CineYouth Film Festival Announces Winning Titles at 21st Edition Festival

Cinema/Chicago today announced the winning films presented at the 21st CineYouth Festival, which ran April 24 – 26 at FACETS and streams worldwide through May 3, 2026 with free virtual tickets online at www.chicagofilmfestival.com/cineyouth. 

The CineYouth Awards Celebration, presented by Adobe, revealed the winning titles in eight categories including the Rising Star Award, the Chicago Award, Animation, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Experimental, and International Film awards. A selection of these award-winning CineYouth films will be screened at the 62nd Chicago International Film Festival, running October 14 – 25, 2026.

The Rising Star Award went to Stella Chen’s innovative and provocative BOOTSTRAPPING FOR THE BOOBIED. The Chicago Award, presented to an outstanding project made in Illinois or by a Chicago filmmaker, went to Sylvanna LeBlanc’s FOLDED STORIES, in which fashion becomes the story.

The full list of winning films at the 21st CineYouth Festival is as follows: 

Rising Star Award

BOOTSTRAPPING FOR THE BOOBIED (U.S.)

Dir. Stella Chen

Program: Dreamstates: Experimental

BOOTSTRAPPING FOR THE BOOBIED is an innovative, provocative, and unique film that captures the essence of being a burnt out, queer, art student under the weight of late-stage capitalism. It’s a film that sticks with you. Visually, it’s one of a kind. Even the smallest details, shapes, and color choices speak to a larger artistic vision that’s not only gorgeous and exhilarating, but intellectually stimulating and critically motivated. The CineYouth Programming team was truly blown away by this film. We are thrilled to present filmmaker Stella Chen with the Rising Star Award, recognizing her as a filmmaker with immense potential.

Chicago Award

FOLDED STORIES (U.S.)

Dir. Sylvanna LeBlanc

Program: Check Your Local Listings

The exquisitely crafted visual world unfolded layers of the delightful, deep, and heartfelt interconnected relationship between identity, memory, and fashion the artist celebrates in this film. It embodied risky, vulnerable storytelling with a tremendous sense of place: Chicago. This jury of Chicago filmmakers is honored to award the 2026 Chicago Award to FOLDED STORIES directed by Sylvanna LeBlanc.

Animation Competition

OUR POCKETS ARE FULL (U.S.)

Dir. Anjali Pulim

Program: The Animator’s Playground

OUR POCKETS ARE FULL features exceptional animation and direction that pulls at your heart strings in the most perfect ways. Its use of documentary style techniques in the personal interviews with family members beautifully captured how animation can seamlessly blend styles to make it its own unique medium. The filmmaker’s own reflections grounded the story to make the personal feel universal. From the strong technical elements to the intentional way it used animation to explore themes of family, time, and space, OUR POCKETS ARE FULL showcases how animation can be a vessel for the most moving stories.

Comedy Competition

THE SHOE THIEF (U.S.)

Dir. Adelle Yan

Program: Familial Ground

We love how THE SHOE THIEF uses sharp comedic edge and the symbolism of gnarly shoes to explore tension and healing in a terse mother-daughter relationship. Driven by complex character development, symbolic writing and cinematography, and thoughtfully crafted production design, the pacing and wit of this film made it stand out as the Jury’s top choice for the Comedy Award.

Documentary Competition

LA ESPERANZA (U.S. and Mexico)

Dir. Javier Cruz-Ginez

Program: Between Homes

The jury was deeply moved by this equally beautiful and tragic tale of migration, belonging, and separation. With striking cinematography and a lyrical, deeply felt narration, Javier crafts an intimate and visually poetic work that captures the quiet, enduring cost of lives lived across borders. His film shows remarkable maturity in storytelling, seamlessly weaving the personal with the universal in a way that feels especially urgent today. Bravo Javier.

Drama Competition

SUNNY OAKS (U.K.)

Dir. Max Davies

Program: Familial Ground

This tender and darkly comedic story about an aging mother and her world-weary son moved our jury with its succinct and emotional demonstration of growing old, and of finding yourself suddenly enmeshed in mundane patterns in ways that are unanticipated and even frightening. We were impressed by the filmmaker’s capacity to pack such a significant emotional punch through its contained narrative – two characters, one retirement community, and one gun on the wall. The story was tightly wound, well paced, cleverly edited – and, while familiar, kept us guessing until all expectations were subverted as the credits rolled.

Experimental Competition

SONGS OF GENTLE NIGHT (Taiwan)

Dir. Tsu Kuei Chen

Program: Dreamstates: Experimental

Our jury was impressed by the filmmaker’s grasp of experimental form — namely, how they were able to construct a story that nearly transcends medium through its integration of still photography, found footage, and expressive, virtuosic capture of landscape. We were particularly stunned by the sound design; the interplay of light, shadow, and the natural world; and the filmmaker’s ability to communicate a sprawling, intergenerational narrative exclusively through non-linear image and sound.

International Competition

THE MINE (China)

Dir. Shijun Liu

Program: Undercurrents

With a respectful nod to Chinese cultural history, this film is intensely visual and deeply moving with a strong heart. Its dramatic, artful integration of tension, and amazing acting by a diverse range of actors from young to village elders made it a compelling work that we’re honored to award THE MINE the International Award.

For more information, visit the CineYouth website at https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/cineyouth/.

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