European Children's
Film Association
Association Européenne du Cinéma
pour l'Enfance et la Jeunesse
“Whenever I feel stressed, I watch guinea pigs”How to summarise CABINETS OF WONDER in a few sentences? It’s more than ‘just a film’. It feels like a poem, or an opera, or a combination of both. German director Susanne Kim: “I would describe it as a free documentary, playing with fictional elements, staging, poetry, sounds, music… the things that children include intuitively in everything they do.”
Leah has a talent for visual arts, documenting her life with clips and stories shot with her small handycam. One day in the streets of Brixton, she catches the introverted Benji in her lens and sparks are flying. His powerful presence will lift up her next cinema project. But Leah’s portrayal of Benji is driving a wedge between the two, as she doesn’t face the consequences of her ambition.
Jonna, a well-behaving orphan girl, dreams of finding a mother. That wish might come true when one day a gorilla comes knocking, asking to adopt her. It’s not a typical situation, but ultimately they are having great times together. The odd couple naturally arouses suspicion among the decent citizens in town, but Jonna and Gorilla will gracefully disprove all prejudice, in a moving Swedish animated film by Linda Hambäck.
“Can I touch your heart?” That is what Rugile asks her new friend Juozapas, who was born with a bizarre condition: the boy carries his heart outside of his chest, protected by a special armour. Always cautious, what Juozapas likes most is spending time in a deserted mansion, where he keeps his collection of bugs, beetles and butterflies, a secret he shares with nobody but Rugile.
In school gardens in Amsterdam children take care of beds full of vegetables, as the beating heart of a bigger social movement. These green oases are also a surprising habitat for all kinds of wildlife. Anyone who has seen THE SCHOOL GARDEN will immediately feel the urge to start working in the garden or sinking their teeth into a fresh carrot.
12 year old Jim is passionate about all things space travel. His father is an astrophysicist who might soon take off on a space mission. But Jim has his own project: building a hot air balloon with his school friend Emma. Though when competing for first prize at a competition for young scientists, unexpected obstacles arise.
Once 9 year old Samay has picked up the taste of film, he sneaks inside the theatre every day. He even infects his gang of friends with the cinema virus, and together they try to construct a film projector. LAST FILM SHOW invites you into an Indian countryside cinema, where the audience – chanting and clapping – actively takes part in every screening.
One day Birta, a strong and responsible girl with a passion for handball and playing guitar, overhears her mother on the phone, telling that she is so totally broke that there might be no Christmas this year. She simply can’t afford it in times of financial crisis. Birta, shocked by the news, wants to start raising money through various adventurous methods. But that’s not easy when you’re only eleven.