In the Ale Kino! Festival, the Dutch children’s film THE CLUB OF UGLY CHILDREN (Jonathan Elbers) collected its second ECFA Award nomination of the year. Not bad for a dystopian futuristic story, though probably not as futuristic as it might seem.
With an evil president setting the standards, all children looking ‘different’ will get captured and deported. When Paul embarks on a school trip, he soon realises this is not just a fun excursion but they are actually being shipped off to a secret place. He manages to escape, but a bounty hunter is sent to hunt him down. Can Paul set free all the “ugly children” and defeat the president? “This film encourages an activist audience and tackles important topics like the concept of beauty, bullying and the dynamics of politics, offering the audience a lot to think and talk about” said the ECFA Jury.
The ECFA Jury were Margret Albers (Germany), Becky Parry (UK) and Agnieszka Sinicka (Poland).
Among the other winners in the Ale Kino! Festival were MY BROTHER CHASES DINOSAURS (Stefano Cipani, Italy, Golden Goat for Best Feature for Children and the Film Educators’ Award) and DATING AMBER (David Freyne, Ireland, Golden Goat for Best Feature for Young People). A ‘Platinum Goat – Lifetime Achievement Award’ went to Dutch production company BosBros “for all their charming and clever films, made with passion and awareness of children’s needs, with a professionalism that does not obscure the honesty and sincerity of film expression. We send our regards to the boss of the crew, Burny Bos, and the extremely creative producer and screenwriter, Tamara Bos (see picture)”.