What is it about animation that can capture emotion and feeling so well?  It probably has a lot to do with the subjectivity.  Because so much attention to detail is paid by the creator to every single frame in animation, there's a lot of room for the animator to display the kind of feeling she means to and the world we see on screen ends up being the animator's brain poured out into their craft.  As opposed to other mediums which are limited by available actors and sets, etc., animation is li...

Looking for a way to get into the Halloween spirit? Come to the Chicago International Children's Film Festival, where films with spooky ghosts and friendly ghosts, magical items and changing identities will be screening all week long. You can learn makeup effect tricks to use with your costume at our Make It Up! workshop. Plus, we have three films screening on Halloween day itself! Visit www.facets.org/kids to check out the full Festival schedule and reserve tickets.Makeup Effects Workshop:Make ...

With over 40 countries representing more than 200 films from around the world each year, the Chicago International Children's Film Festival hosts an average of 26,000 children and their parents and teachers at several venues through-out Chicago each year and is the largest annual festival of films for children in the world. The mission of WTTW11 is to provide relevant and distinctive programming for diverse audiences in Chicago and around the nation. With a special commitment to children's conte...

  The Chicago International Children's Film Festival ("CICFF") celebrates its 27th season this October 22-31, 2010. A record number of films have been submitted to the 2010 Festival, an increase of 12% so far over 2009. (In 2009, entries increased by 19% overall from 2008.) This year, "there is an unprecedented number of entries, already in this early submissions stage", according to Programming Director, Ann Vikstrom. Nancy Goldenberg, Director of Children's Programs...

The 26th annual Chicago International Children's Film Festival (CICFF), taking place October 22-November 1, 2009, is the largest festival of films for children in North America and features over 200 films from 40 countries. Programming the best children's media for over 30 years, the Festival welcomes over 26,000 Chicago area children, adults, and educators to the screenings, and over 130 filmmakers, media professionals & celebrities attend the Festival to lead interactive workshops with kids. T...

Graduates of Facets Multi-Media's Young Chicago Critics program are jazzed to share their movie critiquing skills with fellow film jurors in Europe. On July 15, four alums of the Young Chicago Critics program traveled to Giffoni, Italy, to serve as youth jury members for Europe's largest film festival for children, the Giffoni Children's Film Festival. Beginning July 18, Ishara Emerson, 13, and Noelle Savin, 13, of Evanston and Nelson Ogbuagu, 14, and June Helen Murphy, 14, of Chicago will be cr...

The 24th Annual Chicago International Children's Film Festival's American Airlines Closing Night Awards Presentation, celebrates 2007's top films for children!   On Sunday, October 28th, Gerren Taylor, teen supermodel and lead actress of America the Beautiful, emcees this year's Awards Presentation held at the Film Row Cinema at Columbia College (1104 S. Wabash, 8th Floor).  This year, the CICFF has more than 130 directors, filmmakers and stars in attendance from around the globe, including t...

The 24th Annual Chicago International Children's Film Festival's American Airlines Closing Night Awards Presentation, celebrates 2007's top films for children! On Sunday, October 28th, Gerren Taylor, teen supermodel and lead actress of America the Beautiful, emcees this year's Awards Presentation held at the Film Row Cinema at Columbia College (1104 S. Wabash, 8th Floor). This year, the CICFF has more than 130 directors, filmmakers and stars in attendance from around the globe, including teen...

The Chicago International Children's Film Festival announces a SPECIAL PREVIEW SCREENING of Martian Child on Saturday, October 20 at 1pm, at the Wilmette Theater, 1122 Central Avenue in Wilmette.   "It's always fun for families to be the first to see new releases before they're out," said Submissions Manager Jessica Wheeler. "This is a movie with a lot of heart and John Cusack fans should be out in force." Based on the award-winning short story of the same title this comed...

The CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S FILM FESTIVAL, (Saturdays and Sundays, October 21-22, 27-28) the largest and longest running children's film fest in the U.S. serves up another family treat. In addition to bringing the world's best kids' films from 41 countries, the CICFF introduces its new program of family films under the banner of the AMERICAN SHOWCASE®. "Many U.S. family films that don't have $40 million marketing campaigns deserve to reach broader audiences. Festivals are the perfec...

The CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S FILM FESTIVAL (Thursday, October 18 - Sunday, October 28) is set to kick off its 24th year of screening the best children's films in the world. Showcasing 220 films from 41 countries over 11 days, the Festival is the largest and longest running kidsfest in the U.S, and the only children's festival in the world that's recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as an "Academy qualifying" festival. CICFF winners in the animated and live acti...

When the Chicago International Children's Film Festival needs help selecting the winners of its most prestigious awards, it calls on its toughest critics: kids. The 2007 CICFF Children's Jury, comprised of young critics ages 7-14, will convene August 7-17 at Facets Multi-Media to review films for the 24th annual Chicago International Children's Film Festival. Participants will view and critique more than 100 films that have been selected from among 1,000 entries submitted this year. The Childr...

For the first time ever in the 22-year-long history of the Chicago International Children's Film Festival, audiences chose two films as their favorite flick of the Festival, awarding an unprecedented dual Best of Fest award to Liisa Helminen for Pelican Man (Finland, 2004) and to Peter Timm for My Brother is a Dog (Germany, 2004). At the closing night ceremony, Sunday, November 4th at the Vittum Theater, 1012 North Noble Street, sponsored by American Airlines, Irma P. Hall (Soul Food) and Khleo ...

LeVar Burton Headlines at the 21st Chicago International Children’s Film FestivalTwo-time Emmy Award winner LeVar Burton, star of Roots and beloved host of “Reading Rainbow,” will be making a special guest appearance at the 21st Annual CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL, which runs October 21st – 31st. Burton will attend the festival to screen his directorial feature film debut Blizzard. Featuring Whoopi Goldberg (as the voice of Blizzard), Christopher Plummer, and Kevin P...