GIRLS’ POV – Strong! – New York Theatrical Premiere, USA, Julie Wyman. “Can you imagine being huge – but graceful and beautiful and just gorgeous?” Tipping the scales at 300 pounds, Olympic weightlifter Cheryl Hawthorn defies conventional notions of female beauty. Yet, whether she is working with her Olympic trainer, cooking at home with her mom in Savannah, or laughing about the difficulty of doing simple things like buying a dress or finding a chair that won’t collapse under her weight – it is precisely her strength and beauty that shine through. In our fitness-obsessed culture, Cheryl’s success makes us rethink how we see the female body and expands our notion of what it means to be powerful, healthy, and beautiful. Screened as part of NYICFF’s Girls’ POV program, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

In English - Recommended ages 9 to adult

Welcome to the Space Show – US Premiere English-Language Version, Japan, Koji Masunari. NYICFF favorite Welcome to the Space Show returns in a brand new English-language version! With an intergalactic cast of thousands, Koji Masunari’s colorfully explosive debut feature sets a new high for visual spectacle and sheer inventiveness of character design – in what has to be one of the most gleefully surreal depictions of alien life forms ever portrayed in cinema.

In English - Recommended ages 7 to adult

Wolf Children – US Continental Premiere, Japan, Mamoru Hosoda. NYICFF is thrilled to present the brilliant third feature from Mamoru Hosoda, whose Summer Wars and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time have established him as one of the world’s top creative forces in animation. When college student Hana discovers her new beau is part wolf, she accepts him for who he is. Before long she gives birth to two children, Ame and Yuki, rambunctious bundles of joy who transform into wolves when excited and whose little ears are as adorable as their fangs are sharp. When the neighbors begin to notice their wolf-like tendencies, Hana moves to the countryside and into a dilapidated farmhouse, where each child is free to pursue its wolfish and human sides. Brimming with Hosoda’s trademark visual splendor, Wolf Children is his most emotionally resonant film to date, a stunningly animated and heart-felt fable about growing up, growing apart, and the choices faced along the way.

In Japanese with English subtitles - Recommended ages 9 to adult

Zarafa – France, Remi Benzançon/Jean-Christophe Lie. Inspired by the true story of the first giraffe to visit France, Zarafa is a sumptuously hand-animated and stirring adventure set among sweeping vistas of parched desert, windswept mountains and open skies. Under the cover of night a small boy, Maki, loosens the shackles that bind him and escapes into the desert night. Pursued by slavers across the moon-lit savannah, Maki meets Zarafa, a baby giraffe – and an orphan, just like him - and he vows to protect the giraffe. Wandering alone in the desert, the two are taken under the protection of the Bedouin prince Hassan. Hassan brings them to Alexandria for an audience with the Pasha of Egypt, who promptly orders them to deliver the exotic animal as a gift to King Charles of France.

In French with English subtitles - Recommended ages 7 to adult

SHORT FILM PROGRAMS – Six programs for ages 3 to 18, featuring the best short films from around the world, selected from over 3,000 entries. Jury-selected winners will be eligible for Oscar consideration in animated and live action short film categories. Full lineup at www.gkids.tv/intheaters

• Shorts For Tots – (Ages 3 to 6)
• Short Films One – (Ages 5 to 10)
• Short Films Two – (Ages 8 to 14)
• Flicker Lounge: For Teens & Adults Only – (Ages 12 to adult)
• Heebie Jeebies: Spooky, Freaky & Bizarre – (Ages 10 to adult)
• Girls’ POV – (Ages 10 to adult)

Source: NYICFF