There are so many choices in home entertainment these days. You can DVR shows, get On Demand movies, pick up $1 Red Box DVDs, subscribe to Netflix, stream videos through various services or watch Apple TV. The list goes on and on.
Not to date myself, but I remember having five television channels growing up. So this unending selection can be overwhelming. Then there is the question of what to show your children? Is Sesame Street still entertaining while being educational? Will Scooby-Doo give kids nightmares? Can I stomach any more Blues Clues? Is Disney too commercial? Fortunately for you, there is one more option that will calm your media fears: Kidflix Global (www.kidflixglobal.com).
Imagine Netflix meets SIFF (Seattle International Film Festival). Once a year, international film festivals around the world show children’s shorts and full-length feature films in many languages and styles. Some have voiceovers, some are animated, some are subtitled, some don’t have any words at all, but all are unique and provide a creative glimpse into their originating country.
But what happens to those films after the 10-day festivals are over? They seem to disappear. Well, no longer, thanks to Washington based Kidflix Global. The team of Larry Hulse, April Wolcott and John Morrison decided that these amazing films needed a bigger audience, so they began attending these festivals and working with the production companies and agents to purchase them. We get to reap the benefits of their vision. Movies are available to rent or buy. There is no membership fee and no minimum rental requirement.
The founders were motivated to start Kidflix Global for several reasons: friends and acquaintances talked about wishing they could see high-quality international children’s films beyond the festival circuit, they wanted these films to be available to educators, and they didn’t like the violence they saw in many mainstream films aimed at youth.
“These films offer young people a different way of looking at things,” they wrote to us. “The characters solve problems with their brains, not explosives.”
My family requested Lotte from Gadgetville, an Estonian animated film in English, and received it in the mail the next day. It was darling. Both my 4- and 6-year-olds were riveted by the tale of Lotte, a girl puppy who lives in a village of inventors. Every year there is an invention competition and the rivalry between the inventors is fierce.
It’s a story of friendship and creativity from a country that has a long history of filmmaking. In fact, Estonia’s animated film productions began around the same time as Walt Disney, and Lotte, like Mickey Mouse in the U.S., has become one of the favorite animated characters in Europe. Find other such fascinating facts on the blog section of the KidFlix Global website.
Once you have finished viewing a rental film, the pre-stamped DVD envelope makes it easy to return. Sign up for the Cinema Circle on their website and you’ll receive notices of new films as they are released. You will also have the opportunity to provide feedback on films that you have watched.
By sharing these films, Hulse, Wolcott and Morrison hope to create “a community of hopeful, involved people, one that understands completely that all people are basically the same. When kids and young adults learn about other cultures, it nurtures understanding and acceptance,” they wrote to us.
