Free kids’ film festival set for yearly summer run

The eagerly anticipated UH Manoa KIDS FIRST! Film Festival enters its eleventh summer, boasting 40 live-action and animated films from 13 countries over five Sundays: June 11 & 25 and July 9, 23 & 30, 2017. 

This year’s festival provides quality entertainment for children and youth from four to 15 years of age. Free parking is available on campus; follow balloons to the Art Building Auditorium. Doors open at 2:30 pm; program starts at 3:00pm with door prizes followed by the films.

The screenings are comprised of award-winning independent shorts; episodes from newly and soon-to-be released series, including Gwen Stefani’s Kuu Kuu Harajuku, France’s Mily Miss Questions, and Russia’s Alisa Knows What to Do; and a special showing of the acclaimed feature film Whale Rider, back on the big screen for its 15th anniversary.

For complete information, visit www.summer.hawaii.edu/kidsfirst or call Outreach College at (808) 956-9883.
The UH Manoa KIDS FIRST! Film Festival, presented by Outreach College, is supported in part by the Sidney Stern Memorial Trust. Special thanks to NCircle Entertainment and Shout! Factory Kids.

University of Hawai‘i at Manoa • Outreach College
KIDS FIRST! Film Festival
SUNDAYS, June 11 & 25; July 9, 23, & 30 at 3PM
UH Manoa Art Auditorium FREE!
DETAILS: www.summer.hawaii.edu or call 956-9883

JUNE 11 • Ages 4+ • 64 min
Small Kine Keiki

Mily Miss Questions, Season One • France/Animation/14 min. In English.
I am Not a Mouse • UK/Animation/2 min.
Eyes in the Back of Her Head • US/Animation/4 min.
Polka Dott • US/7 min.
PAWO • Germany/Animation/8 min. No dialiogue.
KCKPL’s Stories on the Bus: Last Stop on Market Street • US/11min.
Waves from the Sky • Mexico/Animation/9 min. No dialogue.
Man’s Best Friend • UK/8 min.
Notorious Corn • France/Animation/1 min. No dialogue.

JUNE 25 • Ages 8+ • 97 min
Techies, Trekkies, Spies, & Sci-Fi

Alisa Knows What to Do, Season One • Russia/Animation/26 min. In English.
Force-Full Imagination • US/4 min.
Kuu Kuu Harajuku: Music, Baby! • US/Animation/12 min.
Light Sight • Iran/Animation/8 min. No dialogue.
Albedo Absolute • US/15 min.
The Astronomer’s Sun • UK/Animation/6 min.
Chasing Rabbits • US/12 min.
Star Taxi • Slovakia/Animation/14 min. Subtitles.

JULY 9 • Ages 4-12 • 81 min
Nurture Nature

The Machine • Mexico/Animation/4 min. Little dialogue.
Love Song of the Drone • US/Animation/3 min.
The Hole • Mexico/Animation/4 min. No dialogue.
My Haggan Dream • US/8 min.
Water Path for a Fish • Spain/Animation/8 min. No dialogue.
Ami • Germany/Animation/6 min. Little dialogue.
Barnyard Aces • Mexico/Animation/10 min. Little dialogue.
Hey Deer! • Hungary/Animation/6 min. No dialogue.
Plastic is Forever • US/19 min.
PapaUnderwater • Germany/9 min. Subtitles.
Our Wonderful Nature – The Common Chameleon • Germany/Animation/4 min. In English.

JULY 23 • 5-12 • 90 min
Be True to You!

Only One You • US/Animation/4 min.
The Trumpeteer • Mexico/Animation/10 min. No dialogue.
Lost in Spring • UK/11 min.
Welcome to the Neighborhood • US/2 min.
Dear Henri • US/13 min.
The Something • US/Animation/8 min.
Kuu Kuu Harajuku: Music, Baby! • US/Animation/12 min.
Kojo: A Short Documentary • US/14 min.
Monster Doctor • Brazil/11 min. Subtitles.
I am Dyslexic • Norway/Animation/6 min. No dialogue.

JULY 30 • Ages 10+
15th Anniversary, new blu-ray edition!
WHALE RIDER • New ZealandGermany • 105 min.

With awards from around the world, including an Oscar nomination for Keisha Castle-Hughes, Whale Rider, directed by Nikki Caro, is considered one of the best coming-of-age films of all times. A 12-year-old Maori girl dares to dream of becoming the chief of her people, a role traditionally reserved for males.

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The KIDS FIRST! Film Festival, a project of the Coalition for Quality Children’s Media, partners each year with over 150 venues nationwide, reaching an audience of more than one million people, making it the largest kids’ film festival in the world. Curated locally by UH Manoa’s Outreach College to appeal to Hawai‘i audiences, KIDS FIRST! films are free of gratuitous violence; race, gender, or religious bias; inappropriate content; and condescension towards children.

Age-appropriate groupings of films entertain through a balance of animation and live action, plus varied themes from different cultures. Parents, grandparents, friends and neighborhood kids- everyone can enjoy the films because they’re juried by kids, parents, teachers, and child advocates nationwide to qualify for the festival.