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Yippee! Here’s what’s showing at the Kinderfilmfest

Barbara Oswald
Barbara Oswald

Short films, feature-length films, animated films, and documentaries: this year’s program is a colorful bouquet of cinematic styles, themes, and ideas!

Yippee! Here’s what’s showing at the Kinderfilmfest

In late June, it’ll once again be time for a week of KINDERFILMFEST MÜNCHEN. This year’s edition will be a very special occasion. As with FILMFEST MÜNCHEN, it’s our 40th anniversary! That’s definitely a reason to celebrate — and the best way to do it is with lots of shenanigans.

On that theme, our program starts in a small Munich carpentry workshop, where a red-haired goblin has been getting into mischief for more than 60 years. PUMUCKL'S NEW ADVENTURES once again gets stuck to a pot of glue, rendering him visible. This time it’s Master Eder’s nephew he runs into. We’re proud to be able to introduce the popular imp in this television series to a new generation of children in a contemporary version by director Marcus H. Rosenmüller, while at the same time stirring their parents’ childhood memories.

A second literary favorite is coming this year. In NEW TALES OF FRANZ, the title character and his best friends, Gabi and Eberhard, have a tumultuous time trying to catch a thief. The fact that Gabi and Eberhard are always bickering makes things all the more complicated. In this second adaptation of Christine Nöstlinger’s classic series of children’s books, the three children not only have to work together; they also uncover hidden secrets.

 

Neue Geschichten Vom Pumuckl Online2

puMUCKL'S NEW ADVENTURES

Mimi Online1

she-hero

Nelly Rapp Online

NELLY RAPP - the dark forest

Nelly Rapp, the title character in a series of books by Martin Widmark, really takes off as well in her second film, NELLY RAPP – THE DARK FOREST, after she uncovered her family’s secret in part one and became an intrepid monster agent. Now the search for the mysterious mirror of death leads her and her half-brother into the dreaded dark forest, where her mother once disappeared.

In SHE-HERO, a girl named Romy also discovers that a forest can be a completely different world when she goes in search of her escaped budgie. Her foray into the great outdoors soon turns into an exciting adventure, but the bird is nowhere to be seen.

Ernest the bear and his best friend, a little mouse named Célestine, also embark on a journey into the unknown. Ernest’s violin is broken and they aim to have it repaired in Ernest’s distant homeland. But when they arrive, they discover that all music has been banned there for many years. Unimaginable! Things can’t stay like this. For the second time, the bear and the mouse come to the Kinderfilmfest in the lovingly animated film ERNEST & CÉLESTINE: A TRIP TO GIBBERITIA and demonstrate once again the importance of friendship.

Ernestundcelestine Online1

ERNEST & CÉLESTINE: a trip to gibberitia

The other animated feature film in the program is about two people who don’t get along at all. Claé and Bruó are secret agents employed by rival kingdoms. To save these lands from danger, the two agents must put aside their conflict and cooperate. Only by doing this can they locate the legendary Perlimps, who know of a way to live together in peace.

PERLIMPS is one of three films that will be screened not just at the Kinderfilmfest, but also in other sections of FILMFEST MÜNCHEN. These three films are indicative of the path that the Kinderfilmfest will be taking in the coming years. We aim to dive deeper into the world of teenagers and young adults — as in the coming-of-age film BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND, which takes us to the suburbs of a Canadian backwater in the 1980s. Robin, the new kid at the local high school, is non-binary and must master the balancing act of conforming while being oneself.

In GUILT, conforming to her family’s strict conservative tradition is not what Reyhan has in mind. The 13-year-old is spending her summer vacation with her grandmother in Anatolia when she gets her first period. Fearing the religious rituals that will ensue, she hides all the evidence.

Director Sylvain Cruiziat captures somewhat different coming-of-age rituals in his fascinatingly intimate documentary BOYZ. Day and night, he observes his brother and his brother’s friends as their carefree time as students draws to a close. The other documentary in the program, AND THE KING SAID, WHAT A FANTASTIC MACHINE, explores the history of the moving image and its profound influence on modern society, from the origins of photography to the world of social media.

The short film program SHORTS FOR KIDS also includes two documentaries. WAKING UP IN SILENCE observes Ukrainian child refugees in Germany and SUMMER WITHOUT YOU children of divorce at a special campsite in France. . The feature films XIAOHUI AND HIS COWS and A WHISPER IN THE ISLAND OF THE HEART take us to Asia to observe the relationship between children and their grandparents. In the animated short DEDE IS DEAD, a boy mourns the loss of his dog and becomes absorbed in his memories of him. In moments like these, sometimes all you want to do is scream, “Aaaah!” Situations in which children experience that are depicted in the hilarious animated film AAAAH!

That’s all for now about our program. We’re aaaahll looking forward to seeing you!

See also

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