Tag: china

Opening Night: The Cat’s Meow (Ages 6+ Short Film Program)

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27
7PM Film Program
5:30PM Happy Hour

SATURDAY, MARCH 7 – 11AM

Ages 6–8, and cat lovers of all ages

** Presented in partnership with NEKO Cat Cafe **

This feline-focused (and allergy-free!) animation program is filled with cuddly cats and their adorable antics. Kitties truly make the world go ‘round in this celebration of glorious stop-motion, painted, hand-drawn and CG animation from ten cat-loving countries.

67 min.

Content advisory: “The Quintet of the Sunset,” a stop-motion film made with great humor and skill, tackles the subject of mortality in a tenderhearted way.

** Filmmaker María Teresa Salcedo Montero in attendance (Wild Lea)! Her presence is made possible by Proimagenes Colombia and Universidad Manuela Beltrán.**

5:30 Happy Hour:

Kids and families are invited to mingle and munch in the lobby leading up to the screening; we’ll be crafting our own cat puppets to play with and snacking on treats from our neighbors at Rhein Haus Restaurant.

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Lift-off (Ages 9+ Short Film Program)

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Saturday, March 7 – 11:30am
On-Site at Northwest Film Forum
(1515 12th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122)

Sunday, March 8 – 1:00pm
Off-Site at Rainier Arts Center
(3515 S Alaska St., Seattle, WA 98118)

NOTE: For the March 8th screening of Lift-Off, audiences can purchase tickets for the SCREENING *ONLY*, or join us at 11:30am for BOTH THE BREAKFAST SMORGASBOARD AND SCREENING.

Ages 9+

These stories of adventure will take you to outer space and back, with films showing what it is like to be out on your own, in a world of wild adventure and imagination, making decisions and, ultimately, finding your way back home again.

78 min.

** On Sunday, March 8, join Children’s Film Festival Seattle off-site at Rainier Arts Center (3515 S. Alaska St.) for a full day of colorful Closing Day festivities! **

Celebrating the festival’s globally-minded programs in one of Seattle’s most diverse neighborhoods, the morning will kick off with your choice of “Om Nom Nom” or “Lift-off” – two programs that combine breakfast and a film screening – and then continue throughout the day with films for all ages, intergenerational hands-on workshops, and an awards ceremony!

Finally, the entire festival closes out with a live performance by youth from the School of Spectrum Dance Theater, who will choreograph a routine exclusively in response to the evening’s feature film, Moving Stories! Moving Stories follows youth from around the world to showcase the transformative power and universal language of dance.


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Icing on the Cake (Ages 2+ Short Film Program)

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Saturday, February 29 – 11:00
On-Site at Northwest Film Forum
(1515 12th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122)

Sunday, March 8 – 3:00pm
Off-Site at Rainier Arts Center
(3515 S Alaska St., Seattle, WA 98118)

Ages 2+

These gentle, colorful animated films — filled with curious animals and adventurous kids — are all about singing, growing up, flying high and celebrating the magic of life, in all its lovely rainbow colors.

74 min.

** On Sunday, March 8, join Children’s Film Festival Seattle off-site at Rainier Arts Center (3515 S. Alaska St.) for a full day of colorful Closing Day festivities! **

** The March 8th screening will be sliding scale: $5-$15. Those who can afford to pay at higher price point are encouraged to do so, to create more accessibility for those who might not. **

Celebrating the festival’s globally-minded programs in one of Seattle’s most diverse neighborhoods, the morning will kick off with your choice of “Om Nom Nom” or “Lift-off” – two programs that combine breakfast and a film screening – and then continue throughout the day with films for all ages, intergenerational hands-on workshops, and an awards ceremony!

Finally, the entire festival closes out with a live performance by youth from the School of Spectrum Dance Theater, who will choreograph a routine exclusively in response to the evening’s feature film, Moving Stories! Moving Stories follows youth from around the world to showcase the transformative power and universal language of dance.


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Ready to Roll: Future Filmmakers Showcase (Shorts Program)

Sunday, January 27 – 7:00pm

Ages 8+

Celebrate how youth, teen and young adult filmmakers in Seattle and around the world are honing their craft, expressing their creativity and dreaming the future! This program features joyous animation, narrative flights of fancy, thoughtful documentaries about important issues, and the award winner of the CFFS Plural+ Prize, given in partnership with PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival, a joint initiative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and the International Organization for Migration.

