Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's Where is the Friend's Home? is one of the critically acclaimed films in the IthaKid Film Fest this month at Cornell Cinema.
Cornell Cinema's IthaKid Film Fest -- cosponsored with the Ithaca Youth Bureau -- will bring to the screen in February a quartet of critically acclaimed children's films. All screenings are on Saturdays at 2 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre. Admission is $2; $1.50 for children 12 and under.
Where is the Friend's Home?, screening Feb. 7, is part of a trilogy of films by Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami. Eleven-year-old Ahmed witnesses a friend being reprimanded and threatened with expulsion for failing to complete a homework assignment. Later, Ahmed discovers that he has mistakenly taken his friend's homework book with him. Kiarostami presents a sensitive re-creation of a child's perspective as Ahmed, surrounded by uncaring adults, searches for his friend's house in a nearby village in order to return the book.
"Cinema of breathtaking simplicity and power" wrote a critic for the Times of London. Subtitles will be read aloud. The film is recommended for ages 7 and up.
Parents who remember the illustrated books of Beatrix Potter will enjoy taking their children to see Tales of Beatrix Potter Feb. 14. These two short films from Great Britain conjure up an enchanting animal world. In The Tale of Two Bad Mice and Johnny Town-Mouse, Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca are two naughty mice who explore a doll's house and leave a trail of destruction behind them. While they're busy creating havoc, the elegant Johnny Town-Mouse is busy entertaining a country cousin who has traveled to town by mistake in a vegetable hamper. When Benjamin Bunny and his six children run afoul of Mr. McGregor in The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies and Mrs. Tittlemouse, Thomasina Tittlemouse resourcefully rescues them. This film is recommended for ages 4 and up.
Budding scientists will love a more realistic view of the natural world in Microcosmos, screening Feb. 21. Using innovative and specially designed equipment, filmmakers Claude Nuridsany and Marie Perennou captured the miniature world of insects in a magical light. Two snails discover love, one sadly deceived bee flirts with a flower and a cadre of caterpillars play follow-the-leader by accident. This film is suitable for children ages 6 and up.
The series concludes Feb. 28 with Fairytale: A True Story. In 1917 two English girls show their parents photographs of what they claim are fairies. No one believes the girls, until photo experts say the pictures are the real thing. This film is based on a true story, one which found mystery writer Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini on opposite sides of the debate. This film is suitable for children ages 6 and up.
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