New York International Children's Film Festival

New York International Children's Film Festival

Also known as: NYICFF, New York Int'l Children's Film Festival
📝 Sign up as a festival representative to manage this page!

New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF) presents new short and feature films from around the world for audiences aged 3 to 18 and adults. Screenings run over three weekends at partner venues across New York City, among them IFC Center, SVA Theatre, DCTV and Scandinavia House. The programme of about 100 animated, live-action and documentary films includes filmmaker Q&As and prioritises work by and about people from historically underrepresented communities.

Most prizes are decided by audience vote in age groups, with extra weight given to viewers under 18. A jury awards Best Animated Short and Best Live Action Short, and both prizes qualify films for the Academy Awards. NYICFF is a non-profit arts organisation established in 1997; it also tours festival selections across the United States and runs film education programmes for schools. The 2027 edition takes place from 26 February to 14 March 2027.

Country

United States (USA)

Focus

Family, For Kids

Categories

Animation, Documentary, Feature, Short

Dates

26 February 2027 — 14 March 2027

Awards and prizes

Jury Awards (Academy Award qualifying for the Live Action Short and Animated Short Film categories): - Best Animated Short Film - Best Live Action Short Film Feature Film Awards (audience vote): - Grand Prize Feature Award, Animation - Grand Prize Feature Award, Live Action Short Film Awards (audience vote): - Audience Awards in age categories 3+, 5+, 8+, 10+, 12+ and the Grownups Award (18+) - Grand Prize Short Film Audience Award, voted by audience members of all age groups All in-competition films, short and feature, are eligible for the Audience Awards. Grand Prize votes give extra weight to audience members under 18.

Festival rules

Submissions are accepted through FilmFreeway in two lengths: short films (under 40 minutes) and feature films (40 minutes or longer), in animation, live action and documentary categories. Films made for any audience may be submitted; filmmakers of all ages may submit, though films made by children are rarely programmed. To screen in competition at the 2027 festival, production must be completed no earlier than 1 January 2025. Films with dialogue or narration not in English must be subtitled or dubbed in English. Only one version of a film may be submitted. Submitted films cannot be withdrawn once entered. Selected films must be delivered as an HD digital file at the applicant's expense. Selection grants NYICFF exclusive exhibition rights in the greater New York City area during the festival and for six weeks after, and the right to include the film in the national Kid Flicks touring programme and FilmEd education programmes for twelve months. Questions about the rules: programming@nyicff.org.

Contacts

✏️ Edit this page!