Photography courtesy of SLIFF/Kids Children’s Film Festival
Pixar's Shawn Krause, who helped create The Incredibles, will be in attendance at this year's SLIFF/Kids Children’s Film Festival.
The bambino-focused offshoot of the venerable St. Louis International Film Festival—the SLIFF/Kids Children’s Film Festival—is back for a second year. It wraps up this weekend with plenty of free programming to keep kids and their keepers entertained.
The festival includes screenings of movies made in St. Louis and abroad, guest speakers from the world of animation (both of whom happen to be native St. Louisans), and film-making camps.
Last weekend, festival goers got to know Brad Schiff, animation supervisor at LAIKA Studios, which produced Coraline and ParaNorman. This weekend, Shawn Krause of Pixar will speak on Friday, run a workshop on animation Saturday, and present The Incredibles on Sunday, with a Q&A after the screening.
Over time, SLIFF/Kids has built off the success of free children’s showcases offered at the St. Louis International Film Festival in past years. “The philosophy behind SLIFF/Kids is to bring films to their attention that they would not otherwise encounter,” says Cinema St. Louis executive director Cliff Froehlich. “It narrows the choices by having a curatorial vision—we’ve watched these films and judge them worthy.”
During the Family Shorts program at downtown's Central Library on Saturday morning, beginning at 10:30, families can see short films about a dog and flea in space (Dogonauts: Enemy Line), a bird trying to feed his family (International Father’s Day), and interplanetary package delivery (Johnny Express), and more.
Then, that evening, COCA hosts a screening of Welcome to the Space Show, a 2010 feature-length animation from Japan. Two kids who think they’re facing yet another boring summer realize they’re in for anything but, when they meet an alien botanist who takes them to a space colony full of characters that could only spring from a powerful imagination.
In My Dog the Champion, a 2013 live-action film from the United States, a citified teenager spends three unexpected months with her grandfather. The movie screens at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Central Library and again at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville, Ill.
Boy and the World, a wordless animation film from Brazil, follows a boy trying to reunite with his family. See it at 2:30 p.m.Saturday at the Central Library.
The festival's final screening, at COCA on Sunday at 7 p.m., takes a look at the world of a Swiss boy in the 19th century and his misadventures: sweeping chimneys in Milan, getting bullied, and seeking revenge. Titled The Black Brothers, the 2013 live-action feature from Germany brings to life Lisa Tetzner’s 1941 novel.
Finally, next week, two advanced film-making camps will be open to teens (ages 14 to 18) who have experience with video production or who attended past basic film-making camps. And Pixar’s Shawn Krause will host an animation workshop for kids children ages 13 to 16 on Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. (The cost is $75, which includes lunch and supplies.)
For a full schedule, including times and locations, visit Cinema St. Louis' website.
