Back to GKIDS Films
"Devoted to the kind of fare that may be found at the Academy Awards, but not at the local multiplex."
- New York Times
"This festival is about redefining what kids' entertainment can be."
- Time Out New York
"Kid films that have not been cooked in Hollywood's cauldron are starting to burst into the mainstream, thanks to NYICFF."
- New York Daily News
"More daring and subtle than the usual kids' fare."
- Variety
The New York International Children's Film Festival is North America's largest festival of film for children and teens, and stands at the forefront of a movement to define a new, more provocative and compelling film for kids. Each year the festival presents a carefully curated collection of the best new animation, live action and experimental film from around the world in an exhilarating festival atmosphere with all the immediacy and excitement of a Cannes or Sundance. The NYICFF jury includes such film icons as Susan Sarandon, Gus Van Sant, Matthew Modine, James Schamus, Michel Ocelot, Uma Thurman, Evan Shapiro, Christine Vachon and John Turturro.
Now these exciting, culturally enriching NYICFF films are available to audiences nationwide in an all-digital presentation of short film compilations and award-winning feature films. Perfect for theaters, festivals, museums, and arts centers, the Best of NYICFF Tour allows venues to either supplement their regular kids' programming with exciting new alternative content, or create their own miniature children's film festival over the course of one or two action-packed weekends!
For more information or to book, please contact:
Dave Jesteadt, GKIDS
dave@gkids.com, 212-528-0500
|
A CAT IN PARIS
Animation, Felicioli/Gagnol, France/Belgium, 65 minutes, Rated PG
In English, Recommended for ages 6+
2012 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE - BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
"Wonderful, sophisticated fun! Take kids on the adventure of a lifetime!"
- San Francisco Chronicle
"Sublime! Beautifully Drawn! Breathtaking!
Rich with film references (Reservoir Dogs and Goodfellas among them), A Cat in Paris is a stylish celebration of storytelling."
- Boston Globe
"Critic's Pick! Graceful, subtle and sure-footed, much as its title implies!"
- The New York Times
Dino is a cat that leads a double life. By day he lives with Zoe, a little girl whose mother is a detective in the Parisian police force. But at night Dino sneaks out the window to work with Nico - a slinky cat burglar with a big heart, whose fluid movements are poetry in motion as he evades captors and slips and swishes from rooftop to rooftop across the Paris skyline. Rife with film references (from Reservoir Dogs to Goodfellas to The Night of the Hunter) A CAT IN PARIS is a warm and richly humorous love letter to classic noir and American gangster films, with jazz soundtrack featuring Billie Holiday.
Featuring the voices of Academy Award® winner Marcia Gay Harden (Mystic River), Academy Award® winner Anjelica Huston (The Royal Tenenbaums) and Matthew Modine (Full Metal Jacket). The film is rated PG for mild action and violence, and some thematic material.
Content note: Features action and adventure that may be scary for youngest audiences. (Rated PG)
Available on DCP, Blu-Ray and DVD.
Click here to watch the trailer
|
|
TALES OF THE NIGHT
Animation, Michel Ocelot, France, 84 minutes
In English, Recommended for ages 6+
"Instantly Timeless! A triumph of intricate craftsmanship!"
- Variety
"Truly thrilling! An utterly gorgeous and magical film - it creates one dazzling image after another. A thoroughgoing treat!"
- The Oregonian
"Stunning! Newcomers to Ocelot's work will be filled with wonder!"
- Screen Daily
Tales of the Night is renowned animation auteur Michel Ocelot (Kirikou and the Sorceress, Azur & Asmar)'s first foray into 3D animation. A hit at the Berlin Film Festival, the film extends the earlier shadow puppet style of Ocelot’s Princes and Princesses, with black silhouetted characters set off against exquisitely detailed Day-Glo backgrounds bursting with color and kaleidoscopic patterns – the subtle use of 3D creating a diorama-like effect.
The film weaves together six exotic fables each unfolding in a unique locale, from Tibet, to medieval Europe, an Aztec kingdom, the African plains, and even the Land of the Dead. In Ocelot’s storytelling, history blends with fairytale as viewers are whisked off to enchanted lands full of dragons, werewolves, captive princesses, sorcerers, and enormous talking bees - and each fable ends with its own ironic twist.
