Now in its fourth edition, KidCinemaFest – The Washington Heights Children and Young People’s Film Festival aims to enrich children’s appreciation for filmmaking and cultural diversity through an excellent line up of more than twenty films produced in Belgium, Cuba, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland and Venezuela. The festival will introduce attendees of all ages to some of the most exciting, smart and reflective movies of this decade.
KidCinemaFest will take place November 10 – 17, 2012, at various Public Schools in Washington Heights, Inwood and Marble Hill and the best of all, the film festival is free for children and families. As a unique cinematographic event, KidCinemaFest is an interactive showcase for kids to learn about and celebrate the importance of film literacy and film criticism; encouraging kids to participate by completing a ballot for the Audience Award.
“KidCinemaFest was conceived with the objective of celebrating the imagination and creative spirit of all children. For last three year, thousands of kids of all ages enjoyed our international program. We promised we would be back with more fun and excitement, and that’s a promise we are set to live up to with this year’s festival”, explained Armando Guareño, the festival’s Executive Director.
The film festival will present new audiences with features and short films in all genres (fiction, animation, documentary), all suitable for children and adolescents and families. Included in the fun-filled program is the Opening Night film, The Academy Award® nominated A Cat in Paris from French directors Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol. A Cat in Paris is a beautifully hand-drawn caper set in the shadow-drenched alleyways of Paris. San Francisco Chronicle called “Wonderful, Sophisticated fun!”. The film (recommended for ages 6+), featuring the voices of Academy Award® winner Marcia Gay Harden (Mystic River), Academy Award® winner Angelica Huston (The Royal Tenenbaums) and Matthew Modine (Full Metal Jacket). The Opening Night will take place at Columbia University Alumni Hall (650 West 168th Street.) on Saturday, November the 10th at 5:30 pm.
The festival closes on November the 17th with the film Habanastation from Cuban directed by Ian Padrón (Ages 8+). Cuban director Ian Padrón presents his first feature-length film as “a fictional story about reality.” Tracing the lives of two Cuban classmates with different upbringings, Padrón follows a privileged student who blindly enters into the dangers of Carlos’ neighborhood, La Timba. What follows is an unforgettable journey full of discovery and the formation of a strong frienship. Featuring members of the internationally renowned children’s theater company La Colmenita, Padrón’s stylistic feature is guaranteed to warm the heart.
Mark Mertens and Wim Bien’s animated film from Belgium,Luke and Luca and the Texas Ranger (Recommended for ages 7+) and the Dominican Republic’s first animated film3 to Rescue directed by Jorge Morillo (for all ages) are also on the list of crowd-pleasing features. Additionally, the multi-award winning Mia and the Migoo, by French director Jacques-Rémy Gireld and the Mexican musical Rock Mari by Chava Cartas (ages 6+). From the Netherlands, Taking Chances (Ages 6+) by Nicole Kilsdonk,Saxana from Czech Republic directed by Valav Vorlice (Ages 6+), The Crocodiles 3: All for One directed by Wolfgang Groos from Germany (Recommended for ages 8+), from FranceTales of the night by Michel Ocelot, Kauwboy by Dutch director Boudewijn Koole (Ages 6+) and aShort Program from Venezuela curated by Carlos Céspedes..
Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez commented: “KidCinemaFest is a great opportunity to discover and to learn more about the diversity of children’s cinema around the world. As City Councilman, it has always been one of my top priorities to increase educational opportunities for the young children in my community. Our community needs more programs like this and I look forward to working for more opportunities in the future.”
The KidCinemaFest: The Washington Heights Children & Young People’s Film Festival is a project of Cine-Art Entertainment Productions and is made possible with the support of City Council member Ydanis Rodriguez. The Festival is sponsored by Be live Hotels, Hispanic Federation, Columbia University Medical Center (Government & Community Affairs), New York, Life, El Especialito, Latin Trends and Manhattan Times.
Cine-Art Entertainment Productions is a creative independent media company with five areas of focus-developing; producing and distributing future films and television projects; providing production services for film festivals and, film programming, and promotion. Based in New York, the company was founded 2009.
For a complete list of films, show times and high resolutions still photos please, visit our website www.kidcinemafest.com
