Are you sitting comfortably? Then we shall begin. Making films for children requires a very specific skill-set. To be effective and successful, the story must be told in a way that engages the young mind, without condescending. It must contain enough action to hold the attention, without being too violent or frightening. It must involve characters that are relatable, as well as those that capture the imagination. Crucially, it must also appeal to grown-ups, since they are ones paying for the theatre tickets. This is a very fine line to walk, and many fall by the wayside. On the other hand, walking this fine line can lead to stagnation. As with any movie genre, it is easy to fall into the trap of predictability and worn-out narrative tropes. Rare is the children’s film that achieves the necessary balance, while offering something fresh and original. Rarer still are the children...
- 11/17/2014
- by Sarah Myles
- We Got This Covered
★★★☆☆ Even regular films by the Children's Film Foundation are known for a slightly 'detached' quality. As a result those with intentional fantastical themes were positively bizarre. The Monster of Highgate Ponds (1961), The Boy Who Turned Yellow (1972) and A Hitch in Time (1978), which have been remastered and released on DVD by the BFI under the collective name Weird Adventures, are three such titles. Starring such British stalwarts as Patrick Troughton and Sorcha Cusack, and produced by amongst others Alberto Cavalcanti, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, these films encapsulate an era of British frivolity.
Here are three stories as enchanting as they are downright odd. Featuring a dragon-like monster from Malaysia who causes excitement amongst local inhabitants when he takes up residence in the ponds on Hampstead Heath, a boy who turns yellow when he meets an alien who can travel through the electrical grid system, and a nutty professor who uses...
Here are three stories as enchanting as they are downright odd. Featuring a dragon-like monster from Malaysia who causes excitement amongst local inhabitants when he takes up residence in the ponds on Hampstead Heath, a boy who turns yellow when he meets an alien who can travel through the electrical grid system, and a nutty professor who uses...
- 6/18/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Sadie Frost, Gary Kemp, Phil Collins – they all started out in movies from the Children's Film Foundation
A forgotten catalogue of hundreds of British children's films, all shot in the school holidays from the 1950s to 1980s, is to be re-released after lying dormant while many of their young stars rose to fame.
Performers such as Phil Collins, Michael Crawford, Leslie Ash, Susan George, Sadie Frost and Gary Kemp all got their first screen work in Children's Film Foundation features, which entertained the nation's youth at Saturday morning cinema screenings. The British Film Institute has announced that it will be releasing the entire catalogue and screening many of the best features at special events which are sure to attract nostalgic fans and social historians.
"The early black-and-white films from the 1950s were rather middle-class and wholesome, so you can imagine the children throwing their ice cream tubs at the screen back then,...
A forgotten catalogue of hundreds of British children's films, all shot in the school holidays from the 1950s to 1980s, is to be re-released after lying dormant while many of their young stars rose to fame.
Performers such as Phil Collins, Michael Crawford, Leslie Ash, Susan George, Sadie Frost and Gary Kemp all got their first screen work in Children's Film Foundation features, which entertained the nation's youth at Saturday morning cinema screenings. The British Film Institute has announced that it will be releasing the entire catalogue and screening many of the best features at special events which are sure to attract nostalgic fans and social historians.
"The early black-and-white films from the 1950s were rather middle-class and wholesome, so you can imagine the children throwing their ice cream tubs at the screen back then,...
- 6/16/2012
- by Vanessa Thorpe
- The Guardian - Film News
It's a fading memory for the middle-aged, but gave a start to Phil Collins, Susan George, Michael Crawford and many future stars. And Keith Chegwin. It gave parents a kid-free break, too
The year is 1967. The place is your local ABC cinema. The event – the ABC Minors Children's Matinee, to which thousands of grateful parents have dispatched their offspring. First off is the ABC Minors song, the lyrics of which flash up on screen:
"We are the boys and girls all known as
Minors of the ABC
And every Saturday all line up
To see the films we like and shout aloud with glee
We like to laugh and have our sing-song
Such a happy crowd are we
We're all pals together
We're Minors of the ABC."
After this rousing number, the cinema's manager hosts some obligatory birthday singing and talent shows. Finally comes the moment the budding juvenile delinquents...
The year is 1967. The place is your local ABC cinema. The event – the ABC Minors Children's Matinee, to which thousands of grateful parents have dispatched their offspring. First off is the ABC Minors song, the lyrics of which flash up on screen:
"We are the boys and girls all known as
Minors of the ABC
And every Saturday all line up
To see the films we like and shout aloud with glee
We like to laugh and have our sing-song
Such a happy crowd are we
We're all pals together
We're Minors of the ABC."
After this rousing number, the cinema's manager hosts some obligatory birthday singing and talent shows. Finally comes the moment the budding juvenile delinquents...
- 9/9/2010
- The Guardian - Film News
The Edinburgh film festival aims to surprise. But in order to do that, it needs less Toy Story, less iffy Britcoms, less big name documentarians, and a little more clout
For the last couple of years, ever since the UK Film Council offered it a substantial grant linked to a change in the way it presented itself, the Edinburgh film festival has constantly referred to itself as a festival of "discovery" – in contrast, presumably, to the London film festival, which perhaps considers itself a festival of "celebrity".