Available on DCP (in 2D or 3D), Blu-Ray and DVD (2D only).
|
|
MIA AND THE MIGOO
Animation, Jacques-Rémy Girerd, France/Italy, 92 minutes, Rated PG
In English, Recommended for ages 6+
"Gorgeous to watch! Go for the fantasy, stay for the art."
- Los Angeles Times
"A hand-painted film that draws inspiration from Van Gogh and Cezanne, Mia and the Migoo is genuinely beautiful, with eye-popping color and motion and dreamscapes: really inspired stuff."
- The Oregonian
"The toke-tastic visuals are an endless delight!"
- Time Out New York
"A beautifully animated adventure! A lovely, memorable film!"
- Common Sense
A breathtaking animated eco-adventure, winner of Best Animated Feature at the European Film Awards. Created from an astounding 500,000 hand-painted frames of animation, the film features superb performances by John DiMaggio, Whoopi Goldberg, Matthew Modine, Wallace Shawn, and James Woods.
One night Mia has a premonition. So after saying a few words of parting at her mother’s grave, she sets out on a cross continent journey, though mountains and jungles in search of her father, who has been trapped in a landslide at a construction site on a remote tropical lake. In the middle of the lake stands the ancient Tree of Life, watched over by innocent, bumbling forest spirits called the Migoo, who grow and change shape as they please, morphing from small childlike beings to petulant giants. The Migoo have been disrupting the construction to protect this sacred site – and now together with Mia they join in a fight to find Mia's father and save the Tree, with the future of life on Earth hanging in the balance.
Content note: Features action and adventure that may be scary for youngest audiences. (Rated PG)
Available on 35mm, HDCam, Digibeta, Blu-ray and DVD.
Click here to watch the trailer
|
|
ELEANOR'S SECRET
Animation, Dominique Monféry, France, 76 minutes
In English, Recommended for ages 3 to 8
"Charming! Imaginative!"
"The animation appeals to all ages, and parents will appreciate the pro-literacy message at the pic's heart."
- Variety
From Academy Award-nominated director Dominique Monféry comes a sumptuously animated movie about a magic library where all the characters from classic children’s books come alive.
Nat has fond memories of his eccentric Aunt Eleanor reading to him from her enormous collection of storybooks but is frustrated by his inability to read the books himself. So he is less than thrilled when he learns that his aunt has left him the keys to her attic library as a gift. However, just as Nat’s parents are selling the collection to a shady antiques dealer, Nat discovers that the library is magical – the books are all original first editions of history’s most popular fairy tales, and the famous characters come to life! Now with the help of Alice in Wonderland, the Ogre, Peter Pan and others, he must find a way to get back the books and learn to read an ancient spell to keep the characters alive for future generations of children.
Eleanor’s Secret is a beautifully designed, rollicking adventure in which a boy’s new found ability to read not only sets his imagination free, but saves the day! The film features characters from classic storybooks Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Jungle Book, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Jack and the Beanstalk, Puss in Boots, Tom Thumb, Little Red Riding Hood, and more!
Available on Digibeta, Blu-ray and DVD.
Click here to watch the trailer
|
|
THE SECRET OF KELLS
Animation, Tomm More, Ireland, 75 minutes
In English, Recommended for ages 6+
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE - BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
"Four Stars! Ravishing! Magical! Glorious!"
- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
"Fanciful and captivating! Gorgeous and uplifting!"
- Claudia Puig, USA Today
"Critic's Pick! Extraordinary!"
"The Secret of Kells discloses strange new vistas that nonetheless seem to have existed since ancient times."
- A.O. Scott, New York Times
"Rapturous! Stunning! A riot of color!"
- Ella Taylor, Village Voice
"Pure Delight!"
"The exquisite art and fairy tale ambience will win over
animation fans and children alike."
- Box Office Magazine
Magic, fantasy and Celtic mythology come together in a riot of color and detail that dazzle the eyes in this sweeping story about the power of imagination and faith to carry humanity through dark times. Features the voices of Brendan Gleeson (Harry Potter, In Bruges), Mick Lally, Evan McGuire and Christen Mooney.
