Sydney Film Festival 2017 / Family Films

image: My Life as a Zucchini The 64rd Sydney Film Festival (7-18 June) announces six family-friendly films will screen at the Festival in daytime sessions over the weekend. Even better news - Tickets for under 18s are just $13. If you have older teens in your household, a new Youth Pass will also introduce cheaper tickets to film lovers aged 18-24. Festival films will now cost young people just $72 for a bundle of six-tickets. Follow our Sydney Film Festival coverage here for younger films and also over at Film in Revolt for coverage from 12 - 18 year olds.   MY ENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL SINKING INTO THE SEA (Ages 12 or 13+) Director: Dash Shaw | USA | 2016 | 76mins | In English Cult comic artist Dash Shaw directs a kooky end-of-the-world disaster movie for Gen Z featuring a host of indie stars and a colourful blend of animation, painting and collage. Misanthropic high school journalist Dash discovers that his dysfunctional school is built on a fault line. When an earthquake sends the building floating out to sea, where it begins to inevitably sink, Dash tries to lead his fellow students to safety. It’s a snarky and oddball disaster movie that’s part Titanic and part Ghost World. Featuring the voices of indie heroes Jason Schwartzman, Lena Dunham, John Cameron Mitchell, Reggie Watts and Maya Rudolph, plus Susan Sarandon as Lunch Lady Lorraine, Shaw brings his singular and hilarious POV to teenage angst and activism. With its vibrant handmade and digital animation techniques, My Entire High School… won over audiences at the Toronto and Berlin film festivals. MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI (Ages 10+) Director: Claude Barras | Switzerland, France | 2016 | 88 mins | The Festival will screen the English version, plus the French version with English subtitles An Oscar-nominated Swiss-French stop-motion family animation that’s realistic and life affirming, dealing with real issues in a way that doesn’t patronise or traumatise its audience. When nine-year old Zucchini’s alcoholic mother dies, he is taken to an orphanage filled with misfits who, like himself, have been dealt a rough hand by life. Little does he know, they will soon become his de facto family, from his crush Camille to the gentle father-figure policeman Raymond. Based on a best-selling young adult novel and adapted for the screen by Céline Sciamma (Tomboy, SFF 2011), My Life as a Zucchini is an unusual, affirming but honest film that calls on its young audience's ability to empathise with lives far tougher than their own. They’ll come out heartened, strengthened and more resilient from the experience – and so will the adults who take them. PHANTOM BOY (Ages 7+) Director: Alain Gagnol, Jean-Loup Felicioli | France, Belgium | 2016| In English From the French team behind the Oscar-nominated A Cat in Paris comes this beautifully animated supernatural crime-fighting adventure, set on the streets of New York. 11-year-old Leo is ill and can’t leave the hospital – but he can leave his body and fly around New York. One night, on one of his excursions, Leo comes across a mobster plotting a crime. The dastardly criminal is called The Man With the Broken Face: he wears a mask resembling a Picasso painting and is followed around by Rufus, his sidekick pup. To use his supernatural powers and become a super hero, Leo must team up with wheelchair-bound detective Alex and fearless journalist Mary to fight the super criminal threatening the city. With distinctive and vibrant animation, Leo’s is a mission of empowerment as he fights the good fight, as well as his own tougher health battles. RIP TIDE  (Ages 11+) Director: Rhiannon Bannenberg |Australia|2017|85 mins| English Disney star Debby Ryan makes her Australian film debut in this perfectly-pitched tween feature about surfing, romance and deciding what to do with your life. There comes a point in everyone’s life when you have to make a decision about the direction you’re going to take. For newly-18 American fashion model Cora (musician and Disney star Debby Ryan, Jessie, 16 Wishes), that time is now. She’s moved to a Australian coastal town to be with her favourite aunt, after a ‘fashion faux pas’ back home. At first she feels isolated, but soon romance and new friendships start to bloom, and Cora must decide between returning to the modelling career driven by her ambitious mother, or staying with the community that has welcomed her in. A great Aussie cast excels in this local feature by talented director Rhiannon Bannenberg, with surf scenes shot on the Illawarra coast. THE SUN AT MIDNIGHT  (Ages 12+) Director: Kirsten Carthew | Canada | 2016| 93 mins | English | Australian Premiere An urban teen encounters a mystical hunter in this charming debut feature shot in Canada’s magnificient, remote Northwest Territory. For teenager Lia (rising star Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs), the only way to truly find herself is to get lost. Lia's father sends the sullen teen to visit her grandmother in a pocket-sized First Nations community in sub-Arctic Canada. With her pink hair, faux fur coat and a dusting of attitude, Lia is immediately a fish out of water. She runs away, stealing a canoe to try and paddle back to the city, but gets lost in the wilds of her ancestral country. A chance meeting with an older hunter, Alfred (played by Duane Howard, The Revenant) leads to an unusual mentorship. Alfred is obsessed with finding a lost herd of caribou, and Lia joins him on a semi-spiritual journey to find the missing herd – and also herself. KIDS ANIMATION SHOWCASE Short animated gems from all over the world, selected for SFF by Guest Programmer Malcolm Turner.  Art, fairytales and folkstories. Felt pens, cotton wool, computers and crayons. Funny, happy, sad, thoughtful and thought-provoking. Creative, silly, serious, strange and curious! The best animation for younger audiences. The full Sydney Film Festival program will be announced on Wednesday 10 May at 11am. More details on films mentioned and ticket sales visit www.sff.org.au

