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CICFF Entry Deadline Extended Until July 15!
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H1N1 Flu and You - World Premiere!-low.jpg)
Check out the first film created as part of the Dream Screen: Animated Science workshop with students from Prescott Elementary School in Chicago! VIEW FILM
The Impact of Your Support:
CLICK HERE to watch the CICFF in action!
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The 26th Chicago International Children's Film Festival!
October 22 - November 1, 2009
The CICFF is North America's largest and most celebrated film festival devoted to films for and by kids, and it's the only Academy®-qualifying children's film festival in the world! (That means our winners in the short film category can go on to compete for the Oscars®!
In 2008, the Festival featured 250 of the best films and videos for kids from 40 countries. The Festival welcomes over 26,000 Chicago area children, adults, and educators to hundreds of screenings. More than 100 filmmakers, media professionals & celebrities attend the Festival to lead interactive workshops with kids.
What is the Chicago International Children's Film Festival?
The Chicago International Children's Film Festival (CICFF) is the largest festival of films for children in North America features over 200 films from 40 countries and screens a wide range of projects from live action and animated features, to shorts, TV series, documentaries, and child-produced works. One of the most unique festivals in the country, showcasing the best in culturally diverse, non-violent, value affirming new cinema for children, the CICFF is the only children's film festival to be an Academy Award® Qualifying Festival.
Welcoming 25,000 Chicago area children, adults, and educators each year, over 140 filmmakers, media professionals & celebrities attend the Festival to lead interactive workshops with kids. Interactive workshops comprise an important part of the CICFF's mission to make media a participatory rather than a passive experience. Past attendees include: Shia LaBeouf (Transformers, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Scull), LeVar Burton (Reading Rainbow, Star Trek: The Next Generation), Jane Seymour (Wedding Crashers), Harold Ramis (Ghostbusters), Sissy Spacek (Coal Miner's Daughter); Terry Jones (Monty Python's Flying Circus); and film critic Roger Ebert.
Throughout the year, the Festival organizes several media education programs for children, educators and parents including: Young Chicago Critics, teaching children film theory and aesthetics, basic production skills, as well as written and verbal critique; MediaBridge, teaching youth ages 15-19 film programming and screenwriting; CineStudy professional development workshops for teachers & parents; and Take One! Workshops, series of master classes in various aspects of film production and film theory.
For more than 30 years, the Chicago International Children's Film Festival has set new standards for what children's festivals can achieve. As the largest and longest running children's film program in North America, the CICFF discovers the best in world cinema by continually raising the bar for quality children's programming.
