The Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, now in its 20th year, runs Friday, October 24, through Sunday, November 2, at Biograph; Carson Pirie Scott, 6th floor, 1 S. State; 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. The full festival schedule for October 24 through 30 follows; a complete schedule through November 2 is available online at chicagoreader.com.
Elina
Adapted from a novel by Witi Ihimaera, this magic-realist film from New Zealand updates an ancient Maori legend about a coastal village whose founder arrived on the back of a whale. The current village chieftain is worried because he has no male successor: his son has emigrated to Germany and his grandson has died at birth. His granddaughter is a clear leader, but he won’t even consider her. The miraculous outcome is predictable, yet this 2002 film, written and confidently directed by Niki Caro, is otherwise fresh and beguiling. It’s anchored by the natural performances of novice Keisha Castle-Hughes, who’s quietly expressive as the spunky girl, and veteran Rawiri Paratene, playing the gruff chieftain who loves his family but refuses to show it. Leon Narbey’s cinematography captures both the beauty and squalor of the Maori hamlet. In English and subtitled Maori. 101 min. (TS) (City North 14, 10:15 am)
Seize the Day
Disease of the Wind
The Zoo Crew
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The festival remembers legendary animator Chuck Jones (1912-2002) with this two-hour survey of his Warner Brothers cartoons, hosted by his widow, Marian. Reviewing an earlier retrospective, Fred Camper wrote, “The cartoons can be seen on television, but much is lost there. Jones’s art depends on establishing and then disrupting space and rhythm….[His cartoons] are full of sharp breaks, abrupt transitions, troubling contradictions; their look and feel and space are as broken and ragged as the coyote’s fur just after he’s been scorched by one of his own explosions. In Jones’s disturbed world, characters are less likely to have their conflicts resolved than to end up in a ‘Psychopathic Hospital.’” On the program: Fast and Furry-ous (1949), Rabbit Hood (1949), The Ducksters (1950), Rabbit of Seville (1950), Feed the Kitty (1952), Little Beau Pepe (1952), Rabbit Seasoning (1952), Duck Amuck (1953), Duck Dodgers in the 241/2 Century (1953), No Barking (1954), One Froggy Evening (1955), There They Go-Go-Go (1956), the Oscar-winning What’s Opera, Doc? (1957), and Robin Hood Daffy (1958). (Biograph, 12:30)
