The Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, now in its 20th year, continues Friday through Sunday, October 31 through November 2, at City North 14; Facets Cinematheque; and the Vittum Theater, 1012 N. Noble. Tickets are $6 for children and adults, $4.50 for Facets members; various discounts are available for ten or more tickets. Professional actors will be on hand to read subtitled films. For more information call 773-281-9075 or 773-281-2166. Programs marked with an * are highly recommended.
Micaela, una pelicula magica
Based on a series of children’s books by Austrian writer Elfie Donnelly, this German feature (2002) sometimes plays like a made-for-TV Harry Potter adventure, at other times like a prolonged episode of Bewitched. The title teen (Sidonie von Krosigk) and her mother both practice witchcraft, much to dad’s consternation, and after Bibi angers an evil witch in their coven (Corinna Harfouch), things begin to go mysteriously wrong for the father at work. This slick celebration of kid power and paganism is fairly digestible, but whoever came up with Bibi’s electropop dance routine in a graveyard should be burned at the stake. Hermine Huntgeburth directed. In German with subtitles. 106 min. (J.R. Jones) (City North 14, 10:15 am)
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Around the World in 80 Minutes
Bibi Blocksberg
Sweet little Hodder doesn’t fit in at school, but he tries to keep up a brave front–your heart breaks a little for him when he explains in voice-over, “It’s not that I mind the other kids. I just prefer walking home alone.” When a fairy appears to him one night to tell him he’s been chosen to save the world, Hodder sets out to realize his special destiny, and to fix his widowed dad up with a date along the way. Henrik Ruben Genz’s delicate, moving portrait of the daydream world of childhood (2003) is a must-see for older kids and their parents; the relationship between Hodder and his dad is especially touching. In Danish with subtitles. 78 min. (Hank Sartin) (Facets Cinematheque, 1:00)
