Sag Harbor Cinema X NYICFF Announce Festival Lineup

Sag Harbor Cinema will host the New York International Children Film Festival with a specially curated program for audiences of the East End this March 17th through the 19th. The festival will include both animation and live action films, as well as a shorts program appropriate for ages 3 to 6 years old.

The weekend will follow the final Kids and Families Matinee of the winter season. Leading up to it, the signature year round Sag Harbor Cinema Saturday and Sunday series has already featured three NYICFF shorts programs. 

With titles hailing from France, Japan, Norway, Mexico, Colombia, and more, the NYICFF weekend selection offers diverse stories told from a multitude of places and perspectives as well as a broad range of options from live action to the many compelling styles of animation from CGI to hand-drawn.

This year’s feature selection spotlights a number of genre-bending animation titles that inventively push the boundaries of documentary and true-to-life storytelling. Titina, an extraordinary new animated feature by Kasja Ness, tells the true story of Roald Amundsen and Umberto Nobile’s 1926 journey to the North Pole from the point of view of Titina, the little dog that went along for the ride. Little Nicholas: Happy As Can Be brings the beloved French character “Le Petit Nicolas” to the screen by interspersing the famed fiction with scenes drawn from the real lives of the stories’ creators, Jean-Jacques Sempé and René Goscinny. Dounia & the Princess of Aleppo interweaves the story of a six-year-old girl with traditional Syrian lore, following her journey across Syria, the dangerous sea, and the daunting borders of Europe.

All features are paired with a short and each program is designed to celebrate the beauty and power of film, spark the inherent capacity of children and young adults to connect with exciting, nuanced art, and encourage their engagement with cinema. NYICFF is a place for the next generation of moviegoers—and even movie makers. 

The selection of the 2023 NYICFF festival’s lineup was especially curated for the Sag Harbor Cinema by Maria-Christina Villaseñor, NYICFF’s Programming Director, in collaboration with  SHC’s Founding Artistic Director, Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan.

“We are very happy to host a portion of the festival, especially on their 25th anniversary. This seemed a natural evolution of our efforts to engage younger audiences and their families in the power and beauty of film. And to make sure that  adults do not forget the magic and depth of childhood and children’s imagery. NYICFF’s programs have always been smart, innovative and far reaching. I am thrilled we can share something of what they have been doing so well for many years with our audience,” says Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Sag Harbor Cinema, and complementing their outstanding programming with an exciting new slate of international animated and live-action films,”says Maria-Christina Villaseñor. “Sag Harbor Cinema’s beautifully restored theaters, unparalleled projection, and warm community feel are the perfect place for families to experience how special viewing films in theaters together can be.”

Tickets will be available on the cinema’s website, sagharborcinema.org.