At the Riga Int’l Film Festival, children’s films sail under their own flag, named Kid’s Reel, catching up again with their ECFA Awards tradition, for features (MY BROTHER CHASES DINOSAURS) and for shorts (MUM IS POURING RAIN).
MY BROTHER CHASES DINOSAURS (by Stefano Cipani, Italy) tells about Giacomo, who has always believed his younger brother to possess special powers. But his parents’ little white lie of super-heroism crumbles now Giacomo realises that his dinosaur loving brother has Down’s Syndrome. Giacomo starts to feel embarrassed of his brother and soon, without noticing, becomes deeply entangled in big, black lies.
The ECFA Jury described the film as “a great family drama, but light-hearted and humanistic in its depiction of family life. The film deals with an important topic through a every-day superhero story. We agree with the director who said that “this film leaves you like a better person after seeing it.”
In the short film MUM IS POURING RAIN (by Hugo de Faucompret, France), 8 year old Jeanne wants to spend Christmas with mum, but for reasons unknown to her, she must go to her grandmother’s. The time spent at grandmother’s becomes an adventure. As Jeanne discovers new things about the world, she doesn’t realise that her newfound joy and friendship will also be her mum’s strongest support. The ECFA Jury praised the film for its creative sound, music and character design and inventive use of magic elements.
The ECFA Jury were Volodymyr Diagilev (Dytiatko Festival, Ukraine), Iris Verhoeven (JEF), Danckert Monrad-Krohn (Kristiansand Festival, Norway).