European Children's
Film Association
Association Européenne du Cinéma
pour l'Enfance et la Jeunesse
“I’m not fed up with Karla. But her story is told now; I’m done with her.” While KARLA & JONAS is touring the festivals, director Charlotte Sachs Bostrup looks back upon the Karla trilogy. Continue reading “Interview with Charlotte Sachs Bostrup (the KARLA trilogy)”
The Indian film I AM KALAM (by Nila Madhab Panda) manages easily to get round the European festival audiences. The film won several awards and got a warm welcome in London, Giffoni, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Vienna, Oulu, Copenhagen… The story about little Chhotu (common name for an Indian child laborer) who wants to go to school but ends up as a worker in a dhaba (an open roadside restaurant) sparkles and sputters in a million colors, as it is set in photogenic Rajasthan. Continue reading “Interview with Nila Madhab Panda (I AM KALAM)”
He is a director, she is a producer and together they’re the Filmbin team. After a series of short films, Christian Lo and Trine Aadalen Lo are now presenting their first feature. RAFIKI, still keeping alive the sparkles that were so distinctive for ‘Baluba Runa’, ‘Ramp’ and ‘Iver’, tells about 3 best friends trying to save one of them from being sent back to her African home country. With no other clue than an address, Julie and Mette sneak onto the night train, trying to find their friend Naima. Continue reading “INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTIAN LO & TRINE AADALEN LO (RAFIKI)”
“I’m an actor; I like to talk,” Åsleik Engmark says. He is also a Director, so he knows what to talk about: about KNERTEN! His film debut is the most successful children’s film in years in Norway. The film will be released in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Estonia… and a few more countries are on the waiting list. Continue reading “INTERVIEW WITH ÅSLEIK ENGMARK (KNERTEN)”
THE RACE tells about an Irish farming family collapsing while 11 year old daughter Mary is trying to make her dream come true: driving a go-kart and winning a race. Something she can only do with the support of her father, a grumpy farmer with enough problems of his own: agricultural crisis, his wife applying for a divorce and the sudden decline of fatherly authority. The film by André F. Nebe, starring debuting Niamh McGirr and Hollywood star Colm Meany as her father, is a true European co-production. Continue reading “Film in the Focus: André F. Nebe’s THE RACE”
With an appealing story concept and a series of special effects tickling the youngsters’ senses, THE MAGIC TREE is successfully touring the festival circuit, received enthusiastically by every young audience. Continue reading “Andrzej Maleszka – Director THE MAGIC TREE”
In 1977 the book ‘Vorstadtkrokodile’ by Max von der Grün was adapted into a popular TV-film. Now Christian Ditter did a remake for the big screen. THE CROCODILES still carries along the heritage of the late seventies: the film’s perspective on ethnic minorities, disabled children, parenthood, etc. needed to be updated. THE CROCODILES can be considered an interesting case study in group’s dynamics: a bunch of children with different social backgrounds brought together in one gang in the suburbs of a German town. Continue reading “Interview with Christian Ditter’s THE CROCODILES (Vorstadtkrokodile)”
As editor of the Internet magazine ‘Films & Festivals’ Rose Chamberlain knows about festivals. But what does she think about the recently discovered circuit of children’s film festivals? “They raise tomorrows’ festival audiences. I find them so very inspiring.”
Continue reading “Rose Chamberlain – Editor of ‘Films & Festivals’”