Reel Connections at the 2019 Festival

PCFF Reel Connections make real connections between on-screen experiences and what’s happening closer to home.

We invite audiences of all ages to engage in topics from and beyond our film screenings to better understand the diverse and challenging themes and subject matter presented. Reel Connections spark richer discussions—with youth among their peers, at home, in classrooms, libraries, or after-school programs and other settings—while building community connections that can enhance and extend the film’s impact. Occasionally before, but usually following a screening, meet filmmakers, see performances, and participate in discussions that accompany selected films. As an added bonus, some films include a film guide with discussion questions, hands-on activities and related resources including related books, films and local organizations. Access the guides on the PCFF Film Hub (www.pcffri.org/filmhub). Make it real with Reel Connections!

Love a film or films from the 2019 Providence Children’s Film Festival? Check out related books recommended by Youth Services Staff at Providence Community Library. (Click here to download booklist.)

Saturday, February 16

Gilder Center for the Arts @Wheeler School

10:00 AM-11:11 AM Finding Your Voice 2019 (Shorts Program)
Reel Connection: Balloon Art with Janice Lee Kelly, 11:15am
Janice Lee Kelly creates beautiful balloon art in the lobby, and so can you!

Reel Connection: Meet Director Naomi Sheridan, 11:15am
Meet director Naomi Sheridan (from London) and talk about her short film “Prodigy” and her experience a filmmaker.

1:30 PM – 2:00 PM Live Music: Skylar Batz

2:00 PM-3:13 PM Get Up! Stand Up! 2019 (Shorts Program)
Reel Connection: Meet Director Annabel Vine, 3:15pm
Meet director Annabel Vine to talk about her short film “Grandbad” and experience as filmmaker.

Sunday, February 17

Gilder Center for the Arts @Wheeler School

1:45 PM-2:55 PM Bodies in Motion (Shorts Program)
Reel Connection: Learn About Slacklining, 2:55pm
Based on the Caldecott Award-winning book and a significant part of Bodies in Motion, “Mirette” is about a young girl determined to be a wire walker in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century. Local climbing gym Rock Spot teaches climbing enthusiasts of all ages and levels. After the film they will set up their slackline and demonstrate the best techniques for walking the line.

3:45 PM-5:18 PM Tre Maison Dasan (Feature Film, film guide available online)
Reel Connection: Meet Sarah Gormley of CCAP + Cast Members Dasan and Stephanie, 5:15pm
Cast members Dasan and his mother Stephanie will join Sarah Gormley of the Comprehensive Community Action Program (CCAP) at the screening and will talk with the audience afterward. Gormley piloted the first Father-Child Visitation Program at the Rhode Island Department of Corrections.

Newport Art Museum

3:15 PM-4:30 PM The Secret of Kells (Feature Film, Festival Flashback)
PRE-Reel Connection: What’s an Illuminated Manuscript?, 3:15pm
The imagery in the magical film The Secret of Kells is inspired by ancient and ornately decorated Illuminated manuscripts. Before the film, we’ll learn about the significance of these unique books, and the myths and mysteries about their creation from PCFF’s resident art historian Margot McIlwain Nishimura, author of The Medieval Imagination: Images in the Margins.

After the film, gather for a mini hands-on illuminated manuscript activity! Dr. Nishimura will share her trove of quills, ink, and parchment, the kinds of materials medieval artists would have used to create their elaborate designs. Then we’ll use markers and paper to create our own imaginative illuminated letters and designs inspired by the Museum’s winged lion!

Monday, February 18

Avon Cinema

10:00 AM-11:29 AM Chuskit (Feature Film, Rhode Island Premiere)
Reel Connection at Gilder Center @Wheeler School, 11:30pm – 3:30pm
Expressions of Peace Activities: Flag-making with Ginny Fox of Peace Flag Project. Learn the significance of peace flags and try making your own! Make a mandala with the Wheeler School Art Department.

Gilder Center for the Arts @Wheeler School

10:00 AM-11:10 AM Magic Carpet Ride 2019 (Shorts Program)
Reel Connection: Meet Bill Harley, 11:10am
Meet local singer-songwriter Bill Harley and talk about (and sing about?) the film based on his song “A Walk Around the Block”.

