The NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL is excited to announce that some of the French filmmakers will be in attendance this weekend. Director Julien Neel –LOU, director Xavier Picard and producer Hanna Hamila – MOOMINS ON THE RIVIERA, co-directors Benoît Philippon and Alexandre Heboyan – MUNE, director Olesya Shchukina – THE ELEPHANT AND THE BICYCLE will all be present this weekend. Details on all French films are below.
LOU! – US Premiere, Live Action, France, Julien Neel; In French with English subtitles.
Twelve-and-a-half-year-old Lou lives alone with her absurdly immature mother, Emma. Her mom has been in a funk lately, eating junk food in her pajamas, playing video games, and generally behaving more like a teen than her on-the-cusp-of-adolescence daughter. But all this changes with arrival of the new bohemian neighbor, Richard, who ignites her goofy mother’s romantic interests. Neel has turned the French comic and animated TV series into a quirky, mom and daughter buddy movie, with vibrant and brilliantly kitschy bubble-gum production design and plenty of cringe-worthy, awkward comedic situations.
Recommended ages: 8 to adult
*Saturday, March 14 at 3:30pm at SVA Theatre- 333 West 23rd Street
with special appearance by LOU! director Julien Neel
MOOMINS ON THE RIVIERA – North American Premiere, Animation, Finland/France, Xavier Picard; in English.
Sixty years ago, when Finnish author and illustrator Tove Jansson launched the Moomin comic strip, little did she know it would reach 20 million daily readers in more than 40 countries. In celebration of her 100th birthday, French director Xavier Picard brings Jansson’s carefree and adventurous Moomin family to life, with delicately animated characters set within beautifully designed and colored backgrounds, and the comic’s traipsing storylines translated to the screen with just the right amount of absurdity and humor.
Recommended ages: 5 to 10
*Saturday, March 14 at 1:30pm at SVA Theatre- 333 West 23rd Street
with special appearance by MOOMINS ON THE RIVIERA director Xavier Picard and producer Hanna Hamila
*Sunday, March 15 at 11:00am at IFC Center- 323 Sixth Avenue
with special appearance by MOOMINS ON THE RIVIERA director Xavier Picard and producer Hanna Hamila
MUNE (3D) – North American Premiere, Animation, France, Alexandre Heboyan/Benoît Phillippon; In English.
A world of wonder, magic and mythology is the setting in this sumptuously animated CGI adventure about a land divided between the realms of day and night. As legend has it, the first Guardian of the Sun threw a harpoon into the cosmos and roped the sun to bring light and warmth to all of humanity. Then the Guardian of the Moon lured the moon to the Land of Darkness to provide a balance to the sun and supply the world with dreams. At a momentous ceremony to appoint the two new guardians, an accident seems to occur; the heir apparent is passed over, and the title Guardian of the Moon is bestowed on the waif-like Mune, a small and frightened forest faun who seems wholly unprepared to take on such a weighty responsibility.
Recommended ages: 5 to adult
*Saturday, March 14 at 11:00am at SVA Theatre- 333 West 23rd Street
with special appearance by MUNE co-directors Benoît Philippon and Alexandre Heboyan
Shorts For Tots – (Ages 3 to 6)
*Saturday, March 14 at 4:00pm at SVA Theatre- 333 West 23rd Street
with special appearance by Olesya Shchukina, director of the short film THE ELEPHANT AND THE BICYCLE
*Sunday, March 15 at 11:15am at IFC Center- 323 Sixth Avenue
with special appearance by Olesya Shchukina, director of the short film THE ELEPHANT AND THE BICYCLE
ABOUT NEW YORK INT’L CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL:
Established in 1997, New York Int'l Children's Film Festival is an Oscar® qualifying event and North America's largest film festival for children and teens ages 3-18. The most recent edition attracted a sold-out-in-advance audience of 30,000. The 2015 event takes place February 27-March 22, with 100+ films from around the world, premieres, retrospectives, filmmaker Q&As, filmmaking workshops, audience voting, and a Closing Night Celebration. Festival sponsors include The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences®, The New York Times, Variety, WNYC, and Scholastic, with funding support by National Endowment for the Arts, NY State Council on the Arts, and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. In addition to presenting the annual event, New York International Children's Film Festival is a multifaceted arts organization that offers year-round engagement, including special event premieres and pre-release screenings, film production workshops for kids, satellite festivals in Boston, Miami, and Philadelphia, and touring programs that screen in theaters nationwide. New York Int’l Children’s Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
NYICFF 2015 information: www.gkids.com/fest2015 / 212-349-0330
NYICFF 2015 press contact: Sara Groves / 42West
212-774-3685
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