Category: NYICFF

NYICFF 2012: Le Tableau, Paint Me a Movie

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Le Tableau was my final film for the festival, luckily this screening also featured the director and writer in a little Q&A after. This film while still for children is a little more mature in its execution. The animation and colors of a painterly quality will strike you first and captivate you, indeed it was the reason I wanted to see the film in the first place. Happily there is also an under current of independence and creating your own destiny making it more than just pretty to look at.

Le Tableau means The Painting, so that is where our story begins, inside an unfinished painting. A three caste systems has developed, diving those who are fully painted, those only half-painted, and those that remain sketches. Lola, a Halfie unperturbed by being “incomplete,” decides to journey to find the painter in hopes of helping her friend Claire who is in love with the free-thinking Alldunn Ramo. Ramo joins Lola on her quest as does the Sketchie Plume. Their adventure takes them beyond their painting into the world of the painter, meeting his other creations along the way.

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NYICFF 2012: A Monster in Paris, The Voice of an Angel

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First, I really must thank the New York International Children’s Film Festival for bringing one of my wish list movies of 2011 to the event this year. This French CGI production played in 3D and was the opening night feature to kick off the nearly month-long festival. This comedy adventure features wonderful animation, great music, and charm on all levels.

Our story begins in a flooded Paris of the early 20th century, giving a magnificent backdrop to the tale. When Emile and Raoul make a delivery to a scientist’s lab, they take the time to explore. Their experiments accidentally create a giant insect that promptly escapes into the city. With the pompous police commissioner in pursuit, the now infamous “Monster of Paris” meets young singer Lucille who takes him in after recognizing his noble heart.

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NYICFF 2012: A Letter to Momo, Letters to No One

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The New York International Children’s Film Festival in a unique opportunity to see translated animated films from around the world. This means they often play anime films even before they appear on the fan sub circuit giving the festival a unique appeal to anime fans. It is one of the few times you can still go in cold to an anime. I certainly had no knowledge about A Letter to Momo other than the blurb on the website. That is just a feeling you don’t get as much any more. Just the ability to see something and judge for yourself if it is a gem is a fun little treat. That sometimes means you sit through some mediocre material as well but the chance to get a relatively clean movie watching experience free from hype or prejudice is worth it by itself.

Two anime were being shown at the festival this year, A Letter to Momo and Children Who Chase Voices From Deep Below. A Letter to Momo is one I had only read about being in production, but little else after it premiered. I was pretty much going in blind other than knowing Production I.G worked on it. But a lot of times I put myself in the hands of the festival, if for nothing else this may be the only chance I’d have at seeing these films. A Letter to Momo brings brightness to the subject of grief but over stays its welcome to a degree.

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