Seattle Children's Film Festival Seattle inspires big dreams

Northwest Film Forum is getting ready to roll out the red carpet for its 2019 edition of Children's Film Festival Seattle — the largest and most respected festival of its kind west of the Mississippi.The festival will stretch out over the course of two weeks, from its opening night on January 24 to its awards ceremony on February 9, 2019, with most screenings at Northwest Film Forum, in the bustling heart of Capitol Hill. Opening night, presented in partnership with Seattle International Film Festival, will take place at the Egyptian Theatre, also on Capitol Hill.The family-friendly extravaganza celebrates the best and brightest in international cinema age-appropriate for ages 2-14+, and will include 146 films from 39 countries, spanning the globe from North to South America, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The festival includes animation and live-action shorts, features, and hands-on filmmaking workshops.

The theme of the 2019 festival is “Be the Dream.”“We want children to come to the festival not only to be entertained by funny and fantastic films, but also to discover common ground, to build empathy and become compassionate and pro-active global citizens,” said Festival director Elizabeth Shepherd. “Our message to kids is to welcome adventures, use their imaginations, and dream of the ways they can make a difference in the world.”For young viewers, the festival is full of stories of exploration and discovery, many of them to be found in the festival’s overstuffed animation section made up of 84 films. Visual storytelling in this category ranges from charming fables about animals, to tales of friendship and good times with family members, to adventures in outer space, to stories of incredible bravery shown by children who undertake difficult journeys.

“We look for films that show young people overcoming great odds, making a difference, charting their own courses,” said Shepherd. “These films are meant to encourage our audience members to think of themselves, too, as courageous agents of change.”

Though the films in the festival show the broader world, the festival itself aims to be a cozy silver-screen experience for families, with most films served up in Northwest Film Forum’s two cinemas, seating 117 and 46 people, respectively.

Shepherd says, “Everything we do at our festival is warm and intimate, and geared to creating an age-appropriate experience that will enchant and inspire kids and their families.”

OPENING WEEKEND & SPECIAL EVENTS

Festival opening night, presented in collaboration with the Seattle International Film Festival, scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, at the Egyptian Theatre, 805 E. Pine Street, will be a sing-a-long 40th anniversary screening of one of the greatest road films of all time — “The Muppet Movie.” Kids of all ages are urged to make the rainbow connection as they revisit or experience for the first time the big screen magic of the beloved 1979 classic, and sing along with Kermit, Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy and the Great Gonzo on their epic trek across America to find Hollywood stardom.

Another film gem will be revisited at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25, at Northwest Film Forum, with a live score played by Miles & Karina to “The Adventures of Prince Achmed,” the oldest extant animated feature. “Prince Achmed” was made in 1926 by 23-year-old German teacher Lotte Reiniger using the truly astounding stop-motion and silhouette animation techniques she perfected. Taken from The Arabian Nights, the film tells the story of Prince Achmed, who mounts a magical flying horse and soars into a series of wondrous adventures.
Audiences can celebrate the 10th anniversary performance of the film score by Miles & Karina, with accordion, guitar, banjo, viola, glockenspiel and percussion, which premiered at Children’s Film Festival Seattle a decade ago and has now traveled the world!

Hands-on workshops for kids will roll out on January 26, 27, and February 2, with workshops in 360 filmmaking and animation taught by Northwest Film Forum education manager and lead youth teacher, Jonah Kozlowski, and visiting Russian animator, Tatiana Skorlupkina, who also created this year’s festival trailer. In addition to these workshops, free interactive, drop-in activities will transform Northwest Film Forum’s lobby, throughout the festival, into a fabulous world where children can create animation inspired by Lotte Rieniger’s techniques created for “The Adventures of Prince Achmed.”

For complete information about educational activities, visit the “classes” section of www.childrensfilmfestivalseattle.org.

The second Saturday morning of the festival will mark another longtime tradition: an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption, at 1804 13th Avenue. After the breakfast, at 10:30 and 11 a.m., there will be showings of “Seize the Day,” an uplifting, all-ages program of animated shorts, at Northwest Film Forum.

FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
Festival highlights in 2019 will include several recent and award-winning feature films about powerful girls. “One Girl," a UK documentary feature that explores a day in the lives of four different girls in South Sudan, Romania, Palestine, Finland, will have its North American premiere at the festival. The West Coast premiere of Priya Ramasubban’s “Chuskit” (India) tells the story of a feisty paraplegic girl who must rebel against the traditions of her family members and other elders in her remote Himalayan village in order to fulfill her dream of going to school. The Seattle premiere of “Liyana,” from Swaziland, by Aaron and Amanda Kopp, is a hybrid feature film that is both a live-action documentary about a group of orphans in the African kingdom, as well as a thrilling animated adventure film about the fable they create. The children’s story tells the story of a brave girl, who like them, must overcome daunting setbacks in her life.

The festival will also include a return engagement of “Supa Modo,” a feature film from Kenya by the young director, Likarion Wainaina, that was an audience favorite at this year’s Seattle International Film Festival. This incredible film — Kenya’s official pick for consideration for the Best Foreign Film race — tells the story of a young girl who is obsessed with superheroes and dreams of becoming one as she faces a terminal illness. Another film in the festival, “Breath,” from Iran, was also the country’s pick for Best Foreign Film consideration, marking the first time Iran has chosen a film by a female director (Narges Abyar) for the honor. This film is a sweeping story about the life of a small girl growing up and living in wartime Iran. Finally, “Kayak to Klemtu,” a Canadian feature about an Indigenous teenaged girl environmental activist, by female director Zoe Leigh Hopkins, will be shown in collaboration with Longhouse Media as part of CFFS’s long-running “Indigenous Showcase” series.

Other live-actions features will include the North American premiere of “Mr. Moll and the Chocolate Factory" (Switzerland), the US premiere of “My Giraffe,” (the Netherlands) and the West Coast premiere of "Wendy: Best Friends Forever" (Germany).

Animated features will be "Chieri and Cherry" (Japan), a North American premiere, "Gordon & Paddy" (Sweden), a US premiere, and "Tito and the Birds" (Brazil), a Washington State Premiere.

Also notable will be a slew of 17 amazing programs of short animated and live action films, with thematic content telegraphed in the program titles, including “Borders, Boundaries and Home,” “No Bullies Allowed,” “Made in My Image,” “Unstoppable,” “Force for Nature,” and “Seize the Day.”

One program, “Para Picar: Historias Cortas en Español,” will feature an exclusive menu of Spanish-language shorts for ages 8+ from Chile, Columbia, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, and the USA. Japanese animation will also be celebrated in the short film program, “Focus on Japan! Films from the KINEKO International Children’s Film Festival,” presented in collaboration with this well-known Tokyo festival.

VIP guests at the festival, including filmmakers, producers, educators and actors, will soon be announced.

As in previous years, kids will also be decision-makers and VIPS at the festival — this year’s Children’s Jury, made up of 30 Seattle-area youth ages 8 to 17, will be led once again by a group of several teenaged jury graduates. And every audience member will also have an opportunity to vote for the festival’s coveted audience awards given in several categories.

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