CHILDREN'S FILM FESTIVAL SEATTLE 2007
CINEMA K: CHILDREN'S FILM FESTIVAL SEATTLE 2007
January 27-February 4, 2007 with additional screenings for school groups scheduled Monday-Friday February 5-9, and 12-16.
Since 1997, Northwest Film Forum has had a strong commitment to providing programming for families and young people. In 2005, we launched Cinema K, a year-round program of movies for the whole family. In late January 2007, Cinema K will celebrate a year of achievement by pulling out all the stops for its second edition of Children's Film Festival Seattle. Just like your kids, we keep on growing. This year's festival features over 70 films from 23 countries!
At Children's Film Festival Seattle, families can celebrate a whole new world of moving images during Seattle's rainiest weeks. In our dark, cozy cinemas, parents and kids will find history lessons, whirlwind trips to faraway lands, sneak peeks at many Seattle premieres and opportunities to chat with filmmakers and producers. Kids will have chances to delve deeper into movie making in three exciting workshops. Films made during the workshops will premiere on the festival's closing night.
This year's festival features an expanded offering of field trip opportunites for school and afterschool groups. Our programs are sure to spark new interests in young students.They'll come away with a broader view of the world and a deeper appreciation of film as an important art form. Educators are always able to take the stories shown in the festival back to the classroom to use in a variety of ways.
CALLING ALL FUTURE FILM CRITICS!
This year brings an exciting addition to the festival: the inauguration of the Cinema K Children's Jury. Ten cinema-wise kids aged 8-12 will be chosen to pick their favorite live-action and animated films. The Children's Jury will convene February 3 and 4 and present their prizes to filmmakers at the festival's closing ceremony February 4. To apply for the Children's Jury, kids should write a one-page, two-part essay on the subjects, "My Favorite Movie When I Was Little" and "My Favorite Movie Now." Send essays, including name, age and contact information, to Cinema K Director Liz Shepherd, c/o Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 or e-mail liz@nwfilmforum.org . Deadline: entries should be postmarked no later than December 15. Questions? Call Liz Shepherd at (206) 829-7862 or email liz@nwfilmforum.org.
TICKET INFO:
Admission only $6 for kids and adults/$5 for members. For tickets, visit nwfilmforum.org or call (800) 838-3006. Many screenings sell out - avoid tears. and get your tickets in advance!
JAN 27 Sat at 9:30am
CINEMA K: CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL SEATTLE 2007
GRAND OPENING PANCAKE BREAKFAST
Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy
Bring the whole family for our annual children's film fundraiser - an all-you-can-eat pancake and bacon breakfast with gallons of hot coffee for the adults. $25 per family includes admission to the 11am screening of LEGENDS, FABLES AND DREAMS. This event sells out, so buy tickets early!
1/27 Sat @ 11am, 1/28 Sun @ 3pm, 1/29 Mon @ 10am, 2/2 Fri @ 11am, 2/3 Sat @ 1pm, 2/4 Sun @ 3pm
LEGENDS, FABLES AND DREAMS: AWARD-WINNING ANIMATED FILMS
Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy
This magical program of short films will take you on a whirlwind trip around the globe. LEGENDS, FABLES AND DREAMS has it all: breathtaking animation, awe-inspiring poetry, belly laughs, action and adventure, and even some surprising love stories. Suitable for all ages, though best appreciated by those 5 and older. Total Running Time: 94 min.
FLY (Eva Colmers, Canada): A little girl spreads her wings, and soars. ANAELLE (Stefan Gruber, USA): Ladybugs help two new friends bridge a language gap. THE FAERY WIND (Edith Pieperhoff, Ireland): Despite warnings, a widowed father decides to fell trees in a fairy fort. WAR AND PEAS (Jannik Hastrup, Denmark): A fat king and his army are no match for a small brigade of hungry animals. LET GO (Wayne Gilbert, Canada): An old warrior learns to let go of everything he has in order to advance. FUMI AND THE BAD LUCK FOOT (David Chai, USA): A heartwarming fable of female empowerment, featuring a wild moose attack. HURRY UP, MUNCHAUSEN, HURRY UP! (Maris Brinkmanis, Latvia): A brave baron defies the odds to save his bride. THE GIFT (Jessica Langford, Scotland): A young girl rescues a seal and meets a sea prince in his underwater palace. THE CANDLES (Viktor Azeev, Russia): On a snowy windblown night, some candles dream of dancing. BLUE WILLOW (Veialu Aila-Unsworth, Australia): This haunting proverb takes audiences into the heart of a traditional Chinese porcelain plate. BUBBLE (Maija Burnett, USA): A boy lives on a tree in a watery bubble world -can he escape? BOX (J.C. Reyes, Australia): A closed box proves irresistible to a greedy child. BUT SOFT (Britta Johnson, USA): Birds build the dreamiest nest ever. THE FAN AND THE FLOWER (Bill Plympton, USA): A tale of true love you'll never forget.