The Red Turtle | Sydney Film Festival

a movie review by Taite (age 11)

The Red Turtle is a movie about a man that gets shipwrecked on an island, he tries to escape by building rafts but something keeps destroying it. He finds out that it was a red turtle which came on land to lay eggs the man gets angry and hits and turns over the turtle to slowly die as it can’t get to water. The red turtle dies but then reappears as a woman. He falls in love with her. They have a child and the film follows these characters till the man’s death. He remains on the island with no further desire to leave- yet his own child eventually leaves with three other turtles to see the world.

This movie shows struggles, difficulties, happy moments, ups and downs and many more emotions. Although there is no talking in this movie the pictures still give a magnificent understanding of the characters and their emotions, so little can still be enough.

The design wasn’t like an anime even thought it was made by an animation company that made another well-known anime film Totoro (Studio Ghibli). The imagery was focused on nature, while telling the story. There are very few close up shots.

This movie was sad as when the tsunami hit they experienced difficulty and a sad moment of their home land being lost and got severe injuries. At one moment I thought the father was going to die.

I think this movie is recommended for people from 9+ and for people that have patience. Some people around me thought it moved too slowly,but I was happy with the pace. This is a dramatic poetic arthouse film with a bit of romance for all ages over 9.

My rating is 4.5 out of  5

SING STREET | Sydney Film Festival

a movie review by Salvador (12)

Sing Street is a marvellous movie about a boy, Cosmo (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo)

and his life and family in Dublin, Ireland. His family are having problems, which means a new life and new school for him where he makes enemies and friends.  

He also meets an interesting and mysterious girl, Raphina (Lucy Boynton)

hanging outside his school. He tells her he is in a band to impress and get to know her.  But the trouble is he doesn't have a band so he teams up with his new friend Darren (Ben Carolan) to get a band together so they can make a music clip and get Raphina to be in it.

My dad is from Dublin and was the same age as the main character (15) at the time of the movie date (1985) so he remembered a lot of things from the movie, the songs, the clothes and the places they filmed in.

I thought it was one of the best movies of the year.  The movie had brilliant songs and hilarious jokes.  If I had to rate it out of 10 I would give it 9/10 because it was that good.

After the movie two of the actors Ferdia Walsh-Peelo and Mark McKenna

were there to talk about the movie and answer the audiences questions.  The main actor liked the Beatles when he was growing up and Mark McKenna who plays Eamon does not like rabbits in real life (you will understand when you watch the movie).

I would recommend it to everyone that likes good songs and who has a sense of humour.

Editors note for parents: 

Sing Street is rated: M. There are some scenes with bullying, which may be upsetting to younger viewers. Themes within the movie include bullying, divorce and abuse. IMDB provides a parents guide.

