Chicago International Children's Film Festival
Chicago International Children’s Film Festival (CICFF) was started in 1983 by Facets Multi-Media as the first competitive children’s film festival in the United States. The festival aims to show new, culturally diverse films to American children and to recognize excellence in kids’ filmmaking. It also invites children to be part of the jury, with kids and adult film professionals awarding prizes in several categories. In 2023, CICFF celebrated its 40th festival.
Today, CICFF is the world’s largest annual film festival for children ages 2 to 16, screening about 250 films and videos from 40 countries. Each year about 25,000 people attend, including children, parents, educators, and more than 100 filmmakers, programmers, and celebrities. The festival takes place every October at venues around Chicago, Illinois.
Facets’ year-round programs offer screenings for families and groups, featuring diverse short films to help improve literacy, writing, critical thinking, and inference. Dream Screen is a workshop where kids create their own stories and animate them using drawing and cutout techniques. Students from underserved communities participate in all parts of video production, including writing, storyboarding, drawing, art making, and camerawork.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 19:23 (CET).