71 min.

** Youth filmmakers in attendance and video greetings from Lebanese filmmaker Nour El Hoda Wahid! **

 

 

Short Films in this Program:

Cross Worlds

 

(Nour El Hoda Wahid, Lebanon &US, live action, 2018, 3 min, Arabic and English, with English subtitles)

A conversation about the experiences of a 23-year-old refugee girl from South Sudan and a 14-year-old refugee girl from Syria.
PLURAL+2018 Children’s Film Festival Seattle Award!

Heaven’s Tears

 
 

(Phoenix Maimiti Valentine, US, animated, 2017, 2 min, nonverbal) North American Premiere!

Join Wai, a happy little water droplet, on this odyssey of the water cycle that takes place in Hawai’i, past the farming fields of lo’i kalo to the moist clouds of the sky!

Inside Out and Back Again

 
 

(Aika Ishizuki, Vivienne Sackville, Jaydyn Nicholson, and Henry Bohon, with Abigail Levin, US, animated, 2018, 4 min, English)

Based on the novel Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai, this film retells the story of Ha, a 12 year old girl whose family flees Vietnam after the fall of Saigon and settles in Alabama. Created by 4th and 5th graders from Cedar Park Elementary in honor of Seattle Public Library’s Global Reading Challenge.

Weird Twins

 

(Thalia-Louise Philpott, US, live action, 2018, 6 min, English) World premiere! 

A principal’s worst nightmare comes true when a pair of trouble-making twins start terrorizing the school.

Don’t Let the Bedbugs Bite

 
 

(Rio & Rome Roulhac, US, live action, 2018, 6 min, English) World premiere!

One night, a young girl and her sister watch a scary movie that their dad picks out for them. Once in bed, her imagination takes over and their sleepover is invaded by creepy critters!

The Monster Under the Bed

 

(Zack Hansen, US, live action, 2018, 3 min, English) World premiere!

Two brothers attempt to help their sister with the monster under the bed.

The King of the Birds

 
 

(Chen Liuyi, China, animation, 2018, 5 min, English) World premiere!

Painted animation tells the story of Phoenix and Gulasity, two characters from traditional Chinese folklore. Gulasity is a hungry monster who never loses his appetite for the birds of the forest. But Phoenix, the king of the birds, leads his subjects to reclaim the forest.

How to Make a Hotdog

 
 

(Yang Siqi, China, animation, 2018, 2 min, English) World premiere!

A poor little hot dog tries to escape from a hungry piece of bread!

What Matters

 
 

(Schugar, Stict, Hafner and Dodds, US, Live Action, 2018, 2 min, English)

A group of youth discuss what really matters and reveal their ways of finding happiness in the world.

The Last Purple Tree

 
 

(Wright, Blossom, Hoover and Jensen, US, Live Action and Stop-Motion, 2018, 3 min, English)

The last purple tree communicates its purpose in our ecosystem to a group of youth and one axe wielding corporate representative.

Where Are We

 
 

(NWFF Camp Film, US, live action & animation, 2018, 3 min, English) World premiere!

In this handmade, animated adventure, a series of fantastical events begins with the purchase of a jar of pickles!

Citizen Minutes: A Conversation about Anxiety

 
 

(Mason Ross, Vanatcha Comesongri & Elle Vonada, US, live action, 2018, 4 min, English) World premiere!

Young people open up about their personal experiences of anxiety in this film made in a Northwest Film Forum summer filmmaking camp.

Spider-Man’s Christmas

 
 

(Kamilah Fleming, US, animation, 2018, 3 min, English) World premiere!

In this excerpt from a longer stop-motion animation, Spider-Man helps guide his Super-Hero friends through holiday traditions in order for them to understand the true meaning of Christmas.

Gates Motel

 
 

(Ainsley Cowan, Dylan Magdziarz & Patrick “Chuck” Borden, US, live action, 2018, 2 min, English) World premiere!

In this short film inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film Psycho, a young woman checks into the Gates Motel for the night but finds that she’s sharing her room with some uninvited guests.

