First Annual Miami International Children's Film Festival Announces Program and Schedule

South Florida's youngest film aficionados are eagerly awaiting the first annual Miami International Children's Film Festival, presented by the Coral Gables Art Cinema, as it prepares for its debut next month. From October 25-27 at the Coral Gables Art Cinema, families throughout the community will have the opportunity to experience the best in global "art house" films for children, as well as film workshops, parties and talks with visiting filmmakers.

"Our first Miami International Children's Film Festival is just around the corner," said Steven Krams, President and Founder of the Cinema. "We are thrilled to kick off this fantastic cultural event in the heart of South Florida, where countless families are bound to foster a love of cinema together."

In partnership with New York International Children's Film Festival, lauded as the country's most prominent festival of its kind, the inaugural Miami International Children's Film Festival aims to provide its audiences with diverse and awe-inspiring films, including several area premieres. Festival highlights include:

The Florida premiere of eight films: AninA, Pinocchio, Magic Piano 3D, Cinderella Moon, Ernest & Celestine, Zarafa, Kirikou, and Wolf Children

Showcase of films from around the globe, including France, China, Italy, Japan and more

Q&A with Alfredo Soderguit, director of AninA who will be attending the Festival in-person from Uruguay, following the Florida premiere screening

Spanish and Portuguese language shorts program, exclusively curated for Miami audiences

Special Florida premiere screening of Magic Piano 3D, featuring live piano accompaniment

Hands-on animation workshops for kids presented by JohnMartin's Irish Pub & Restaurant

Opening night reception featuring bites by Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza, Miller's Ale House and an open bar by Bacardi

"The unique collaboration with our seasoned festival counterparts in New York has allowed us to screen a diverse selection of films from all around the globe," said Robert Rosenberg, Director of the Coral Gables Art Cinema. "In addition, we are excited to showcase eight Florida premieres that are bound to delight our South Florida audiences."

Other groups that will be collaborating with the Miami International Children's Film Festival include Books & Books, the Coral Gables Museum, JohnMartin's Irish Pub & Restaurant, the Florida Film Institute and Miami-Dade Public Schools. A full festival film schedule and ticket pricing guide follows.

Miami International Children's Film Festival Schedule

Friday, October 25, 2013

Film Screening: Shorts for Tots (Ages 3+) - 4:00 p.m.
A specially curated program for kids as young as 3 years old, featuring 13 short animations from around the world

Opening Night Reception and Film Screening
6:30 p.m. - Reception with food and drinks
7:30 p.m. - AninA (Uruguay, Ages 9+) - AninA is fantastical journey into the world of a 10 year-old girl, who following a playground skirmish, receives the weirdest punishment in the history of weird punishments
Florida Premiere
Featuring Q&A with Uruguayan director Alfredo Soderguit following film screening

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Film Screening: Pinocchio (Italy, Ages 5+) - 10:00 a.m.
Florida Premiere
Pinocchio is a colorful and musical re-telling of the classic tale, featuring the title character as a rambunctious scamp who dances from one strange adventure to the next

Cinema Carnival in Perrin Plaza: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Featuring face painting, The Miami Balloon Guy, temporary tattoos, live music and more
Free and open to the public

Workshop I: Stop Motion Animation with Soft Sculpture at JohnMartin's Irish Pub & Restaurant - 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
For ages 6 to 12, students will learn basic principles of stop-motion animation and create their own films with malleable materials
$20 material and equipment fee

Film Screening: Spanish & Portuguese Language Shorts (Ages 9+) - 12:00 p.m.
An array of 8 short films curated for Miami audiences, including Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan films with English subtitles

Film Screening: Magic Piano 3D (Ages 7+, China, Poland) - 2:30 p.m.
Florida Premiere
A special 3D screening featuring live piano accompaniment, Magic Piano 3D is an Oscar-nominated, virtuosic stop-motion masterpiece set to Chopin's etudes

Film Screening: Cinderella Moon (Ages 9+, China, United States) - 5:15 p.m.
Florida Premiere
Cinderella Moon is a wonder-filled feature debut based on the earliest known version of Cinderella, a Chinese tale from 768 A.D.

Film Screening: Ernest & Celestine (Ages 7+, France, Belgium) - 7:30 p.m.
Florida Premiere
Ernest and Celestine is a tale of friendship that joyfully leaps across genres and influences to capture kinetic, limitless possibilities of animated storytelling for all ages

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Cinema Carnival in Perrin Plaza: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Featuring face painting, The Miami Balloon Guy, temporary tattoos, live music and more
Free and open to the public

Film Screening: Kids Flix Mix (Ages 6+) - 10:00 a.m.
A fantastic compilation of 13 short live-action and animation films from around the world, including Taiwan and France

Workshop II: Stop Motion Animation with Paper Collage at JohnMartin's Irish Pub & Restaurant - 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
For ages 13 to 18, participants will learn basic principles of stop-motion animation with a focus on paper collage and create their own films using cut and patterned paper, photographs and magazines
$30 material and equipment fee

Film Screening: Zarafa (Ages 7+, France) - 12:00 p.m.
Florida Premiere
Zarafa is the stirring adventure of a small boy who loosens the shackles that bind him and escapes into the desert night

Encore Film Screening: AninA (Ages 9+, Uruguay) - 2:00 p.m.

Film Screening: Kirikou and the Men and the Women (Ages 7+, France) - 4:00 p.m.
Florida Premiere
Screened in spectacular 3D, a pint-sized child hero returns in the third film of the Kirikou trilogy, weaving together a collection of short-form fables that mix traditional storytelling with mythology

Film Screening: Wolf Children (Ages 9+, France) - 6:15 p.m.
Florida Premiere
A brilliant third feature from Mamoru Hosuda, featuring a romance between a young woman and a mysterious outcast

Ticket Prices

Opening Night Reception and Screening Ticket Prices
Friday, October 25
6:30pm Reception with food and drinks
7:30pm Screening

$20 General Admission
$15 Gables Cinema Members
$10 Children (up to 12 years)

All Other Screening Ticket Prices

$11.50 General Admission
$7.50 Gables Cinema Members
$9.50 Seniors (65 & over) with valid ID
$6.50 Children (up to 12 years)

Tickets are available for purchase online at http://www.movietickets.com or in-person at the Cinema box office during any regular film screening hours.

For more information visit the Cinema's website at http://www.gablescinema.com or the Cinema's Facebook page http://www.facebook/gablescinema or call (786) 385-9689. The Coral Gables Art Cinema is located at 260 Aragon Avenue, directly across the street from Books & Books, on the western end of the ground floor of the Museum Parking Garage

The Coral Gables Art Cinema is South Florida's leading state-of-the-art venue for experiencing independent, alternative and international film, offering first-run, seven-day-a-week showcase presentations in both 35mm and true industry-standard theater quality 2k Digital Cinema Projection.

Funding for Miami International Children's Film Festival comes in part from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, as part of its Knight Arts Challenge, Greenberg Traurig LLP, and the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Mayor and Board of County Commissioners. Additional support for the Coral Gables Art Cinema comes from the City of Coral Gables; the Coral Gables Community Foundation; Steven Krams and Midge Blumberg-Krams; Bacardi; and the many businesses, individual donors and members who contribute to the Cinema's work.

Photos and video are available upon request
Interviews are available upon request
Film synopses are available upon request

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