The Children's International Film Festival is a showcase event to help expose school-age children to short films from around the world. The festival selections are shown during a week's worth of events held at various locations across Catawba County, North Carolina, to students from across the county's three public school systems and several independent/private schools. Each screening session is two hours in length. Last year, over 3,000 school children saw the variety of films that were selected.
The Hickory International Council (HIC) and the Footcandle Film Society of Catawba County are presenting the 8th Annual Children’s International Film Festival (CIFF) between April 13 and May 1, 2020 at the Drendel Auditorium on the SALT Block, Maiden High School Auditorium, and Newton-Conover Middle School Auditorium. The emphasis is on children in 4th – 8th grades.
2020 Screening Schedule (to be finalized soon)
The focus of the HIC is to promote cultural awareness of Catawba County’s diverse population. “It is important to highlight cultures from outside the United States and to work together to understand and accept the similarities and differences” said Hani Nassar, HIC Chair.
The 2020 CIFF films to be shown at the event will be announced at the end of March after all schools have approved their list.
“The mission of the HIC is to act as a forum for the local and global international community and to act as a liaison between that community and the city government in order to promote goodwill, mutual understanding, cooperation, and respect among citizens.”
There are no awards or prizes associated with this festival. The intention is to bring together a selection of short films from countries around the world and screen them during a week's worth of sessions across various school systems in the Western North Carolina area.