Something Fun for the Kids – Kiddomatic Film Festival

You think you've had one helluva year, the kids are stressed out too. Children are hearing all kinds of different information about the pandemic and coronavirus and the election, a weird school schedule, and not getting to see their friends and grandparents, it's a lot to handle. Let's give 'em a break and let 'em enjoy some movies.

The Roxy's children's film festival, Kiddomatic, is back and available to watch anywhere in the country! The virtual film fest will take place from November 13th to 30th and the family pass is just $20 for more than 40 feature, and short films online. There's something for every kid with target age ranges from 3 to 18 years old.

Get more info and tickets here. A selection of films will be made available as The Kiddomatic Education Collection prior to the festival, now through November 12th. The Collection offers films and corresponding lessons for free to students, teachers, and parents. Packages are listed by grade and, besides the films, include access to discussion guides, activities, and extra resources. Kiddomatic Learning Videos will act as a guide so teachers and parents have the support necessary for an easy and rich Kiddomatic experience. To participate and receive login instructions and materials, contact Carrie@theroxytheater.org or visit kiddomatic.org/education.

“I’m proud of how adaptable this program is. No matter what kind of teaching environment your family finds itself in right now, there is a way to implement this program into your students’ lives,” said festival director Carrie Richer.

Here are just a few highlights from the festival.

• MY BEAUTIFUL STUTTER (only available Nov 13 & 30) follows five kids who stutter, ages 9 to 18, who, after experiencing bullying and stigmatization, meet other children like them at an interactive arts-based program, Stuttering Association for the Young, in New York City. Their journey to SAY finds some close to suicide, others withdrawn and fearful, exhausted and defeated from failed fluency training, societal pressures to not stutter, or the decision to remain silent. Over the course of a year, we witness firsthand the incredible transformation that happens when these young people of wildly different backgrounds experience for the first time the revolutionary idea at the heart of SAY: that it’s okay to stutter.

• THE SNAIL AND THE WHALE is about a tiny snail that goes on an amazing journey by hitching a ride on the tail of a huge humpback whale. Based on the picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

• HEART OF WINTER: A Swiss animated film about forest creatures adapting to the seasonal changes that bring new challenges.

• WATER FLOWS TOGETHER is a documentary about acknowledging Indigenous land in outdoor recreation. Colleen Cooley, one of the few female Diné (Navajo) river guides on the San Juan River narrates the film, a meditation on the challenges Colleen and her community have faced, the kinship she has with the San Juan River, and the unique opportunities her role as a river guide affords as she seeks to create positive change.

• THE RED BALLOON (Le Ballon Rouge) is one of the most beloved children’s films of all time. In this deceptively simple, nearly wordless tale, a young boy discovers a stray balloon which seems to have a mind of its own on the streets of Paris. The two become inseparable, yet the world’s harsh realities finally interfere.

• HEATWAVE is a stop-motion film from Greece where, in the midst of a heatwave of insanity, two children find a way to cool everyone down!

• GUMBY: THE MOVIE: In this adaptation of the 1950s “claymation” cartoon series, the crazy Blockheads threaten to ruin Gumby’s benefit concert by replacing the entire city of Clokeytown with robots.