Film? It's just child's play...
ARE you one of those parents whose joy at having your beloved children at home for the holidays is starting to fray around the edges, along with your temper, as you seek ways to keep them and yourself amused without breaking the bank?Or do you want to share a great experience with your offspring, reminding you of the great days at the cinema before it turned into a marketing-led nightmare?
Either way, you should be overjoyed at this weekend's return of Manchester's Family Friendly Film Festival, offering a line-up of events and activities for all ages that promise to keep you entertained whatever the weather and however long the holidays may seem to stretch out!
From today until August 17 you can join in with a whole range of movie-related mayhem - from pyjama parties at The Manchester Museum and a day of peg-legs and eye-patches at 'Pirates Arrrgggghhh Cool' day, to the best in Manga animation at Urbis and film-making workshops where you can make your own movies.
There will also be events celebrating National Year of Reading, including Harry Potter Day at the Hogwarts-like John Rylands Library, and screenings of Charlie And Lola at Manchester Art Gallery. Lauren Child, author of the Charlie and Lola books, has become a festival patron and enthuses that 'the festival is a fantastic event and should be a highlight of the summer for families across the region'.
Festival director Leah Byrne started at Arts About Manchester in 2004 as a marketing distribution assistant and 'never quite managed to leave', she laughs.
She had previously worked as volunteer co-ordinator for Sprockets Children's Film Festival, part of the Toronto International Film Festival.
She says: "I got to see there all these great films for families, from all over the world and often big commercial hits in their own countries, but that never seem to get shown in this country.
Different types
"Disney and Wall.E is great, but there's also so many different types of films. Quite often you hear parents complain that they have had to sit through two hours of some inappropriate film for the sake of the kids, but it doesn't need to be like that!"
Another key aim of the festival, says Leah, 'is to try and get people to try out new venues'.
"We do screenings in places like museums, libraries, theatres, art galleries and cinemas. The idea is that families don't just sit there in front of a film but that they're interacting as families and with the venue itself," she said.
One of the highlights of this year's festival is Monday's Night At The Museum event, where you're invited to 'bring a picnic and wear your jammies (or dress as a dinosaur)' for an exclusive opportunity to see the museum after hours and find out about the museum's T-rex, make your own pop-up museum and dinosaur mask, take a 'spooky tour' of the galleries and to then take in a special screening of A Night At The Museum.
That particular event is sold out but one of the unique features of the festival is that many of the events are free and the rest are £5 or under.
Stockport Plaza
Tickets are £1, for instance, for this Sunday's 'Pirates Arrrrrggghhh Cool' day at the Stockport Plaza from 12.15pm. It's a day of pirate-themed mayhem, including screenings of Peter Pan and The Princess Bride. Monday's Festival Fiesta at Urbis from noon-4.30pm is free and includes an exclusive Baby Loves Disco dance tent.
Naomi Timperley, of Baby Loves Disco, says: "Manchester is such a vibrant city and has so much to offer families.
"I think that the work that Family Friendly does for Manchester is vital to the success of making the city more accesssible to families."
Bugsy Malone closes the festival next Sunday at the Stockport Plaza and family film-goers are encouraged to come along dressed in Twenties style and join a sing-a-long with the cast of the Plaza Summer Youth Project's production.
Before then, there's Jump!, an exhilarating and heart-warming documentary about the crazy world of competitive jump rope and the August 16 Charity Gala at the Bridgewater Hall, featuring a premiere screening of Darius Goes West: The Roll Of His Life, along with the world premiere of four short films made by disabled children from Greater Manchester at the Family Friendly Film School.
The Family Friendly Film Festival runs until Sunday, August 17. To book call 0870-4280785 or visit familyfriendlyfilmfestival.org.uk.
Published: Fri, 08 August, 2008
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