Publications – Page 23 – European Children's Film Association

Zhonghua Zhang about HOME BY THE RIVER

“A perfect moment to doze off”

Going to school is no fun for Shi NiuNiu. The boy is somehow ‘different’ and the school staff and classmates don’t know how to deal with his irreverent behaviour. Shi is straightforward; his words and actions come unfiltered. He is constantly at odds with the school principal. When Shi NiuNiu seeks peace at the river bank after (or during) school hours, he shows his true talent: sculpting figures out of river clay. When psychologist Miss Fen arrives at the school, she tries a new approach to get Shi to fall in line.

Ameen Aslam about MOMO IN DUBAI

“Striving high and making the unlikely possible”

In his small village in Kerala, Momo tells his friends about his big dream: to one day see the Burj Khalifa. His father, who works as a labourer in Dubai, can make that dream come true when he invites his family to the UAE for a holiday. Despite their financial struggles, they take a chance. Mum and the three children enjoy having Dad in their midst again, but life in Dubai is very different from back home. Momo meets new people there, sees things he has never seen before and… the Burj Khalifa suddenly seems very close!

Antje Starost about 7 OR HOW TO STOP THE TIME

“Nothing is easy but everything is exciting”

In the documentary 7 OR WHY I’M IN THE WORLD in 2010, Antje Starost & Hans Helmut Grotjahn offered the audience the opportunity to meet seven boys and girls from Ecuador, Greece, France and Germany. Amazed by their thoughtfulness, their perception on difficult questions about the meaning of life and their humour, already at this young age they seemed fully aware of the critical state of our world. Now, 13 years later, we meet those boys and girls again in the new documentary 7 OR HOW TO STOP THE TIME, as young adults between 20 and 25.

Amir Honarmand about SILKWORM

“This phone had to be an expensive one”

Amin, a 12-year-old poor Iranian boy, receives a used iPhone from his brother to study online during the pandemic. The phone turns out to be stolen, and moreover contains some confronting information. That’s why its rightful owner would do anything to get it back. The short film by Amir Honarmand, a young Iranian filmmaker living and working in Canada, manages to fit neatly into the Iranian narrative tradition, while also deviating from it.

Pola Sell & Barbara Englert about THE PATH OF HANDS AND FEET

“Make clear that they can be loud”

They were not driven by cinematic aspirations or big production deals. They simply recognised a social need that they could fulfil with a film. That is why directors Pola Sell & Barbara Englert went to a Taekwondo school in Offenbach, Germany, and spoke with a bunch of young girls about their fragile self-esteem and the empowerment they find in a sports club, where girls learn to come up for themselves without boys, parents or teachers looking over their shoulders.