2017 Festival Program

Friday Evening — March 10, 2017

OPENING NIGHT EVENT : 7 – 9 pm THEATER ONE  (all ages)

Saturday Morning — March 11, 2017

SHORT FILMS FOR ALL AGES : 10 am THEATER ONE • 10:15 am THEATER TWO

I Am Not a Mouse
by Evgenia Golubeva, 2’01”, United Kingdom, 2015
Every time Lucy is called ‘Mouse’ by her Mum, she turns into a real mouse! What is Lucy going to do? 

The Owl and the Lemming
by Roselynn Akulukjuk, 3’33”, Nunavut-Canada, 2016
The oral history of Inuit is filled with many folktales, legends, and myths. In this traditional story, a young owl catches a lemming to eat or does she? 

My Haggen Dream
by Rob & Laura Sams, 8’16” , Northern Mariana Islands, 2016
On the island of Saipan, a young girl’s mysterious dream about a haggan, or green sea turtle, leads her to investigate the sea turtles that live around her home. 

The Sled  – Belchonok i sanki

by Olesya Shchukina, 4’19”, Russia, 2016

The little squirrel finds something he has never seen. before.

L’Equip Petit §
by Roger Gómez & Dani Resines, 10’50”, Spain, 2011
Fourteen little kids, an unsolved football mystery and an unexpected life lesson for grown-ups.

Fulfilament
by Rhiannon Evans, 7’33”, United Kingdom, 2016
Travel around the brain with a little, lost thought and discover what it takes to make a great idea.

Perched
by Liam Harris, 10’00”,  United Kingdom, 2016
Hamish Flint struggles to maintain equilibrium when an unwelcome visiting seagull rocks his world .

§ subtitle reading will be provided by improv actors in THEATER 2 –The Planetarium 

THE LITTLE THEATER – Across from the  Cafe : starting at 11 am then running continuously

Join us in the LITTLE THEATER  across from the Cafe for films for our littlest film fans. Films will play on a continuous basis so pop by, grab a popcorn and enjoy some wonderful shorts from some of our favorite filmmakers.

Special Programing

MATINEE FEATURE FILM  : 11:00 am THEATER ONE • 11:15 am THEATER TWO (all ages)

KIKORIKI: Legend of the Golden Dragon

Directed by Denis Chernov, 86′, Russia,  2016 

The lovably simple residents of peaceful Kikoriki Island are thrown kicking and screaming into big adventure, when their resident scientist invents an amazing device – a helmet called ‘the Improverizor,’ which takes personality traits from one person and swaps them with someone else’s. This film is dubbed  with English voice actors

Saturday Afternoon — March 11, 2017

SHORT FILMS FOR AGES SEVEN AND UP : 1:30 pm THEATER ONE • 1:40 pm THEATER TWO

Super Sounds
by Jennifer Treuting and Kristen McGregor, 12’00”, Australia, 2013
In a quiet coastal town, a young superhero bumps into a quirky young girl. When events come crashing to an unexpected head he’s given the chance to act like the superhero he dreams of being.

Hoop Dream’n
by Nick Brooks, 6’17”, USA, 2016
An 8-year-old Tariq Edwards has recently been let out of school for the summer and all he wants to do is play basketball!Tariq has to make a tough decision, to work for his hoop or enjoy his summer with his friends. Will his wildest dreams come true?

Jonas and the Sea – Zeezucht
by Marlies van der Wel, 11’30”, The Netherlands, 2015
Jonas is on a quest. The quest to find a place he can call home, even if it is underwater.

The Debt
by Helen Flanagan, 12’09”, Ireland, 2016
When lovestruck ten year old Daithi falls for his beautiful and unattainable classmate Jessica he turns to his best friend Penny, a rough and tumble tomboy from a broken home, to help him win her heart.

