PELHAM, NY — From April 17th to April 26th, The Picture House Regional Film Center will present New York International Children’s Film Festival: Westchester bringing the best new films from around the world for ages 3 through 18 to Westchester, the Bronx, and Connecticut for the very first time. The event takes place just one month after the close of New York International Children’s Film Festival 2015, which ran from February 27th through March 22nd at theaters throughout Manhattan.
The festival will kick-off on Friday, April 17th at 6:30 p.m. with an opening celebration and screening of the animated French film Mune fresh from its North American premiere. The closing ceremony will take place on Sunday, April 26th at 6:30 p.m. and will end with a screening the award winning film, Belle and Sebastian.
“We are thrilled to be the exclusive host of the New York International Film Festival: Westchester,” said Clayton Bushong, Director of Programming, Marketing, and Operations at The Picture House. “It’s a chance to travel the world through film without leaving Westchester.”
The Festival’s films are geared for ages 3 through 18 and include both long-form, documentary, and short form films. The Westchester edition of North America’s largest film festival for children and teens will include a selection of the best short and feature films from the 2015 New York City event, including Grand Prize Feature award-winning Belle and Sebastian, audience favorites Lou! and Mune. Shorts are selected from over 2,500 international submissions and the festival includes Shorts for Tots (geared at ages 3 to 6) and Heebie Jeebies which includes spooky, freaky, bizarre shorts, among others.
“The New York International Film Festival: Westchester is another example of The Picture House’s commitment to providing the community with an alternative to standard commercial offerings,” said Laura deBuys, Executive Director of The Picture House. “The festival represents the very best in children’s films from around the world – a curated selection you just won’t find anywhere else in Westchester and our beautifully restored 1921 theater is the perfect setting for this type of festival.”
In addition to the scheduled films, The Picture House will be welcoming school groups for special screenings throughout the week. To arrange a screening for your school please email education@thepicturehouse.org.
A full schedule of screenings and film synopses can be found on www.thepicturehouse.org. Tickets to the New York International Children’s Film Festival: Westchester are $12/general admission, $6/members, $10/students and seniors. A family pass (family of four) to all the screenings will also be available for $150/members (Family level and above) and $200/non-members Tickets will be available at www.thepicturehouse.org or at the box office, 175 Wolfs Lane, Pelham, NY 10803 starting Friday, March 27th.