Kristiansand Kids Fest Opens With Max Pinlig

The best children's films from Norway and Europe are on the programme of the 12th Kristiansand International Children's Film Festival, on the southern coast of Norway. The six-day film festival will kick start on April 28 with Denmark's Max Pinlig (Max Embarrassing).

Lotte Svendsen's local Danish hit is among 13 feature films competing in the main competition for the NOK 75,000 Film & Kino Children's Film Prize. Other titles include Sweden's Flickan (The Girl) and Pettson & Findus IV, and Denmark's Karla & Katrine. The Youth programme, opening with Sweden's I taket lyser stjärnorna (Glowing Stars), has another 11 films on show, among others Norway's youth drama Yatzy which has sold over 22,000 tickets domestically in five weeks. A total of 99 films from 23 countries will be screening in Kristiansand, including 58 Norwegian premieres.

New this year is the section Films on the Horizon, focusing on new Norwegian feature films for children such as Bestevenner (Best Friends) and Pelle Politibil. Journalist Kjetil Lismoen from trade magazine Rushprint will be monitoring the discussions with the films' directors and producers on April 30 and May 1. Also on May 1^st, a major seminar co-organised by the festival with the E.C.F.A. (European Children's Film Association) and FILM&KINO will focus on ‘Girls on Film'. How are girls represented in films, which films are ‘good' for girls are some of the topics that will be discussed by industry people including Elisabeth Aalmo, Advisor, Children and Youth at the Norwegian Film Institute, Lisbeth Juhl Sibbesen and Jacob Breuning from the Danish Film Institute's Children & Youth Department. The Kristiansand International Children's Film Festival is supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.