But what does this mean in practice? All film festivals, by definition, enable people to "discover" films they may not yet know about or have forgotten; their stock-in-trade, however specialist, is a mix of pre-release previews, archive retrievals – and squads of that odd beast known as the "festival film", the submerged nine-tenths of the film production world that gets only one or two screenings in its lifetime,...
For the last couple of years, ever since the UK Film Council offered it a substantial grant linked to a change in the way it presented itself, the Edinburgh film festival has constantly referred to itself as a festival of "discovery" – in contrast, presumably, to the London film festival, which perhaps considers itself a festival of "celebrity".
But what does this mean in practice? All film festivals, by definition, enable people to "discover" films they may not yet know about or have forgotten; their stock-in-trade, however specialist, is a mix of pre-release previews, archive retrievals – and squads of that odd beast known as the "festival film", the submerged nine-tenths of the film production world that gets only one or two screenings in its lifetime,...
- 6/21/2010
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
The Edinburgh Film Festival begins this week, running from this Wednesday 16th June until Sunday the 27th.
Now in its 64th year, Eiff is the longest consecutively running film festival in the world and HeyUGuys will be there to bring you news, interviews and reviews.
Our correspondent Nicola Balkind tells us what we’ve got to look forward to.
This year features an electric programme. Artistic director Hannah McGill has continued the trend towards first- and second-time filmmakers and the prominence of British films and premieres.
Leading attractions include the European premieres of Toy Story 3, Mr Nice, the long-awaited World’s Greatest Dad, and The Runaways. The retrospective this year is entitled After the Wave and features the forgotten classics of British cinema from 1967-1979, which features a new print of Powell & Pressburger’s The Boy Who Turned Yellow.
The Rosebud strand is a big part of this year’s festival,...
Now in its 64th year, Eiff is the longest consecutively running film festival in the world and HeyUGuys will be there to bring you news, interviews and reviews.
Our correspondent Nicola Balkind tells us what we’ve got to look forward to.
This year features an electric programme. Artistic director Hannah McGill has continued the trend towards first- and second-time filmmakers and the prominence of British films and premieres.
Leading attractions include the European premieres of Toy Story 3, Mr Nice, the long-awaited World’s Greatest Dad, and The Runaways. The retrospective this year is entitled After the Wave and features the forgotten classics of British cinema from 1967-1979, which features a new print of Powell & Pressburger’s The Boy Who Turned Yellow.
The Rosebud strand is a big part of this year’s festival,...
- 6/14/2010
- by Nicola Balkind
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Edinburgh International Film Festival
The UK's oldest film festival has always championed homegrown product, but it's surprising how much of it they've found this year, both old and new. Most of the British entries are so brand new, it's almost a lucky dip, but last year's festival brought us Moon and Fish Tank, among others, so here's hoping. Promising-sounding premieres include SoulBoy, recreating the heyday of northern soul's epicentre; the Wigan Casino; urban horror Cherry Tree Lane (from London To Brighton director Paul Andrew Williams); and buddyship drama Third Star. Or for something a little stranger, try Jackboots On Whitehall, an animated alternative history of the second world war; Rhys Ifans as Howard Marks in Mr Nice; Kaufman-esque comedy Skeletons; or Hp Lovecraft's The Dunwich Horror, an "audio movie" with no images at all.
For older aficionados, there's also a trove of rediscovered British films from the 1960s and 70s.
The UK's oldest film festival has always championed homegrown product, but it's surprising how much of it they've found this year, both old and new. Most of the British entries are so brand new, it's almost a lucky dip, but last year's festival brought us Moon and Fish Tank, among others, so here's hoping. Promising-sounding premieres include SoulBoy, recreating the heyday of northern soul's epicentre; the Wigan Casino; urban horror Cherry Tree Lane (from London To Brighton director Paul Andrew Williams); and buddyship drama Third Star. Or for something a little stranger, try Jackboots On Whitehall, an animated alternative history of the second world war; Rhys Ifans as Howard Marks in Mr Nice; Kaufman-esque comedy Skeletons; or Hp Lovecraft's The Dunwich Horror, an "audio movie" with no images at all.
For older aficionados, there's also a trove of rediscovered British films from the 1960s and 70s.
- 6/11/2010
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Two highly-anticipated second feature films from U.S. underground filmmakers will be making their World Premieres all the way over at the 64th annual Edinburgh International Film Festival, which will run for twelve days on June 16-27. The films are Rona Mark’s The Crab and Zach Clark’s Vacation!.
The Crab, which screens on June 21, is the touching story of a verbally abusive man born with two enormous, mutant-like hands; while Vacation!, which screens on June 20, tracks four urban gals let loose in a sunny seaside resort down South.
Both Mark and Clark previously screened their debut features at Eiff. Mark’s Strange Girls screened there in 2008 and Clark’s Modern Love Is Automatic screened in 2009. Both films also ended up as runners-up in Bad Lit’s annual Movie of the Year award, again Strange Girls in 2008 and Modern Love in 2009. Sadly, these two masterpieces are still unavailable on...