 Class Action: Mendez vs. Westminster* wrote and preformed by kids *
by Lisa Rossi and Tony Saxe, 16’05 , USA, 2016
n 1946, nearly a decade before the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education, nine-year old Sylvia Mendez and her family won a class action lawsuit that dismantled the segregated school system in Orange County. Second graders from Jefferson Elementary in Berkeley, California wrote and reenacted the family’s struggle and fight for equality.

* Followed immediately by Filmmaker Q&A  with  Lisa Rossi and Tony Saxe and members of the 2nd Grade Class of Jefferson Elementary School in Berkeley, CA about making Class Action: Mendez vs. Westminster

Saturday Afternoon Special Programing

TOWN CALLED PANIC   –  all ages

Join Cowboy, Indian and Horse as they return in, A Town Called Panic: The Christmas Log,  three plasticine toys sent on increasingly surreal and freewheeling adventures. Cowboy and Indian are always up to some harebrained scheme, with Horse left to clean up the mess.

2:40 pm THEATER ONE : The Mega Dome

The Christmas Log” (La bûche de Noël) by Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar, 25′, Belgium, 2016

In Christmas Panic, their out-of-control antics lead Horse to call Santa and cancel the presents. But the boys figure they can still save Christmas… if they break into their neighbor’s house to steal his yule log!

2:50 pm THEATER TWO: The Planetarium

Return to School” (Rentrée des classes) by Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar, 25′, Belgium, 2016

In Back to School Panic, a class assignment yields a special prize, but only Pig knows the answer. Cowboy and Indian use a special shrinking potion to sneak into Pig’s brain, where they discover a sodium-packed world of pig cops riding in bacon cars and sausage cycles.

If you want see more of  Cowboy, Indian and Horse, don’t worry the same program will play tomorrow in opposite theaters!

OCTOPUS NEWS ! : Journalism by Kids from Taiwan  –  all ages  : 3:15  pm THEATER ONE : The Megadome  – 40′

Part of our new effort to bring empowerment and media literacy to our young audience, we bring you two programs of intrepid reporting all the way  from the news desks of the inquiring children journalists at Octopus News. Although these stories are about Taiwan, they are not all that different from a news stories here in the Bay Area or the U.S.A.  Settle in with your notepad, microphone and FACT BASED investigative journalist brain and enjoy OCTOPUS NEWS!

FIGHTING AIR POLLUTION
by Hung Ju Huang, 18′, Taiwan, 2016
Have you heard of PM2.5? Do you know that air pollution has drawn the world’s attention?
By the end of 2015, people were fighting against air pollution everywhere in Taiwan. So the reporters of “Octopus News” joined the demonstrations with their microphones.
In our capital Taipei, there were over 10,000 people in a demonstration. Parents took their children along in the streets, dressing themselves up and singing beautifully to fight against air pollution.
In Kaohsiung, the industrial city in the southern part of Taiwan, two groups of victims at the ages of 10 and 60 lived on the two sides of a mountain. They had different problems and stories. Facing the huge industrial monster, what do the children think? And what is the prospect that we may have?

LISTEN TO ME, MADAME PRESIDENT!
by Chou Wen-chin, 18′, Taiwan, 2016
On January 16th, 2016, Taiwan elected a new President, marking the first time in the country’s history that the opposition party won both the presidential race and more than half the seats in the Legislative Yuan. Such a dominant victory stems from the desire of the Taiwanese people for this new President to bring about positive change. Taiwan’s youth, in particular, have very high hopes for the President given that her image has always been aligned with young people. She even had a campaign ad titled “Walking with Children”. In the future, however, will she listen to the suggestions of the voteless children and youths?
We collected the heartfelt voices of children and youths across the country, from indigenous students living on offshore islands to second-generation immigrants in rural areas to high school dropouts. Additionally, seven of our little reporters went through five months of preparations for an opportunity to interview the President about her children and youth policies. How exactly will the President answer them? Can the President’s responses resolve their concerns?

