variety of sensations and processes.

  • Róisín Leavy-Sahin | Ireland | Age 18

    A young boy’s affinity for a dead rat brings dire consequences to himself and his local community.

  • Jess Nipperess | Australia | Age 18

    Devout Catholic Miriam is forced to choose between forbidden romance and religious obligation.

  • Charlie Li | China | Age 23

    An obsessive workaholic pits his wits against a loud drummer in a battle for peace and quiet.

 

  • Lorence | Mexico | Age 21

    In order to protect her favorite baby boots, Valery embarks on a playful “Baby Boots Battle” with her school.

  • Mathew Sharifi | California | Age 20

    In a world devoid of color, sound, and hope, a mime and a young man fall in love, bringing vibrancy to each other’s lives.

  • Neo Sky James | South Carolina | Age 18

    As a boy explores the ocean in his dream, his joy fades when he uncovers human-induced perils beneath the once-clear waters, sparking his determination to take action.

  • Simon Finkel | Highland Park, Illinois | Age 17

    As a painter who awakens colors in the grayscale world, a young boy, on his first day of work with his father, seems to have unconventional ideas.

  • Katherine Ramirez | Chicago | Age 16

    Preparing for the spelling bee, high schooler Barry stumbles upon a lucky winning clue.

  • Yanely Castellanos | Chicago | Age 19

    After discovering a mysterious map, two lively sisters embark on a magical treasure hunt and discover a reward better than gold at the end of the path.

  • Nathan Rivers | Canada | Age 19

    Obsessed with launching paper airplanes, Milly’s playtime ignites conflict between mother and daughter.

  • Carter D. James | Chicago | Age 11

    A little girl dreams of fleeing and dodging the dreaded broccoli.

 

  • Olivia Huilin Gao | New York | Age 21

    In this drama about family ties, a young girl comes across the teenaged version of her immigrant mother from whom she has long been estranged. A newfound empathy for her mother leads them to reconnect.

  • Juliette Balthazard | Canada | Age 22

    A young girl, soon to move away from her hometown, runs away with her best friends. But as each friend slowly abandons the plan, the girl is forced to accept her reality and the heartbreak of losing friendships.

  • Eli Akio Williams  | California | Age 16

    A boy wakes up in a desert with no recollection of what happened to him. He hitchhikes back to town and comes to a horrifying realization as he begins to remember the actions that led him to this car.

  • Caroline Bates | Florida | Age 21

    A group of friends come to terms with the end of childhood in a dying tourist town home to the former space program.

  • Axel Dahan | France | Age 17

    In WW2 France, two teenagers are employed to deliver messages for the Resistance. Their journey will be long and arduous and not without moral dilemma, but they must push on, for liberty’s sake.

 

  • Sofia S. Lomax | Connecticut | Age 22

    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.

  • Mitch Davila Armendano | Colorado | Age 14

    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.

  • Aly Labbé-Hervieux | Canada | Age 21

    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.

  • Mariel Mudrik | Chicago | Age 21

    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.

  • Ayan Khalil Shammmalakh | State of Palestine, Saudi Arabia | Age 19

    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.

 

  • Ryan Santia | California | Age 18

    As Ryan shares the news of his departure, Herman comes to terms with this unexpected change in their friendship.

  • Sruchi Patel | California | Age 22

    In a twist of the classic Cinderella story, Saloni seeks out the boy with the flyest Nikes having never seen his face.

  • Kylie Ramirez | Chicago | Age 21

    Dropped in the throes of Gen Z dating culture, Sammy and Kari explore the different facets of romantic relationships through their scintillating discussion.

  • Calvin Callins Jr. | Florida | Age 21

    While Jeffrey tries to make the best impression on his girlfriend’s parents, his shoes prove to be an unexpected ally in the situation.

  • Ángel Villahermosa | Spain | Age 22

    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.

  • Alex Dymalovski | Australia | Age 20

    About eight minutes before her murder, a woman takes us on a journey to confront her killer’s arduous masculinity.

