Summer at U of Hawaii Is Film Fest for Kids
Summer programming at the University of Hawaii at Manoa includes what Ann Brandman, who is in charge of the university’s community programming, calls “a rare treat”: a film festival for kids. (Screening this year on Sundays, June 3, 10 and 24 and July 8 and 15 at 3 p.m. in the UH Manoa Art Auditorium.) And Brandman credits KIDS FIRST! for bringing it together.
It was an Internet search that first introduced her to KIDS FIRST! Looking specifically for children’s programming, she says she came upon KIDS FIRST! in 2007 and thought, “This looks great. Could it really be this great?”
The thrill of that discovery is still evident as she enthusiastically describes, “It was all there – the media literacy; broad participation [that includes] filmmakers, distributors, juries, films, the kids themselves and child advocates; and the notion of having criteria so the materials are appropriate [for kids of given age groups]. It was all there in one great package.”
Each year, Brandman develops a program balanced among age groups; animation and live action; features, shorts and foreign films. “Kids don’t get much of a chance to experience foreign films,” she says, noting that “we’re an island in the middle of the Pacific” and that she feels it’s important to expose kids to other cultures and see how the lives of kids in other countries are similar and different from their own.
Brandman is particularly excited about two feature films screening at this year’s festival: Miss Minoes, which she describes as an adorable film from a great distributor (Music Box Films), and Quill: The Life of A Guide Dog, shown in Japanese with subtitles. “In Hawaii, we have a lot of Japanese visitors and [a large] Japanese community, so I’m really pleased to be able to show such a heartwarming Japanese film.”
KIDS FIRST! has also been a marketer’s dream come true, Brandman has found, as we provide images and film clips for use in putting together the media releases. “It makes all the difference in the world when you supply [the media] with the material,” she explains. High-resolution images accompany the press releases she sends; select clips accompany her pitches to TV. Brandman gets the word out also by sending flyers to schools as well as notifying those on the University’s mailing list and getting the KIDS FIRST! film festival listed in the local events calendars.
And kids, she points out, always make for a good story – so this year, she has been making sure the local media know that one of Hawaii’s own, 15-year-old Blake Hawes, is a KIDS FIRST! youth film critic. Brandman’s appreciation of the KIDS FIRST! youth film critic program also reflects her background as a museum curator and her interest in improving kids’ media literacy. “Kids are so in the thick of [media onslaught], anything that can help them be critical consumers of information [is valuable]. That’s another part of KIDS FIRST! that’s so important.”