A film guide is also available here https://www.intofilm.org/resources/363

The Cinema Travellers - interview with Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya

Mischa (14) and Salvador (12) interviewed the directors of The Cinema Travellers screening at the Sydney Film Festival, Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya. The Cinema Travellers is an enchanting documentary that follows the travelling cinemas in India. This visual feast will open the world up to your family.

What was you favourite movie when you were a kid?

Shirley: I was forbidden to watch movies. They were the handiwork of the devil. Every Saturday night, there was a movie on TV but the children were bundled into bed for the Sunday church. Else we would be on the wrong side of angels on Judgement Day. One Saturday, I sneaked out of bed to watch the night movie. It was called The Angel. It showed me the benign side of the angels that the Bible had warned me against. I loved it!  

What do you like about filming?

Amit: It is a gift, to encounter moments in real life that you could not have imagined or written. 

Why did you want to make this documentary?

Cinema is a most profound form of human expression and we encountered it in its most distilled form here, in lives of showmen who run the travelling cinemas of India. 

What do you miss from your time travelling with the travelling cinema?

The sheer wonder of that world. 

Amit, your photos are beautiful. What type camera did you use for the photographs in the film?

Canon 5D Mark II

What countries have screened (or going to) your documentary?

We premiered at Cannes and recently had our Australian premiere at Sydney Film Festival. We're premiering in north American in the fall and have invitations from many countries around the world that we are considering. 

Do you make any friends when you were filming and are you still contact with them?

Yes! We remain friends with our travelling cinemas showmen and their lives and stories continue to inspire us. We have also made friends with people who have featured in our films before and are in contact with them. 

The Cinema Travellers

Friday Finds

image from The Cinema Travellers

Finding Dory at IMAX 3D - SUNDAY FUNDAY

This weekend - MCA Zine fair

Cinema Travellers at Sydney Film Festival

We are headed to Melbourne for a few days in July --- just found a 24 hour ramen restaurant in my research. Ramen for breakfast please!

We will also be in Brisbane for the Cindy Sherman exhibition... but we will be missing out on the Teen Exclusive Backstage pass on the 24th June (for 13 - 18 year olds)

Centre of Photography School Holiday photography courses

White Rabbit Gallery is on my list - the teahouse has my daughters name written all over it

The Red Turtle | Sydney Film Festival 2016

Announced this morning the Sydney Film Festival have added nine films that have come direct from Cannes.  The Red Turtle, a dialogue free animation from Studio Ghibli with London-based artist Michael Dudok de Wit is amongst the latest additions to the festival program.

A shipwrecked sailor washes ashore and explores his new home. He finds a sandy beach fringed by palm trees, a swaying bamboo forest, limpid freshwater pools and a rocky incline. It’s an earthly paradise that our lanky castaway is desperate to leave, but his escape plans are mysteriously thwarted. It’s a simple story, akin to fairy tales or myths, illustrated in exquisite line and colour, with spectacular dream sequences.

Tickets go on sale from 10am this morning.
Screening:
Friday 17 June 6.30pm
Saturday 18 June 5.30pm

2016 Sydney Film Festival | Families, kids and teens

Due to Australian classification rule changes for the first time films screened at the 2016 Sydney Film Festival will be accessible to youth with just over half the program of feature films rated 15+.

Within the family program six feature length films (animation and live action) will be screened aimed at younger audiences. The animation showcase will screen 12 short animations from around the world and is a fun option for little kids with short attention spans and if you want to catch films that may not screen here after the festival. For the tweens in your family Coconut Hero (14+), Girl Asleep (10+)  and Miss Impossible (13+) are intelligent and thought-provoking additions to the family program (which has been lacking in previous years).

As our household is full of teens we will also be spreading our wings into the broader program. As a family we will be attending Sing Street (M) set in 80s Dublin with Ferdia Walsh-Peelo and Mark McKenna attending as festival guests. You will find us at the Art Gallery of NSW cinema for the screening of Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy (rated PG) - a dark comedy starring Robert De Niro. I am looking forward to my daughter being my date for Mustang, the Oscar-nominated film from Deniz Gamxe Erguven (does anything beat sharing a film about female empowerment with your teen daughter?).  My eldest son will be joining his other music loving friends at Jim Jarmusch's tribute to Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Gimme Danger (15+) amongst other films.

