The Marvels of Media Festival kicks off with a festive opening night celebration and recognizes outstanding films created by autistic media-makers with screenings, panel discussions, and media workshops. Audience members will have a chance to learn from professional filmmakers on the spectrum through media workshops and panel discussions.

The free festival is part of the Museum’s year-round Marvels of Media initiative, which showcases, celebrates, and supports autistic media-makers of all ages and skill sets. The third annual Marvels of Media Festival expands the Museum’s accessibility efforts for autistic visitors through the creation of a sensory-friendly space in the Media Lab and sensory kits, which are available at the front desk.

Schedule of Events:

March 28, 2024:

6:30 p.m: Marvels of Media Festival Opening Night

Join us for the opening night celebration, including a reception, virtual reality showcase, and remarks by founder of Marvels of Media Josh Sapan and Advisory Council member and director Tony Spiridakis, and Christina Curry, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities.

Unique Romances is a selection of short films that explore the multitude of ways autistic people navigate dating and relationships, a theme rarely represented in film. These stories traverse a range of genres, including comedy, magical realism, and fantasy. Three of these shorts depict queer characters and romances. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with filmmakers Dani Bowman, Tal Anderson, Kory Mann and Violet Gallo moderated by filmmaker-playwright Jackson Tucker-Meyer, about telling romantic stories and queer and autistic representation in film.

Free with RSVP.

Unique Romances features the following short films:

Starcrossed Destinies (Dir. Dani Bowman. 2023, 3 mins.)
With the voices of Dani Bowman and Natalie Hutchins. In this animated short, two classmates—a human and an alien—bond over their shared passion for astronomy beneath a shimmering night sky. Bowman (Love on the Spectrum) directed and edited the film; Hutchins wrote the original story and is one of the animators who worked on the film at Danimation Entertainment, an organization dedicated to empowering autistic animators to find a career in animation. New York premiere

70/50 (Dir. Kory Mann. 2023, 11 mins.)
Kara is a queer, autistic, deeply introverted bundle of nervous energy who, after attending her first high school party, finds herself alone in a room with Haley, her long-time crush. Starring writer-director Mann, this short offers a classic coming–of–age romance from a brand-new perspective. New York premiere

Sensory & Sense-Ability (Dir. Jeremy Andrew Davis. 2023, 3 mins.)
Written and directed by, and starring Davis, Sensory & Sense-Ability delves into the inner monologue of an autistic person working his way through conversation on a first date. The dialogue combines humor with thoughts and worries that anyone can relate to, while highlighting the unique challenges autistic people can face. New York premiere. Content warning: loud, overlapping noise.

Sky and Lucia (Dir. Violet Gallo. 2022, 10 mins.)
With Stephanie Bui, Maple Leung, Matthew Courson. Created as part of the program Reel Works Teen Filmmaking, this magical realist short film centers on Sky, a shy high-school student who disappears when faced with turbulent emotional situations. In order to overcome this strange phenomenon, she must learn to stand up for herself. When Sky joins forces with Lucia, the two form a friendship, then a budding romance. Content warning: bullying.

Polyphony (Dir. Harold Hall, Jr. 2023, 5 mins.)
With Tal Anderson, Anthony Purnell. In this charming romantic comedy, Emily Martin, a twenty-something aspiring songwriter is perfectly content without a boyfriend. She loves her time by herself: watching movies and spending time with her cat. Suddenly, everything changes when she finds herself in a duet with a stranger. Polyphony stars neurodivergent actors Anderson (Atypical, As We See It) and Purnell (Wild, Wild, West Hollywood) as neighbors who form an unexpected connection through song. New York premiere

Wilmington Escaped (Dir. Carrie Hawks. 2023, 6 mins.)
This virtual reality film, screening in the Fox Amphitheater takes guests on a ghost tour, including real accounts of enslaved people traveling to other worlds around the time of the 1898 racism-fueled insurrection of Wilmington, North Carolina. Content warning: racism and death.

