22nd THESSALONIKI DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL [19-28/5/2020]
Docs for Kids online
An innocent yet mercilessly wary gaze at reality learns to read the world. The Docs for Kids screenings of the 22nd Thessaloniki Documentary Festival for students will be available online for free from May 19 to May 28, so that children and teenagers all over Greece would have the opportunity to discover them at home.
199 Little Heroes (for children aged 11+)
Sigrid Klausmann, Germany 2018, Color 50'
What does the simplest of phrases “going to school” mean for children in different places of the world? An international documentary series that follows children at the four corners of the planet on their way from home to school. These children guide us through the endless diversity of landscapes across various continents and share their dreams, as well as their fears – of child labor, war, and delinquency – while praising the beauty of nature and the importance of friendship. We see the world through their eyes.
Αnbessa (for children aged 13+)
Mo Scarpelli, Italy, USA, Ethiopia 2019, Color 86'Asalif, aged 10, and his mother can hear the hyenas howling at night, from the forest behind their house, in the outskirts of Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa. The true hyenas, though, are dressed in human skin. Asalif and his mother were thrown out of their previous home, driven away by developers, who are prowling over them once again. Βut in his dreams, Asalif transforms into an anbessa (a lion in Amharic), the only animal that can drive hyenas away.
Asho (for children aged 13+)
Jafar Najafi, Iran 2019, Color 30'
Asho is the most peculiar case of a film buff you ’ll ever get to meet: he is a shepherd child who enjoys life in the hillsides of Iran, watching tons of movies on his cracked tablet while on the fields and dreaming of becoming a cinema icon. A landscape of stunning beauty and dreamlike frames provides the ideal backdrop for this romantic portrait of a natural-born star.
Bird Boy (for children aged 11+)
Simon Lereng Wilmont, Denmark 2019, Color 22'
When 12-year-old Reshat looks around, he sees the oil fields of Azerbaijan. When he looks up dreamily, he sees pigeons flying to heaven. He misses his father, who died a year ago. But what he longs for is to be with the pigeon keeper. While Reshat is learning everything there is to learn about pigeons, he discovers his true desires.
Blue Eyes and Colorful My Dress (for children aged 4+)
Polina Gumiela, Germany 2020, Color 55'
It’s a bright and sunny summer day in a Bulgarian town and Zhana, the director’s 3-year-old daughter, hits the neighborhood streets, connecting to every kid and cat she comes across. In this world-opening journey, every step of the way equals a new discovery: Zhana’s temperament unfolds before our eyes as she hops from one adventure into another.
Fien, Jip & Fien (for children aged 11+)
Marie De Hert, Ellen Pollard, Belgium 2020, Color 15'
Jip (11 years old) is in love for the first time. His little sister Fien (9 years old) wants to know everything about it. She is curious, but also a little jealous. Will this newly arrived romance break their inseparable bond? And isn’t it kind of weird that Jip’s sweetheart is also called Fien?
In My Blood It Runs (for children aged 15+)
Maya Newell, Australia 2019, Color 84'
Ten-year-old Dujuan is a child-healer and a good hunter, who speaks three languages. As he shares his wisdom of the complex world around him, we sense his spark and intelligence. As he travels perilously close to incarceration, his family’s fight to give him a strong Arrernte education alongside his western education. We walk with him as he shares his truths and somewhere in-between finds space to dream, imagine, and hope for his future self.
Jawline (for children aged 16+)
Liza Mandelup, USA 2019, Color 97'
In rural Tennessee, a 16-year-old is striving to escape a dead-end life by riding the new-age wave of boy broadcasts, aiming at becoming the new internet crush for coeval girls from around the globe. A fascinating and tender human portrait that dares to take a judgment-free peek at modern-day childhood and the booming teen rush industry, projecting the new face of the American Dream. An insightful documentary that approaches this peculiar world with discretion in search of its underlying codes and causes.
Now (for children 14+)
Jim Rakete, Germany 2019, Color 75'
A documentary that shows how young activists from around the globe such as Greta Thunberg are currently challenging the status quo and pushing for social and political change. The film focuses on these young protagonists, addressing the question of what it feels like and what is at stake when you engage in such a life. Experienced activists, as well as experts in a wide variety of topics, will provide background information and forecasts for future developments.
Renildo & Vanildo (for children aged 11+)
Eva van Barneveld, Heleen D’ Haens, The Netherlands 2019, Color 15'
In their village in Guinea-Bissau, the twins Renildo and Vanildo, are renowned for their dance. Mama Dila takes care of them after their mother died and they see their hardworking father rarely. Soon they will visit him again and they want to surprise him with a dance. They practice a lot, but their father is mainly focused on their grades. What will he think of their dance?
Winter Lake (for children aged 9+)
Petteri Saario, Finland 2019, Color 15'
In every school vacation, Emika and her cousin Antti, who is kind of like a big brother to her, go to the vast Saimaa Lake, an amazing nature reserve with thousands of islands, in Finland. You just have to see the magical frozen lake, woodpeckers in the snowy woods and fish beneath the ice, the starry sky and the Northern Lights to understand why Emika and Antti keep coming back here…A deeply engaging story about our true connection with nature.
