New York International Children’s Film Festival Announces 2012 Slate and Jury

15TH ANNIVERARY EVENT RUNS MARCH 2-25 OSCAR®-QUALIFYING FOR ANIMATED & LIVE ACTION SHORTS OVER 25,000 ATTENDEES EXPECTED FOR 100+ FILMS
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SLATE HIGHLIGHTS:
OPENING NIGHT US PREMIERE — A MONSTER IN PARIS
N. AMERICAN PREMIERE — LE TABLEAU
US PREMIERE — CINDERELLA MOON
US PREMIERE — A LETTER TO MOMO
SPECIAL PREVIEW SCREENING — CHIMPANZEE
SPECIAL PREVIEW SCREENING — THE PIRATES! A BAND OF MISFITS FIRST SCREENING IN OVER 10 YEARS — YELLOW SUBMARINE
NYICFF 2012 JURY INCLUDES:
JEFFREY WRIGHT, UMA THURMAN, SUSAN SARANDON GUS VAN SANT, JAMES SCHAMUS, MATTHEW MODINE JOHN CANEMAKER, TOMM MOORE, MICHEL OCELOT
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TICKETS NOW ON SALE AT GKIDS.COM

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 1, 2012 — The critically acclaimed New York Int’l Children’s Film Festival has announced the 2012 jury and full slate for its 15th anniversary event, which runs March 2-25 at New York’s DGA Theater, Walter Reade Theater, IFC Center, Peter Norton Symphony Space, Asia Society, Scholastic Theater, and Cantor Film Center. The nation’s largest festival for kids and teens will present four weeks of ground-breaking and thought-provoking new works for ages 3-18, with 100 new films, opening and closing galas, new feature premieres, six short film programs, filmmaker Q&As, filmmaking workshops, and the NYICFF Awards Ceremony. NYICFF is an Oscar® – qualifying festival for short films. Films that receive NYICFF’s jury prizes are automatically eligible for consideration for an Oscar® in the Best Animated and Live Action Short Film categories.

The complete festival lineup was announced Feb 1, and tickets for all events are now on sale at www.gkids.com. As in past years, all screenings are expected to sell out, so advance purchase is highly recommended.

NYICFF & ANIMATED OSCARS® — NYICFF has a history of discovering and presenting films that go on to become Oscar® nominees and winners in the animated categories (11 in just the past four years). Adding to the Oscar® excitement this year is the news that NYICFF’s theatrical distribution spin-off, GKIDS, has secured Academy Award® nominations for two of its films in the Best Animated Feature category – the first time an independent distributor has scored two nominations in the category. The two films are A Cat In Paris, which made its North American premiere at NYICFF 2011, and Chico & Rita, which is being released by GKIDS under their Luma Films banner.

NYICFF 2012 JURY:

• John Canemaker — Academy Award®-winning animator
• Adam Gopnik — Author, essayist and New Yorker contributor
• Tomm Moore — Academy Award® nominated animator/director (The Secret of Kells)
• Lynne McVeigh — Associate Professor of Children’s Media at NYU Tisch School of the Arts
• Matthew Modine —Award-winning actor (Full Metal Jacket, The Dark Knight Rises)
• Michel Ocelot — Award-winning writer/director/animator (Kirikou & the Sorceress, Tales of the Night)
• Dana Points — Editor-in-Chief, Parents Magazine
• Susan Sarandon — Academy Award®-winning actor (Dead Man Walking, Jeff Who Lives at Home)
• James Schamus — Award-winning writer/producer (Brokeback Mountain, The Ice Storm)
• Evan Shapiro — President, IFC Television and The Sundance Channel
• Uma Thurman — Academy Award® nominated actor (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2)
• Christine Vachon — Award-winning producer (Boys Don’t Cry, Mildred Pierce)
• Gus Van Sant — Academy Award® nominated director (Milk, Good Will Hunting)
• Taika Waititi — Academy Award® nominated writer/director (Two Cars One Night, Boy)
• Jeffrey Wright — Award-winning actor (Basquiat, The Ides of March)

DATES: March 2- March 25 — Full schedule available at www.gkids.com or call 212-349-0330
LOCATIONS: Asia Society and Museum, Cantor Film Center, DGA Theater, IFC Center, Scholastic Theater Symphony Space, Walter Reade Theater

NEW FEATURES:

• Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below — Japan, Makoto Shinkai. A modern-day Orpheus tale with a sci-fi twist that pays tribute to the great works of Hayao Miyazaki with its demonic spirit-gods and magnificent forest creatures.
• Chimpanzee — Special Preview Screening, USA, Alastair Fothergill/Mark Linfield. From the award-winning directors of Earth and sumptuously shot in the rain forests of Africa, Chimpanzee tells the true-life story of an adorable young chimp named Oscar, whose playful curiosity and zest for discovery showcase the intelligence and ingenuity of some of the most extraordinary personalities in the animal kingdom.
• Cinderella Mon — US Premiere, China/USA, Richard Bowen. A gorgeous and enchanting fairytale based on the earliest known version of Cinderella (the Chinese tale Ye Xian from 768 A.D.) filled with exquisitely ornate costumes and dazzling scenery shot in Yunnan Province.
• First Position — Filmmaker Event, USA, Bess Kargman. Official Selection Toronto Int’l Film Festival 2011. Six astoundingly gifted young dancers from varying ethnic and economic backgrounds vie for a chance to perform at the Youth America Grand Prix, the world’s most prestigious ballet showcase.
• A Letter to Momo — US Premiere, Japan, Hiroyuki Okiura. A beautifully hand drawn tale that combines bursts of whimsy, kinetic humor, deep felt emotion — and goblins!
• Lotte and the Moonstone Secret — North American Premiere, Estonia/Latvia. This richly rendered, utterly charming animated feature follows Estonian icon Lotte as she and her Uncle Klaus journey to unlock the secret behind three mysterious moonstones.
• A Monster in Paris, Opening Night Film — US Premiere, France, Bibo Bergeron. NYICFF 2012 opens with a classic misunderstood-monster tale set in Paris 1910, a warm-hearted animated musical about the power of song featuring Django Reinhardt-style gypsy guitar and honey-toned vocals courtesy of Sean Lennon.
• Ninja Kids!!! — Japan, Takashi Miike. From the twisted mind of Takashi Miike comes an insane new kid’s flick about a feuding ninja school — a riotous, action-packed kung-fu comedy that easily earns all three exclamation points in its title.
• The Pirates! A Band of Misfits — Showcase Screening, UK, Peter Lord. The epic new claymation adventure from four-time Academy Award®-winning stop-motion masters Aardman Animations. Directed by Aardman founder (and former NYICFF juror) Peter Lord, Pirates is a high seas saga of a hapless pirate captain and his crew of extremely silly and witless pirate fools
• Salaam Dunk — Special Sneak Preview, USA/Iraq, David Fine. One part More than a Game, two parts Bad News Bears, this thoroughly charming and eye-opening sports doc offers a glimpse of hope and possibility for life in Iraq through the vantage point of a fledgling girl’s college basketball team.
• Le Tableau — North American Premiere, France, Jean-François Laguionie. One of the most stunningly beautiful films in years, with swirls of vibrant color that burst from the screen and nearly every frame a breathtaking wonder, Le Tableau is a captivating, enormously enjoyable parable set within frame of an unfinished painting. Presented in partnership with Rendez- Vous with French Cinema.
• Tales of the Night — Filmmaker Event, France, Michel Ocelot. The newest film from renowned animator Michel Ocelot (Kirikou and the Sorceress, Azur & Asmar) is also his first foray into 3D animation. Black silhouetted characters set off against exquisitely detailed Day-Glo backgrounds weave together six exotic fables, each ending in its own ironic twist.
• Toys in the Attic — World Premiere English Language Version, Czech Republic/Slovakia/Japan, Jiri Barta. A diabolically inventive tale set behind the doors of a dusty attic about a group of abandoned toys from famed Czech stop-motion master Jiri Barta. Featuring the voices of Carey Elwes, Joan Cusack and Forest Whitaker.

SPECIAL EVENTS:

• Yellow Submarine — Special Event, UK, George Dunning. First US Screening in Over 10 Years! An icon of psychedelic pop culture, Yellow Submarine is a colorful musical spectacle and an exhilaratingly joyful cinematic experience — filled with visual invention, optical illusions, word play, and glorious, glorious music.
• A Hard Day’s Night — Special Event, UK, Richard Lester. Noted by Roger Ebert as “one of the great life-affirming landmarks of the movies,” the mock-cinéma vérité film follows the fabulous foursome as they run from frenzied fans, poke fun at managers, cops, and other establishment types, and generally revel in their own youthful exuberance — perfectly capturing all the exhilaration, excitement, and optimistic energy that defined the early Beatles phenomenon.
• Magic Piano, with Live Music Accompaniment — US Premiere, China/Poland. A 3D and live music and film event featuring animated shorts set to Chopin’s famous etudes. Centering the program is the new stop-motion masterpiece Magic Piano from the Academy Award® -winning producer of Peter and the Wolf. The films will feature live accompaniment by student prodigies from the Lang Lang International Foundation.

SHORT FILM PROGRAMS — Six programs for ages 3 to 18, featuring the best short films from around the world, selected from over 3,000 entries. Jury-selected winners will be eligible for Oscar® consideration in animated and live action short categories. Full lineup at www.gkids.tv/intheaters

• Shorts For Tots — (Ages 3 to 6)
• Short Films One — (Ages 5 to 10)
• Short Films Two — (Ages 8 to 14)
• Flicker Lounge: For Teens & Adults Only — (Ages 12 to adult)
• Heebie Jeebies: Spooky, Freaky & Bizarre — (Ages 10 to adult)
• Girls’ POV — (Ages 10 to adult)