In the 31st edition of the Tromsø Int’l Film Festival the outdoor Winter Cinema in the town’s main square was the perfect place to welcome children to unforgettable film experiences. As one of the regular festival venues, it now became the ultimately safe place to gather in front of the big screen and enjoy films together.
All tickets (max. 200) for the open air screenings of short film programmes for kindergartens and primary schools were fully booked in just two days. The Winter Cinema also presented the world premiere of NINJABABY (by Yngvild Sve Flikke) that later went on to win the Audience Award, and a special screening of the Irish animation gem SONG OF THE SEA (by Tomm Moore).
Festival director Astrid Aure: “In collaboration with Save the Children, we also organized an afternoon screening of the magical Finnish animation series MUMEN VALLEY in a Northern Sámi version. A beautiful way to make sure the Sámi children in our city had an opportunity to watch a film in their own language.”
A total of 1400 children defied the minus 10 degrees Celcius and freezing wind to, for a moment, leave the pandemic and enter the fantastical world of films.
The school programme for middle and high schools consisted of the films NINJABABY, FAT FRONT (by Louise Kjeldsen & Louise Detlefsen), MOGUL MOWGLI (by Bassam Tariq), I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO (by Raoul Peck), LIFE WITHOUT SARA AMAT (by Laura Jou) and ROCKS (by Sarah Gavron). Astrid Aure: “We are grateful that we were able to host these screenings in the cinemas, for about 3500 youngsters. All in all, with the Winter Cinema and our online film programme for a Norwegian audience, we attracted more than 40,000 people.”
The TIFF Junior children’s film festival will take place from 1 – 5 September 2021 in Tromsø, Norway.