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ffiKlDSFrffip*t-
he I lth annual New York International Children's
Film Festival runs from Feb. 29 through March 16,
arid one thing is clear: This kid's version of Cannes rs
really growing up.
The NYICFF has expanded from one weekend to
three weeks. Its popularity has exploded from selling
about 600 tickets that first year to an expected 21,000
or more this year. The fest will host more than 100 new films in
competition and showcase loads of premieres, retrospectives,
workshops and filmmaker Q&A's.
And according to festival director Eric the filmmakers afe there,,, Beckman says
Beckman (who shares that title with Em- "In terms of the features, ,Owl and th;
ily Shapiro), it's all based on one simple Spmow' is a lovely [ve-action film from
idea: Yes, kids love big-budget fmtasy Vietnam Ireallylike. It's asweetfilnand
films, but if you give them a chance, you get to see the streets of Saigon. And
they'll also embrace dorumentaries, it's a true indie frlm. It was shot in two
shorts, independent films, foreignlan-
guage movies and experimental works
- in other words, all the types of movies
that adults love.
"In the gromup world of film, there's
a huge range of movies that are made,
from little niche filrns to big blockbust-
ers," Beckman says "But for some reason,
for kids there is just that one basic kind of
film that gets made over md ovef,"
Not at I{YICFE wNch witl be showins
films at four venues this year: IFC Cen- -
ter, Symphony Space,
DcATheater and Can-
tor FiIm Center "The
short film progrm is
great," says Beckman,
who helped reach out to
a celebrityjury that in-
cludes actors Susan Sa-
randon and Matthew
Modine and director
Gus Van Sant
"We had 2,500 sub-
missions this year. You'll see a film from
Norway, from Cmada, hom Spain, from
Vietnam. You'll see animation and live-
action and experimental bits You've
got your ballots so you get to share your i
thoughts, and at a lot of the screenings !weeks 'Noctuma' is a beautiful, gorgeous
animated filrn that's a co-production from
Spain md France. It has elements of 'Al-
ice in Wonderland,' ild it all takes place ai
nighttime, when kids are sleeping "
Whether it's mature subject matter
dealt with in a simple, direct way or the
simple fact of choosing a foreign-lan-
guage film, Beckman says whenever he
wonders if a film may be too sad or diffi-
cult for kids to appreciate, those are in-
variably the ones they like the most
r "Vvhenwestarted,
people said, 'Kids will
never read subtitles,"'
he says "That's utter
[nonsense.] So we're
trying to redefine what
people thirk about when
they think about f,lns
forkids And the festival
has grown very fast and
htr become the biggest
festival of its kind in the
country and perhaps the world "
Now the challenge is to expand the
reach of NYICFE, and the organizers have
got several ways of making that happen.
"One of them is an online festival,
which is going to be launched Feb. 29 at
Opposite pagc:'Noctulna,'fJom Spain/France, has its U.S dgbut at this yea/s flm
fest. Aboye:'32A'b about a l3-year-old catholic schoolgid's llfe In 1979 Dublin.
The French animated fcatule "Max & Co.' tells the tale of a fox and a cat who
discover a corporation that br€eds mutant Insects and then sells special f,y swatters.
www.Skids.tv and that is going to be a
place where kids and families and adults
can watch cool short fllms," says Beck-
man, who is mffiied md has watched
his three kids grow up with his festival.
(As with the actual fest, all filns online
are rated md detailed, so parents cm
choose appropriate tifles for all ages )
"We toured the festival last yem for
the fust time and visited eight differ-
ent cities," Beckman says. "We're goirgto significantly expand that. And we've
started ongoing weekend matinees at the
IFC Center in New York throughout the
yea4 and we've expanded that uptown to
Symphony Space And we're going to go
to some additional locations outside the
city md expmd that nationally." a
(The New York lnternational Children's
Film Festival runs Feb.29 - March 16:for info,
v i s it w w w -g k i ds.co m. T ickets ar e av ai I able at
www.ticketweb.com)
I
I
I
I
he I lth annual New York International Children's
Film Festival runs from Feb. 29 through March 16,
arid one thing is clear: This kid's version of Cannes rs
really growing up.
