PG - Advisory: Violence

Youth By Youth Cinema is a competitive celebration of the finest in young people’s storytelling with visual media. Involving every grade from elementary to high school, it provides a wide sampling of the finest in adolescent movie-making.

CIFF is proud to share its stage with the industry talent of tomorrow and rolls its red carpet out for these artists' explorations of the medium of cinema. By incorporating the screening into the Mavericks portfolio, the Calgary International Film Festival acknowledges the need for kids and teens of all description to embrace and master the language of visual media. This is an age of consumption and distraction, so engaging with movie-making is a way of stealing the media’s illusions and understanding the mechanics behind the end product—it is, in other words, empowering. Today’s filmmakers have a plethora of affordable tools and information in their hands, and the festival is eagerly watching what they do with them. It is a brave new world of media expression out there, and these youthful renegades may have the secrets to our future screens, stories and dreams.

Todd
DIRECTOR: Joel Hineman, High School, Airdrie, 2 MIN, Animation
Todd finds himself in a very uncomfortable situation while dining out. When you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go.

Tar Sand Pudding
DIRECTOR: Xstine Cook and Maezy Dennie, Elementary, Calgary, 5 MIN, Documentary
In a mock cooking show, three kids take on the Alberta oil sands and create a mess of their own, complete with molasses-drowned ducks (and one pink bunny).

To the Rescue
DIRECTOR: Emma Coleman, High School, Chicago, 3 MIN, Animation
Two wooden models go on an adventure to find their kidnapped third musketeer.

Imagine
DIRECTOR: Vincent Varga, High School, Calgary, 7 MIN, Live Action
Isaac doesn’t have an imagination. Mark has an overactive one. With Mark’s help and creativity, Isaac learns something about himself and his imagination.

Tiny Footprints Making a Big Difference
DIRECTOR: Blake Laing-Smith, Elementary, Calgary, 7 MIN, Documentary
The Wildwood Grade Four students show how they have reduced their ecological footprint through recycling, composting and garbage-free lunches.

Cycle of a Circle
DIRECTOR: Paul Rodermond, Junior High, Calgary, 3 MIN, Animation
This animated short follows the path and evolution of a particle, from the big bang to a baby, to a bird.

Maestro
DIRECTOR: Keifer Gasparovic, High School, Calgary, 3 MIN, Animation
One teen finds a creative way to clean her room.

Vaccination Day
DIRECTOR: Nick Cupelli, High School, Airdrie, 5 MIN, Live Action
After returning late from lunch, three students missed their annual vaccination. What they find is more than they bargained for.

iSolation
DIRECTOR: Derek Vogt, High School, Calgary, 3 MIN, Animation
This short showcases a mix of CGI animation and live action as it explores the subject of discrimination through the life of a marginalized robot.

Secret Suitcase
DIRECTOR: Heejoo Park, High School, Calgary, 3 MIN, Live Action
Follow a mysterious young woman and uncover the contents of a suitcase buried in the sand.

Alone Fish (Mahi Tanha)
DIRECTOR: Peyman Gholam Ahmadi, High School, Iran, 2 MIN, Live Action
This film symbolizes the hopes and dreams of Iranian teenagers during the Chahar Shanbeh Soori (Iranian New Year) celebrations. The Red Fish is one of the primary symbols of this holiday, and it becomes a metaphor for teenagers in Iran.

Phobia
DIRECTOR: Andrew McCartney, High School, Calgary, 3 MIN, Animation
This computer-animated short follows a society that is forced to react to sudden and radical changes.

Storm
DIRECTOR: Jashan Makan and Naanak Sodhi, High School, Calgary, 4 MIN, Live Action/Experimental
A depressed girl tries to find herself, only to be found by someone else.

Misfortune
DIRECTOR: Shae Cole, Calgary, High School, 4 MIN, Live action
After cracking a fortune cookie, one teenager discovers that it might hold some truth about his fate.

My Name is Clarence
DIRECTOR: Kurt Harder, Calgary, High School, 7 MIN, Live Action
This film follows three different perspectives of a fateful high school shooting. The audience follows three points of view and experiences the realism, terror and violence of the event.