New York International Children's Film Festival

The stated mission of the New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF) is to promote intelligent, passionate, provocative cinematic works for ages 3–18 and to help define a more compelling film for kids.

The film festival's programs are built upon the philosophy that young people possess an emotional, intellectual, and creative acuity that is rarely reflected in the mainstream children's media. The festival finds and presents a kaleidoscopic assortment of exciting, entertaining, diverse, risk-taking, stimulating films not available in theaters, on television, or on DVD. The festival pushes the boundaries of style and subject matter to help redefine and elevate what is meant by "film for kids."

Background

The NYICFF began in 1997 with a single program of short films screened six times for an audience of 600. Since then, it has grown into the largest festival for children and teens (ages 3-18) in the country. NYICFF has presented 1100 films since 1997 for children and teens, including premieres of films by Hayao Miyazaki, Michel Ocelot, Katsuhiro Ōtomo, Danny Boyle, Josef Fares, Serge Ellisalde, Jean-Pierre Ameris, Santosh Sivan, Anders Klarund, Hiroyuki Morita, and countless others.

The annual three week long festival takes place in March at various New York City theaters.

New developments

Beyond the three week festival in the spring, the New York International Children's Film Festival has recently become a non profit organization that provides sustained year round programming with monthly presentations at the IFC Center in Greenwich Village, and Symphony Space on the Upper West Side. Films presented include: the US premiere of Michel Ocelot's Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest; the restored French animated masterpiece, Le Roi et l'oiseau; and the NYICFF retrospective Rare Seuss on Film, featuring restored archival prints of And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street and The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.

Starting in the summer of 2007, NYICFF secured rights to forty short and feature films for a "Best of NYICFF" touring program. After a successful test run, the "Best of NYICFF Tour" is currently being booked into theaters around the country for a second year. NYICFF and their producer, GKIDS, have also launched a test program in partnership with the Clearview Cinemas chain, bringing movies the first weekend of every month to Clearview theaters in Bronxville, New York and Red Bank, New Jersey.

Behind NYICFF

NYICFF Selection Committee: Eric Beckman, festival founder; Emily Shapiro, festival founder; Marshall Weber, experimental filmmaker/artist; Chelsea Bailey, PhD, Educational Media Consultant. Works are pre-screened by appropriately aged children prior to final selection.

NYICFF Jury: Susan Sarandon, Academy Award winning actress; John Turturro, renowned American actor, writer, and director; Frances McDormand, Academy Award Winning Actress; James Schamus, film historian, screenwriter/ producer for Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Ice Storm and president of Focus Films; Gus Van Sant, director of Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting; Matthew Modine, Academy Award winning actor; Christine Vachon, Academy Award winning producer of Boys Don't Cry, Velvet Goldmine, Happiness; Rob Minkoff, director of The Lion King, Stuart Little, Mr. Peabody and Sherman; Adam Gopnik, author/ New Yorker magazine columnist; Lynne McVeigh, NYU Professor of Children's Film and Television; Evan Shapiro, executive vice president and general manager of Independent Film Channel.

External links

• Official website – New York International Children's Film Festival
• "New York International Children's Film Festival Goes Year-Round," New York Times, 3/31/06