NYICF 2022

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the New York International Children's Film Festival! After going fully virtual last year, the NYICFF is back in person and they have released the titles for Opening Night, Closing Night and the Centerpiece film. Last year, Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon was closed the festival and this year, a new Pixar film takes the Centerpiece title!

2022 Marks the 25th Anniversary of the New York International Children's Film Festival

The Oscar-qualifying New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF) launches its 25th Anniversary season as North America’s largest and most prestigious film festival for young audiences on Friday, March 4th.

In addition to commemorating its 25th anniversary, the 2022 Festival will mark its celebratory return to the cinema and in-person events.

“Our 25th Anniversary lineup is a truly joyous celebration of resilience with filmmakers overcoming the challenges of our times to make fresh, unique, and vibrant new films with meaningful messages for eager young audiences” - Programming Director Maria-Christina Villaseñor

​​The Festival will kick off on Friday, March 4th at SVA Theatre (333 W. 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011) and run weekends through March 19th. The Festival’s annual Shorts for Tots and other programs for ages 5 and under will be offered exclusively online.

​From thousands of entries submitted from around the globe, the Festival selected approximately 100 feature and short films to screen. Each program is carefully curated for NYICFF’s dedicated audience of over 28,000 children, families, educators, filmmakers, cinephiles, and industry professionals. 

NYICFF 2022 | Centerpiece Film Will Be Disney & Pixar's Turning Red

Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red will screen on Friday, March 11th as NYICFF’s 2022 Centerpiece film. 

ABOUT TURNING RED:
Turning Red introduces Mei Lee (Rosalie Chiang), a confident, dorky 13-year-old torn between staying her mother’s dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence.

Her protective, if not slightly overbearing mother, Ming (Sandra Oh), is never far from her daughter—an unfortunate reality for the teenager. And as if changes to her interests, relationships and body weren’t enough, whenever she gets too excited (which is practically ALWAYS), she “poofs” into a giant red panda!

Directed by Academy Award winner, Domee Shi (Pixar short Bao) and produced by Lindsey Collins, Turning Red launches on Disney+ on March 11, 2022. 

NYCFF 2022 | Opening & Closing Night Highlights

The Festival will open with Oscar-nominated director Ari Folman’s extraordinary new animated film Where Is Anne Frank, which made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival and will now celebrate its East Coast Premiere at NYICFF.

The Festival will close with the East Coast Premiere screening of Richard Linklater’s highly anticipated new animated feature film Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood on Saturday, March 19th.


ABOUT WHERE IS ANNE FRANK
One night Kitty, the most famous imaginary friend in history, suddenly materializes as a fully fledged girl from the ink-filled pages of Anne Frank’s diary.

She doesn’t understand where her old friend has gone (or why, for that matter, their former home has become a tourist attraction). Kitty leaves behind her 1940s dress and dons jeans and sneakers, all the better to set out to solve the mystery.

Aided by a resourceful pickpocket and befriending a group of young refugees seeking safe homes and community like anyone else, Kitty criss-crosses through time and takes us from the streets of contemporary, colorful Amsterdam through to gray war-era Germany and back. While Anne’s now ever-present name has been reverently affixed to bridges and schools and hospitals, Kitty fears her friend’s true legacy is being forgotten.

An urgent and poignant detective story and anthem for social justice from award-winning filmmaker Ari Folman (Waltz with Bashir), Where Is Anne Frank is imbued with fantastical animated sequences (‘40s era Clark Gable on horseback!) and a modern punk sensibility (complete with glorious Karen O soundtrack) and is an essential history for audiences of all ages.

ABOUT APOLLO 10 1/2: A SPACE AGE CHILDHOOD
Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood tells the story of the first moon landing in the summer of 1969 from two interwoven perspectives – the astronaut and mission control view of the triumphant moment, and through the eyes of a kid growing up in Houston, Texas who has intergalactic dreams of his own.

Taking inspiration from Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Richard Linklater’s own life, Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood is a snapshot of American life in the 1960s that is part coming of age, part societal commentary, and part out-of-this-world adventure.

​The film will release globally on Netflix.

ABOUT NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S FILM FESTIVAL
Established in 1997, and celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2022, NYICFF’s mission is rooted in the belief of film as a path for young people to understand themselves and others. All programs are designed to celebrate the beauty and power of film, spark the inherent capacity of children to connect with complex, nuanced art, and encourage the creation of intelligent films that represent and celebrate unique, diverse, and historically excluded voices. NYICFF serves children, students, families, educators, filmmakers, and media arts professionals through its three core activities: the annual, Oscar®-qualifying NYC film festival and national touring program; FilmEd, a media arts and literacy program; and Toward an Inclusive Future, an annual industry forum.

New York International Children’s Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, with support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature; and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. NYICFF is additionally supported by Humanities New York. Funding support for FilmEd Classroom is provided in part by Audible and SONY USA Foundation.