The Festival Hub is a great place to hang out between films and one of the highlights this year is Down the Rabbit Hole - Virtual Reality at the Hub giving you access to the exciting world of immersive cinema (all VR sessions are free).

Pick up a program or go online and spend time with your family deciding what films you will discover at this year's festival.

Sydney Film Festival
Various venues
8 - 19 June 2016

The return of the family program at Sydney Film Festival

With the disappearance of the family program from the Sydney Film Festival in previous years, I was delighted to see its reappearance in 2015. Families had the opportunity to experience a selection of international films, Australian documentaries and animation screenings.

There was a gap for young adults (14- 17 years) but younger audiences were definitely catered for this year.

Wide Open Sky

'This isn’t X-factor, this is Moorambilla' – Michelle Leonard

Lisa Nicol first heard about Michelle Leonard’s story from another mother at her child’s school.  Perusing the story led to the documentary Wide Open Sky that follows the  Moorambilla Voices regional choir concert from the audition process, and everything else in between led by the charismatic Artistic Director Michelle Leonard. The choir consists of kids from rural NSW that don’t normally have access to music education opportunities.

Lisa allows enough screen time for the audience to get to know the kids and the team behind the choir.

The screening we attended was a full house of a young and young at heart audience.

Wide Open Sky is a beautiful and inspiring Australian story.

Gayby Baby

The documentary shares the lives of four same-sex families through the eyes of the children (aged 10 – 12).

Gus is obsessed about wrestling, Ebony prepares for her audition for a performing arts school, Matt questions religion and Graham struggles with learning how to read.

Gayby Baby is an important and timely documentary for your kids to see to show that families are built on love rather than convention.

‘I don’t think it actually makes me that unique; it’s just different for every person growing up.   The people who raise you and make you who you are today are your family.' - Ebony

Songs of the Sea

Animated family films are getting churned out one after another – every school holidays another batch of kids films are released leading to them all starting to look like the same film.

The enchanting Songs of the Sea offers more depth and beauty to children’s animation avoiding the cookie cutter formulation.   A follow-up to The Secret of the Kells (screened within 2009 Sydney Film Festival family program) director Tom Moore has returned with an enchanting story based on the ancient Celtic myth of the Selkies told through hand-drawn imagery.

The story centers around Saoirse and Ben, two siblings who live with their father, a lighthouse keeper. Magical secrets about their mother are discovered as Saoirse and Ben find their way back home.

The Crow’s Egg also screened at the festival. It will be rescreening with the Travelling Film Festival – Newcastle 

Sydney Film Festival 2015 | Children and Family

This morning the 2015 Sydney Film Festival announced a preview of  27 films and 10 documentaries featuring in their 62nd film festival (the full program will be announced on the 6 May at 11am). We are very excited that also revealed is the addition of an enhanced family/kids program. The family films announced in the preview include The Crow's Egg from India and Songs of the Sea from Ireland.

The festival is a wonderful opportunity to introduce your children to films that wouldn't normally make it the cinema in Australia and to also open the door to how other children live around the world.

We are looking forward to the full program announcement in May!

  
The Crow's Egg

• Director M. Manikandan
• Original title Kaakkaa Muttai
• Country India

Dubbed the next 'Slumdog Millionaire', this funny and charming film from South India is for both adults and older kids. Two mischievous and resourceful brothers living in poverty in a Chennai slum see an ad for pizza and become determined to taste this magical food for the very first time, setting off an adventure full of both triumphs and setbacks.

Songs of the Sea

• Director Tomm Moore
• Country Ireland, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Denmark
  
  This enchanting treat for families is inspired by Ireland's rich Celtic folklore. Ben and his fairy-like sister, Saoirse, live on a rocky island, where seals bob up to inspect their every activity. Nominated for Best Animated Feature at this year's Oscars, this legend-inspired tale is chock-full of glorious imagery, captivating critters and lilting Gaelic music.

Sydney Film Festival
June 3 - 14 June 2015

Next Goal Wins | Sydney Film Festival 2014

I wanted to take my eldest son (16) to one of the classified films within the Sydney Film Festival.  He is a mad soccer fan and with the World Cup coming up soon, the documentary Next Goal Wins was an easy choice. 

