The Chicago International Children's Film Festival concluded its most successful year in its 30-year history this week. Over 27,000 Chicago area kids, parents, and teachers attended screenings, lectures, and hands-on workshops during the 10-day festival for kids and families that ran from October 25 through November 3. Additional screenings for schools extend the Festival through November 27. The 2013 Festival featured 288 films from 43 countries screened in venues across the city, including Facets and the Music Box Theatre.
A record number of school groups attended this year's Festival on weekdays while attendance for weekend screenings grew 300% from previous years. "We are very gratified by the attendance numbers," said Programming Director Ann Vikstrom. "It says a lot about the incredible talent of children's filmmakers worldwide and the tremendous need children and families feel for meaningful entertainment."
On November 9, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that Room on the Broom, one of those films showcased at this year's festival made the Academy Award short list in the Best Animated Shorts category. "We're very excited for director Max Lang," said Vikstrom. Lang's previous film, The Gruffalo was also featured at the Festival in 2010. "We had some truly remarkable films this year, and Room on the Broom was a big jury as well as audience favorite."
The award-winning films for the 30th annual Chicago International Children's Film Festival were announced on Sunday November 3rd at a ceremony held at Facets. This year's awards include the Festival's "Best of the Fest" award, prizes form the Children's, Youth, and Adult Juries, The Liv Ullmann Peace Prize Award, The CICFF Best Film for Young Children, the Montgomery Award given to the Best Emerging Children's Filmmaker and to the Best Child-Produced Film, and a new Programmer's Choice Award.
"The Chicago International Children's Film Festival is committed to engaging young movie lovers in the discovery of new stories and cultures through film, and to transform the way they look at the both the world and at their own communities," said Vikstrom. "The films and activities throughout the Festival, as well as our year round programs, encourage our young people's creativity, expand their imaginations, and sharpen their media literacy skills, all while fostering their love of cinema. "
The Chicago International Children's Film Festival is a program of Facets, a nonprofit
organization, now in its39th year, which is dedicated to the exhibition, distribution and education foreign, independent, and classic cinema.
The CICFF took place at venues across Chicago, including Facets (1517 W. Fullerton) and the Music Box Theatre (3733 N. Southport) from October 25 through November 3. For more information on the Festival or Facets Children's Programs, visit facets.org/kids, email erich@facets.org, or call 773-281-9075 ext. 3056.
The Chicago International Children's Film Festival is made possible by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Academy Foundation, Alphawood Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, Kirkland & Ellis Foundation, the Comer Foundation, and other private foundations and individuals.
SPECIAL PRIZES
The 2013 Best of Fest Award
Barbara Bredero, Class of Fun (Netherlands, 2012)
Programmer's Choice Award
Stephen Apelgren, Eskil & Trinidad (Sweden, 2012)
The Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Prize - Best Film by an Emerging Director
Natasha Chernishova, Snowflake (Russia, 2012)
The Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Prize - Best Child-Produced Film
Matea Bacan Peskir, Food Chain (Croatia, 2012)
The Liv Ullmann Peace Prize
Maria Ceballos Paz, Displaced But Not Defeated (USA, 2012)
Best Film for Young Children (Ages 2-5)
Leonid Shmelkov, Hopfrog (Russia, 2012)
CHILDREN'S JURY PRIZES
Children's Jury Prize - Live-actionFeature Film
1st Prize, Live-action Feature Film
Barbara Bredero, Class of Fun (Netherlands, 2012)
2nd Prize, Live-action Feature Film
Huseyin Tabak, A Horse on the Balcony (Austria, 2012)
Children's Jury Prize - Live-action Short Film
1st Prize, Live-action Short Film
Albert-Jan van Rees, Sweet Love(Netherlands, 2012)
2nd Prize, Live-action Short Film
Karel Janaic, Jirka and White Mice (Czech Republic, 2013)
Children's Jury Prize - Live-action Television
1st Prize, Live-action Television Program
Naima Mohamud, Fatima (Finland, 2013)
2nd Prize, Live-action Television Program
