The New York International Children’s Film Festival, which runs February 27-March 22, will show six films from France.  The complete schedule and tickets are available at http://gkids.com/fest2015/

BELLE AND SEBASTIAN – New York Premiere, Live Action, France, Nicolas Vanier; In French with English subtitles.  

A story of friendship, courage, and loyalty set against the jaw-dropping scenery and alpine panoramas of the Haute Maurienne-Vanoise region of France. Sebastian lives with his grandfather, César, in a vertiginous mountain village, where he crosses paths with a giant and dirty Pyrenean Mountain Dog who the locals have dubbed “the Beast” for allegedly killing their livestock. But Sebastian sees something good in the misunderstood canine and befriends the animal, renaming her “Belle.” Their budding friendship is put to the test when Nazis march into town looking to root out a band of resistance fighters who are guiding Jewish refugees to neighboring Switzerland.

Recommended ages: 7 to adult

THE KING AND THE MOCKINGBIRD – Animation, France, Paul Grimault; Screening both in English and French with English subtitles.

A newly restored print of Paul Grimault’s gloriously imaginative animated masterwork, based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep.” This French animated gem originally began production in the late 1940s, but wasn’t completed until 1980. It has been mired in rights issues ever since, which prevented its release in the US until now. 

Recommended ages: 5 to adult

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

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

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

WOLFY, THE INCREDIBLE SECRET – US Premiere, Animation, Belgium/France, Grégoire Solotareff/Eric Omond; in English.

Though they’re from opposite ends of the food chain, Wolfy and Tom (a wolf and rabbit, respectively) are best friends. Wolfy has always believed he was an orphan, until one day a gypsy tells him that his mother is still alive in the distant dynasty of Wolfenberg, Land of the Wolves. Despite his fear, Tom agrees to accompany his friend as they venture far from their peaceful countryside home. They arrive in the midst of Carne Festival— a grand meeting of the world’s most renowned carnivores — and Wolfy’s quest for self-discovery quickly turns into Tom’s quest for survival. This beautifully animated film is based on the wildly popular French children’s book series LouLou from writer and director Grégoire Solotareff.

Recommended ages: 5 to 10

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.