Milwaukee Film, which organizes the Milwaukee Film Festival each year, has announced the launch of Take One: Milwaukee Children's Film Festival, an event that will run during the main festival, which runs from Sept. 23 through Oct. 3.
Two full-length feature films and three shorts programs are slated for the first weekend of the festival, Sept. 25-26, at the Marcus North Shore Cinema in Mequon, and the second weekend, Oct. 2-3, at the Marcus Ridge Cinema in New Berlin. Other screenings are set for the Landmark Oriental Theatre.
The event is a much-needed one, according to this parent of young children. Trying to find movies that are acceptable for little kids is hard enough. Expecting to find great films for kids is nearly impossible at times.
"We have a passion for making the best in international cinema available to everyone, and that includes kids," said Jonathan Jackson, executive and artistic director of Milwaukee Film, in a statement.
"This is a perfect opportunity to introduce area children and parents to films they'd otherwise not have the opportunity to see, and to provide an educational experience that will teach them how to better absorb, analyze and appreciate film and mass media."
Media educators will present the films and present children with related take-home materials. There will also be post-film workshops and discussion sessions and a family craft area at each program.
Take One is co-directed by Julia Magnasco, education director at First Stage Children's Theater, and Brian Gallagher, who holds an MFA in Film Production and is the former executive coordinator of the Wisconsin International Children's Film Festival.
Purchase tickets and get complete festival information online at milwaukee-film.org.
Here is the Take One schedule, with descriptions provided by Milwaukee Film:
"Azur & Asmar" (ages 6+)
This wildly acclaimed fantasy about race, family, and destiny is a dazzling animated film about the quest for one to find the country of their dreams.
"A Shine of Rainbows" (ages 6+)
Rare and luminous, this old-fashioned drama from Canada is a moving family film that celebrates the power of love.
Kid Shorts: Size Small (ages 3+)
Like Saturday Morning Cartoons ...only better! Simple and sweet animated stories in a variety of animation styles sure to delight and inspire the entire family.
Kid Shorts: Size Medium (ages 7+)
Lions and Varmints and Bears, oh my! This international program combines films about growing up with tales of the creatures we find in nature.
Kids Shorts: Size Large (ages 11+)
Serious or bizarre, other times hilarious and crude, these award-winning films explore the complex experience of growing up in a diverse world.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
