Ithakid Film Fest returns to Cornell Cinema with animation, silent films

Cornell Cinema and the Ithaca Youth Bureau take your kids to distant lands and times with a series of children's films in November and December. This autumn's festival features two events combining restored silent films with live musical accompaniment and a program of animation that will introduce kids to the world of experimental filmmaking. All screenings are Saturdays at 2 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre. Tickets are $2/$1.50 for kids 12 and under unless otherwise noted.

The series begins Saturday, Nov. 3, with the recent hit "Shrek" (2001). An ogre (voiced by Mike Myers) and his smart-mouthed companion (Eddie Murphy) will keep you cackling in this brilliant animated feature that makes fun of the stuff that fairy tales (i.e. Disney movies) are made of. Nothing gets spared in this deliciously irreverent and sarcastic film. "Shrek" also will be shown Thursday, Nov. 1, at 10:15 p.m., and Friday, Nov. 2, at 10 p.m. (admission to evening screenings is $4.50 general/$4 students and seniors).

On Nov. 10, Cornell Cinema welcomes award-winning animator, teacher and parent Chris Sullivan at a program of experimental animation that will fascinate both children and adults. The lineup includes Larry Jordan's "Duo Concertantes," a classic in the world of cut-out animation; Ernie Gehr's "Shift," a topsy-turvy look at cars and trucks filmed from several stories up; and Flip Johnson's "Pulp," in which watercolor, pastel and charcoal are used to show the beauty of the landscape and the chaos created by human intervention. Sullivan says of the program: "These films create images with amazing generosity and beauty. They are all experimental in nature and really pull their humor and uncanniness with the freedom of a child's mind, mixing wonderment and confusion."

The Alloy Orchestra, a three-man musical ensemble that has delighted sold-out crowds with its previous appearances at Cornell Cinema, returns Nov. 16 to provide live accompaniment for "Fun With Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton," a program of three short silent comedies. In "Back Stage" (1919), Arbuckle and Keaton play a couple of vaudeville stagehands who lead an uprising against the show's tyrannical strongman. "The Garage" (1919) stars Fatty and Buster as a pair of mechanics/firefighters who destroy a car that they're supposed to clean and race to a false alarm. And in "Coney Island" (1917), the boys battle over a bathing beauty in the famous oceanside amusement park. The Alloy Orchestra, known for its raucous percussion and wild sound effects, keeps pace with all the manic antics in these delightful comedy classics. Special ticket price is $6 general/$5 kids 12 and under. Advance tickets will be available starting Nov. 5 at the following locations: the Willard Straight Hall ticket desk at Cornell (255-3430), the ticket center at the Clinton House downtown (273-4497) and the Dillingham Theatre Box Office at Ithaca College (274-3224).

"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (1971) is a perennial favorite starring Gene Wilder as the eccentric entrepreneur of all things sweet and scary. The Oompa Loompas and company return to the big screen Dec. 1.

The series concludes with an event for both families and film fans. Cornell Cinema welcomes film scholar, pianist and composer Philip Carli as he provides live accompaniment for two screenings of "The Adventures of Prince Achmed." Considered to be the first animated feature, this film is still dazzling, a kaleidoscopic version of the Arabian Nights that seems to have come straight out of dreams.

Berlin-born avant-garde artist Lotte Reiniger was only 23 when she created the "Adventures" using paper cut-outs, multiplane camera techniques and fascinating experiments on film stock with wax and sand. The gorgeously detailed silhouettes that tell the story of Aladdin and his lamp make the film's black-and-white images both subtle and varied. A new print of the film recently was struck from a negative in Germany, and the result is a reminder of how sophisticated and beautiful animation can be even in its simplest forms. "The Adventures of Prince Achmed" will be shown Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the afternoon show are $5 general/$4 kids 12 and under; evening prices are $6/$5.