1/27 Sat @ 1pm, 1/28 Sun @ 3, 7pm, 2/2 Fri @ 1pm
WORLD OF WONDER
Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy
This program of award-winning short live-action films will take you to Madagascar, England, Peru, Mali and Iran to meet determined, brave and resourceful kids who play hard, live large, and sometimes break the rules in order to do the right thing. You'll never forget their stories. Program is suitable for ages 7 and up. Total Running Time: 88 min.
THE BIG RACE (Phil Aupperle, Madagascar): Two friends have fun with a tin can and lots of imagination. KNOWLEDGE FOR LIFE (Sander Francken, Mali/The Netherlands): Using traditional West African storytelling through song, this film tells the story of a student who is asked to answer one of life's most difficult questions. LARD (Ornette Spenceley, England): Jake longs to play soccer with the other children, with disastrous results. CHICLE (Josh Hyde, USA/Peru): Pablo, an eight-year-old Peruvian street kid and his older brother, Mano, discover Mary, an American girl lost in the chaos of Cusco's Plaza de Armas. ONCE AGAIN RAIN (Ali Vazirian, Iran): This lyrical and visually stunning film tells the story of a young boy who dreams of having a sturdy black umbrella.
1/27 Sat @ 1pm, 1/28 Sun @ 11am, 1/31 Wed @ 10am, 2/2 Fri @ 3pm, 2/4 Sun @ 11am
DANCING FROGS AND HELPFUL HEDGEHOGS
Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy
We've crawled through animated jungles and combed cartoon barnyards to put together this international collection of amazing animal adventures, The program is suitable for all ages. Total Running Time: 83 minutes.
PENGUIN'S CHRISTMAS (Arjan Wilschut, Netherlands): It's not easy to get a letter from the South Pole all the way up to Santa's house in the North! AGRICULTURAL REPORT (Melina Sydney Padua, Ireland): A cow grazes without a care until she hears a disturbing report on the radio. THE FOUNTAIN (Marcial Carrillo, Spain): A little bird and a little boy join forces to get a drink of water. THE BALLERINA FROG (Staffan Erlandsson & Anna Hansson, Sweden): A clumsy frog dreams of becoming a ballerina and dancing on the stage. JUNGLE BEAT: MONKEY 2 (Brent Danes, Zimbabwe): A chasm separates a monkey from his favorite meal: what's he going to do? WUTZ & WIEBKE (Leonore Poth, Germany): Two unlikely friends attempt to embark on an international holiday. SMALL ANT SYNDROME (Ann-Marie Denham, Australia): All-pervasive one-upmanship strikes an ant colony. RETURNING HOME (Behzad Farahat, Iran): A hedgehog pays attention to his surroundings and saves a lost family. THE PROPELLERBIRD (Jan Locher and Thomas Hinke, Germany): A big gray bird tries to find a better way to fly. HEART AND MOLE (Katharina Frank, USA): A mole and a hedgehog discover that love overcomes their differences in perspective. LON PO PO (Cha-Pow!, USA): A Chinese version of the classic fairy tale. KNUFFLE BUNNY (MaGiK Studio, France): Don't tell little Trixie her bunny is just a stuffed animal! LISTEN, RABBIT...DADDY GOES TO LONDON (Nils Skapans, Latvia): Who would think that an ordinary fruitcake could be a means of transport?