§ subtitle reading will be provided by improv actors in THEATER TWO –The Planetarium 

Screening of TODAY’S Workshop Shorts! (all ages) : 4:30 pm THEATER ONE

A highlight of the festival, our workshop shorts screening is one of the events that makes BAICFF unique. During the day, all the tiny films being shot by our young filmmakers in the Pixilation and Clay Animation workshops have been edited together with sound and music by Berkeley City College Film students to create an assembly of the day’s films for our filmmakers (and their parents) to see on the big screen. Come see the films and applaud our young filmmakers as they take their bow!

Sign up for a workshop today!

SATURDAY EVENING FILM EVENT!

FEATURE FILM PROGRAM:  5pm

LONG WAY NORTH by Rémi Chayé , 81′, French & Danish, 2016

We are excited present to you a truly beautiful animated film!

LONG WAY NORTH is set in the late 19th century Saint Petersburg. Sasha, a young girl from the Russian aristocracy, dreams of the Great North and anguishes over the fate of her grandfather, Olukine, a renowned scientist and Arctic explorer who has yet to return from his latest expedition to conquer the North Pole.

Sasha has always been fascinated by the adventurous life of her grandfather and has the same calling as Olukine to be an explorer. But Sasha’s parents, who already made arrangements for her marriage, strongly disapprove the idea to say the least. Defying her destiny, Sasha flees her home and launches an adventure-filled quest toward the Great North in search of Olukine and his ship.

A great story of adventure that should not be missed!

> The Film will be presented in its English dubbed version<

Preceding the Feature presentation will be the award winning short film :

Rabbit and Deer ~ Nyuszi és Őz

by Péter Vácz, 16’15”, Hungary, 2013

Rabbit and Deer are living happily until their friendship is put to the test by Deer’s new obsession to find the formula for the 3rd dimension. Deer soon finds himself in a new world, unknown to him. Separated by dimensions the two friends have to find the way back to each other.

  Common Sense Media’s review

FREE ~  Telescope Viewing following the screening – weather permitting

Sunday Morning — March 12, 2017

SHORT FILMS FOR ALL AGES : 10 am THEATER ONE • 10:15 am THEATER TWO

UKA 
by Valle Comba Canales, 3′, Spain, 2016While Uka paints on her canvas, she finds a way of changing how she looks at the world.

Musical Dragon
by Camille Müller, 8’26”, Switzerland, 2015
A little girl befriends a dragon and play music together, but this is not without danger.

Pushing
by Ryan LaPine, 10’00”, USA, 2016
A homeless man, living on the fringes of society, feels out of touch with the speed and exclusivity of his surroundings.

Alike
by Daniel Martínez Lara & Rafa Cano Méndez, 8’01”, Spain, 2015
In a busy life, Copy is a father who tries to teach the right way to his son, Paste. But…what is the correct path?

Super Grand 
by Marjolaine Perreten, 2’20”, Switzerland, 2016
A super-tall Super Hero, but not that super strong…

My Strange Grandfather
by Dina Velikovskaya, 8’46”, Russia, 2015
An old person often seems weird, even a little bit crazy and his friends and family do not always understand him but sometimes he can create a real miracle.

Ampersand
by Erin Shea, 3’11”, USA, 2016
A playful visual music journey through the universe from the subatomic to the galactic.*

Caminandes : Llamigos by Pablo Vazquez, 2’30”, Argentina, 2016
In this episode of the Caminandes series, we get to know our hero Koro even better. It’s winter in Patagonia, food is getting scarce.

* Followed immediately by Filmmaker Q&A  with  Erin Shea about making Ampersand and combining her love of science with animation.

Special Programing

SHORTS MADE by KIDS! : 11:15 am THEATER ONE • 11:30 am THEATER TWO (subtitle reading) • all ages •

This year we bring you a special block of films made by kids for kids! Either on their own, at school or as part of a filmmaking program we bring you 30 minutes of films made by some talented children from around the world.

