NYICFF Report

Times are pretty busy right now so this year it looks like I'll only be able to make one screening of the New York International Children's Film Festival, and that was Saturday with Loretta when we saw the Shorts for Tots program. The venue was at Symphony Space on the Upper West Side, and we got off the A train early enough that we were able to explore a bit of Central Park first and enjoy the--final--arrival of spring. When we walked over to Broadway the line stretched down a block and around a corner, besides the line for those who still needed to purchase tickets. The wait outside wasn't egregious, particularly given the weather, but once we got in things did take a little while longer than expected as we started the screening about twenty minutes late. It was obviously a good turn-out, with at least half the attendees coming for the first time, but one wishes the entrance process could have started earlier so that we could have dimmed the lights closer to the actual time.

But that's about the worst thing I have to say about it. The program of twelve shorts was great. There was an audience ballot handed out and Loretta said she loved three films and really liked each of the others. Here's a shot from one of her favorites--and possibly mine as well--Spot and Splodge by Lotta Geffenblad in Sweden. 

It was claymation, of course, with wonderful snow effects throughout the whole piece, and it reminded me of a cross between Miffy, with the single narrator, and Pingu, for the frosty setting and the slight mischief entered into by the protagonists. The eight-minute plot revolved around two friends who see it's snowing outside, go out and have fun, get caught in a bit of a blizzard, and then make their way back home again. Loretta liked the snow rabbit that they build, and the fact that because of the cold Spot becomes a bit Splodgey and Splodge becomes a bit Spotty. In fact, she started quoting the closing narration today as we were walking home from church, quite accurately I should add. The narrative worked completely well as a stand along film, but it had such quality and such potential for additional stories with these characters that it's the type of thing you hope the filmmakers are trying to adapt to television. I would love to see Spot and Splodge on the preschool television line-up in two years. 

So that was a highlight, and if I had to single out one more I would certainly mention Laban the Little Ghost by Lasse Persson, again in Sweden. This was a traditional 2D animation, running five minutes, and again it would and should absolutely translate into a serial format. Poor little Laban lives in a haunted castle but just can't seem to spook anybody, not the Queen, not the King, not his best friend the Prince, not even the sleeping little guard dog. The narrative is extremely tight and has a wonderful conclusion. It's hard to make a story about a haunted castle and not scare the two- and three-year-olds, but from what I could tell Persson succeeded completely. The film made being spooky fun (and uplifting), and that's a tough brief to fill, especially within five minutes. Well done, then.

There were no losers among the films, although I must simply admit that I've never been a great fan of the book The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, which was here adapted to film by Scholastic/Weston Woods. (I don't know why I don't really care for it--I think it's good enough, and Scholastic, that is director Konstantin Bronzit, did a wonderful job in the adaptation.) Below we have a pic from another Swedish film--they're on a roll--Aston's Stones, which was particularly appropriate since we had just selected a nice round rock from Central Park to bring home. At the top of this post is a pic from the closing film, Hedgehug, by Dan Pinto. The premise was simple enough--who wants to hug a prickly hedgehog?--and it was a good way to close the screenings. I was impressed by this film, the fantastically wonderful opening film The Bridge on the River Zzzeee, and two or three others (The New Species, Horsie) that essentially excluded dialogue. It's great to thus harken back to cinema's linguistically universal roots, especially for an audience that is just developing their own linguistic abilities, and the kids were able to follow all the stories with no trouble. In fact, the chorus of pint-sized benshi scattered throughout the auditorium made these films particularly enjoyable, as kids brazenly talked their way through these texts and the grown ups for once did not feel obligated to silence them. We all benefitted from that, I suspect.

The festival still has a lot more going on the next couple weekends, for everyone from five- to eighteen-year-olds. Congratulations to all the featured filmmakers and thanks (and congratulations) to the organizers on a job well done.