 

  • Aries C. Ferrer | Philippines | Age 22

    A compilation of strangers’ deleted phone videos paints a moving portrait of contemporary life.

  • Rosso Pérez Bueno | Sweden | Age 21

    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?

  • Keith Leung | New York | Age 22

    An influencer’s racist commodification of his culture leads to an uncomfortable confrontation– with consequences that he never saw coming.

  • Elijah Valter | Chicago | Age 22

    Through pixelated and saturated images, an entity constantly surveys the world. Before it drifts off to sleep, it imagines a novel future.

 

  • Johnny White & Harry White | Colorado | Ages 16 & 14

    In this Lego stop-motion actioner, secret agent Kaine and his mysterious new partner April race to interrupt a jewel heist.

  • Jesús García Nuño de la Rosa & Emiliano Reyes | Spain | Age 22

    A man in a dark house is surrounded by an ethereal forest. Animals wander, children play, and fires burn. Is any of this real?

  • Patrick Jang | California | Age 16

    Teenagers share stories of adversity, resilience, and personal transformation in vulnerable interviews supported by vivid animation.

  • Jackson Milott | New York | Age 16

    In a tiny household world, a clay man improvises ingenious, violent methods to fight off a horde of zombies.

  • Danielle Arianna Picernos | Chicago | Age 22

    Blue brushstrokes on film capture life and loss.

  • April Aquino | Chicago | Age 22

    Trigonometry’s untimely death inspires him to go out with one last hurrah, crashing his own funeral.

  • Chengyu Li | Ohio | Age 16

    Drowning and stressed, a high school student asks herself, “Am I going crazy?”

  • Carlos Lerma | Chicago | Age 20

    Longing for a single hug, a man traverses all boundaries and drinks the ghost potion, flying towards his love.

  • Cecelia Clare | California | Age 20

    Waves of nostalgia wash over an old woman as she dives deep into the water of her youth.

  • Miles Isgrig | New York | Age 22

    Hell-bent on finding his parents, Peter rebels against his robot guardian, bounding toward the voices in the desert.

  • Lewis Fuller Hill | Australia | Age 22

    In a heartfelt visual letter penned to his mother, a man dreams of her voice and of snakes in a field.

 

  • Children Laboratory ATOM | Kyrgyzstan | Ages 10-14

    A group of young people share their deepest fears using paper dolls and masks.

  • Lok Yiu Wong | Hong Kong | Age 21

    Two jailed men conjure hazy, summery renderings of time and memory.

  • Chris Derek Van | Chicago | Age 19

    In city apartments, an 18-year old and a middle-aged man form an intimate bond amid shared isolation.

  • Macsen Russel | United Kingdom | Age 21

    A static, black and white window into the interior world of a man who believes himself to be a murderer.

  • Zahni D’Angelo Gulbronson | Chicago | Age 19

    Aimless on an empty beach, a wandering man tends to the bird in his pocket.

  • Caitlin Lenz | Iowa | Age 20

    A multimedia representation of the daily overwhelm of living with a sensory-processing disorder.

  • Paula Hung | New York | Age 20

    Mutliracial identity, queerness, and the construction of both are explored through archival footage and family artifacts.

 

  • Malik Clyde Terrab | New Hampshire | Ages 20

    After decades of marriage, Connie is ready to be rid of her husband George. She plans a special anniversary picnic accordingly.

  • Max Hendrickson & Gerry Sweeney | Ireland | Age 18

    A man enters a vaguely familiar sitcom apartment… with extremely unfamiliar results.

  • Joanna Song | California | Age 20

    Increasingly unsettling changes disrupt Ernest’s idyllic, repetitive life.

  • | United Kingdom | Age 20

    A disgraced dancer returns to her former academy to set the record straight…and settle a score.

  • Sam Kerns | Chicago | Age 22

    Socialite Mizzy summons a host of eccentric friends and strangers to her family’s dilapidated nightclub for her wedding.