The World Around Us

Our world is richly infused with opportunities for discovery and revelation. This shorts reel might get you thinking about expanding your horizons beyond what meets the eye. The stories told here include…an animated Story Corps episode of an uncle and nephew waxing over their love of outer space (SPACE BOUND); A short doc about one of the last nomadic groups of reindeer herders (THE DUKHA) and a beautifully animated film about a girl and her best friend that happens to be a growing tiger (MY FRIEND TIGER). There’s so much to explore!

AVANT CARD – Follow Ernst, a postcard character, falling, tripping and sliding his way through a diverse world of postcards. It’s a colorful journey full of different graphic styles. Where will he end up feeling “himself”? (2021 / 5 mins / Germany / dir. Stella Raith / no dialogue)

THE DUKHA – The Dukha are one of the last groups of nomadic reindeer herders in the world, and there are only 40 of them left. Will 5-year-old Tuyshuu follow in his father’s footsteps and take over the herd someday? (2021 / 8 mins / USA, Mongolia / dirs. Carmen Morrow, Zach Wolf / in Mongolian w/English subtitles)

BENZTOWN – A town is driven mad. The city of Stuttgart fights back with heavy action against its traffic chaos. With far-reaching consequences…Other cities just might follow these methods! (2021 / 5 mins / Germany / dir. Gottfried Mentor / no dialogue)

THE FLYMAN – An 8-year-old boy wants to become a superhero he has self-named The Flyman, (a man that flies) to escape Bull Boy, the boy who bullies him in school. When the two finally meet for the final time another superpower comes into play, gravity! This force equalizer helps him to realize that the only superheroes in the world are those people who stay and face their fears. (2021 / 10 mins / dir. Roopal Kewalya / Hindi w/English subtitles)

COMIC ESCAPE – A young boy finds a comic book that changes the way he views the world. Why hasn’t there been room for people who look like him in the comic universe? (2021 / 15 mins / USA / dir. Alphonso McAuley / in English)

FOREVER A KID – Collecting grasshoppers on a spring afternoon. Watching a butterfly while imagining its previous lives. The sounds of summer as you’re tucked cozily into bed… Forever a Kid is a short film about adults recalling their own childhood memories. Ask your child what their favorite summer memory might be so far. Then tell them yours! (2021 / 7 mins / Netherlands / dir. Frederieke Mooij / in English w/subtitles)

CORONA ON THE FRIDGE – Drawings are done by children between four to six years old about their thoughts and impressions of the Corona Virus. They are then animated for dramatic effect. (2021 / 4 mins / Sweden / dir. Lasse Persson / in Swedish w/English subtitles)

CRACKED (Catlak) – A little girl lives in a drought-stricken village in Turkey. Water reserves dwindle, but the girl sacrifices her own well-being to bring some beauty into her life. (2021 / 5 mins / Turkey / dir. MAHMUT TAŞ / no dialogue)

CUCKOO (Kuku) – A short animated documentary captures the amazing characteristics of this migrating bird from Africa to Europe. (2020 / 4 mins / Czech Republic / dir. Daniela Hýbnerová / in Czeck w/English subtitles)

MY FRIEND TIGER – A girl and Tiger ride their bicycle through a springtime town to get fresh buns. They are best friends, growing up together, playing together, enjoying their lives till one day, one of them finds the city too small. (2021 / 7 mins / Russian Federation / dir. Tatiana Kiseleva / no dialogue)

STAR BOUND – Joey Jefferson, a mission operations engineer at NASA, talks with his outer space-obsessed 6-year-old nephew Jerry Morrison. Beneath their discussion of space is the uncle’s excitement for what his nephew will encounter in life as he pursues his passions. (2021 / 3 mins / USA / dir. Richard O’Connor / in English)