Freeze Frame International Film Festival for Kids of All Ages, an annual festival in Winnipeg, is about to mark its 30th anniversary. Taking place at the Centre culturel franco-manitobain from March 8 to 14, the festival showcases a diverse selection of children’s films from around the world.
Pascal Boutroy, filmmaker and Freeze Frame’s artistic director and co-founder, explained the goal of the festival.
“The mission is to expose the children of Winnipeg, who often [come] from various cultural [backgrounds], to films that emulate their own diversity […] It’s a window on the world that aims to expand the worldview of […] Manitoban children. It strives to educate and entertain,” he stated.
According to Boutroy, Freeze Frame is the oldest children’s film festival in Canada and is one of the three in the country that is still in operation. It is also the third most attended film festival in Manitoba, he noted.
Throughout the week, 11 films, ranging from drama and comedy to animation, will be screened. One of the selected movies is Inuk director Zacharias Kunuk’s Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband), a story about a pair of star-crossed teenage lovers in an Inuit village. Another selection is Living Large, a stop-motion film by Czech animator Kristina Dufková about a 12-year-old boy’s journey with his weight and body image.
To commemorate the festival’s historic milestone, award-winning films from previous installments are also making a reappearance. This includes Jonathan Elbers’s The Club of Ugly Children, a dystopian movie set in the Netherlands where the president has ordered the deportation of all “ugly” children. Ultimately, the children organize and revolt against the government.
“A good [children’s] film is a film where children are treated with respect for their [intelligence] and sensitivities, and where children are key and active to the [development] of the story. You [recognize] one when you see one,” Boutroy commented.
While some may see children’s film as frivolous entertainment, Boutroy’s vision for the festival is anything but.
“When people think of children’s production they think of unambitious [American] films that monopolize our screen in Canada and elsewhere. Freeze Frame brings more ambitious films and also more satisfying ones with an age-appropriate slant,” he shared.
He explained that by diversifying the kinds of films children watch, they are exposed to different portrayals of youth and family as well as different ways of telling stories, which is especially important in the digital age.
“Becoming more discerning and critical is capital in our times when children and youth spend a huge amount of time alone with screens of all [kinds. Equipping] them with tools to understand how messages are constructed is very important and can be fun when you do it by watching different [kinds] of films or learning how to make them,” he stated.
Apart from film screenings, the festival entails hands-on film and audiovisual workshops for children. There are also two video contests — one where professional films are judged by youths and another where films by youths are judged by professionals.
When asked what advice he would give to young aspiring filmmakers, Boutroy responded, “Educate yourself about filmmaking by watching [different kinds] of films, ambitious ones. Get inspired, but don’t copy. And try to make films that matter, which [can] also be enjoyable. It’s not mutually exclusive.”
For more information and tickets to screenings, visit freezeframeonline.org. Tickets are also available at the door. The opening and closing films on March 8 and 14 are free and open to the public.
