Northwest Film Forum’s annual celebration of films for children will launch this month with a rockin’ pajama party for ages 3 and older featuring Casper Babypants, led by Seattle rock legend Chris Ballew. The festival will end Feb. 6 with a red-carpet award ceremony featuring the announcement of the festival’s coveted Children’s Jury prizes.
Check out this year’s film line-up at the Children’s Film Festival Seattle website.
Film’s will be shown at the Forum’s cinemas on Capital Hill in Seattle. Seattle’s popular festival is the largest children’s film festival in the Pacific Northwest and features 125 films from 29 countries.
This year’s festival will begin Jan. 28 with a rockin’ pajama party for ages 3 and older featuring Casper Babypants, a band starring Seattle rock legend Chris Ballew, and end with a red-carpet award ceremony featuring the announcement of the festival’s coveted Children’s Jury prizes.
A roundup of current animation from China has been curated by acclaimed teacher, animator and artist Joe Chang, who studied at Lu-Xun Academy of Fine Arts in China and Tama Art University in Japan. Chang will be in Seattle on January 29 to introduce his film program and teach a master class for adult animators at Northwest Film Forum.
In addition to Chang’s roundup of animation from China, there are eight additional short film programs. Of special note is “Tally Ho! Films That Fly High,” an animation program, and “Family Matters,” a selection of international live-action shorts from four countries that explore the different things that make families tick in four different countries.
A highlight of the festival will be the Northwest premiere of “The Ugly Duckling,” a new feature film by acclaimed Russian animator Garri Bardin.
The festival is also the forum for the US premiere of “The Crocodiles Strike Back,” a new German feature film by Christian Ditter. The film recently picked up the Kaleva Award, given by the Children’s Jury at the 29th Oulu International Children’s Film Festival in Finland. The film is the sequel to “The Crocodiles,” which took home the coveted children’s jury prize for Best Feature Film at last year’s Children’s Film Festival Seattle.
