Modern Kids — Summer Flicks: Selected Short Films

Share the art of the screen with your children with a selection of unique films presented by the New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF). Spark your family’s curiosity and enjoy a range of stories that include live-action, animation, and documentary films displaying different styles of filmmaking from around the world. This lively collection of films reflects NYICFF’s commitment to storytelling and diversity and is sure to spark meaningful conversations.

Spend an art-filled day at the museum by visiting the galleries before or after the films to experience a variety of paintings, sculptures, and photographs, including our exhibition Robert Motherwell: Pure Painting.

Admission is free and open to the public. Films are shown in the Modern’s auditorium, and seating is limited to the first 250 guests. Admission to the galleries is free for film festival guests. All ages are welcome!

Make plans to enjoy some delightful eats at Café Modern before or after the films, and shop for art-inspired merchandise and snacks at the Modern Shop.

Thursday, August 10
11am

KID FLICKS ONE

(Runtime: 49 min.)
Inventive first films for ages 5-10
Let your imagination take the wheel with Kid Flicks One. Whether dreaming up the fantastical, like a cat the size of a house, or the practical, like finding a beloved teacher a summer romance, these shorts are sure to surprise and delight.

BATTERY DADDY
South Korea, Animation, Jeon Seung-bae, 2021, 6 min.
In Korean with English subtitles
Everyone relies on attentive Battery Dad to keep things well-powered and smoothly-run, but when a field trip’s downpour hits, will he still have the power to keep his cool and save the day?

THE CAT IN THE ART PARK
South Korea, Animation, Kim herian, 2020, 5 min.
In Korean with English subtitles
Even small cats are known for causing chaos, so imagine the hijinks that ensue when this art- park-dwelling cat suddenly grows to the size of a house.

CUPIDS
United States, Live Action, Zoey Martinson, 2021, 10 min.
In English
This whimsical comedy love letter to New York's essential workers follows a whole class on the last day of school as they scheme to find the perfect partner for their adored bus driver, Ms. Cheryl, and save her from a lonely summer without them.

MAMA HAS A MUSTACHE
United States, Documentary, Sally Rubin, 2021, 10 min.
In English
In this fully-animated, wildly collaged documentary, kids ages 5 to 10 share their thoughts about how they experience loving, inclusive worlds that aren’t bound by traditional gender binaries.

META
Germany, Animation, Antje Heyn, 2022, 1 min.
In English
Interconnection, form, function, flow: all these big ideas about change and growth sprout in playful ways when creatures shape shift and dance to the rhythm of discovery.

POUM POUM!
France, Animation, Damien Tran, 2021, 6 min.
No dialogue
Poum Poum! is a musical film that celebrates the simple joy of hitting drums, scribbling on paper, splashing paint, or making cymbals screech.

STAR BOUND
United States, Animation, Richard O’Connor, 2021, 3 min.
In English
When six-year-old Jerry gets together with his uncle Joey, a Mission Operations Engineer at NASA, they have so much—a galaxy’s amount—to talk about.

Thursday, August 10
1 pm

Celebrating Black Stories

(Runtime: 76 min.)
Powerful films for ages 9+
In English or with English subtitles
Black stories take the spotlight to highlight films that share the joy, determination, resilience, and complexity of being Black and young. Explore a range of genres and styles in a program that spans the globe.

COMIC ESCAPE
United States, Live Action, Alphonso McAuley, 2021, 15 min.
In English
A young boy unexpectedly finds a comic book that changes his reality.

GENERATION IMPACT: THE CODER
United States, Documentary, Samantha Knowles, 2021, 7 min.
In English
Jay Jay Patton was only 13 when she designed and built an app to help kids connect with their incarcerated parents, inspired by her own experience. Now she is creating a coding academy to help other kids do the same.

MY NAME IS MALUUM
Brazil, Animation, Luísa Copetti, 2021, 8 min.
In Portuguese, with English subtitles
Maalum comes from a home surrounded by love and Afro-centered references. When her classmates tease her about her name, Maluum discovers the lovely legacy of her name and ancestry.

THE NIGHT I LEFT AMERICA
Uganda, United States, Live Action, Laki Karavias, 2021, 14 min.
English and Luganda with English subtitles
While anxiously awaiting the results of his mother’s visa renewal request, a teenage boy living in Texas conjures memories of his life in Uganda.

