Exciting News!

Minnesota Film Arts, the presenters of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival produce a Childish Film Festival April 2005. Minnesota's first Childish Film Festival takes place during the larger, well-established international film festival. April 2-8 will have daily shows at the Riverview Theater for families, and April 11-15 offers FREE shows for young audiences from the Twin Cities' public school system (grades K-6). On April 9, The Children's Theatre Company will host a special event screening of the french animated film, PRINCES AND PRINCESSES, with CTC actors performing the character voices live on stage. See http://www.mnfilmarts.org for the complete picture.
Contact deb@mnfilmarts.org for inquiries and updates.

About Childish Films

Childish Films is a mission by Deb Girdwood to curate non-commercial works, largely from the international festival circuit, for children and the adults that accompany them. She selects works that are humanist, idealistic, beautiful, entertaining, and often quite funny. She integrates animation, fiction, and non-fiction shows of all lengths and formats. The programs are suitable for young audiences and categorized by age-appropriateness. However, these are not your average "family films". In this case, "childish" simply means, "suitable for a child"—and implies something that is ageless. Childish Films celebrates a wide array of complex visions by talented, imaginative filmmakers working around the world, paying tribute to the ageless art and idealism of cinema. Please note: you will find no condescending morals, test-marketing, or accompanying plastic toys for sale.

Bio and Background

Deb Girdwood co-founded the Northwest Film Forum in 1995 with Jamie Hook in Seattle, Washington. The Childish Film Festival evolved following several summers of children's film programming at the Northwest Film Forum's repertory venue, the Grand Illusion Cinema. Following the hoopla of the first Childish Film Festival at The Little Theatre in 2002, Girdwood curated childish programs for youthful audiences at the Olympia Film Festival , the Seattle International Children's Festival, and the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival . In the works now is a new Winter program for the Northwest Film Forum scheduled for late January, as well as our largest program to date (see "Exciting News" above) for the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival to premiere in April, 2005.