REEL YOUTH

Paper Planes and Promises 16 Program

Folded Futures is a coming-of-age drama about a high school student who finds escape from family struggles by crafting paper planes, each inscribed with his hopes for the future. When one lands in the hands of a girl grappling with her own broken promises, a fragile friendship begins to form. Promise Me Tomorrow is a documentary that follows three teenagers from different backgrounds as they face the uncertainty of life after high school, each grappling with a personal promise they've made—to themselves, to others, or to their communities. Static Air is an experimental short composed of slow-motion vignettes showing young people launching paper planes, each accompanied by an internal monologue reflecting on a promise kept, broken, or forgotten. Return to Sender is a family drama about a young woman who discovers a box of unsent childhood letters. As she sets out to find the people those letters were written for, she begins to reconnect with lost relationships and unresolved truths. Skybound is an animated short set in a paper-crafted world, where a child folds a magical plane that takes them on a surreal flight across memories and imagined futures, ultimately helping them decide what promise is truly worth making.