The New York Int'l Children's Film Festival Kicks Off 6th Year with East Coast Premier of HAYAO MIYAZAKI’S PORCO ROSSO
 

New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF) launches its sixth year with the East Coast premiere of the English language Porco Rosso (Kurenai no Buta) by acclaimed Academy Award-winning animator Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away).  Also screening on Opening Night is the surrealistic animated short Destino, the culmination of a legendary collaboration between Salvador Dali and Walt Disney. The films will be followed by the Gala Opening Night reception, with food and cocktails.  NYICFF 2004 commences Friday, March 5th at Director’s Guild of America Theater and continues through March 27 at Regal Union Square Theater, Peter Norton Symphony Space, Brooklyn Museum of Art, and American Museum of the Moving Image.  

COMPLETE SCHEDULE OF SCREENINGS AND OFFERINGS AT WWW.GKIDS.COM.

Tickets to all events are on sale now.  The festival has sold out all seats for the past four years and is expected to attract an audience of 18,000 this year.

NYICFF has earned the reputation as one of the finest film festivals for children and young adults by programming a highly selective slate of the best new films from around the world.  The centerpiece of the festival is the line-up of New Films in Competition, 40 new films selected from over 1,000 entries. The line-up features animated, live action, experimental and documentary works from six continents, with winners chosen by audience ballot.  Programs are organized by age group, with screenings available for all ages from tots to teens.  Filmmakers will be in attendance to conduct audience Q&A’s following screenings.  “As always, our goal is to give a platform to the finest most creative filmmakers from around the world and to expand the menu of media options available for young people by helping redefine the term ‘film for kids’,” says NYICFF co-director, Emily Shapiro.

Additional highlights of this year’s festival include:

• US Premiere of Mutants (Germany) by Katalin Gödrös.
• US Premiere of A Wrinkle in Time (Canada), based on the classic Newbury Medal winning book by Madeleine L’Engle.
• World Premiere, English language version of Hammerboy (South Korea)
• 32 Premieres including US Premieres of the groundbreaking short films Lune (France), The Girl and the Horse (UK), Hello (Australia), Anticipation Melodies (Iran), Little Light (France) and Kid (South Korea)
• 5 new films from Aardman Animations (Chicken Run, Wallace and Gromit) including Creature Comforts—Cats or Dogs and four new Wallace and Gromit shorts.
• Special 3D Screening of Creature from the Black Lagoon

New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF) launches with the Opening Night presentation of Hayao Miyazaki’s Porco Rosso.  For information regarding NYICFF schedules, venues, and tickets, visit the festival’s website at www.gkids.com or call (212) 349-0330.