Summer’s here, and while the new summer blockbusters have started rolling in to your local cineplex, don’t ignore movie festivals that will be bringing classic children’s favorites, animated films and alternative movies.
For independent and international films, check out the free Kids First! Film Festival.
The festival, presented locally by the University of Hawaii-Manoa Outreach College, is a national program showcasing children’s films from both major studios and independent filmmakers. Ann Brandman, who organizes the festival for UH, said the films have been screened for appropriate content and language and are free of race, gender and religious bias and gratuitous violence.
"They’ve been watched and juried by adults and children, and by media makers and teachers and media literacy folks," she said. "While they don’t shrink from commercial media, they also provide stuff that you wouldn’t ordinarily see, so independent media, foreign films, short films."
Like film festivals for older audiences, Kids First! will also give moviegoers a peek behind the scenes in the world of moviemaking. Brandman has invited Dan Chuba, director and producer of "The Boxcar Children," for the July 12 screening of the animated film, based on the popular children’s book series. Chuba is founder of Hammerhead Productions, a top special-effects and animation company that has credits on "The Hunger Games," "Godzilla" and other films. He will do a question-and-answer session with the audience and bring books to distribute to the children.
Brandman hopes to expand the film festival offerings to include a program that teaches children to become film critics. Kids First! is already doing this in other venues, publishing the reviews on its website, and hopes to bring the program here next year, she said. Kids also get to interview actors and moviemakers.
Brandman said that, in addition to providing entertainment, the festival tries to help children develop a sense of "media literacy" in film and television — "understanding what you’re seeing, what you’re being sold, getting those good habits underway when you’re young so that you become an intelligent media viewer as you age."
Though many of the films shown at Kids First! are for very young audiences, the festival does not screen strictly kiddie fare. The film "Belle and Sebastian," screening June 14, is set in Nazi-occupied France and tells the story of a boy and his dog helping resistance fighters aid Jewish refugees escape.
"It’s not that they don’t have elements of violence or conflict of things that may be out there in the real world," Brandman said, "but it’s not gratuitous. It’s always in service to the stories."
The festival will show movies on Sundays, June 14 and 28, and July 12 and 19 at 3 p.m. in the UH-Manoa Art Auditorium. Admission is free, and parking on campus is free on Sundays.
KIDS FIRST! FILM FESTIVAL AT UH
>> When: 3 p.m.
>> Where: University of Hawaii at Manoa Art Auditorium
>> Cost: Free
>> Call: 956-9883
>> On the Net: summer.hawaii.edu/kidsfirst
LINEUP OF FILMS
>> Sunday: “Maya the Bee”: Based on the 1912 children’s book by Waldemar Bonsels, this animated film is about a fearless little bee that makes friends with everyone — a grasshopper violinist, a dung beetle and Sting, a young hornet — and gets accused of stealing royal jelly. Ages 4 and up.
>> June 14: “Belle and Sebastian”: A boy and his dog help resistance fighters defy the Nazis. For ages 9 and up, with parental guidance suggested for brief depictions of drinking, hunting and blood.
>> June 28: “The Seventh Dwarf”: A mash-up of fairy tales featuring a dragon, an evil queen and a young dwarf named Bobo, who accidentally triggers an evil spell. Ages 6 and up.
>> July 12: “The Boxcar Children”: Based on the book about four orphans, too frightened to live with their grandfather, who make a home in an abandoned boxcar. Ages 5 and up. Director/producer Dan Chuba will be on hand to discuss the film.
>> July 19: “The Legend of Longwood”: A 12-year-old New Yorker has to move to a rural Irish village and, after discovering a link between herself and a local legend, sets out to save a herd of white horses. Ages 12 and up.
AT THE CINEPLEX
Consolidated Theatres and Regal Cinemas are also offering summer film series for children.
At Consolidated’s Kahala 8 theater at Kahala Mall, the Gkids Summer Series presents animated films from around the world. Admission is $5. Find more keiki screening schedules at the bottom of the page.
Gkids Summer Series films
>> 11 a.m. Monday, 4 p.m. Tuesday: “From Up on Poppy Hill” (Japan): A hand-drawn anime film about high-schoolers working to preserve their clubhouse.
>> 11 a.m. June 15, 4 p.m. June 16: “A Letter to Momo” (Japan): After her father dies and leaves her an unfinished letter, a child moves from Tokyo to a mysterious island.
>> 11 a.m. June 22, 4 p.m. June 23: “The Painting” (France): The characters in a painting come to life and struggle for power.
>> 11 a.m. June 29, 4 p.m. June 30: “Patema Inverted” (Japan): A girl from an underground civilization is trapped in an upside-down world.
>> 11 a.m. July 6, 4 p.m. July 7: “Welcome to the Space Show” (Japan): An anime film about five schoolmates stranded in space.
>> 11 a.m. July 13, 4 p.m. July 14: “Mia and the Migoo” (France-Italy): A young girl whose father is trapped at a resort construction site seeks help from a witch.
>> 11 a.m. July 20, 4 p.m. July 21: “Summer Wars” (Japan): A young math genius accidentally creates an artificial intelligence that endangers the world.
>> 11 a.m. July 27, 4 p.m. July 28: “The Tale of Princess Kaguya” (Japan): A hand-drawn anime film based on the classic tale of a princess who sprouted from a bamboo shoot.
keiki film Hui
Consolidated also is presenting the Keiki Film Hui series, featuring popular major studio releases. The series will be screened at all Consolidated venues in Ward Village, Mililani, Pearlridge, Kapolei, Koko Marina, Koolau and Kaahumanu. (Kahala Theatre will not screen the films.) Showtime is at 10 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and admission is $1. Visit consolidatedtheatres.com for more information.
LINEUP OF FILMS
>> Wednesday-Thursday: “Penguins of Madagascar”
>> June 17-18: “Despicable Me”
>> June 24-25: “How to Train Your Dragon 2”
>> July 1-2: “The Wizard of Oz”
>> July 8-9: “Despicable Me 2”
>> July 15-16: “March of the Penguins”
>> July 22-23: “The Lego Movie”
>> July 29-30: “Rio 2”
SUMMER MOVIE EXPRESS
Regal Cinemas (regmovies.com) is presenting its 2015 Summer Movie Express at its Dole Cannery, Pearl Highlands and Windward Mall venues, starting Tuesday. Screenings are at 10 a.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Admission is $1. A portion of the proceeds goes to the Will Rogers Institute.
LINEUP OF FILMS
>> Tuesday-Wednesday: “Nut Job” and “Annie”
>> June 16-17: “Earth to Echo” and “The Boxtrolls”
>> June 23-24: “Paddington” and “Turbo”
>> June 30-July 1: “Rio 2” and “How to Train Your Dragon 2”
>> July 7-8: “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” and “The Book of Life”
>> July 14-15: “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb” and “Penguins of Madagascar”
>> July 21-22: “Madagascar 3” and “Dolphin Tale 2”
>> July 28-29: “Muppets Most Wanted” and “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”
>> Aug. 4-5: “The Lego Movie” and “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water”
