The 22nd edition of this New York event dedicated to movie-goers between the ages of 3 and 18 will take place from February 23 through March 18, and will give pride of place to French shorts this year.
Five French feature films will be presented at this major New York event aimed at young audiences (and the young at heart!): White Fang (which made its world premiere at Sundance), Belle and Sebastian, Friends for Life, Big Bad Fox & Other Tales (in the presence of Benjamin Renner), March of the Penguins 2 - The Call, and Zombillenium.
This is the largest number of productions presented by any country at this festival that stretches over almost three weeks. The United States, for example, is represented by only four films this year.
On the Short Films side
With no less than thirteen French productions selected, twelve of which are animations, French creativity will be in the spotlight.
In addition to the two films currently in the running for the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film, Garden Party and Negative Space, the NYICFF will give North American audiences the chance to discover a delightful new offering from Jean-Pierre Jeunet: Two Snails Set Off and its extraordinary vocal cast.
Mention should also be made of the important place given to graduate films this year (The Day I Beat the Sky, Gokurosama), as well as titles from the production companies Citron Bien and Films du Nord (Totems, The Unicorn).
A high-profile jury including directors Sofia Coppola, Mark Osborne, Ira Sachs, Gus Van Sant, and actresses Geena Davis, Uma Thurman, and Zoe Saldana will be deciding on this year's awards. The stakes are high as this festival founded in 1997 by Eric Beckman has been officially recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since 2011, making award-winning films eligible for the coveted statuettes in the Oscars Best Live Action Short Film and Best Animated Short Film categories.
The complete program can be found here.
