The popular annual International Children’s and Youth Film Carnival (ICYFC) is once again set to offer delightful summertime entertainment for the whole family. Presented by the Film Programmes Office (FPO) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the ICYFC will screen a selection of enjoyable international animations, feature films and short films from July 11 to August 16 at the Cinema of the Hong Kong Film Archive, the Theatre of Hong Kong City Hall, the Lecture Hall of the Hong Kong Space Museum and the Auditorium of North District Town Hall.
Among the 10 feature films in the main section, five are fun-filled animations. In “Gordon & Paddy” (2017), frog police chief Gordon appreciates Paddy, a clever little mouse, and decides to hire and train him to be his successor. “Boonie Bears: Blast into the Past” (2019) follows Brian, Bramble and Vick as they fall into a time tunnel that takes them into the ancient past, where they are chased by wild beasts and a tribe of primitive humans. Following a spaceship malfunction, Willy and his trusty robot assistant in “Terra Willy” (2019) evacuate to a beautiful planet where they make friends with the local creatures. However, danger is lurking in the dark corners of the planet. “Vic the Viking – The Magic Sword” (2019) features Vic sneaking onto a boat and sailing to a secluded island in search of a solution to save his mother, who was accidentally turned into gold by a magic sword. In “Strike” (2019), Mungo dreams to be a professional footballer and play in the Wild Cup tournament, but a football-related accident makes him blame himself and even stop pursuing his dream.
Two of the other feature films take children on dreamlike journeys. “THE LUNNIS and the Great Fairy Tale Adventures” (2019) features Mar, a fairy tale lover, who joins her puppet friends in the world of a magic book. There, she meets her favourite characters and even destroys the evil scheme of a fantasy-hating millionaire. The film won Best Orchestral Music at the Spanish Audio-visual Awards 2019. In “Captain Bimse” (2019), Anna and teddy bear Mr Johnson climb into a small yellow plane that suddenly appears, and it takes them to a remote village to save a doll that Anna left behind.
The remaining three feature films showcase the preciousness of family and friendship. “Team Marco” (2019) depicts Marco making a bet with his grandpa to gain the freedom to play video games. Marco and his team will have to beat his grandpa’s team in a game of bocce, but the match is stopped by an unexpected event. The film won Audience Award in Family Film at the Mill Valley Film Festival 2019. Alfons in “Alfons Jitterbit – Countdown to Chaos” (2019) is a troublemaker in the eyes of adults. In order to prove himself to the world, Alfons, who is a talented inventor, enters a rocket ship building competition with his friends, but the situation puts them in bigger trouble. The film won best film (children’s jury) at the Zero Plus International Film Festival 2019 in Russia and Best Feature Film for Children & Youth at the “Rolan” International Film Festival for Children and Youth 2019 in Armenia. In “My Little Sister” (2019), Yamil longs for his father’s return from the battlefield but this never happens. One day Yamil’s mother brings back an orphan along with instructions from Yamil’s father asking Yamil to treat the orphan as his own sister. The film won Best Director, Best Cinematography and People’s Choice Award at the Yalta International Film Festival “Eurasian Bridge” 2019 in Russia and other awards.
The “Youthful Encounters” section features two films that encourage young movie-goers to believe in themselves. “100% Coco” (2017) tells the story of Coco, a young fashion aficionado, who is bullied by her classmates at school but is a popular masked fashion vlogger online. Will Coco continue to stay behind the mask or show her true identity? The film won numerous awards including Best Dutch Family Film (Cinekid Lion Audience Award) at the Cinekid Festival 2017 and Golden Film at the Nederlands Film Festival 2017. In “Hacker” (2019), after being told that his mother, thought to be deceased, is in fact still alive, young hacker Benjamin decides to start an investigation. He then discovers that there is a sinister plot and everyone he knows is hiding their own secrets. The film won the 1st Prize of Best Live-Action Feature (Children’s Jury) at the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival 2019.
This year’s “Film Tunnel” section will screen two classics, both entitled “The Kid”, which portray the lives of orphans. Directed by and starring the great film comedian Charles Chaplin, the silent film “The Kid” (1921) follows the Tramp as he finds an abandoned baby and raises him like his own son. The kid is taken to an orphanage later and the Tramp decides to rescue him, turning himself into a criminal wanted by the police. The other movie, “The Kid” (1950), stars the kung fu superstar Bruce Lee at the age of 10. Playing Kid Cheung, a young orphan who begins a life of crime to earn a living, Lee gives a whimsical performance that delights the audience.
Experienced dubbing artists Yip Ka-man and Kinson Lai will perform live Cantonese dubbing for “Gordon & Paddy”, “THE LUNNIS and the Great Fairy Tale Adventures” and “Captain Bimse”, which will also have English subtitles. The other films will have Chinese and English subtitles.
Aside from screening the feature films, the FPO has picked 26 animations and shorts from around the world and grouped them into three programmes that will be screened during the ICYFC in the “World Animation & Shorts” section. An array of new characters will be introduced including a clumsy crochet dinosaur; a living chess piece; a fox who is preparing a birthday party for a bunny; Mr Wolf, who cares a lot about his appearance; and a little ice-cream lover. Ken Kwan, a veteran scriptwriter, director and actor of children’s drama, will host the programmes in Cantonese.
Tickets priced at $70 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For credit card telephone bookings, please call 2111 5999. For programme enquiries, please call 2734 2900 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/fp/en_US/web/fpo/programmes/2020icyfc/index.html.
In view of the latest situation of COVID-19, special admission and seating arrangements will be implemented in the screening venues. For details, please call 2734 2900 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/fp/en_US/web/fpo/programmes/2020icyfc/ticketinfo.html.
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