This weekend, Deb Girdwood and Isabelle Harder’s throwing a little movie party at the Central Library downtown. Deb and Isabelle could be called the Queen of Children’s Films in the Twin Cities, responsible for the Childish Film Fest at the forthcoming Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival. Harder believes, quite rightly, that there’s a dearth of good children’s films available on the big screen. There’s virtually nothing better than watching a bunch of kids howling with glee at their favorite film, although what they can choose from at the Cineplexes is simply awful.
So where do they go? As adults we get to decide between violence and special effects, stadium seating at the malls, costume dramas at the Edina or German Oscar winners at the Uptown. Children aren’t so lucky, and neither are their parents. I wince just thinking about having to take kids to see the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Well, to heck with that. What could be a better Saturday morning treat than to pull on those moon boots, ignore the cheap cartoons, and head down to the library to watch perhaps the greatest children’s film ever made, The Red Balloon? There’ll be dancing to a DJ, and then the classic Iranian film Children of Heaven.
And you know what? Afterwards, the kids will find themselves… in a library! Where they can check out that delightful story Minn of the Mississippi, also recommended by the river-loving Harder!
The Red Balloon shows at 10:15 in the morning; Children of Heaven at 1:00 pm in Pohlad Hall. Red Balloon is appropriate for kids 3 and up; Children is for 8 and older (due to subtitles).
This series will continue through the 24th, and feature some awesome films. Look here for more information each Thursday!
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