New York International Children's Film Festival
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The mission of the New York International Children's Film Festival is to promote intelligent, passionate, provocative cinematic works for ages 3-18 and to help define a more compelling film for kids.
NYICFF'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."
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[edit] Background
The New York International Children's Film Festival 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 Otomo, 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.
[edit] New Developments
Beyond the three week festival in the spring, the New York International Children's Film Festival has recently become a not for profit organization that provides sustained year round programming with monthly presentations at the IFC Center in Greenwich Village. Films presented include: the US premiere of Michele Ocelot's breathtaking Azur and Asmar; the restored French animated masterpiece, Le Roi et L'oiseau; and the NYICFF retorspective 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. Beginning November 2007, the monthly programming will be expanded to the Symphony Space and will become a weekly series in 2008.
Also, NYICFF has secured rights to forty short and feature films for a "Best of NYICFF" touring program. The program was piloted in Martha's Vineyard summer 2007 and is currently being booked into theaters across New York State.
[edit] Behind the 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; James Schamus, film historian, screenwriter/ producer for Brokeback Mountain, Crounching 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; Mathew 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.
