Looking Back on the 2024 San Diego International Kids’ Film Festival

Another Summer in SoCal has passed us by, and with that, another edition of the San Diego International Kids’ Film Festival successfully concludes. The 3-day event consisted of screenings, Q&A’s, panels, galas, and live shows!

Things started off hot this year! With Los Angeles Barea’s Green SuperHeroes 2030 which took home the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature! Born and raised in Mallorca, Spain, Barea grew up loving film and with her passion, created her own production company, SinAmor Films. We were lucky enough to be graced with her presence, where she explained her experience during pre-production, filming, and post-production.

Things didn’t cool down as Writer and Director, Marlo McKenzie made an appearance at a screening of her feature film, My Secret Country, which took home the award for Best Documentary Feature. And later in the night, there were two live screenplay performance! Precious the Baby Drago directed by Jennifer Guttiere, and Thank you, Sir, by Jeff Gendelman and directed by Deb Zimmer.

Sunday put animation at the forefront, and this year we were lucky to receive so many beautifully animated pieces. The winner of the best animated experimental short was a film titled Om Nom Nom…, by Japanese filmmaker, Tomoko Taiga. Taiga is from Japan but is currently touring children’s film festivals in the US since she believes that art is one of the best forms for adolescents to learn from. From our own backyard in LA, Stephan Tako, also reveals his passion for educational children’s media, through his award-winning TV episode titled, Junga the Dancing Yeti in Yeti, Set, Go!

Throughout the event, there were plenty of opportunities to talk to and learn from professional filmmakers on our variety of panels. This year, the panel that highlights working with Asian filmmakers was our most attended. Leading the conversation, we had Asian industry professionals, including actress, Proud Sang-ou-thai, whose film was screened at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival; ETA, a first-gen Vietnamese filmmaker; Ana Tuazon Parsons, a comedic filmmaker/performer; Gary Nguyen, a Vietnamese American Actor and Jiaxing Yang, Director and host. Each panel brought great insight into the mysteries of the entertainment industry and brought each attendee closer to achieving their passion project.

We were honored to host special guest Cottalango Leon at our VFX/Animation Panel. Leon is an engineer at Sony Pictures Imageworks, where he is responsible for the development of animation tools. In 2016, he received an Academy Award for scientific and technical achievement for is work on Sony's itView technology. He provided guests with an fascinating look at the inner workings of visual effects in post-production.

To wrap up the festivities, the ending ceremony saw a beautiful mix of performances by the Guoyun Guzheng Workshop, which brings Chinese national music to Western audiences, as well as the Tiger Cubs Dance Club, who promote the teaching of Chinese dance to the youth. Their performances wowed the audience and prepared them for the 29 award winners, who were announced during the show!

Being able to host a 3-day event that has the power to bring together film lovers from all around the globe is so special, and something we - here at the SDIKFF - don’t take for granted. The San Diego International Kids’ Film Festival wouldn’t be able to happen without the gifted filmmakers sharing their talent, hard work, and passion with us. Thank you to everyone who attended and submitted to the 2024 SDIKFF! Can’t wait to see the projects you’ll have in store for us next year!