children’s filmfest
The Mill Valley Film Festival is proud to present
the 13th Annual Children’s FilmFest

So many children’s films from around the world never open on American screens. Our eight feature films and two abundant shorts programs prove that Pixar isn’t the only studio in town with savvy rodents, sprightly sea life and chatty fowl. Our Opening film, a jazzy animation from Denmark called The Ugly Duckling and Me (a British print in English), proves that show biz isn’t the best route to self-esteem, even when your agent is an aggressive but lovable rat. Another rat—this one named Halvorsen—is far kinder but just as amazing in the live-action film Svein and The Rat. Canadian Indians fall in with a precocious Orca whale in Luna: Spirit of the Whale, a story that includes the rehabilitation of a very angry young boy. Puppet animation makes a comeback that will stun you in the Danish production The Three Musketeers. From Belgium and Korea, Gilles and Ice Bar each follow gutsy young boys who risk all for the memory of their dads. And a prescient young girl helps a troupe of misfits become heroes in the Israeli film Little Heroes. Our classic film this year takes us back to the last years of the Depression, following a pack of homeless kids hopping trains in William Wellman’s Wild Boys of the Road. Catering to children ages eight and under, our two short-film programs are filled with animation, live action and a wondrously beautiful fairy tale from Tomi Ungerer called Moonman.


Children’s FilmFest Programs
Bunnies and Butterflies (shorts)
Gilles
Ice Bar
Little Heroes
Luna: Spirit of the Whale
Outer and Inner Space (shorts)
Svein and The Rat
The Three Musketeers
The Ugly Duckling and Me
Wild Boys of the Road

 

Opening Film and Festivities
	The Ugly Duckling and Me Saturday, October 6, 11:00 am Cinearts@Sequoia Saturday, October 6, 1:00 pm Opening Party at the Outdoor Art Club Film and Party $15 Adults, $12 Children Film Only $12 Adults, $10 Children Party Only $5 Adults, $4 Children <buy tickets> Following the premiere of The Ugly Duckling and Me, join us at the Outdoor Art Club, where our party for kids will have scrumptious finger food and lots of entertainment, including the fabulous Bubble Lady.
	Kazoo Parade Sunday, October 14, 3:30 pm Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center FREE After our short films program Bunnies and Butterflies for ages eight and under, join us in a kazoo parade around the block and then to Double Rainbow for free ice cream. Dress up, be bold, get ready to blow the kazoos and whistles we will provide. We’ll be led by our favorite musical duo, Orange Sherbet.
Closing Film and Festivities
	The Three Musketeers Sunday, October 14, 10:00 am Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center Closing Event at The Marin Youth Center Film and Event $12 Adults, $10 Children <buy tickets> Join us after the film for a concert by the kid band Crunchy Frog at the Marin Youth Center (the MYC).
	Crunchy Frog Show Subject of a full page article in the Marin IJ, Crunchy Frog features super talented 8-13 year old rockers who do fresh arrangements of everything from Led Zeppelin, to Aerosmith, to the Beatles. The name "Crunchy Frog" comes from a 1970s Monty Python sketch about a strange confectioner.
	Crunchy Frog Alex Ehrenberg - eleven - Keyboard bass Schuyler Whiting - twelve - drums RJ Pearce - eleven - keyboards Lianne Pearce - ten - electric violin Andy Ehrenberg - nine - vocals Melissa Hart - thirteen -vocals
ABOUT SUBTITLES To enhance our very young viewer’s appreciation of foreign language films in the Children’s FilmFest, we provide a unique service of having actors read the subtitles aloud, which we play through individual headphones, so that those who do not require the service have an equally pleasurable film experience. We are one of the few children’s festivals to do this. We have a limited number of headsets, however, so we offer them on a first-come, first-served basis. In very few situations we also have subtitles read aloud through the theater sound system. To avoid confusion and disappointment please check the film listings for individual program subtitle information; the headset logo indicates subtitled screenings. AGE RECOMMENDATIONS Please bear in mind that the age range following each children’s film program description is a suggestion only. It may only refer to a program’s length or subject matter, while it cannot adequately address everyone’s sense of appropriate or inappropriate content. Each child is different and each parent has different standards.
	Click here for more information about our CFI Education Program