January 10th, 2020 
Jerry Beck 
New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF), North America’s largest film festival for children and teens, announces the 2020 edition Opening Night Film and countries of focus: Japan and Canada.
The Oscar qualifying NYICFF, now in its 23rd year, runs February 21 through March 15, 2020, debuting an exciting new slate of the very best animation, live action, documentary, and experimental features and shorts from around the globe. NYICFF 2020 will highlight the cinematic achievements of Japan in an expanded program, shine a spotlight on new Canadian animation, and introduce its first-ever Industry Forum to focus on inclusion and representation in children’s media.
More lineup announcements, including the full slate of Features and Short Film selections, are forthcoming. Tickets go on sale January 15th for Members, and January 22rd for the general public at www.nyicff.org.
“Children of the Sea”
FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS: JAPAN —
Animated Feature Films:
CHILDREN OF THE SEA (2019), Ayumu Watanabe (OPENING NIGHT FILM)
ON-GAKU: OUR SOUND (2019), Kenji Iwaisawa
MAGIC BOY (1961), Taiji Yabushita and Akira Daikuhara
Short Film Program:
FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS: JAPAN, Short Film Collection, Various
Now in its fourth edition, NYICFF’s celebrated Friends & Neighbors program showcases the cinematic achievements of Japan.
From anime to art-house, Japanese film is a global phenomenon, with enormous box-office success and loyal fans in both its home country and around the world. NYICFF 2020 offers audiences the opportunity to broaden their experience of Japanese film with an exciting slate of premiere animation and live action feature, alongside shorts that expand styles, break with conventions, and show the originality, complexity, humor, and spirit of this cultural powerhouse.
Executive Director Nina Guralnick says, “NYICFF has long been at the forefront of showcasing the latest and best Japanese features for an admiring U.S. audience; from Katsuhiro Otomo’s STEAMBOY (US Premiere 2005), and acclaimed Studio Ghibli titles including Hayao Miyazaki’s FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (US Premiere 2013) and Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE (North American Premiere 2015); to Mamoru Hosoda’s acclaimed WOLF CHILDREN (US Continental Premiere 2013); and Makoto Shinkai’s box-office phenomenon YOUR NAME. (East Coast Premiere 2017). NYICFF has also long cultivated ties with Japanese filmmakers whose animation, live-action and experimental work has populated the Festival’s celebrated short film collections. The 2020 Festival furthers this connection with Japan and offers a strong program that reflects NYICFF’s mission of demonstrating and fostering the best in films for all ages.”
“Magic Boy”
NYICFF 2020’s Friends & Neighbors: Japan shares a curated selection of four new and retrospective feature films and one short film collection, highlighting the region’s rich cinema and cultural history in a breathtaking range of styles: from the East Coast Premiere of Ayumu Watanabe’s atmospheric CHILDREN OF THE SEA (2019, NYICFF OPENING NIGHT FILM), and the US Premiere of the award-winning, fresh vision of Kenji Iwaisawa’s ON-GAKU: OUR SOUND (2019) to Renpei Tsukamoto’s charming live-action inter-generational twist in BENTO HARASSMENT (2019); to a retrospective screening of Taiji Yabushita and Akira Daikuhara’s landmark anime MAGIC BOY (1961). A contemporary short film collection offers the world premiere of Koji Yamamura’s highly anticipated hand-drawn animation DREAMS INTO DRAWING (2020), alongside other other stop motion, 2D animation, and live action films from a wide range of Japanese filmmakers.
Joining NYICFF’s celebrated annual Animators All Around panel, we welcome Daisuke ‘Dice’ Tsutsumi, filmmaker and co-founder of California-based Tonko House. Dice will share insight into Tonko House’s creative process and an exclusive look at some intriguing new projects in development. Previous to founding Tonko House in 2014, Dice was an art director at Pixar, and a visual development and color key artist for Blue Sky Studios. Dice joins Jill Culton, director of ABOMINABLE, for the 2020 Animators All Around event, with details on the full lineup forthcoming.
Japanese films at the Festival are generously supported by the Japan-United States Friendship Commission, Sony Pictures, and the Japan Foundation New York, and organized in part with the Kineko International Children’s Film Festival.
ANIMATED FILM DETAILS
OPENING NIGHT:
Children Of The Sea
JAPAN—EAST COAST PREMIERE
Ayumu Watanabe, 2019, 111 min.
Ages 10+
Japanese with English Subtitles
Based on the exquisite manga of the same name, Children of the Sea (GKIDS) draws on the talents of Japan’s famed Studio 4°C (Mind Game; Tekkonkinkreet) and the mighty Joe Hisaishi, whose magical scores are the life-force behind so many of Studio Ghibli’s animated classics.
A visually dazzling, mind-bending aquatic mystery. Ruka’s dad is so absorbed in his studies at the aquarium that he hardly notices when she befriends Umi and Sora. Like Ruka, the mysterious duo has the unique ability to hear the call of the sea and its endangered creatures. Together, can they save them?
“This is a film you experience on a deeper level, one that washes over you like a wave… It’s hard to overstate what an atmospheric triumph Studio 4°C has pulled off here.”—Matt Schley, The Japan Times
On-Gaku: Our Sound
JAPAN—US PREMIERE
Kenji Iwaisawa, 2019, 71 min.
Japanese with English subtitles
Recommended Ages 12+
From grunge to genius, On-Gaku turns it up to eleven musically and visually! Kenji and his two buddies are considered the toughs in their high school. Only clever Aya knows their too-cool-for-school attitude is a total act, until a bass guitar unexpectedly ends up in Kenji’s hands. With its deadpan humor, fresh animation style, and upending of the musical genre, there’s no wonder this film won the Ottawa Int’l Animation Festival’s top prize.
Magic Boy
JAPAN
Akira Daikuhara and Taiji Yabushita, 1961, 83 min
English
Ages 8+
Anime? Check. Disney-inspired cute critters? Check. Beautiful colors? Do you even have to ask?! Our Festival Flashback is a groundbreaker: the first-ever anime film released in the US (from renowned Toei Studios), and quite possibly the inspiration for many more. Step back in time and follow Sasuke’s adventures from the very beginning!
Friends & Neighbors: Japan
Short film program
75 min
Ages 9+
Say konichiwa (hello!) to our 2020 Friends & Neighbors. Celebrate Japan’s rich film and cultural history in a breathtaking range of styles: the hand-drawn artistry of master animator and NYICFF alum Koji Yamamura’s world premiere, Dreams into Drawing, the stop-motion nod to traditional Japanese puppetry in Gon, the Little Fox, and the manga-style zaps, zings, and pows of Onomatopoeia Rap, and more.
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