Sprockets - 2008

SPROCKETS (TIFF for Children)

Why not an International Film Festival for children?  Start them young at a ripe age, as they say.  Toronto International Film Festival Group presents the Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children from April 12-18, at Famous Players Canada Square, and Cineplex Odeon Sheppard Grande.

For complete schedule of films, ticket information, availability and other related activities, check the website at sprockets.ca

For films not in English, subtitles may be read aloud.  In this article, I have included most of the French related films screened during SPROCKETS.  A few are without dialogue, but it helps to be able to comprehend a few French words. 

UNE GIRAFE SOUS LA PLUIE (France/Belgium 2007) *** 13 min
Directed by Pascae Hequet
A charming tale about the refugee experience told sans dialogue.  A giraffe is forced to leave his homeland to build a new life in a land where dogs inhabit.  Yes, it’s a dog’s life for poor giraffe but there is a happy ending.

LES GRANDS (THE SCHOOLYARD) (Canada 2007) *** 12 min
Directed by Chloe Leriche
Three schoolboys take on the class bully in the schoolyard.  But this involves planning and tactics.  Using adult dialogue, LES GRAND is a well made parody of the gangster world though the film sinks into a clichéd ending.

LEON IN WINTERTIME (France/Canada 2007) *** 28 min
Directed by Pierre-Luc Granjon and Pascal Le Notre
LEON is an orphan bear brought up in the fairy tale Kingdom by two human parents.  LEON IN WINTETIME (dialogue in English) follows Leon’s adventures as he saves the princess and Kingdom from the evil ogre.  Engaging and with super animation.

SAINTE BARBE (Switz/Canada 2007) ** 8 min
Directed by Claude Barras
Expressive puppetry with no dialogue, but this dark tale is quite hard to follow without first finding out what SAINTE BARBE is all about.  Dark, magical but a bit puzzling!

SLEEPING BETTY (Canada 2007) **** 9 min
Directed by Claude Cloutier
This marvelous largely animated feature juxtaposes modern and medieval elements to illustrate the use of animation in fairy tales.  Funny, absurd but always entertaining, this short feature comes with a lesson plan (can be requested from the NFB) for schools as well.