In 2001, Australia famously beat the American Somoa team 31 - 0 taking them to the bottom of the ladder and was the worst defeat in international soccer history. The documentary follows the American Somoan team in their quest to move on from their past humiliating defeat and to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.  It was a joy to meet the team and be a part of this uplifting journey - especially Jaiyah Saelua and Dutch coach Thomas Rongen.

Next Goal Wins is a celebration of team work, acceptance and perseverance and is a breath of fresh of air in a world of sporting endorsement deals and badly behaved players.  You don't need to be soccer or even sport mad to take something away from Next Goal Wins. 

NEXT GOAL WINS 

rated M

Screening at Sydney Film Festival

7 June and 11 June 2014

Not classified at the festival but from what I have seen so far I will be taking all or some of my family to see the following films when they get released: 

Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Boyhood
Tender

Navigating the Sydney Film Festival - Youth Guide - Under 18's

The Sydney Film Festival takes off this week and for under 18's we look at the best way to  navigate yourself around the festival.

Head to Martin Place for SFFTV
Every day over the festival -  SFFTV will present a special program of animated shorts, Big Window on a Big Screen curated by guest programmer Malcolm Turner, director of animation festivals in London, NZ and Australia.

Learn about the process
If you have a teen interested in film making - head  along to the Apple store talks.

Catch a classified screening
Check out the list of classified films screening at the festival that under 18's are permitted to attend.

Experience the world of the Vladmaster
Attendees are given a View-master viewer and a set of disks, and led through  strange and fascinating 28-picture stories created by the artist Vladimir.

Sydney Film Festival
4 June - 15 June

Sydney Film Festival 2014 | Family and Youth

The Sydney Film Festival revealed their full program last week.  I was hoping that there would be a full family/youth program - it's important for kids to watch films beyond the Disney repertoire - to have the opportunity to view different worlds.

We have gone through the program to let you know the films that under 18's are permitted to attend due to classification restrictions.

How to Train your Dragon 2 with special guest Cate Blanchett introducing the film at Event cinemas.

My Neighbour Totoro screens with the Studio Ghibli program.

Classified films at this years festival:
Once My Mother   rated PG
Gabrielle rated M
Two Faces of January rated M
Rock the Casbah rated MA15+
Faith Connections rated MA15+
Altman on Altman  - a retrospective rated from PG to MA15+
Classics restored
Rebel without a Cause rated M
Hiroshima, Mon Amour rated PG
Charulata rated G
The Rover rated MA+15

More films will be classified closer to the festival - we will keep this list up dated.

If you are unsure if a film is suitable for your child visit the parent guide at IMDb.

Sydney Film Festival
4 - 15 June 2014

Sydney Film Festival 2012

The 2012 Sydney Film Festival swings into action this week running from the 6th June until the 17th June.  With most films within the festival being unclassified, there  is  a  limited selection this year for families/youths to choose from.

There are two great documentaries:

Bully
Because of the emotional content  based around the bullying issue within American schools, this  documentary  is best for older teens.  It's a story that needed to be told.  We will review this film closer to the  cinematic release date - 23rd August.
Sunday 10th June 930am - State Theatre
Tuesday 12th June 845pm - Event Cinemas, George Street

First Position
Another documentary that follows six young dancers as they chase their dream to win a highly competitive ballet competition.
Saturday 9th June 10am - Event Cinemas George Street
Sunday 17th June 11.45am - Event Cinemas George Street

also...

Brave
The family draw card this year is the red carpet screening of Pixar Brave with  Billy Connolly making a special appearance.
Monday 11th June 6pm Event Cinemas George Street

Without our children at the festival we will be checking out:
Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom
Woody Allen: A Documentary
(after the festival we will take them to cinema release)
and
Hara- kiri: Death of a Samurai

The full program is available here: http://www.sff.org.au

Arts Rocket Friday Finds

This week our Friday Finds consists of fun filmmaking resources for kids. 