Location: Redstone Theater

March 29, 2024:

4:00 p.m: Puppetry Workshop with WonderSpark Puppets

As part of Museum of the Moving Image’s Marvels of Media Festival and presented by WonderSpark Puppets, this workshop invites autistic visitors and media-makers are invited to learn how to perform puppetry on screen. Participants will gain knowledge about TV Puppetry Performance, technique, and learn the skills to become more confident puppeteers in this form. You can bring your TV-style hand and rod puppet puppet, and puppets will also be available for use. Recommended for ages 13 and up.  

This will take place at the Museum; space is limited.    

Free with RSVP.

Location: Digital Learning Suite

5:00 p.m: Flying Lessons + Oreo

Flying Lessons
Dir. Sarah Waldron. 2023, 84 mins. With Julia Schanker, Shayvawn Webster, Tori Ashley Matos. This dramatic feature follows two estranged sisters forced together by their mother’s sudden death: Beatrice, an autistic teenager who wants to learn to fly, and Talia, a queer musician with no interest in teaching her. With an improvised, documentary style, the story explores unconventional ways raw emotion and feelings of loss are communicated. Flying Lessons draws from the real-life experiences of director Waldron and her godsister, co-writer and star Schanker. Followed by a Q&A with Waldron moderated by actor, dramaturg, disability/accessibility educator Sydney Zarlengo. Content warning: death, ableism, and self-harm.

Preceded by:

Oreo  
Dir. Cashmere Jasmine. 2021, 18 mins. Oreo is a dark-comic, surrealist short featuring four vignettes: “Black Card,” “Girls,” “Mira,” and “The Other.” Each vignette depicts Black women at various ages and life stages as they experience moments of being on the “outside.” This inventive film shows how common feelings of loneliness are often compounded by experiences of class, race, religion, and colorism, focusing on those moments where each woman or girl chooses to conform or not to conform by standing in their otherness. Content warning: racism and bullying.

Free with RSVP.

Location: Bartos Screening Room

March 30, 2024:

1:30 p.m: Magnificently Awesome Animations: Four Shorts

These four well-crafted animated shorts are perfect for kids of all ages, taking viewers into fantastical, vibrant worlds: a young princess seeks danger, a cat eagerly pursues his next meal, an Easter egg spends a fun day with a new babysitter, and a salamander struggles with making art. After the screening, there will be a panel discussion with filmmakers Alba Enid Garcia and Nicholas Amodio moderated by advocate, activist, and author Lauren Melissa Ellzey about the techniques used in these films, including stop-motion and digital animation, and how one’s autistic identity comes into play when creating.  

Free with RSVP.

Dangerously Ever After  

Dir. Alba Enid Garcia. 2023, 12 mins. In this stop-motion fairy tale, a young princess who loves the strange and the morbid meets a shy prince who comes upon her castle. Dangerously Ever After subverts gender roles in a story filled with wit and imagination. Autistic animator and puppeteer Julio Garay has crafted a unique world, characters, and creatures. New York premiere. Content warning: blood.

Cat Hunter

Dir. Nicholas Amodio. 2023, 2 mins. A cat is determined to make a meal out of an elusive creature known as the Cheesebeetle. Amodio’s colorful, comedic short hearkens back to early Warner Brothers cartoons in its use of timing and slapstick. World premiere

The Kazuki Toons: Babysitting an Egg

Dir. Kazuki Conover. 2023, 7 mins. This silly, well-crafted short shows the growing friendship between Kazuki, his creation Blendy, and the Easter Bunny’s adopted son, Edward the Easter Egg.

Twoot Newt  

Dir. Jackie Snyder. 2021, 4 mins. Newt struggles with jealousy over Salamander’s musical talent before coming to accept her unique toot. Twoot Newt’s soft, beautifully expressive animation elevates its memorable characters, magical world, and poignant message.