(Prog 1) 1/27 Sat @ 3pm, 2/1 Thurs @ 10am, 2/3 Sat @ 11am (Prog 2) 1/28 Sun @ 5 pm, 2/2 Fri @ 5pm
ENCHANTED VISIONS: THE FILMS OF MICHAEL SPORN
Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy
Inspired by early collaborations with renowned animators John and Faith Hubley and Richard Williams, Michael Sporn opened his own animation studio in New York City in 1980. Since then, he has worked tirelessly to produce an astonishingly diverse body of work that includes adaptations of children's books, TV specials for broadcast and cable networks and his own self-financed films. Sporn's award-winning children's films run the gamut from gentle, minimalist animation for preschoolers to searing explorations of social issues facing urban kids. Whether working on commission or independently, Sporn has always created seamless films filled with memorable moving images on budgets that are miniscule in comparison to the Hollywood studios.
Sporn is an Academy Award nominee (DR. DESOTO) and the winner of several Emmy and CableACE awards. His most recent film, THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS (2005) is a 10-minute short adapted from the book by Mordicai Gerstein. It has won multiple awards at recent international film festivals. Currently in production is a feature length film derived from the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe.
Program 1:
DOCTOR DESOTO (1984), THE RED SHOES (1990), MONA MON AMOUR (2002), ABEL'S ISLAND (1988), THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS (2005). Program is suitable for all ages. Total Running Time: 76 min.
Program 2:
CHAMPAGNE (1997), WHITEWASH (1994), THE MARZIPAN PIG (1990), THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK (1989). Program is suitable for ages 6 and up. Total Running Time: 80 min.
1/27 Sat at 3pm, 1/28 Sun at 11am, 2/2 Fri at 3pm
EMPRESSES, ANGELS AND IMPS
Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy
You"ll be amazed at the lessons learned by these fictional and real-life young women. Program is suitable for ages 9 and up. Total Running Time: 77 min.
THE ZHANG EMPRESSES (Christina Hoglund, Sweden): In this amazing documentary from Sweden, four young girls who were adopted as babies journey back to the orphanage in China where they began their lives. BIG GIRL (Renuka Jeyapalan, Canada): Josephine suggests a high-stakes competition with her mothers boyfriend. SIRAH (Christine Spindler, USA): Sirah, a Muslim girl who dresses modestly and wears a headscarf, must make a difficult decision.
JAN 27 Sat @ 5pm, 1/28 Sun @ 1pm, 1/30 Tues @ 10am, 2/2 Fri @ 1pm, 2/3 Sat @ 5pm
BLAST OFF TO ADVENTURE!
Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy
Fasten your seat belts for this collection of animated adventures: you'll go from the ocean floor to Mars, and beyond! This program is suitable for all ages, though best appreciated by those 5 and older. Total Running Time: 78 min.
THE BREEZES (Grega Mastnak, Slovenia): The Beezes are weird, wild, and positively Suessian! THE LOVE TRAIN (Eva Bennett, England): A dragon takes a journey to find love, with incendiary results. HAIRY SCARY (Jan van Rijsselberge, France): Far away, in another world, two opposite civilizations clash. DREAM DWARVES (Dace Riduze, Latvia): A tiny gnome must earn his stripes. THE INCREDIBLE SPLAT (Cleo Cobb, England): A tale of two monsters and one very big mess. MR. JONES: THE MAP (Oystein Stene, Norway): A treasure map proves very difficult to read. QUEST FOR THE MYSTIC MOOGOO FRUIT (Ila Soleimani, Iran): An astronaut spends years locked in a stuffy rocket ship in a never-ending search for forbidden space fruit. SHIPWRECKED (Frodo Kuipers, Netherlands): A castaway and a pirate vie for buried treasure. I SWEAR I SAW IT: IARA (Sergio Glenes, Brazil): A river siren shows a young boy the way to gold. CLOSED (Albert Radl, Germany): A stubborn man faces a tightly locked door. JOURNEY TO MARS (Juan Pablo Zaramella, Argentina): Antonio wants to go to Mars, and his grandpa knows the way.
JAN 27 Sat at 5pm
SNEAK PREVIEW!
OPAL DREAM
(Peter Cattaneo, Australia/UK, 2005, 35mm, 85 min.)
Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy
OPAL DREAM tells the touching and haunting story of Kellyanne Williamson, a young girl whose unshakable faith in her two imaginary friends, Pobby and Dingan, resonates through her small hometown in the Australian Outback. For the most part, Kellyanne's fantasy grates on her big brother's nerves and worries her mother to distraction. However, their father, an opal miner with his own wild dreams, insists on indulging his daughter. One day he unwittingly - or perhaps deliberately - "leaves" Pobby and Dingan in the opal mine. With her two imaginary friends now gone, Kellyanne wastes away with grief, and her brother must rally the Williamson family and the community to find his sister's missing friends. Soon, everyone discovers what Kellyanne and her father have long known: that you don't necessarily have to see in order to believe. With a moving and enchanting story and unforgettable performances by child actors Christian Byers and Sapphire Boyce, OPAL DREAMS has thrilled audiences worldwide on the international children's film festival circuit.
JAN 27 Sat at 7pm, FEB 3 Sat at 3pm
WEST COAST PREMIERE!
THE TREASURE OF THE WHITE FALCONS
(Christian Zubert, Germany, 2005, 35mm, 92 min.)
Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy
It's the summer of 1981, and 11-year-old Jan bands together with his friends to solve the puzzle of a mysterious treasure map. Investigating the dark and hidden secrets they unearth bonds the three friends forever. Facing their worst fears, their quest finds them electrifying a fishpond, almost blowing up an old weapons cache and putting their friendship, and themselves, in unimaginable danger. This thrilling film, an award-winner on the international children's film festival circuit of 2006, will have you on the edge of your seats. In German with English subtitles.
Shown with
STREET
(Frodo Kuipers, The Netherlands, 2005, 35mm, 1 min.)
A man tries to cross the street, but the traffic is not so cooperative.
JAN 28 Sun at 1pm, FEB 4 Sun at 1pm
WEST COAST PREMIERE!
AMONG THE THORNS
(Lotta & Uzi Geffenblad, Sweden, 2005, 35mm, 46 min.)
Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy
This gorgeously animated and joyously noisy film tells an unforgettable story of friendship between two misfits at a summer music camp. In Swedish with English subtitles.
Shown with
MR. VINEGAR AND THE CROSSWORD
(Peter Elbling, USA, 2006, 35mm, 8 min.)
A man plans a quiet morning doing the crossword; however, the world has other plans.
JAN 28 Sun at 5pm, FEB 2 Fri at 5pm
POINT OF DEPARTURE
Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy
Designed to challenge and inspire older kids, these animated and live-action films are sometimes funny, sometimes spooky and always intentionally provocative. Each film promises to spark discussion and debate. Dive into a great jumping off point for a lifetime of adventurous cinema going. The program is suitable for ages 9 and up, depending on the sensitivities of the child. Total Running Time: 70 min.
SPACE TRAVEL (Steven Lall, England): A spaceman on a spiritual journey seeks the answer to the ultimate question. VENT (Erik van Schaaik, The Netherlands): A man struggles against a storm and wonders what is causing so much wind. LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD (SJ Chiro, USA): The classic tale, kicked up a notch. THE LEGEND OF THE SCARECROW (Marco Besas, Spain): A scarecrow's life changes when he decides to befriend the birds. EL GRAN ZAMBINI (Igor Legarreta & Emilio Perez, Spain): A retired circus performer goes to great lengths to prove his love for his son. WOLVES IN THE WOODS (B.J. Schwartz, USA) During a game of hide-and-seek, a child finds a new playmate. CRACKS (Aage Rais-Nordentoft, Denmark): Where do kids who can't sleep go to spend the night? FREE PARKING (Laura Jean Cronin, USA): The task of picking blackberries turns into a power struggle between two sisters.
FEB 4 Sun at 5pm
Closing Awards Ceremony and Presentation of Student Films
Sponsored by KUOW, Izilla Toys, Plexipixel, Tottini, Nordic Heritage Museum and Braincandy
Experience the glamour of a world premiere and the excitement of an awards presentation! The program will feature Festival Trailer 2008 and other films created in Cinema K: Children's Film Festival Seattle workshops, the announcement of the Children's Jury awards, and a presentation of several award-winning films from the festival.