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CICFF – Now Accepting Entries for 2010! 

The Chicago International Children’s Film Festival is now accepting entries for 2010. The CICFF is the ONLY Academy-qualifying children’s film festival in the world. Enter before May 1 & save 20%.

For complete entry information & to download the application, CLICK HERE!

Young Chicago Critics 2010 – Now Accepting Applications!

Parents! If you child LOVES movies, be sure to check out the Young Chicago Critics program taking place in June and July, 2010. We are now accepting applications! For more information or to enroll in Young Chicago Critics, CLICK HERE!

    

Teachers! Celebrate Black History Month with a Trip to the Movies!

No other place in the city offers an African/African American film program for students which provides positive, impactful and empowering images and messages, geared for enjoyment, enrichment – and global understanding. Engage your students and bring the experience back to the classroom, with the most powerful medium they know. Here’s your chance to book one of the most popular programs and provide academic enrichment focused on Black History Month!

For more information on reserving your group for Black History Month CLICK HERE.

Teachers! French Film Programs Available

These French-language films, expertly curated by the CICFF, deliver quality storytelling, problem solving & cultural relevence for your students. All CICFF group screenings include pre and post-screening discussion. These programs are available through the end of January.

CLICK HERE for details on the feature film AZUR ET ASMAR

CLICK HERE for the program of short films VIVE LE FRANCAIS!  

Congratulations to our 2009 CICFF winners!

CLICK HERE for the list of 2009 award winning films.

Thank you for making the 26th annual Festival a success!

We want to thank our funders and sponsors, the filmmakers, parents, educators, staff, and most of all, the children who helped make the 26th annual Chicago International Children’s Film Festival one of the best Festivals EVER! We thank all of you for your support during the Fest and throughout the year. We hope to welcome you back next year, October 21 – October 31, 2010 for the 27th annual CICFF!

    

Alimi Ballard (Numb3rs), CICFF Director, Nicole Dreiske, join Adult Jury Animated Short winner Anita Killi (Angry Man), and Best of Fest winning Director Julian Fellowes (From Time to Time) at a Festival gathering.  Puppets from the animated feature Coraline, which made a special appearance at “Stop Motion Magic” Take One! Workshop! Face painting and Radio Disney’s Party Patrol rocks the house on Opening Night!

   

Audiences enjoyed food, film and fun at the CICFF’s Opening Gala. Festival screenings were a hit with families on the weekends. Attendees are treated to post-screening Q&A’s with filmmakers from around the world including award winning directors Shiropa Purna (Our Boat is Our Address) from Bangladesh and Vinod Ganatra (Harun-Arun) from India! LAIKA animators show the tricks of the trade as part of the “Stop Motion Magic” Take One! Workshop.

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The Impact of Your Support:

CLICK HERE to watch the CICFF in action!  

 

 

The 27th Chicago International Children’s Film Festival!
October 21 – October 31, 2010

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.