Swiss director Marjolaine Perreten has showed her work at BAICFF before, as in our 2018 festival we screened her animated short A Festive Wind (2017). Perreten even runs her own film event, as in 2017, she founded the Animation Film Festival of Savigny, the first animation festival in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland.

She excels at wordless storytelling built upon the kind of lovely, graphically-crisp visuals you’d find in a children’s illustrated storybook. This instant, universal appeal has charmed audiences around the world, and her work was even recently shown before some theatrical screenings of Studio Ghibli films, such as the Hayao Miyazaki fantasy classic Kiki’s Delivery Service.

From Last Day of Autumn

Her newest work uses color as a separate character, as the earth-tones of fall give way to onrushing colorless winter. Indeed, the animals race against winter itself, in their yearly bicycle race that is part of their very “cycle” of life.

The film is charming, funny, and sweet, but also made with great care and artistry.

Be sure to see this beautiful work at BAICFF 2020, as part of Shorts All Ages: Program 2.

Tone Thyne’s series of five animated shorts fit into a classic tradition of children’s animated educational films, as best exemplified by the numerous interstitial works shown on the long-running and well-loved public television show Sesame Street.

These shorts are funny, delightfully silly, and driven by catchy music. The goal of the films is to verse children in the idea of taxonomy — how to categorize objects into different groups.

From Don’t Mix Us Up!: Cabbage and Lettuce

The cartoons propel us on a rapid journey through time and space, as we jump to diverse spots such as the Roman Coliseum, undersea coral reefs, Niagara Falls, a roller coaster, and the Great Pyramids. We’re always guided by two different singing objects, including Whipped Cream and Shaving Cream, Sugar and Salt, and Mustache and Eyebrow.

Director Tone Thyne has an unusual claim to fame, which is that the face of Woody from Toy Story was based on his features. His long history in the animation business has made him a excellent creator of whimsical characters, and in each episode of cartoon he brings to life numerous inanimate objects that grin along with the song as if they were in on the joke.

Check out these entertaining works in Shorts All Ages: Program 1 and Shorts All Ages: Program 2 at BAICFF 2020!

Child of Nature, is Brazilian director Marcos Negrão’s stunning documentary about how children around the world strive to rise above their tough circumstances, which include exposure to war, poverty, hunger, and abuse. But the film’s main subjects, five children across five continents, are not victims, but are rather the heroes and authors of their own unique stories. Each is charting a pathway to a better life, and along the way reaching out to help other children in need.

This inspirational film demonstrates how youthful idealism infused with empathy is powerful force for demonstrable, real change. The depiction of these children’s desire to help their fellow human beings results in a film both heartwarming and heartbreaking, and it will make you question your own place in a changing, often difficult world.

Director Marcos Negrão

Director Marcos Negrão will be in attendance to tell you his stories of the challenges of shooting a truly epic production, which took him to all corners of the earth in search of his young, dynamic subjects. The film is required viewing for those determined to find 21st century solutions to seemingly intractable global social problems — especially as our children will inherit the complex issues bequeathed to them by previous generations. This remarkable work has its Bay Area premiere only at BAICFF 2020!

Shown With: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights The students at Ms. Holbert’s 5th-grade class at Vallejo Charter School in California share the articles of the Declaration on Human Rights. It’s a civics lesson in miniature, and a reminder that commitment to these principles is essential when seeking to create a better world for everybody.