If I were going to be anywhere near NYC in late February or early March, I would totally go to the New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF).

If it seems to you like children’s movies are inherently dumb, only appealing to the young and unsophisticated, then you probably only watch mainstream releases which are, indeed, by and large glurge churned out in the hopes of making a buck or a few million via merchandising. Consider what the major houses seem to think of adults’ level of intelligence and it’s no wonder that so many kids’ movies are written as if children are inherently stupid.

Ah, but there are plenty of excellent movies made for children, many of which have a genuine appeal for adults, too, and not just in that arrested development in which would-be hipsters co-opt childhood as a substitute for actual personality.

Michel Ocelot’s Kirikou and the Sorceress (France, 1998) retells an old African legend with stunning, wonder-inspiring imagery. Another French film, 1973′s Fantastic Planet has long been a cult classic among adults for its psychedelic artwork and complex, provocative storyline but is an entirely suitable film for tweens and teens as well.

The French are really good at animation; this is represented at NYICFF with a program of French short animation and several more shorts and features.

NYICFF also features shorts and full-length films from places other than France. Notable is In the Attic from Czech filmmaker Jiri Barta, a leading light in stop-motion animation who hasn’t made a movie in 20 years. Like any good fairy tale, his story about a doll and her toy friends is equal parts dark to the light.

Film production workshops help educate kids and their families to what it really takes to make a movie and, who knows, maybe influence them to make their own.