Bring the whole family to experience the magic of the movies! With works featured at the New York International Children’s Film Festival, this annual favorite includes shorts from six different continents, as well as Viva Kid Flicks, a selection of Spanish-language films with English subtitles.
Free First Saturdays feature free gallery admission on the first Saturday of every month, plus performances, games, art-making, and kids’ films from 10 am to 3 pm. Family friendly food options are available or bring something from home to snack on in the museum’s public spaces.
Watch: New York International Children’s Film Festival Kids’ Flicks One
10:15 am, 11:30 am, 12:45 pm, 2 pm
Walker Cinema
Catch the best short films from around the world for ages 3–7!
Each program is 56 minutes, seating is limited. This is a relaxed screening—please feel free to come and go as necessary.
Belly Flop
One girl is determined to make a very big splash, but will she have the buoyant courage to pull it off? (Jeremy Collins and Kelly Dillon, 2018, South Africa, animated, 5 min.)
Small Spark
You’ve heard of night owls and bookworms? Both perfectly describe this mouse, who must find a way to continue his exciting bedtime reading when it’s lights out. (Nicolas Bianco-Levrin, 2019, France, animated, 4 min.)
KUAP
If you’ve ever been the youngest of the group, you’ll sympathize with the little tadpole who always falls a tad behind in the charming KUAP. (Nils Hedinger, 2018, Switzerland, animated, 7 min.)
The Pig on the Hill
Pig may be up high, but his nimble new neighbor, Duck, shows how the most important spot of all is one next to friends. (Jamy Wheless and John Helms, 2017, US, animated, 6 min.)
The Pen Licence
Brushing up on penmanship is the name of the game if you want to graduate from pencils. (Olivia Peniston-Bird, 2018, Australia, documentary, 9 min.)
6:1
The game of checkers may seem like child’s play, but can a losing cat nab a comeback? (Sergei Ryabov, 2018, Russian, animated, 3 min.)
Flipped
Little ones are in charge and grown-ups get to play when the hilarious Flipped reworks the script. (Hend Esmat and Lamiaa Diab, 2018, UK, animated, 5 min.)
Mi Abuelita
Like everything Abuelita does, her tamales are filled with love, especially when her granddaughter gets to help out in the kitchen. (Giselle Pérez, 2018, Guatemala, animated, 2 min.)
Preschool Poets
Samuel serves up some poetic proclamations about life, as definitively drawn from the three-foot perspective. (Nancy Kangas and Josh Kun, 2018, US, animated, 2 min.)
Brooklyn Breeze
New York’s biggest borough gets the Busby Berkeley treatment in this charmingly upbeat ode to industrial Brooklyn that will have you tapping your steel-capped toes! (Alex Budovsky, 2017, US/Columbia, animated, 4 min.)
Raccoon and the Light
Nighttime is a breeze for a nocturnal creature, but a spotlight shines in more ways than one in this winner of the 2018 Student Academy Award for animation. (Hanna Kim, 2018, US, animated, 4 min.)
Watch: New York International Children’s Film Festival Viva Kids’ Flicks
10 am–3 pm
Bentson Mediatheque
Catch the best Spanish-language short films from around the world! Recommended for ages 8 and up.
This 63 minute program plays on loop; seating is limited. This is a relaxed screening—please feel free to read subtitles aloud to children and come and go as necessary.
Spelliasmous
The universal language of wizards bridges cultures in this imaginative doc. (Ben Garfield, 2018, Cuba, in Spanish with English subtitles, documentary, 3 min.)
Gina
Dancing has been Gina’s dream since she was born, but stuck wearing a chicken suit, she can’t take off, she’ll have to shake more than just her tail feathers to reach the top. (David Diomedes Heras, 2018, Mexico, in Spanish with English subtitles, animated, 9 min.)
Stardust
One young man realizes that no matter how humble his surroundings, he can still find a path to reach for the stars. (Aldo Sotelo Lázaro, 2017, Mexico, 14 min.)
Horse’s Stone
Can a fabled stone offer another path for Matilde’s life on her Mexican rancho? (Cynthia Fernández Trejo, 2017, Mexico, in Spanish with English subtitles, 20 min.)
Jesszilla
A pugilist-in-training, Jess has big boxing aspirations, while her father worries and supports her in one-two alternations of his own. (Emily Sheskin, 2017, US, in English, documentary, 7 min.)
Mi Abuelita
Like everything Abuelita does, her tamales are filled with love, especially when her granddaughter gets to help out in the kitchen. (Giselle Pérez, 2018, Guatemala, no dialogue, animated, 2 min.)
Fish
The choices we make at mealtime sometimes have a very big impact for a seemingly picky eater with a lot more on his mind. (Javier Quintas, 2017, Spain, in Spanish with English subtitles, 10 min.)
Make: Animate!
10 am–3 pm
Join COMPAS teaching artist Maret Polzine to make your characters jump, laugh, and dance! Participants will get their feet wet in traditional 2D animation and work with Polzine to bring their characters joyfully to life through series of flip book animations on sticky note pads. We’ll think critically, creatively, and communally to create short and casual character pieces! No experience necessary—just a good sense of humor and a hunger for play!
Make: Making Movies with SPNN
10 am–3 pm
Join the film crew and use video cameras, lights, microphones, and a green screen to create fun short movie scenes. Be an actor, hold the microphone boom pole, run the camera, or be director and call out “action!”
Open Library
10 am–3 pm
Explore the library with a scavenger hunt! Complete all the tasks to earn a prize.
Gallery Tours
Join a Walker-trained educator on a participatory 45-minute tour for kids that will explore themes that are related to film. Meet in the Main Lobby.
English, 11 am
Spanish, 12 noon
Maret Polzine (they/them) is a teaching artist who loves to share their passion for the moving image and honor their students’ work. Their films have been screened locally and internationally in such programs as Square Lake Film Festival, Sydney Underground Film Festival, Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, Altered Esthetics, and more. Polzine is also the founder and partner of Video Variant, a film screening series, education program, and artist community dedicated exclusively to LGBTQIA+ filmmakers. They have a degree in animation from MCAD.
The New York International Children’s Film Festival has presented thoughtful, provocative, intelligent film for all ages for over 20 years. The festival experience cultivates an appreciation for the arts, encourages active, discerning viewing, and stimulates lively discussion among peers, families, and the film community. In addition to presenting the annual event, New York International Children’s Film Festival is a multifaceted arts organization that offers year-round engagement.
SPNN (St. Paul Neighborhood Network) is a nonprofit community media center that ensures a platform for the voices of those underrepresented or misrepresented in traditional media. With training, support, and mentorship, SPNN works with adults and youth to learn crucial tech skills and the craft of creating media. Trainings range from basic camera and editing to entrepreneurial workshops and artist talks allowing for networking and relationship building. SPNN also partners with organizations that serve youth of color and youth identifying as female or nonbinary to learn how to use media as a tool to elevate issues they are passionate about.
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