• Little Big Shots - We love a film festival that just caters to kids.  LBS's packages short films to suit all age groups.  Great way to get kids to explore bite sized cinema.   
• Screen it  - Registrations are now open for film and video game makers at the Australian centre of moving image. When you register kids will have access to online resources and production tools to assist with their creation.
• Movie maker - The ultimate guide to making films
• Metro Screen Youth Program - Great courses and support for up and coming young film makers
• Trop jnr - Junior version of trop fest - entries for 2013 opening soon
• Keep your eye for clay animation workshops over the school holidays at the Australian National Maritime Museum.  My kids went along last holidays and loved it. Next week we are invited to a special screening evening of all the animations made. They will be writing about it here next week.
• Hey Kino - Sydney - When are you going run a Kino Kids?

Happy New Year!

Bring on 2012!

What we will be  up to in January:

• Visiting the GOMA for the Matisse, Pip and Pop and Yayoi Kasama exhibition
• My daughter will have her first Opera experience with The Magic Flute
• Heading to shows at the Sydney Festival
• Flickerkids at Flickerfest
• Stage Fright! at New Theatre
• Circus Oz - Steampowered
• Interviewing Finegan Kruckemeyer

Happy New Year to all.

x

The Great Bear | Sydney Film Festival 2011

The Great Bear is a Danish animated film screening at the 2011 Sydney Film Festival. The feature follows the relationship between 13 year old Jonathan and his younger sister, Sophie. Like most childhood sibling relationships, Jonathan does not want to have anything to do with his sister.

Jonathan and Sophie take a long train journey to stay with their grandfather on the school holidays and is warned on arrival to stay out of the dense forest that lay beyond his land. A little door on the wall saves Sophie from her brother during a chase but brings her into the forest where she disappears with a 1000 year old bear. Jonathan takes on the task on rescuing his sister from the forest, which has its own dangers and delights.

The Great Bear was directed by Esben Toft Jacobsen. Jacobsen wanted to create a Nordic fairy tale with the film. "Something appealing and scary and epic at the same time. A magical dimension that lies within nature, in the rocks, forests and animals." source

The animated landscape in the film is beautiful and grand. If your kids like movies with a dash of scare factor (like mine!) and lots of adventure, The Great Bear is a wonderful cinematic treat.

The Great Bear screens in English at the 2011 Sydney Film Festival

June 11 | 9.45am and 19 June | 12pm | Event Cinemas

Bookings

Age Group: 7 - 13 years

Kung Fu Panda 2 3D | Win tickets to the Australian Premiere

Our friends at the Sydney Film Festival are giving one Arts Rocket family (4 tickets) the chance to join Jack Black and Lucy Liu for the Australian premiere of KUNG FU PANDA 2 3D on the 13th June.

ENTRIES NOW CLOSED

DreamWorks Animation, the creators of the Academy Award®-nominated Kung Fu Panda - which had its Australian Premiere at SFF 2008 - are back in town with this highly-anticipated new family film. In Kung Fu Panda 2, Po (Jack Black) is now living his dream as the Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, the Furious Five: Viper (Lucy Liu), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Crane (David Cross), Tigress (Angelina Jolie) and Tiger (Jackie Chan). But Po's new life of awesomeness is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy Kung Fu. Po must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins; only then will he be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed.


Screening Details
Monday 13 June | 6.30pm
Event Cinemas George Street, Sydney | Vmax 2
Red carpet arrivals 5.45pm
Rated PG
Bookings: http://www.sff.org.au/films-container/kung-fu-panda-2/

Exploring outside the family program | SFF2011

In my earlier post on the 2011 Sydney Film Festival I covered the films that were featured in the family program. If you have children that are a little older and mature and want to explore the films within the full program, I have included a list of the films that have been classified. Due to the OFLC policy under 18's will not be permitted into the 18+ unclassified screenings.
Enjoy exploring!

PG Meek’s Cutoff
M Senna
PG All That Heaven Allows
PG Imitation of Life
PG Magnificent Obsession
PG Written on the Wind
G Le Quattro Volte
PG There’s Always Tomorrow
PG The Circle
G The White Balloon
M Crimson Gold
PG Offside
MA15+ Mutant Girls Squad
PG Dingo