Children's Festival of International Films Opens Saturday at Cine

Children--and grown-ups as well--have a chance this weekend to see something other than movies that have a brand, an action figure and a television spinoff with even more merchandise.

The Athens International Children's Film Festival brings short, mostly animated, films from 15 countires to on Saturday and Sunday. Argentina, Estonia, Germany, Russia, Mexico--they're among those represented.

And they are grouped into sets that are age appropriate. On Saturday afternoon at 1:30, there is 71 minutes of movies for children age 5 and older; at 3:15, there's another program for children 11 and older.

The festival operates with the Athens Area Arts Council as a non-profit and lives on grants and donations. The whole shebang costs $8,000 to $10,000, said education specialist Leo Cotlar, the festival's organizer.

"The idea is to expose kids to different kinds of films, different cultures, different aesthetics," he said.

Tickets are $6 for children and adults. There's also a second show of the 5-and-older set of movies on Sunday at 3:15pm.