The NYICFF has expanded from one weekend to
three weeks. Its popularity has exploded from selling
about 600 tickets that first year to an expected 21,000
or more this year. The fest will host more than 100 new films in
competition and showcase loads of premieres, retrospectives,
workshops and filmmaker Q&A's.
And according to festival director Eric the filmmakers afe there,,, Beckman says
Beckman (who shares that title with Em- "In terms of the features, ,Owl and th;
ily Shapiro), it's all based on one simple Spmow' is a lovely [ve-action film from
idea: Yes, kids love big-budget fmtasy Vietnam Ireallylike. It's asweetfilnand
films, but if you give them a chance, you get to see the streets of Saigon. And
they'll also embrace dorumentaries, it's a true indie frlm. It was shot in two
shorts, independent films, foreignlan-
guage movies and experimental works
- in other words, all the types of movies
that adults love.
"In the gromup world of film, there's
a huge range of movies that are made,
from little niche filrns to big blockbust-
ers," Beckman says "But for some reason,
for kids there is just that one basic kind of
film that gets made over md ovef,"
Not at I{YICFE wNch witl be showins
films at four venues this year: IFC Cen- -
ter, Symphony Space,
DcATheater and Can-
tor FiIm Center "The
short film progrm is
great," says Beckman,
who helped reach out to
a celebrityjury that in-
cludes actors Susan Sa-
randon and Matthew
Modine and director
Gus Van Sant
"We had 2,500 sub-
missions this year. You'll see a film from
Norway, from Cmada, hom Spain, from
Vietnam. You'll see animation and live-
action and experimental bits You've
got your ballots so you get to share your i
thoughts, and at a lot of the screenings !weeks 'Noctuma' is a beautiful, gorgeous
animated filrn that's a co-production from
Spain md France. It has elements of 'Al-
ice in Wonderland,' ild it all takes place ai
nighttime, when kids are sleeping "
Whether it's mature subject matter
dealt with in a simple, direct way or the
simple fact of choosing a foreign-lan-
guage film, Beckman says whenever he
wonders if a film may be too sad or diffi-
cult for kids to appreciate, those are in-
variably the ones they like the most
r "Vvhenwestarted,
people said, 'Kids will
never read subtitles,"'
he says "That's utter
[nonsense.] So we're
trying to redefine what
people thirk about when
they think about f,lns
forkids And the festival
has grown very fast and
htr become the biggest
festival of its kind in the
country and perhaps the world "
Now the challenge is to expand the
reach of NYICFE, and the organizers have
got several ways of making that happen.
"One of them is an online festival,
which is going to be launched Feb. 29 at
Opposite pagc:'Noctulna,'fJom Spain/France, has its U.S dgbut at this yea/s flm
fest. Aboye:'32A'b about a l3-year-old catholic schoolgid's llfe In 1979 Dublin.
The French animated fcatule "Max & Co.' tells the tale of a fox and a cat who
discover a corporation that br€eds mutant Insects and then sells special f,y swatters.
www.Skids.tv and that is going to be a
place where kids and families and adults
can watch cool short fllms," says Beck-
man, who is mffiied md has watched
his three kids grow up with his festival.
(As with the actual fest, all filns online
are rated md detailed, so parents cm
choose appropriate tifles for all ages )
"We toured the festival last yem for
the fust time and visited eight differ-
ent cities," Beckman says. "We're goirgto significantly expand that. And we've
started ongoing weekend matinees at the
IFC Center in New York throughout the
yea4 and we've expanded that uptown to
Symphony Space And we're going to go
to some additional locations outside the
city md expmd that nationally." a
(The New York lnternational Children's
Film Festival runs Feb.29 - March 16:for info,
v i s it w w w -g k i ds.co m. T ickets ar e av ai I able at
www.ticketweb.com)
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I
I
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