Books, movies and shows; an autumn full of children's festivals

Who gets bored this November is because they want to, because three of the great artistic and creative festivals dedicated to the smallest of the house coincide on dates (well, that of small is a saying, because the offer is addressed to a wide range of ages that goes beyond even youth).

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
04 November 2022 Friday 12:48
4 Reads
Books, movies and shows; an autumn full of children's festivals

Who gets bored this November is because they want to, because three of the great artistic and creative festivals dedicated to the smallest of the house coincide on dates (well, that of small is a saying, because the offer is addressed to a wide range of ages that goes beyond even youth). Today starts the Album Week dedicated to illustrated books and this year it leaves the pages to experiment with reading spaces as essential places to create environments. Tomorrow, El meu primer Festival dedicated to cinema does the same, this year with 116 unreleased films from 28 countries, with Japan as guest, which will be screened in theaters in Madrid and Barcelona for audiences between 2 and 12 years old (who will also of jury).

Finally, on November 12, 'el Petit' will start, the International Festival of Arts for Early Childhood that this year will last 16 days with 51 family shows and another 31 scheduled in various schools. Below we review them one by one.

Barcelona, ​​Madrid and Almería will be the nerve centers of Album Week this year, which starts today in Barcelona but has gradually spread, becoming one of the great events for children's books in our country (see the map of activities here) . This sixth edition starts with the question: do you dare to revolutionize your reading space and see the consequences?, a whole declaration of intent that seeks to extend creativity to the spaces of coexistence between book and reader, if not create them directly.

And it is that the reading corners are essential, come to claim the creators. For this reason, this year, in addition to the activities (more than fifty in bookstores, libraries and public spaces), so-called reading laboratories have been organized, micro-spaces scattered throughout various cities with selections of books and proposals for dialogue, play and creation .

The workshops, storytelling, presentations, talks and the so-called authors' laboratories, where the little ones experiment directly with the creator of the stories, are some of the interesting proposals that fill this year's programme, which as always also includes the Fòrum in the Classroom, a section dedicated to professionals and adults interested in these magnificent album books and which this year will take place in person in Zaragoza and Girona, and also online.

Starting tomorrow, cinema will be added to the program for the little ones (from 2 to 12 years old) through the extensive program that El Meu Primer Festival offers us this year: a total of 116 unreleased films in Spain, including shorts and feature films from 28 countries, this year being Japan the guest country. The halls of Madrid and Barcelona, ​​such as the Filmoteca de Catalunya or the Condeduque hall in Madrid, will be some of the venues for this festival, which this year celebrates its 15th edition.

In the competitive section, five feature films are presented this year (in addition to several shorts) that young viewers will have to assess and vote for. They are Oink, by Dutch director Masha Halberstad; El Petit Nicolas, faithful to the world of Sempé and La beauty de la vida, a choral piece by different artists. Also Gabi, from 8 to 13 years by Engeli Broberg, a documentary on the genre and its preconceived ideas, and Yuku i la flor de l'Himàlaia, a musical animation piece.

As complementary activities, there will be workshops, film forums, master classes and meetings with artists that will delight children but also any self-respecting film buff. To round it off, the film-concert A la llum de la lluna, a session of short films accompanied by live music by Nicolas Stoica, Jonatahn Leurquin and Thomas Ross, three multi-instrumentalists capable of creating tailor-made musical universes.

Starting next Saturday the 12th, the city of Sabadell will become the capital of the performing arts for the little ones, a very unique festival designed to feed the curiosity, creativity, communication and play of children and not so children. Although Sabadell is the nerve center of the proposal, El Petit extends through 11 Catalan cities, including Barcelona, ​​Lleida, Olot, Granollers or Sant Esteve Sesrovires.

National companies such as Engruna, Inspira Teatre, Galiot Teatre or Pels Més Menuts will pass through these stages, all of them with their latest creations, such as the concert for babies with which the latter company reviews the history of black music. Sensory experiences, concerts, movement, theatre, visual poetry and other local and international creations that are complemented by family workshops and an activity designed specifically for teachers and baptized with the name of Mestres that is mouen, where the professionals who work with children during early childhood will be able to learn first-hand experiences and creative and sensory ways of communicating that help the artistic growth of the little ones.

Don't tell me you don't have a choice!