🥁 Drum roll… the NYICFF 2026 features lineup is here! Member tickets on sale TOMORROW.
We’ve got three weekends of incredible films and stories from all around the world. So don't worry about your pre-nap activity, your afternoon respite from the cold, even your birthday party plans. We’ve got you covered.
Here’s the rundown:
OPENING SPOTLIGHT: HOPPERS
Catch Disney and Pixar’s new comedy adventure before it hits theaters on March 6!
🇺🇸 — Special Preview
AUDIENCE SPOTLIGHT: MY LIFE IN VERSAILLES
Based on the NYICFF 2020 Grand Prize-winning short!
🇫🇷 🇱🇺 — US Premiere
CENTERPIECE: REMAINING NATIVE
Track star Ku Stevens runs toward his future.
🇺🇸
BIRD BOY
A giant egg hatches more than a baby ostrich.
🇺🇸 🇿🇦 — US Festival Premiere
GHOST SCHOOL
A determined girl crosses Pakistan to uncover why her school mysteriously closed.
🇵🇰 🇩🇪 🇸🇦 — US Premiere
KAIJU GUY!
A hilarious love letter to monster movies.
🇯🇵
LAMPIE
A luminous fairy-tale adventure.
🇳🇱 — East Coast Premiere
MARY ANNING
An intrepid fossil-hunter works to solve a big mystery.
🇨🇭🇧🇪 — US Premiere
MOOMINVALLEY
Our favorite silly Scandinavian creatures return!
🇬🇧
MY GRANDFATHER IS A NIHONJIN
Noboru searches for family he’s never met.
🇧🇷 — North American Premiere
PAPAYA
A bold, tropical journey of a wayward seed.
🇧🇷 — North American Premiere
SPACE CADET
Astronaut and robot caretaker keep close through cherished memories.
🇨🇦 — East Coast Premiere
WHOEVER STEALS THIS BOOK
Calling all Crunchyrollers! Teen Mifuyu defends her family library from a curse.
🇯🇵 — North American Premiere
*In solidarity with communities impacted by ICE activities and the call for a nationwide general strike, member on-sale is delayed 24 hours to Saturday January 31.*
#nyicff #nyicff2026 #nycwithkids #nycfamily #familyfunnyc
📢 Even with NYICFF 2026 barely in the rearview mirror, we're looking ahead! Submissions are open for NYICFF 2027, our 30th anniversary edition. Share your work at the largest film fest for kids and families in North America—one with a decades-long track record of sold-out screenings, enthusiastic audiences, and showcasing the early work of now-renowned filmmakers like Chloe Zhao, Taika Waititi, Benjamin Renner, and more. visit the link in bio for more info and to submit!
Last, but certainly not least, we want to thank YOU. We have the most thoughtful, enthusiastic, curious, energetic members and audience in town. Thank you so so much for your pre-screening cheers, your post-screening discussions, and for simply being the best. As we wrap up the 2026 Festival season, we hope you'll keep in touch and join us at our year-round programs (Field Trips! Member preview screenings! Our tour! and more!) Visit our website (link in bio) to learn about all the ways to stay involved.
If you've ever been to a NYICFF event, we don't need to tell you how amazing our volunteers and interns are...but we will anyway: they're the best! Give it up for our ticket-scanning, ballot-and-pencil providing, microphone handling, warm-welcoming volunteers and interns! 👏
Of course, it wouldn't be a Festival without the work of our brilliant filmmakers and the distributors who made sure we saw it. Thank you for your art, imagination, enthusiasm, and your thoughtful conversations with our audience!
Our school partners are some of our biggest advocates! They help us spread the word about the Fest, all while earning money for their parent associations. Thank you, school partners. (It's never too early to sign up! Check out the link in our bio for more info.)
Another reason to love New York? So many great places to see movies! We love our venues, from the cozy to the larger-than-life, and most have fantastic programming all year long. Thank you, @dctvny , @ifccenter , @scanhouse , and @svatheatre , for hosting us (and special shout out to @quadcinema for all of the popcorn)!
The support we get from our city and state is invaluable. We are the very fortunate recipient of a grant from @nyscouncilonthearts , a Media Arts Assistance Fund grant from NYSCA and @wavefarmradio for accessibility training, a Cultural Development Fund grant from @nyculture , and a grant + additional support (like our hosting gorgeous digital posters on LinkNYC) from @madein_ny . WE ❤ NY!
We launched our all-new short film program, Native Stories, at this year's Fest. We couldn't be prouder—or more grateful to the partners who made this program (and its upcoming touring version 👀) possible. Thank you @canada.newyork , @quebecinnewyork , and @dutchcultureusa ! And shout out to our NYS partners who helped us launch Native Stories statewide, @buffalointernationalfilm , @parrishartmuseum , Cinema 10 at the Roxy, and @cinema_arts (next up, on April 26)
Thanks to our partnership with @scienceonscreen , paleontologists Alana Gishlick and Carl Mehling joined us after a screening of Mary Anning to show us some of Mary's real discoveries (and some real fossils for us to see up close)!
In addition to our public screenings, we run FilmEd Field Trips, which bring the magic of the Fest directly into the neighborhoods of participating schools. Let's hear it for our education sponsors @sony , @sonypictures , and @duolingo ! 👏👏👏 Because of their support, we're able to host students from schools in under-resourced communities at little or no cost—all year long.
We're honored to share the work of up-and-coming filmmakers from around the world, including students! Our Student Showcase features films from film and animation students, giving them the opportunity to share their work outside of the classroom and giving our young audience the chance to see film as a career pathway from artists closer to their own age. It's inspiring to say the least, and we couldn't do it without the support of the @svabfaanimation / @svanyc and @madein_ny , two incredible champions of artists.
