Washington University and Cinema St. Louis to present Third Annual Children’s Film Symposium April 20 and 21

Washington University’s Center for the Humanities and Program in Film & Media Studies, both in Arts & Sciences, will host their Third Annual Children’s Film Symposium Friday and Saturday, April 20 and 21.

Presented in conjunction with Cinema St. Louis, the Children’s Film Symposium will feature screenings of three children’s films — Greyfriars Bobby (April 20), The Black Cauldron (April 21) and Jestem (I Am) (April 21) — as well as talks by historian Stephen Watts (April 20) and filmmaker Sandy Tung (April 21).

All events are free and open to the public. The talk by Watts will take place in Duncker Hall, Room 101, located in the northwest corner of Brookings Quadrangle. All other events will take place in Brown Hall Auditorium, located near the intersection of Forysth Boulevard and Hoyt Drive.

For more information, please call the Center for the Humanities at (314) 935-5576.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

4 p.m. April 20
Lecture, Stephen Watts
“Walt Disney and 1960s America”
Duncker Hall, Room 101
Watts, professor of history at the University of Missouri-Columbia, is author of The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and 1960s American Way of Life (1997). His talk will examine both Walt Disney and the Disney company — their projects, values and ideological agenda s— as they entered the new decade of the 1960s.

7 p.m. April 20
Greyfriars Bobby (1961)
Directed by Don Chaffey
Brown Hall Auditorium
Based on Eleanor Atkinson’s beloved children’s classic, Greyfriars Bobby tells the true story of one of Scotland’s most celebrated heroes — a terrier named Bobby — and his undying friendship with a tender-hearted shepherd known as “Old Jock.” Suitable for children eight and older.

10:30 a.m. April 21
The Black Cauldron (1985)
Directed by Ted Berman and Richard Rich
Brown Hall Auditorium
Based on the book by Lloyd Alexander, The Black Cauldron follows Taran, a young pig keeper who dreams of becoming a great warrior, as he embarks on a life-changing quest. Suitable for children eight and older.

2 p.m. April 21
Lecture, Sandy Tung
“The Making of Children’s Films”
Brown Hall Auditorium
Tung is the director of several successful independent films. He is perhaps best known for Shiloh Season (1999) and Saving Shiloh (2006), based on the award-winning books by author Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.

4 p.m. April 21
Jestem (I Am) (2005)
Directed by Dorota Kedzierzawska
Brown Hall Auditorium
The fourth feature by the acclaimed Polish director, I Am tells the story of a young orphan who attempts to reunite with his mother and his subsequent decision to create his own home — an orphanage of a different sort. Suitable for children 12 and older.