The Witch’s House  §

by NAKAYOSHI GROUP, 3’47”, Japan, 2016
There was a candy house in a wood.Witch’s sisters lived in the house.The witches had gone.
A fox and a raccoon dog come to Witch’s house…

Behind the Rocks

 by Maia Costea, 5′, Canada, 2016
After finding a golden rock in her garden, a girl goes on an unexpected adventure with her friends.

The Runaway Toilet 

by Thomas Nicol written by Adrian Blume, 2’29”, USA, 2016
Written by 3rd grader Adrian Blume, The Runaway Toilet tells the story of a little boy whose toilet goes missing, and the superhero who helps him find it.

In the Depth 

by Students at Grundschule Tennenbronn, 3’13”, Germany, 2016
It is “survival of the fittest”! Grandfather’s tongs, the neighbour’s saw, an ornamental purse, calipers and keys are the protagonists and lead you into the depth of the sea.

Dear John  §

by David Ohikhuare, 8′, Nigeria, 2016
A child who was diagnosed with hearing loss and an attending speech impairment writes a letter to his elder brother.

The Ingenious Valentina and Her Friend Sanchita  §

by Kique Parrilla Heinz & Sergio Mate Palacios, 6’46”, Spain, 2016

Valentina is determined to show other kids that simply being famous is not a worthy goal, and that instead of following celebrities, they should follow the steps of great inventors, writers, and scientists.

§ subtitle reading will be provided by improv actors in THEATER 2 –The Planetarium 

THE LITTLE THEATER : starting at 11 am then continuous  – Across from the  Cafe

Join us in the LITTLE THEATER  across from the Cafe for films for our littlest film fans. Films will play on a continuous basis so pop by, grab a popcorn and enjoy some wonderful shorts from some of our favorite filmmakers.

Sunday Afternoon — March 12, 2017

TOWN CALLED PANIC  –  all ages

Join Cowboy, Indian and Horse as they return in, A Town Called Panic: The Christmas Log,  three plasticine toys sent on increasingly surreal and freewheeling adventures. Cowboy and Indian are always up to some harebrained scheme, with Horse left to clean up the mess.

12:30 pm THEATER ONE : The Mega Dome

Return to School” (Rentrée des classes) by Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar, 25′, Belgium, 2016

 

12:40 pm THEATER TWO: The Planetarium

In Back to School Panic, a class assignment yields a special prize, but only Pig knows the answer. Cowboy and Indian use a special shrinking potion to sneak into Pig’s brain, where they discover a sodium-packed world of pig cops riding in bacon cars and sausage cycles.

The Christmas Log” (La bûche de Noël) by Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar, 25′, Belgium, 2016

In Christmas Panic, their out-of-control antics lead Horse to call Santa and cancel the presents. But the boys figure they can still save Christmas… if they break into their neighbor’s house to steal his yule log!

HOW DID THEY DO THAT? : Editing with T. M. Christopher  – 1:00 pm  THEATER ONE  (all ages)

Join us for two wonderful short film docs – one old and one new –  and a discussion with Tom ( T.M.) Christopher. Local Bay Area editor and filmmaker in conversation with BAICFF’s own Jim Capobianco about Bay Area filmmaking – its history, its future as well as Tom’s dicilpline of choice, EDITING!  What is film editing anyway?

Livestock County Fair by T.M. Christopher, 11’18 ” , USA, 1981 Earnest young 4H’ers and Future Farmers of America prepare to meet their moments of truth in the arena with their animals they have nurtured so well. Filmed in Livermore, CA back in 1981, Livestock County Fair is a time capsule back to a simpler time.

Waterbabies by Nora Ballard, 16’33 ” , USA, 2015 Explore the world of synchronized swimming through the eyes of a teenage team as they train and compete for top US prizes. Touching on themes of femininity and growing up, the film shows the combination of physical strength, grace, perfection and all-out pageantry that makes this sport a fascinating spectacle.

