THE SCENT OF THE WHOLE WORLD
The festival team is again bringing films from around the world to Zlín. The International Competition for Children's Films will be dominated by exotic ones and debuting directors.
An Israeli film will be having its European premiere at the 56th Zlín Film Festival. It's Abulele (Israel, 2015) by a debuting director named Jonathan Geva. It brings back memories of Steven Spielberg's cult film E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial from 1982. The incredible adventures of young Adam begin when a mythical creature called an Abulele appears in his basement. The creature helps his new friend to not only overcome his grief over the loss of his brother, but also to deal with some bullies at school. This touching story with great special effects is coming to Zlin and will be presented by a delegation headed by the director.
Also setting out on an unforgettable journey is 7-year-old Siv, who sleeps over at her new friend Cerisia's house. While at this unusual family's place, she experiences a magical journey into the unknown accompanied by two talking badgers. The visually captivating Siv Sleeps Astray (Sweden, 2016) will be accompanied by a delegation from Sweden, including the lead child actress Astrid Lövgren.
Of the same age is the young Villads from Valby (Denmark, 2015), who's awaiting a momentous occasion – the first day of school. Not only this day, but his other escapades while discovering the concept of school, discipline and authority are captured in a very funny and magical way in this Danish film by director Frederik Meldal Nørgaard. The director played the role of the father and is bringing Villads with him to Zlín.
Unfortunately, our next hero doesn't have the privilege of going to school. After losing his mother, 9-year-old Ephraim must also cope with the departure of his father, who leaves because of work. Ephraim is left with some relatives and all he's got left is his lamb, who, unfortunately, is soon to be sacrificed for a village feast. The Ethiopian film Lamb (Ethiopia, France, Germany, Norway, Qatar, 2015) by debuting director Yared Zeleke is based on the director's own childhood memories, which smell remotely of exotic nature, alien spices, and the pains of a homeland and the tail-end of a boy's childhood.
The animal as a best friend motif is also developed in the film Ranna Silence (Iran, 2015) and by the Iranian debuting director Behzad Rafiei. Seven-year-old Ranna and her exceptional hen Kąkoli are inseparable – till the hen is one day killed by a jackal. Her older brother and his best friend try to alleviate his sister's great sadness over this. They go in search of any eggs that were laid by Kąkoli that their mother had sold at the market. The cheerful journey of our protagonists gets mixed up with an adventurous quest for some poachers who are taking birds from a protected lagoon.
Siblings as the main protagonists can also be found in two more films. One of them is a German participant in this year's Berlin Generation, Fortune Favours the Brave (Germany, 2016), directed by Norbert Lechner. Eleven-year-old Linh stays at home alone with her younger sister after their mother has to go to Vietnam. Their efforts to hide from child protective services, however, are discovered by Paulina, the girl from across the street who likes to play detective.
In the Indian film Chidiya (India, 2016), we've got brothers instead of sisters and they've got a difficult task. Unlike the girls in the German film, these boys are fighting for their dream of playing badminton. For us, the joys of sport are open to anybody, but for these poor Indian boys it's a difficult odyssey with many fateful obstacles. This beautiful children's story by debuting director Mehran Amrohi is interwoven with dance, songs and the unmistakable colorful beauty of India, and it will have its international premiere in Zlin.
The childhood dream of 10-year-old Sun is quite simple – to have a friend. On her quest, this pure and clean girl encounters not only the joy and intoxication of friendship, but also betrayal and pain. An intimate story based primarily on great acting performances – dominated by the main protagonist Choi Soo-in. The sixth debuting film in our competition is The World of Us (South Korea, 2016), shot by Yoon Ga-eun, who had already dazzled the world of children's film with her award-winning short film Sprout (2014).