Location: Bartos Screening Room

2:30 p.m: Bending Conventions: Five Shorts

These five inventive films offer innovative experimental film techniques, and unique storylines. These films include reflections on identity, expressive animations which take us on new journeys and other captivating stories depicting outcasts. The program features films created by autistic directors and organizations like Exceptional Minds and Spectrum Laboratory, which are dedicated to uplifting neurodivergent media-makers. Followed by a panel discussion with filmmakers Daniel Oliver Lee, Madison Cahill and Samara Huckvale about the excitement of experimenting with cinematic forms and how the filmmakers approached the making of their films.  

Free with RSVP.

build me through the image / constrúyanme a través de la imagen

Dir. Paula Hung. 2023, 8 mins. In Spanish with English subtitles. This experimental documentary short explores the intricacies and complexities of being transmarginal Latine, multiracial, and queer. With narration describing the experiences of a father, mother, and daughter, and visuals mixing archival film footage, this film engages and deconstructs the cinematic form in dynamic, beautiful ways while analyzing media representation. New York premiere. Content warning: racism and strobe-like effects.

Fox Box Follies

Dir. Daniel Oliver Lee and Steph Prizhitomsky. 2023, 4 mins. In this surrealistic, folkloric short, a fox tries to sneak his way into a boxing ring disguised as a chicken. Content warning: violence and death.

Mean Mr. Mustache

Dir. Madison Cahill. 2021, 4 mins. This riveting animated music video for the band PENIX features a car chase and lots of explosions.  Content warning: violence, substance use, and blood.

The Benchwarm-Nerds!

Dir. Jason Weissbrod. 2023, 15 mins. With Domonique Brown, Caroline Corry, Micah Stumbaugh. With music, puppetry and comedy, this delightful, quirky short follows three outcasts who meet and combine their unique talents to create the most epic sci-fi saga of all time. The Benchwarm-Nerds! was created by Spectrum Laboratory, an organization dedicated to uplifting neurodivergent media-makers. Content warning: contains bullying.

Ocean’s 24/7

Dir. Samara Huckvale. 2024, 3 mins. This stoner’s revenge comedy parodies heist films and the French New Wave. It centers on two twenty-something amateurs deciding to run a heist with 24 people in seven days on a local grocery store chain, Ocean’s, after a store employee publicly embarrasses them for smelling like weed. Ocean’s 24/7 features Black, autistic artists on-screen and behind the screen. World premiere. Content warning: substance use.

Tree’s Blood

Dir. Zion Ballard Balewa, Sarah Breiche, Nathan Dana, Miles Hawkins, Hilaria Litton, Sophia Oh, Jorge Ramirez, Christopher Rubinstein, Kayla Nataly Verdugo, Eden Wolfenson, Abigail Zamora of Reel Start. 2024, 8 mins. This skillfully constructed animation focuses on how a social media influencer realizes the importance of taking care of the environment when her search for fame quite literally puts her world at stake. This short was animated by Exceptional Minds, an academy and studio dedicated to preparing artists on the autism spectrum for careers in animation and the digital arts. The autistic media-makers who worked on this short include Kate “Kae” McSpadden, Becca David, Liam Brosnan, Christian Keithley, Sam Hardin, Craig Hills, Andrew Turney, Dylan Carbonell, C. Idd, Dean Julien, Jack Meigs, Dustin Noriyuki, Ludwig Tan, Michael Shiu, Stephen Storti, Kyle Grossart, Aaron Trost, Autumn Schneider, Shad Wilde and David Miles. Content warning: blood and violence.

Location: Bartos Screening Room

4:00 p.m: Collage Animation Workshop

As part of Museum of the Moving Image’s Marvels of Media Festival and co-presented by Strokes of Genius, autistic visitors and media-makers are welcome to join us for the Collage Animation Workshop. Instructed by artist David Karasow, this two-hour media workshop focuses on creating collage art with paper, which is then animated to create a stop-motion animation short (between 10 and 20 seconds). Recommended for ages 15 and up.

Free with RSVP.

Location: Digital Learning Suite

Dates: March 28 - 30, 2024

Location:

Museum of the Moving Image,
36-01 35 Avenue,
Astoria, NY 11106.

Click here for more information.