Mark your calendars for the New York International Children’s Film Festival, four weeks of film for ages 3-18! The 2015 Festival takes place February 27 and runs through March 22 at venues throughout NYC.
New York International Children’s Film Festival was founded in 1997 to support the creation and dissemination of thoughtful, provocative, and intelligent film for children and teens ages 3-18. The Festival experience cultivates an appreciation for the arts, encourages active, discerning viewing, and stimulates lively discussion among peers, families, and the film community.
The flagship New York City Festival has grown from one weekend of films into the largest film festival for children and teens in North America. Screened over the course of four weeks at venues throughout NYC, the Festival program – narrowed down from roughly 2,500 international submissions – is comprised of approximately 100 short and feature films, filmmaker Q&As, retrospective programs, parties, and premieres. The Festival is an Academy Award® qualifying festival, one of only three film festivals in New York State – and only two children’s film festivals in the country – to hold that honor. Winners of the Festival’s juried prizes are eligible for consideration at the annual Academy Awards®, which speaks to both the quality of the Festival’s programming efforts and to its dedication to promoting emerging filmmakers.
In addition to presenting the annual event, New York International Children’s Film Festival is a multifaceted arts organization that offers year-round engagement, including special event premieres and pre-release screenings, film production workshops for kids, satellite festivals in Boston, Miami, and Philadelphia, and touring programs that screen in theaters nationwide.
2015 Festival Lineup
Opening Night Films: Shaun the Sheep the Movie (East Coast Premiere); When Marnie Was There (North American Premiere)
Closing Night Films: Enchanted Kingdom 3D (North American Premiere); Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet (US Premiere)
Special Programs: Best of Aardman Shorts Wallace & Gromit: 25 Years; The King and the Mockingbird
Feature Films: Ballet Boys; Belle and Sebastian (New York Premiere) ; Hocus Pocus Alfie Atkins (East Coast Premiere) ; Jellyfish Eyes; Landfillharmonic (East Coast Premiere) ; Lou! (US Premiere); Moomins on the Riviera (North American Premiere); Mune 3D (North American Premiere); Satellite Girl and Milk Cow (New York Premiere); Secrets of War (New York Premiere); Wolfy, the Incredible Secret (US Premiere)
Short Film Programs: Shorts for Tots (ages 3-6) ; Short Films One (ages 5-10) ; Short Films Two (ages 8-14); Flicker Lounge: Teens & Adults Only (ages 12+); Heebie Jeebies: Spooky, Freaky, Bizarre… (ages 10 to adult) ; Girls’ POV (ages 10 to adult)
In addition to the screenings, the Festival offers filmmaking day camps for kids during February and April vacation weeks. Classes are offered in a variety of animation and live action filmmaking techniques for grades K-9. Students will conceive, storyboard, write, shoot, draw, model, create sets, and perform on camera to create a completed short film. Previous workshops have included Multimedia Storytelling, Rotoscope Animation, Claymation, and more!
COMPLETE 2015 FESTIVAL JURY: John Canemaker – Academy Award winning animator (The Moon and the Son); Geena Davis – Academy Award winning actor (The Accidental Tourist, Thelma and Louise); Lynne McVeigh – Associate Professor of Children’s Media at NYU Tisch School of the Arts; Matthew Modine – Award-winning actor (Full Metal Jacket, The Dark Knight Rises); Richard Peña – Director Emeritus New York Film Festival, Columbia University Professor of Film Studies; Bill Plympton – Academy Award nominated filmmaker (Guard Dog, Cheatin’); Dana Points – Editor-in-Chief, Parents Magazine; Susan Sarandon – Academy Award winning actor (Dead Man Walking, Ping Pong Summer); Henry Selick – Academy Award nominated director (Coraline, The Nightmare Before Christmas); James Schamus – Award-winning filmmaker (Brokeback Mountain, The Ice Storm); Evan Shapiro – Award-winning film and television producer; Christine Vachon – Award-winning filmmaker (Boys Don’t Cry, Mildred Pierce); Gus Van Sant – Award-winning director (Good Will Hunting, Milk); Taika Waititi – Academy Award nominated writer/director (Two Cars One Night, What We Do in the Shadows); Jeffrey Wright – Award-winning actor (Basquiat, The Hunger Games)