For the fourth year, the Idyllwild Library is holding a Children’s Film Festival in conjunction with the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema.
This year, mirroring the extended IIFC screening schedule, the Children’s Festival will be held on two weekends rather than one — from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7 and 14, in the library’s Community Room. The Friends of the Idyllwild Library are co-sponsors.
Andrea Charles, artist and filmmaker liaison for Stephen Savage and IIFC, brought the idea of a children’s fest to Savage who responded enthusiastically and green-lighted the co-venture.
“Each year it’s grown,” said Idyllwild Librarian Shannon Ng, “with a mix of children of attending IIFC filmmakers and local children. It’s been a great way to integrate the festival and the community.”
Ng explained that all films shown for the children are entries that have been shown as part of IIFC programming. “The majority of films are for pre-school and school age (grades one through six),” with a few geared to older kids, said Ng. “We have access to the festival shorts and can repeat films from previous years based on response from the children. Andrea is the host for the program. This year we’ll have three new movies to add to our collection.”
Films and directors are:
• “Apocalytos,” directed by Simon Loisel, Guillaume Miquel, Mathilde Michel, Melanie Le Bloa and Julien Loth, is the story of a battle between young gods that has colossal consequences for the world of dinosaurs.
• “Supermom” is directed by Jason Honeycutt. A young girl believes her mom is a superhero, and a school friend and her father find out that she truly is when she saves them.
• “Rustbusters” is written and directed by Brodie Cooper. After discovering that their town water is polluted, the citizens of Brickton are forced to call in the Rustbusters to combat a monster that dwells in their pipes.
Returning favorites are:
• “The Shooting Star Salesman” is by Kico Velarde. An ageless 19th-century salesman has the magical ability to align individuals with their own unique shooting star to wish upon.
• “I Need My Monster” is a short animated film based on the unique award-winning monster-under-the-bed story for all monster-loving kids. The film was created by the 2014 class of the University of Colorado’s digital animation center.
There is no charge for the program and popcorn, water and hot chocolate will be served, said Ng.
Marshall Smith can be reached at [email protected].
