The Ark Children’s Council Blog: The ADIFF Fantastic Flix Children’s Jury

Members of the Children's Council at the Fantastic Flix Children's Jury deliberations. Photo by Simon Lazewski

The Ark was delighted to partner with the Audi International Dublin Festival (ADIFF) as part of their Fantastic Flix Children’s Programme. The Children's Council created the festival's Children’s Jury – a special panel that watches, evaluates and ultimately awards a prize to the best children’s film made in 2017.

The jury met up weekly at IFCO, the Irish Film Classifications Office, in Smithfield. In our own private cinema (a beautiful 15 seater venue that seemed purpose built for our Children’s Council) they watched and evaluated 8 feature films and over 20 short films over their three month journey. Meeting each Monday, we all watched each film through and then afterwards had a group discussion. T children felt we had a huge responsibility as we were a Jury and would eventually be giving a special award to one of the films. We wanted to make sure that each film was considered on its own merits and also that each film had a fair chance.

Together with Sarah Ahern from ADIFF who programmed the Fantastic Flix programme, we talked about the themes each film dealt with, how relevant it was and how the film made the children feel. We wondered about its relevance, why they might have made it and if a child in Ireland should go to see it. We also talked a lot about the technical things. How it was made, how it was directed, the photography work as well as the script and how the story was told. We talked a lot about the actor’s performances too and if they thought the film was entertaining. Afterwards the Jury filled out feedback forms in order that we could share some thoughts with ADIFF and the film makers. We thought that this was a good idea as regardless of which film won, at least each movie would get to hear what a children’s audience thinks about their work.

What was most striking about the process was the range and diversity of the films. The children watched work from all over the world and in several different languages. Luckily for us there were subtitles! It was amazing to see how a good story transcends language – and teh children surprised themselves at the different kinds of work that they enjoyed. Some of their expectations were subverted, which made the whole process both challenging and exciting. The films varied hugely – some were comedies and some were more serious. Some were live action and some were animated. Some of the short films were just plain off the wall! All of us liked different aspects of different films. To be honest, not everyone loved every film – but this proved to be an advantage to the group as a Jury, as the children were able to argue their points and fight their corners in the group discussions.

When it came time to make the decision as to who would get the award, we knew it would be a difficult deliberation. There were so many great films to choose from and it was clear that Sarah had done a suburb job selecting films for the festival. We had to give an award to the Best Short Film as well as for Best Feature Film. We did a “blind vote” and from this we determined a shortlist. We got into groups to discuss the pros and cons of each film before finally doing a public vote. Although there were a few votes for a few different films, the majority of the Jury voted for Room 213, an excellent Scandinavian horror, as the winning feature length film. Our Best Short proved a little trickier to decide as there were so many brilliant pieces. In the end we went for Earthly Encounters, a British short about a the extraordinary lengths one boy goes to in order to help his brother.

Shortlist - Best Feature Film:
- The Breadwinner
- The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales
- Room 213 – Winner

Shortlist – Best Short Film:
- Looney Foodz
- Hedgehog’s Home
- Earthly Encounter’s – Winner

Blog by Liam McCarthy, Project Coordinator