ClickLast summer, a director friend of mine named Mark Nickelsburg shot a short movie starring his son, Lucas, called “Harry Grows Up”.

It’s about an eighteen-month-old boy who falls in love with his babysitter but then she leaves him to go to college.

Faced with the prospect of a NYC winter alone as a single baby, Harry falls into a deep depression. (Haven’t we all been there?)

But then spring arrives and Harry meets someone who changes everything— a one-year-old girl named Zoe.

Who plays Zoe?

Mazzy, of course! (What little boy could possibly resist her?)

I had no idea what kind of film Mark was making when I agreed to let him use my daughter (although I assumed he’d keep things PG) and I wasn’t even there while it was being shot because I was working.

My nanny took Mazzy where she needed to be and when, Mark somehow got her to “perform” for the camera, and I waited patiently to see the final result.

Understandably, it took Mark over three months to create his 12 minute film. (Ever try to get two toddlers to do ANYTHING?)

When I finally saw the finished product, it totally blew me away. It’s black and white, beautifully scored and uses an adult narrator to voice Harry’s thoughts and tell the story. It’s not cutesy at all (more like darkly adorable), which is an impressive feat when your main characters are babies.

Here are a few screen grabs from Mark’s twist on the classic NYC love story:

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As you would expect, I immediately asked Mark when I could post “Harry Grows Up” on Mommy Shorts to share with all of you.

But Mark had grander plans.

Apparently, if you want to get your film accepted in a festival, you can’t post it anywhere online.

Oh.

So once again, I waited patiently to see what would happen.

Well, as of last week, “Harry Grows Up” was officially selected as part of the NY International Short Film Festival!

Which means that on May 30th at 7:30pm, it will be playing at the Landmark Sunshine Theater on the big screen!

I can’t even tell you how excited I am to see the larger than life version of old school Mazzy’s adorable face. Remember when she looked like this?

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If you live in NYC and would like to come, tickets are currently on sale here but are limited and going fast (I know at least three sets of grandparents who have already scooped up a bunch).

The movie will be playing in a block of seven short films, so if you are in the audience, try your best not to “BOO” and “HISS” too loudly during the competition.

Incidentally, since the movie was made, Mazzy and her co-star Lucas have grown quite close and still refer to each other as boyfriend and girlfriend. (Isn’t that the classic HOLLYWOOD story…)

In fact, it was with Lucas that Mazzy shared her first kiss right before Valentine’s Day (read the full story here), months after the movie was finished.

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Can’t you see the chemistry??!!