Wang Dafei, Tamiri's Summer (People's Republic of China, 2011)
Children's Jury Prize - Documentary Feature Film
1st Prize, Documentary Feature Film
Inigo Westmeier, Dragon Girls (Germany, 2012)
Children's Jury Prize - Documentary Film
1st Prize, Documentary Film
Chen Guan-yu, Breaking Ice (Taiwan, R.O.C., 2013)
2nd Prize, Documentary Film
David Reeks, Calling Quilombola (Brazil, 2012)
Children's Jury Prize - Animated Documentary Film
1st Prize, Animated Documentary Film
StoryCorps, Making It (USA, 2012)
2nd Prize, Animated Documentary Film
Hanna Heilborn and David Aronowitsch, Sharaf (Sweden, 2012)
Children's Jury Prize - Animated Feature Film
1st Prize, Animated Feature Film
Thomas Bodenstein, Knight Rusty (Germany, 2013)
2nd Prize, Animated Feature Film
Hiroyuki Okiura, A Letter to Momo (Japan, 2012)
Children's Jury Prize - Animated Short Film
1st Prize, Animated Short Film
Niels Bisbo, The Flame and The Cotton Ball (Denmark, 2012)
2nd Prize, Animated Short Film
Weston Woods Studios, I Want My Hat Back (USA, 2013)
Children's Jury Prize - Animated Television
1st Prize, Animated Television Program
Max Stohr, Nearest and Dearest (Germany, 2012)
2nd Prize, Animated Television Program
Gallerand Amandine and Matthieu Chevallier, Welcome to Bric and Brac:"Bath Time for Milo" (France, 2012)
Children's Jury Prize - Child-Produced Film
1st Prize, Child-Produced Film
Mary Aupperle, Dessert Contest (USA, 2012)
2nd Prize, Child-Produced Film
Matea Bacan Peskir and Lucija Matijevic, Food Chain (Croatia, 2012)
YOUTH JURY PRIZES
Youth Jury Prize - Live-action Short Film
1st Prize, Live-action Short Film
Daniela Pasquini, Emmeline (England, 2012)
2nd Prize, Live-action Short Film
Jurate Samulionyte, Temporary (Lithuania, 2011)
Youth Jury Prize - Documentary Short Film
1st Prize, Documentary Short Film
Annelies Kruk, Father Wanted...With A Piggy Nose (Netherlands, 2012)
2nd Prize, Documentary Short Film
Maria Ceballos Paz, Displaced But Not Defeated (USA, 2012)
Youth Jury Prize - Animated Documentary Film
1st Prize, Animated Documentary Film
Hanna Heilborn and David Aronowitsch, Sharaf (Sweden, 2012)
Youth Jury Prize - Animated Short Film
1st Prize, Animated Short Film
Alexander Somma and Oystein Moe, Alien Repair Guy (Norway, 2011)
2nd Prize, Animated Short Film
Celia Bullwinkel, Sidewalk (USA, 2013)
Youth Jury Prize - Youth-Produced Film
1st Prize, Youth-Produced Film
Malone Lumarda, The Farm (USA, 2013)
2nd Prize, Youth-Produced Film
Sarah Jensen and Sophia Lopez, Friends Matter (USA, 2012)
ADULT JURY PRIZES
Adult Jury Prize - Live-action Feature Film
1st Prize, Live-action Feature Film
Huseyin Tabak, A Horse on the Balcony (Austria, 2012)
2nd Prize, Live-action Feature Film
Frieder Schlaich, 'Cause I Have the Looks (Germany, 2012)
Adult Jury Prize - Live-action Short Film
1st Prize, Live-action Short Film
Izer Aliu, To Guard a Mountain (Norway, 2012)
2nd Prize, Live-action Short Film
Anna van Keimpema, Yim & Yoyo (Netherlands, 2013)
Adult Jury Prize - Live-action Television Program
1st Prize, Live-action Television Program
Martin Tischner, Checker Can: "The Fries-Burger-Cola Check" (Germany, 2012)
2nd Prize, Live-action Television Program
Lee Daegyeong, Tell Me, Bonggu (Republic of Korea, 2012)
Adult Jury Prize - Documentary Short Film
1st Prize, Documentary Short Film
Johan Palmgren and Åsa Blanck, Grandpa and Me and a Helicopter to Heaven (Sweden, 2013)
2nd Prize, Documentary Short Film
Benjamin Ree, Dreaming of the Golden Eagle (Norway, 2012)
Adult Jury Prize - Animated Documentary Film
1st Prize, Animated Documentary Film
Ivan Bogdanov, Mortiz Mayerhofer, Asparuh Petrov, Veljko Popovic, Rositsa Raleva, Dmitry Yagodin,
Father (Bulgaria/Croatia/Germany, 2012)
2nd Prize, Animated Documentary Film
Collective Camera-Etc and Camera & Co, Pondering (Belgium / Burkina Faso, 2012)
Adult Jury Prize - Animated Feature Film
1st Prize, Animated Feature Film
Kenneth Kainz and Erik Schmidt, Otto is a Rhino (Denmark, 2013)
Honorary Prize, Animated Feature Film
Jean-François Laguionie, The Island of Black Mor (France, 2004)
Adult Jury Prize - Animated Short Film
1st Prize, Animated Short Film
Anna Khmelevskaya, The Centipede and the Toad (France, 2013)
2nd Prize, Animated Short Film
Julia Aronova, My Mum is an Aeroplane (Russia, 2012)
Adult Jury Prize -Animated Television Production
1st Prize, Animated Television Production
Max Lang and Jan Lachauer, Room on the Broom (England, 2012)
2nd Prize, Animated Television Production
Max Stohr, Nearest and Dearest (Germany, 2012)