Posted on: Friday, June 15, 2007
A festival of high-quality cinema, and just for kids
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
|
|
|
Scene from "Onami" (The Great Wave), about a young wrestler who learns to meditate.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
A scene from "My Backyard Was a Mountain," about a Puerto Rican boy who must find a new home for his pet goat because his family is about to begin a new life in New York.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Roberto the Insect Architect," the story of a termite who likes to build with wood rather than eat it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Binta y la Gran Idea" (Binta and the Great Idea), about a Senegalese girl, Binta, with an idea for creating a better world.
|
|
|
|
|
KIDS FIRST! FILM FESTIVAL
4 p.m. Sundays, starting this weekend, through July 22 Yukiyoshi Room, Krauss Hall 012 University of Hawai'i-Manoa Free 956-8246, www.outreach.hawaii.edu/summer
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Now kids have their own film festival.
Starting Sunday and continuing for the next five weeks, the Kids First! Film Festival — offering a collection of rarely seen but engaging fare for kids and their mommies and daddies — will be shown free as part of the University of Hawai'i-Manoa's ongoing Centennial Celebration.
Its Island curator, Ann Brandman, sees the Kids First! fest as kind of a cornerstone for movie-watching for the wee ones and their parents. She solicited the wisdom of her 9-year-old goddaughter for a kid-sized seal of approval in the film selection.
"There are two major goals with this festival," said Brandman, who is with the UH Outreach Program. "One is to help make available quality choices of films to families, parents and kids. The second is to help create critical viewers in children."
The festival is a project of the Coalition for Quality Children's Media, which screens titles for films that are devoid of gratuitous violence, and free of race, gender or religious bias, as well as condescension toward children.
"The coalition is a voluntary group, with big studios, independent filmmakers and kid and adult involvement," said Brandman. "They come together to kind of endorse films with certain criteria."
In its debut here, the festival will string six afternoon Sunday screenings. Kids First! allows each presenter to build a festival according to need — it can be once a month, for instance — and Brandman is using this initial festival to prepare for future events.
The screenings (see schedule) target specific audiences, from keiki 2 through 6, for grade schoolers age 5 through 10 or 12 and for youths age 8 and older, with a mix of animated films, shorts, dramas and comedies with themes that entertain, inspire and teach.
All programs consider the attention span of the young, running from under an hour to 100-plus minutes max. A total of 17 titles will be shown. The "themed" programs tell the tale: "Little Keiki Crowd," "Kids Foreign Film Fest," "Tweens Feature Film," "Small and Mighty."
To bring a party spirit to the screenings, Brandman said balloons and prizes such as DVD sets, T-shirts and washable tattoos will be offered.
"We're not selling popcorn and we don't allow food and snacks — because it's pretty close to dinner time," she said.
Perhaps families can go out to dinner and discuss what they saw.
KIDS FIRST! FILM SCHEDULE
This Sunday — "Cool Schools"
For ages 5-10; 72 minutes
Featuring:
"Eloise Goes to School," featuring the book fave sent to school when her tutor quits.
"Going to School in India, Part 1," about the indomitable spirit of Indian school kids.
June 24 — "Tweens Feature Film" For ages 10 and older; 96 minutes
Featuring:
"Eye of the Dolphin," about 14-year-old Alyssa moving to the Bahamas to live with her dolphin- researcher dad and her skills in communicating with a dolphin.
July 1 — "Tails and Adventures" For ages 5-12; 85 minutes
Featuring:
"Big Top Winkle," a dog who upstages a circus Gypsy in the mythical town of Waggsville.
"Prehistoric Park," wildlife expert Nigel Marven is sent to rescue dinosaurs, in a film with spectacular animatronic models.
July 8 — "Small But Mighty" For ages 5-12; 74 minutes
Featuring:
"Onami (The Great Wave)," a claymation tale of a young wrestler who learns the art of meditation.
"The Man Who Walked Between the Towers," an animated story inspired by the real-life adventures of a French aerialist and his daring 1974 high-wire walk between the World Trade Towers.
"Roberto the Insect Architect," an animated tale of a termite who likes to build with wood, not eat it.
"Little Blue: Live the Dream," an animated film about a young penguin who pursues his dream to surf.
"Going to School in India, Part 2," another film spotlighting the indomitable spirit of Indian school children.
July 15 — "Kids Foreign Film Fest" For ages 8 and older; 103 minutes
Featuring:
"Mare Capoeira," a Brazilian film, in Portuguese with English titles, exploring capoeira through the eyes of Jao, 10, last in a long line of capoeira masters. It asks the question, is capoeira a sport, dance or martial art?
"Peur Hoi Nang Rom (For the Oysters)," a Thai film, in Thai with English titles, about Wenai, a boy whose impoverished mother leaves him in the care of his grandmother in a fishing village. He becomes smitten with a classmate named Ann.
"Binta y la Gran Idea (Binta and the Great Idea)," a film in Dioula/French with English titles, about a girl named Binta who lives in Senegal and her fisherman father who has a great idea to make the world a better place.
"My Backyard Was a Mountain," in Spanish with English titles, about a Puerto Rican boy, Adam, who has to find a home for his pet goat because his family is moving to New York.
July 22 — "Little Keiki Crowd" For ages 2-6; 56 minutes
Featuring:
"Mama Mirabelle," an animated film that celebrates the comedy, drama and gentle wisdom of young animals, culled from footage from National Geographic and BBC archives.
"Knuffle Bunny," a delightful tale of Trixie, Daddy and Knuffle Bunny and their trek to the neighborhood laundromat — and unexpected turns.
"Paz: Three New Episodes," a whimsical animated adventure on a penguin named Paz, his family and friends, combining live action puppetry and animation.
Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.
| | |
|
|
