
Contacts:
Mark
Shaughnessy 400-4844
Lynn Kuzma 749-8337
Lauri Boxer-Macomber 615-1926
Portland Children’s Film Festival (PCFF)
March 25-29, 2015
www.portlandchildrensfilmfestival.com
WHO: All Ages. The PCFF is for
everyone! Children welcome and celebrated, but not required.
WHAT: Original Student Films - Indie
International Films - Witty Shorts - Family Documentaries - Opportunities to
Engage with Artists, Filmmakers, Community Organizations and More
WHEN: The Last Week In March (Wednesday,
March 25 - Sunday, March 29)
WHERE: Venues throughout Portland,
including St. Lawrence Arts, Portland Museum of Art, SPACE Gallery, Nickelodeon
Cinemas, Portland Public Library, USM's Ambromson Theater and Portland High
School
Portland, ME (March 1, 2015) – Save the last weekend in March
(March 24-29, 2015) for the Fourth Annual Portland Children’s Film Festival
(the PCFF), a Portland Public School Initiative.
FEATURE FILMS. This year's feature films include Felix, a coming-of-age film set in Cape
Town, South Africa that has been described by critics as "Billy Elliot
with sax meets Buena Vista Social Club". Also showing is Patema Inverted, a Japanese
perspective-twisting sci-fi adventure about two kids separated by opposite
gravities and Lola on the Pea, a
refreshingly honest tween comedy that also thoughtfully addresses the struggles
of an undocumented Kurd family living in Germany. Soccer fans and those curious
about efforts of film students in Addis Ababa will not want to miss Horizon Beautiful, a family drama set in
the mountains of Ethiopia. Felix will
be shown on Friday, March 27 at 7:30pm at Portland High School. Patema Inverted, Lola on the Pea and Horizon Beautiful will all be shown at
SPACE
Gallery
at noon, 2:00p.m. and 4:00p.m., respectively.
LIVE MUSIC & INDIE TEEN FILM. Older audiences and rock band music
fans will enjoy We Are the Best!-- a
film that captures the struggles and triumphs of three young misfit girls
growing up in the early '80s Stockholm who form an all-girl punk band. This
screening will be coupled with live music by NEVERLAND an all-female rock band
from Casco Bay High School. The music will start at 11:00am on Saturday, March
27 at St. Lawrence Arts, and the film screening will begin at 11:30am.
BRAZILIAN ANIMATION,
FILM-INSPIRED FAMILY WORKSHOP
AND MUSEUM TOUR AT PMA. Boy & the World, an all-ages
animated film overflowing with eye
and ear candy from Brazilian
artist Alê Abreu will be shown Saturday March 28
at 11:00am at
the Portland Museum of Art (PMA). At 1p.m., families will have
the
opportunity to participate in a film-inspired art activity with
the folks from
Side x Side, a growing community organization that
ignites academic excellence
in education through comprehensive arts integration, bringing critical
thinking, creativity, and innovation into the classroom through arts-based
programs. Children attending the festival will also be able to take a special
tour of the PMA Youth Art Month Exhibition. The film screening is free and
admission to the museum, the film-inspired workshop and the special tour of the
youth art exhibit are free of charge for children under 12 and half price for
families attending the festival.
I LEARN AMERICA FILMMAKER IN
ATTENDANCE Thanks
to USM's generous sponsorship, documentary filmmaker Jean-Michel Dissard will
be in attendance at this year's festival to work with students from Portland
Public Schools, appear at a Q&A and attend the screening of his film I Learn America. Dissard's film tracks
five teenagers at a public high school in Brooklyn New York striving to master
English, adapt to families they haven’t seen in years, and create a future of
their own while coming of age in a new land. This event will take place at
USM's Abromson Theater on Wednesday, March 25 from 9:45am-11:30am and is free
and open to the public.
ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL. Portland's Walking School
Bus Program and the
Portland Public Library are
joining with the PCFF this year to offer a
screening of
the film: On the Way to
School. Viewers of this film
will accompany four groups of children in four
remote locations in the world -- the Kenyan wilderness, the hills of Patagonia,
the Atlas Mountains and the Bay of Bengal -- as they travel impossibly long,
arduous and sometimes life-threatening journeys to attend class in distant
schoolhouses. This screening is free and will take place on Friday, March 27 at
3:30pm at the Library. At 3pm, the East End Community School's Walking School
Bus will walk to the event from East End Community School.
ONE CITY - ONE BOOK - ONE FILM &
SPECIAL ROBOTICS DEMONSTRATION The Invention of Hugo
Cabret is the official selection of the 2015 PCFF's film-book-community
collaboration sponsored by the Portland Public Library. Set in a busy Paris
train station in the 1930's, an orphan gets wrapped up in a mystery involving
his late father and an automaton. To get in the spirit, the Portland High
School Robotics Team will demonstrate some of their automaton creations at the
Library on Tuesday, March 24 at 3-4pm (pre-festival). The screening of Hugo
will take place at the Library on Saturday, March 28 at 1pm.
SHORT FILM
COLLECTIONS: The
Festival will feature three collections of short films from the New York City
International Children's Festival: VIVA
Spanish & Latin American Shorts (Friday, March 27, 6:00pm Portland
High), Kids Flix for Younger Kids (Saturday,
March 28, 5:30pm Portland High) and Kids
Party Mix (Saturday, March 28, 7:00pm Portland High).
RED CARPET GALA: All local student filmmakers who
have submitted films to the PCFF will be honored at the annual Red Carpet Gala.
This year's Gala will take place on Thursday, March 26 at 6pm at Portland
Public High School.
STUDENT FILMS AT THE NICKELODEON: Select student films will be shown
on Party at the Nickelodeon Cinemas. Check times and listings on the festival
website to catch your favorite films.
ABOUT THE PORTLAND
CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL
The PCFF was conceived
and organized by East End Community School parents and teachers who, inspired
by Portland's diverse and creative community and a shared interest in film and
the arts, wanted to couple an opportunity for local families to view quality
independent and international films with hands-on programming designed to
encourage local children to explore their own talents and interests in
filmmaking. The organizers believe in the value of bringing community together
to create and celebrate art.
Tickets for Most Events Are
Available on Site or at Brown Paper Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/