The Crab, which screens on June 21, is the touching story of a verbally abusive man born with two enormous, mutant-like hands; while Vacation!, which screens on June 20, tracks four urban gals let loose in a sunny seaside resort down South.
Both Mark and Clark previously screened their debut features at Eiff. Mark’s Strange Girls screened there in 2008 and Clark’s Modern Love Is Automatic screened in 2009. Both films also ended up as runners-up in Bad Lit’s annual Movie of the Year award, again Strange Girls in 2008 and Modern Love in 2009. Sadly, these two masterpieces are still unavailable on...
- 6/4/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Oh how I wish I lived in the UK.
Let’s add the Edinburgh Film Festival to the ever growing list of why the UK is awesome. The festival is set to kick off on June 16, and not only does it open with one of my most anticipated films of the year, Sylvain Chomet’s ode to Jaques Tati (who wrote the script the film is based on), The Illusionist, but it features films from some of today’s most gifted directors.
Amongst the 133 features showing during the festival, films including Toy Story 3, Oscar award winner The Secret In Their Eyes, Steven Soderbergh’s Spalding Gray documentary And Everything Is Going Fine, and even Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant follow up, the film My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done.
However, what is the real kicker, are the classic films showing this year. They include Five Easy Pieces,...
Let’s add the Edinburgh Film Festival to the ever growing list of why the UK is awesome. The festival is set to kick off on June 16, and not only does it open with one of my most anticipated films of the year, Sylvain Chomet’s ode to Jaques Tati (who wrote the script the film is based on), The Illusionist, but it features films from some of today’s most gifted directors.
Amongst the 133 features showing during the festival, films including Toy Story 3, Oscar award winner The Secret In Their Eyes, Steven Soderbergh’s Spalding Gray documentary And Everything Is Going Fine, and even Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant follow up, the film My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done.
However, what is the real kicker, are the classic films showing this year. They include Five Easy Pieces,...
- 6/3/2010
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Rarely seen works by Ken Russell, Stephen Frears and Albert Finney among festival retrospective
A batch of "lost and forgotten" British films, made more than 30 years ago by many of the industry's leading figures, including Ken Russell, Stephen Frears and Albert Finney, is to be screened at this year's Edinburgh film festival.
The retrospective of 16 rarely seen British-made and directed films from between 1967 and 1979, which have been rediscovered after more than a year's detective work by the event's staff, is expected to be a highlight of the festival, which opens in two weeks.
Some are being shown for the first time in decades, as many of the films, including Savage Messiah made by Ken Russell in 1972 and starring Helen Mirren, the children's detective story What Next, and the original cut of Robert Fuest's The Final Programme, starring Jon Finch, have never been released on video or DVD.
The mini-season,...
A batch of "lost and forgotten" British films, made more than 30 years ago by many of the industry's leading figures, including Ken Russell, Stephen Frears and Albert Finney, is to be screened at this year's Edinburgh film festival.
The retrospective of 16 rarely seen British-made and directed films from between 1967 and 1979, which have been rediscovered after more than a year's detective work by the event's staff, is expected to be a highlight of the festival, which opens in two weeks.
Some are being shown for the first time in decades, as many of the films, including Savage Messiah made by Ken Russell in 1972 and starring Helen Mirren, the children's detective story What Next, and the original cut of Robert Fuest's The Final Programme, starring Jon Finch, have never been released on video or DVD.
The mini-season,...
- 6/1/2010
- by Severin Carrell
- The Guardian - Film News
Werner Herzog will unveil his 'horror film without the blood' alongside new work from Soderbergh and Bernard Rose's biopic of Howard Marks
New work from the likes of Werner Herzog, Bernard Rose and Steven Soderbergh will take its place among 133 features screening at this year's Edinburgh film festival.
The event opens on 16 June with The Illusionist, an animation set in Scotland and created by Sylvain Chomet, previously best known for the acclaimed Belleville Rendez-vous. The curtain comes down 11 days later with the premiere of Third Star, a British buddy movie that marks the feature debut of director Hattie Dalton.
Other potential highlights include screenings of Toy Story 3, Bernard Rose's Howard Marks biopic Mr Nice and the Argentine thriller The Secret in Their Eyes – winner of this year's best foreign film Oscar. Elsewhere, London to Brighton director Paul Andrew Williams returns with Cherry Tree Lane, while Soderbergh is...
New work from the likes of Werner Herzog, Bernard Rose and Steven Soderbergh will take its place among 133 features screening at this year's Edinburgh film festival.
The event opens on 16 June with The Illusionist, an animation set in Scotland and created by Sylvain Chomet, previously best known for the acclaimed Belleville Rendez-vous. The curtain comes down 11 days later with the premiere of Third Star, a British buddy movie that marks the feature debut of director Hattie Dalton.
Other potential highlights include screenings of Toy Story 3, Bernard Rose's Howard Marks biopic Mr Nice and the Argentine thriller The Secret in Their Eyes – winner of this year's best foreign film Oscar. Elsewhere, London to Brighton director Paul Andrew Williams returns with Cherry Tree Lane, while Soderbergh is...
- 6/1/2010
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
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