ROOM RODEO
United States, Live Action, Daniel Kayamba, 2021, 14 min.
In English
Grounded and with a last-minute school project due, Jamil takes matters into his own hands in order to prove he is the great grandson of a legendary Black cowboy.

WOLF AND CUB
United States, Animation, Marvin Bynoe, 2021, 8 min.
In English
A father and son cross a world of imagination in order to return their mother’s forgotten lunch.

Friday, August 11
11 am

KID FLICKS TWO

(Runtime: 68 min.)
Deep and daring films for ages 8-13
In English or with English subtitles
Kid Flicks Two is full of journeys big and small, from a young artist’s river-bound trek to school and a passerby’s neighborhood stroll to the search for a loving home and or the path to understanding between friends.

COMIC ESCAPE
United States, Live Action, Alphonso McAuley, 2021, 15 min.
In English
A young boy unexpectedly finds a comic book that changes his reality.

FRANK & EMMET
United States, Live Action, Carlos F. Puertolas, 2021, 12 min.
In English
Frank and Emmet are two life-long friends and show business partners who, after weeks of drifting apart, sit together to address head-on the one thing they’ve never talked about: one of them is a puppet.

HOW I GOT MY WRINKLES
France, Animation, Claude Delafosse, 2022, 12 min.
In French with English subtitles
Stop motion can’t stop time in this charming live-action and animated reflection on life, art, film, family, and all that makes the world go round.

MITCH-MATCH #6
Hungary, Animation, Géza M Tóth, 2020, 2 min.
No dialogue
A blue-headed matchstick is the spark that sets a playful journey in motion with wild and imaginative adventures.

SALVADOR DALI
Kyrgyzstan, Live Action, Eldiar Madakim, 2021, 19 min.
In Kirghiz with English subtitles
Every day, little Orozbek has to walk long distances and a river crossing to get to school—because that’s where he can get closer to his dream.

SANCTUARY
Czech Republic, Animation, Eva Matějovičová; 2021, 5 min.
In Slovak with English subtitles
With a mindful animal rescuer, an ideal match is never far: even French Bulldogs on wheels and skittish puppies can all find their perfect human companions.

WARMTH
United States, Animation, Nathania Zaini, 2021, 3 min.
In English
Tender and observant, Warmth depicts the daily encounters of a passerby and a stranger without a home.

Friday, August 11
1 pm

¡Hola Cine!

(Runtime: 66 min.)
Extraordinary Latinx shorts for ages 9+
In English or with English subtitles
You’ve asked if we could screen more Spanish-language films. Our answer? ¡Sí, claro! Our annual program delivers the best Latinx stories from around the world, and not just in Spanish, but also English, and even Portuguese, celebrating the many Latinx cultures, histories, identities and languages.

ALMA Y PAZ
United States, Live Action, Cris Gris, 2021, 14 min.
In Spanish with English Subtitles
Sisters Alma and Paz have to consider parting with their childhood home. While the decision seems clearer for city-dwelling Paz, for younger Alma, their place in the Mexican countryside is full of memories hard to leave behind.

BURROS
United States, Live Action, Jefferson Stein, 2021, 14 min.
In English and Spanish and O’odham with English subtitles
In southern Arizona, on the Tohono O’odham Nation, a young Indigenous girl meets a girl her age from across the border who has been separated from her dad.

I’M A VAMPIRE
Mexico, Live Action, Sofia Garza-Barba, 2020, 15 min.
In Spanish with English subtitles
In and amongst the confusion created by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, 8 year-old Jackie believes she is turning into a vampire.

MY GRANDMA MATHILDE
Mexico, Animation, Miguel Anaya Borja, 2021, 10 min.
No dialogue
With a keen eye for art and a soft-spot for all creatures, Maria’s easily distracted in the eyes of her more practical grandmother. But their relationship shifts when Maria’s grandmother remembers a secret from her own childhood.

MY NAME IS MALUUM
Brazil, Animation, Luísa Copetti, 2021, 8 min.
In Portuguese with English subtitles
Maalum comes from a home surrounded by love and Afro-centered references. When her classmates tease her about her name, Maluum discovers the lovely legacy of her name and ancestry.

OUR LADY LUPE
United States, Live Action, Dominique Nieves, 2021, 15 min.
In English and Spanish with English subtitles
Chico’s luck might be a Lady Lupe in mechanic’s coveralls when he looks for a way to help out his mom, in this magical realist short about the power of family and the magic of Lotería.