Hong Kong International Children’s Film Festival (KIFF) organized by two founding members Golden Scene Limited and 3Space, has been held since 2017. Every July, they gather wonderful films from different countries with meaningful content for children and teenagers to enjoy during the summer vacation. However, due to the pandemic this year, students have started their summer break early since March. In light of this, KIFF has decided to kick off the 6th Hong Kong International Children’s Film Festival “KIFF 2022 Online” this month!
The event will be held for 8 consecutive days from April 10th to 17th next week. This year, the organizers will bring 7 films from around the world, including feature films, short films, and animations, covering a wide range of topics. The works include: “Goodbye with You”, “Rebellious Nursery Rhymes”, “Battery Dad”, “The Little Painter of Kyrgyzstan”, “Voice of the Sea”, “Super Bug”, and “Phonograph”. Audiences can watch for free online at the designated time on the KIFF website. Some of the films will have a ZOOM post-screening discussion session with actors, directors, and producers to engage with the audience.
The opening theme song is the anime “Goodbye with You”, which tells the story of East Germany in 1989. 12-year-old Fee is entrusted by her friend Sophie to take care of a puppy while she and her mother are on vacation in Hungary. After some time passes, Sophie still hasn’t returned. Fee speculates that her friend may have gone with her mother from Hungary to West Germany to reunite with family. Influenced by the social atmosphere at the time, Fee is determined to search for Sophie with the puppy, only to witness a historic moment in the transformation of East Germany.
The work will be screened for two days from April 10th to 11th, and director Zhang Wanting will be invited to hold two sharing sessions.
In addition, the film “Sonic Sea,” which will be screened on April 14th and 15th, tells the story of the local Chinese white dolphins facing various man-made threats such as underwater noise, loss and degradation of habitats, depletion of fish stocks, and busy maritime traffic, leading to a continuous decline in numbers in recent years. This documentary takes viewers into the mysterious underwater world beneath the waves, revealing the impact of underwater noise and related man-made threats on Chinese white dolphins. Through sound wave experiments, underwater footage, animation, interview clips, and more, the documentary depicts the challenges faced by Chinese white dolphins in noisy environments and explores existing solutions, as well as the importance of conserving Hong Kong’s local natural ecology.
This screening also invited Ms. Ng Ka Yi, a conservationist for whales and dolphins, to attend the online sharing session.
The curtain movie will screen “Phonograph”, the story tells about Guangzi, a fifth grader who lives under the pressure of the Secondary School Entrance Examination and the frequent quarrels of his parents. His grandmother, who lives alone, becomes his biggest spiritual support. Later, his grandmother passed away, Guangzi often suffered from insomnia, feeling that many friends were talking to him. Faced with a weakened mental state, only the ten-year-old Guangzi did not know who to confide in.
The organizers invited Huang Zile, who played Guangzi, Jiang Zuman, who played Guangzi’s mother, and producer Liao Wanhong to participate in the sharing session and share more insights on the performance. It is worth noting that this film has won numerous awards at the American Los Angeles Independent Short Film Awards and the Cannes Film Festival in France, definitely worth everyone’s appreciation!
For more screening schedules and event details, feel free to visit the KIFF official website.
Image source and learn more: Hong Kong International Children’s Film Festival