My Life

 
 

(Emma Vanderburg, US, live action, 2018, 10 min, English) World premiere!

When a young man gets lost in the woods, he is rescued by a girl who lives alone, far from the village and other people.

Mr. Orange and Baby Snot

 
 

(Kana Hutchens, US, animated, 2017, 1 min, English) World Premiere!

Mr. Orange lives a lonely life but finds companionship one day in the strangest place.

Sweet Childhood

 
 

(Yi-Jia Lee, Bao-Ying Huang & Ying-Hsuan Lai, Taiwan, live action, 2018, 7 min, Mandarin with English subtitles) US premiere!

Yi-Jia’s grandfather has been a beekeeper for 40 years. Having been around bees since he was young, Yi-Jia knows bees well and is not scared of them. Now he is letting two classmates experience the joy and hard work involved in beekeeping.

Dragons of Maritten

 
 

(Yun-Chia Chang,Taiwan, animated, 2018, 10 min, Mandarin with English subtitles) US premiere!

Cambo is a brave and kind hunter. He sets out on a journey to search for the vanishing Dragons of Maritten to obtain a dragon core that will cure his brother’s illness. When Cambo is badly injured in his adventure, it is the legendary dragon that rescues him. Cambo now has a dilemma: How does he cure his brother without harming the dragons?

Content advisory: In Dragons of Maritten, in translation of a Chinese idiom, the subtitles contain a mild profanity (the phrase “piss off”) which is repeated on multiple occasions. In Mandarin, the phrase actually translates to “anger to death.”

 

 

Don’t want to miss a single thing? Can’t blame you! Consider a Festival Pass —

Adventure Straight Ahead (Shorts Program)

Sunday, January 27 – 11:30am
Sunday, February 3 – 11:30am

Ages 9+

Hold on tight during this program of animated and live-action adventure films that will take you to outer space and back. Meet a plant that must be saved, a pizza delivery girl who is jolted out of the boredom with her job, an astronaut adrift on a faraway planet, kids who patch up monsters, and a mother who will do anything to please her son on her birthday — even if she hates the present he has requested!

57 min.

Content advisory: In Earthy Encounters, kids give the middle finger to the film’s villains. The Good Mother is a humorous film about a Mexican family with strong negative opinions about the current US President.

 

Short Films in this Program:

Early Summer Impression

(Wang Chuhe, China, animation, 2018, 2 min, English) World premiere!

A young woman journeys to find a Rembrandt exhibition she is desperate to see. Can she find her way?

Post No Bills

(Robin Hays & Andy Poon, Canada, animation, 2017, 5 min, English)

Noodle Boy must face his fears in order to rescue Miss Fortune from the city’s clean up crew.

Trailer >

Galaxy Girl

(Richard Grover, US, animation, 2017, 4 min, nonverbal) Made in Seattle!

A pizza delivery girl is stuck in a dead-end job, but one day, she runs into a customer that will change her fate forever.

Trailer >

Jelly Fish

(Marcin Gizycki, US & Poland, live action, 2018, 6 min, English) World premiere!

A school trip turns wild when a giant cephalopod takes an unexpected star turn!

Burn Out

(Cécile Carre, France, animation, 2017, 4 min, English) Seattle premiere!

Stella, a space mechanician, is stranded on a deserted planet, but a little girl appears out of nowhere to show her the way to her next adventure.

Doctor of Monster

(Gustavo Teixeira, Brazil, live action, 2017, 11 min, Portuguese with English subtitles) Washington premiere!

A boy who has already chosen his future profession, will now have to face his fears to become a doctor of monsters.

Trailer >

Earthy Encounters

(Sam Johnson, UK, live-action, 2017, 25 minutes, English) Seattle premiere!

A teenager believes he can save his sick older brother with a plant he’s found at the back of a garden center, but a shadowy agency is out to destroy it first.

Trailer >

The Good Mother

(Sarah Clift, Mexico & UK, live action, 2016, 6 min, Spanish with English subtitles)

A Mexican mother embarks upon an epic, cross-country journey and gets her political beliefs thoroughly tested when her son requests a Donald Trump piñata for his birthday.

Trailer >

Don’t want to miss a single thing? Can’t blame you! Consider a Festival Pass —