Washington University’s Center for the Humanities and Program in Film & Media Studies, both in Arts & Sciences, will host the Sixth Annual Children’s Film Symposium Saturday, Nov. 21, in Brown Hall Auditorium.
Titled “An Exploration of Children’s Films and Their Audiences,” the daylong symposium is presented in conjunction with Cinema St. Louis.
Courtesy Image
A still from “Princess of the Sun,” the film that opens this year’s Children’s Film Symposium.
The festival will feature four full-length screenings as well as a Q&A with Michael Barrier, an animation and comics historian and author of “The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney.”
All events are free and open to the public.
The festival begins at 10 a.m. with “Princess of the Sun.” Directed by Philippe Leclerk and released in 2007, this funny, visually rich animated film centers on Akhesa, a 14-year-old princess who doesn’t have the slightest idea that one day she will rule Egypt.
But after uncovering a plot to kill her father, Pharaoh Akhenaton, Akhesa and her future husband, Tut, journey to visit Queen Nefertiti, who has been exiled to Elaphantine Island. There both Akhesa and Tut grow from pampered children to independent and mature adults.
The film is in French with subtitles and is recommended for ages 10 and older.
At 1 p.m., the festival screens “Tahaan: A Boy With a Grenade.” Directed by Santosh Sivan and released in 2008, this beautifully photographed live-action film follows 8-year-old Tahaan as he journeys across a difficult, war-torn country to bring home his beloved pet donkey.
The film is in Hindi with subtitles and is recommended for ages 12 and older.
At 3 p.m. is “Egon & Donci.” Directed by Adam Magyar and released in 2007, the main characters Egon and Donci live together in an idyllic village on a small planet far, far away.
Though both are aliens, Egon bears a striking resemblance to a human boy, and Donci is best described as an overweight cat.
But their simple existence grows considerably more complicated when Voyager 3 flies into their lives, carrying a message from Earth.
The language spoken is alien, and there are no subtitles. The film is recommended for ages 12 and older.
The festival continues at 5 p.m. with “West of Pluto.” Directed and written by Henry Bernadet and Myriam Verreault and released in 2008, this French-Canadian film follows a handful of working-class teenagers over the course of 24 hours.
Things begin innocuously enough with a series of class presentations but soon turn more serious, touching on issues of teenage boredom, unrequited love and sexual awakening.
The film is in French with English subtitles and includes adult language and situations. It is recommended for high-school ages and older.
The festival concludes at 7:30 p.m. with Barrier presenting a lecture titled “The Hollywood Cartoon.”
Barrier will give a guided tour of six favorite cartoons from the Walt Disney, Warner Bros. and MGM studios and will take questions from the audience.
Cartoons included are “Beep Beep” (directed by Chuck Jones for Warner Bros., 1952), “Book Revue” (Robert Clampett, Warner Bros., 1946), “Fresh Airedale” (Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1945), “Little Rural Riding Hood” (Tex Avery, MGM, 1949), “Who Killed Cock Robin?” (Disney, 1935) and “Woodland Cafe” (Disney, 1937). His talk is recommended for ages 10 and older.
For more information on the Children’s Film Symposium, call the Center for the Humanities at 935-5576.