Young Brendan lives in a remote medieval outpost under siege from barbarian raids. But a new life of adventure beckons when a celebrated master illuminator arrives from foreign lands carrying an ancient but unfinished book, brimming with secret wisdom and powers. To help complete the magical book, Brendan has to overcome his deepest fears on a dangerous quest that takes him into the enchanted forest where mythical creatures hide. It is here that he meets the fairy Aisling, a mysterious young wolf-girl, who helps him along the way. But with the barbarians closing in, will Brendan's determination and artistic vision illuminate the darkness and show that enlightenment is the best fortification against evil?
Content note: Features implied Viking violence that may be scary to very young audiences.
Available on 35mm, HDCam, Digibeta, Blu-ray and DVD.
Click here to watch the trailer
|
|
TAHAAN
Live Action, Santosh Sivan, India, 105 minutes
In Hindi with English subtitles, Recommended for ages 8+
"Four Stars! Terrific!"
"A most compelling take on the real victims of war."
- Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
"Outstanding!"
"Sivan's camera captures the seasons and mood
of the Kashmir Valley like never before!"
- Economic Times
"A masterpiece!"
"It mesmerizes you with it's simplicity!"
- Dear Cinema
From award-winning, internationally-renowned director Santosh Sivan (The Terrorist, Before the Rains), Tahaan is a stunningly shot, fable-like story set in scenic but strife-ridden Kashmir. The conflict is used as a backdrop for the story of an eight-year-old boy, Tahaan, who tries to gain back his beloved pet donkey that has been sold along with his family's possessions to pay the family debt. With his father missing in action for three years, Tahaan lives with his older sister, his loving, parable-telling grandfather, and mute mother, but is left more or less on his own to wander village and countryside, navigate border checkpoints, and negotiate with merchants and money lenders in an effort to regain his lost pet. More than a war movie, this is a film about striving, finding life-purpose, and, finally, of right and wrong — as Tahaan is recruited by a young militant to throw a grenade into an army compound, building to a heart-thumping final scene.
Like Sivan's earlier films, Tahaan is told with warmth, humor and simple honesty, while his gorgeous cinematography offers breathtaking views of Kashmir's snow-covered mountain passes and shimmering lakes. A recurring encounter with a group of mystic Sufi singers contributes to the atmosphere and provides a compellingly exotic musical bed.
Available on 35mm, Digibeta and DVD.
|
|
AZUR & ASMAR
Animation, Michel Ocelot, France, 98 minutes
In English, Recommended for ages 6+
"Beautiful!"
- New York Times
"Magnificent! Enchanting!"
- Variety
"Pure magic!"
- Hollywood Reporter
"Impossibly gorgeous!"
"The year's most beautiful animated film!"
- Salon
"It's hard to imagine a more transporting cinematic experience!"
- Chicago Tribune
Azur & Asmar is the story of two boys raised as brothers. Blonde, blue-eyed, white-skinned Azur and black-haired, brown-eyed, dark-skinned Asmar are lovingly cared for by Asmar's gentle mother, who tells them magical stories of her faraway homeland and of the beautiful, imprisoned Djinn Fairy waiting to be set free. Time passes, and one day Azur's father, the master of the house, provokes a brutal separation. Azur is sent away to study, while Asmar and his mother are driven out, homeless and penniless.
Years later, as a young adult, Azur remains haunted by memories of the sunny land of his nanny, and sets sail south across the high seas to find the country of his dreams. Arriving as an immigrant in a strange land, Azur is rejected by everyone he meets on account of his "unlucky" blue eyes, until finally he resolved never to open those eyes again. The once-beautiful child clad in gold is reduced to a blind beggar. Yet, blind though he is, little by little and step by step, he discovers a beautiful and mysterious country. Meanwhile, back in her homeland, Azur's nanny has become a wealthy merchant and Asmar has grown into a dashing horseman. Reunited, but now as adversaries, the two brothers set off on a dangerous quest to find and free the Djinn Fairy.
Available on 35mm, DVCam and DVD. (Also available in French with English subtitles on DVD, through the Tournees Festival).
Click here to watch the trailer
|
|
FESTIVAL