Tom has been working in the Bay Area for three decades on projects at American Zoetrope, Lucasfilm Ltd., The Saul Zaentz Company and Warner Bros. Studios. His feature film editing credits include George Lucas’s SPECIAL EDITION of STAR WARS, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and THE RETURN OF THE JEDI; Milos Foreman’s AMADEUS DIRECTOR’S CUT; and Carroll Ballard’s DUMA. At Lucasfilm he edited for tv, THE TREASURE OF THE PEACOCK’S EYE and contributed to many other episodes of  THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES. Prior to editing, Tom worked in the sound department on RETURN OF THE JEDI and THE RIGHT STUFF. And if that wasn’t enough Tom, like any proper Bay Area Filmmaker, has also had a prestigious career working in documentary films. He edited and co-produced FACING FEAR, a short documentary that was nominated for a 2014 Academy Award and edited documentary films for PBS, including an American Masters portrait, ALICE WATERS AND HER DELICIOUS REVOLUTION. Tom is a true Bay Area son and treasure, and we are happy he offered to stop by and chat with us!

Because of the size of our theaters, seating will be on a first come first served basis for  How did they do that? : Editing with T.M. Christopher

PLEASE NOTE: only the films Livestock County Fair and Waterbabies will screen in THEATER 2 –The Planetarium at 1:10 pm. There will be no discussion after the screening in that theater. Please attend the screening in THEATER 1 – the megadome if you would like to hear the discussion.

SHORT FILMS FOR AGES SEVEN AND UP : 2:00 pm THEATER ONE • 2:00 pm THEATER TWO (subtitle reading)

KOJO : A Short Doc
by Michael Fequiere, 14′, USA, 2016
A short documentary on gifted twelve year old jazz drummer Kojo Odu Roney.

Trial & Error
by Antje Heyn, 5’27”, Germany, 2016
A film about a lost shirt button, perfectionist aunts, busy cats, startled parrots – and a long-lost friend.

Sleepover ~ La Invitación  §
by Susana Casares, 14′, Spain, 2016
In fear of losing her friends, Silvia has invited them to a sleepover. But things can be complicated when your home is not exactly what your friends may call  home.

Far Away From Home  §
by Liu Yan-ming, 5’55”, Taiwan, 2016
On December 13th, 2014, a bird appeared in Jinshan that has never been seen in Taiwan for over a century. It’s called the Siberian white crane.

Heads Together  §
by Job, Joris & Marieke, 20’33”, The Netherlands, 2016
The creators of “A Single Life” and ( Otto ) are back with a surreal story about three friends who exchange heads by accident and are forced to adapt to each others life.

§ subtitle reading will be provided by improv actors in THEATER 2 –The Planetarium 

Sunday Afternoon Special Programming

Screening of TODAY’S Workshop Shorts! (all ages) : 3:15 pm THEATER ONE

A highlight of the festival, our workshop shorts screening is one of the events that makes BAICFF unique. During the day, all the tiny films being shot by our young filmmakers in the Pixilation and Found Object workshops have been edited together with sound and music by Berkeley City College Film students to create an assembly of the day’s films for our filmmakers (and their parents) to see on the big screen. Come see the films and applaud our young filmmakers as they take their bow!

Sign up for a workshop today! 

BATKID BEGINS! :  The Power of SOCIAL MEDIA for good : 3:30 pm

We are living through unprecedented times. Times when people have at their disposal vast power through technology. Power used for nasty and terrible exchanges as we are all too aware of with recent events. But on the flip-side we also have the power for enormous good. We bring you a documentary about a truly amazing moment of good. Join BAICFF in partnership with Common Sense Media as we explore the power to use social media to change lives for the better with BATKID BEGINS!

BATKID BEGINS!  by Dana Nachman, 87′, USA, 2015

* we will open up theater 2 – the planetarium – if it is needed for overflow but will only be able to screen the film in that theater.  

FESTIVAL CLOSES FOLLOWING BATKID!

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