Reel Connection: Meet Director Hayley Morris, 11:10am
Director Hayley Morris will share the puppets used in her film “By My Side”, which she made for Sesame Street.

Reel Connection: Meet the Director and Cast from “Jellyfish”
Meet director Marcin Gizycki and several cast members to talk about their film “Jellyfish”, shot right down the street at RISD.

12:00 PM-1:35 PM Becoming Who I Was (Feature Film, New England Premiere, film guide available online)
Reel Connection: Expressions of Peace Activities, 11:30pm – 3:30pm
Peace flag-making with Ginny Fox of Peace Flag Project. Learn significance of peace flags and try making your own! Make a mandala with the Wheeler School Art Department. The tradition of mandala-making employs inner meditative focus to depict the exterior and impermanent world around us. Reflecting on these traditions as well as contemporary examples of environmental and ephemeral art, participants are invited to use mixed media and found objects to construct–and deconstruct–a mandala of their own.

3:45 PM-4:00 PM Live Music: Grace and Frannie

4:00 PM-5:29 PM Film School Africa (Feature Film, East Coast Premiere, film guide available online)
Reel Connection: More than Making a Movie, 5:30pm
Learning to make a film can be an eye-opening experience. Hear local filmmakers discuss how the process of creating a movie as a group can help us understand ourselves more deeply. Speakers: Michelle LeBrun, award-winning filmmaker and professor at URI; Oscar D’Angeac, film teacher at Refugee Dream Center afterschool youth program.

SPECIAL EVENT: PCFF GOOD NIGHT LIGHTS NIGHT
8:30 PM Supa Modo Reel Connection @The Hot Club, 25 Bridge St., Providence
Join us for a magic minute to brighten spirits and send light to the children in Hasbro Children’s Hospital. Hot chocolate and other kid-friendly drinks will be available. Supa Modo screenings: Friday, February 15, 7:30 PM AND Sunday, February 24, 1:30 PM at Metcalf Auditorium Chace Center/RISD Museum

Tuesday, February 19

Newport Art Museum

10:30 AM-11:40 AM Bodies in Motion (Shorts Program)
Reel Connection: Island Moving Company, 11:45pm
GET MOVING! Join us for post-film interactive movement and dance session with one of the professional dancers and teaching artists from Island Moving Company, Newport’s own classically trained contemporary ballet company. IMC presents original works of choreography which connect audiences to their own emotions. They provide a shared experience that transcends cultural boundaries and offer creative movement programs, movement workshops and residencies for all ages.

12:00 PM-12:30 PM Stop-Motion Animation Workshops (Admission-free)
1:00 PM-1:30 PM Stop-Motion Animation Workshops (Admission-free)

PCL-Washington Park Library

2:00 PM-4:00 PM Filmmaking Lab: Animation Creation Studio Workshop (Admission-free)
in partnership with RIMOSA

Thursday, February 21

Barrington Public Library

1:00 PM-2:29 PM Chuskit (Feature Film, Rhode Island Premiere, Admission-free)
Reel Connection: Expressions of Peace Activities, 2:30pm
Thupten Tendhar of the Center for Nonviolence & Peace Studies at URI will speak about the significance of the mandala in Buddhism. Born of Tibetan parents, Tendhar joined Drepung Loseling Monastery in southern India at age 12, where he studied for over 18 years, earning the respected doctoral level Geshe degree in Buddhist Philosophy. He is a Level II Kingian Nonviolence trainer and is the author of a book of poetry, Peace–Rhythm of My Heart.
Flag-making with Ginny Fox of Peace Flag Project. Learn why peace flags are important and try making your own!
Jeannine Chartier of VSA Arts Rhode Island speaks about access issues.

Friday, February 22

PCL-Wanskuck Library

3:00 PM-4:30 PM Filmmaking Lab: Animation Creation Studio Workshop (Admission-free)

Metcalf Auditorium Chace Center/RISD Museum

6:30 PM-7:00 PM Live Music: 2020 Band from Classical High School

7:00 PM-9:00 PM Youth Filmmaker Showcase Volume 1 (Shorts Program)
Reel Connection: Meet the Filmmakers, 8:30pm
Talk with young filmmakers about their process and challenges.

Saturday, February 23

Metcalf Auditorium Chace Center/RISD Museum

11:00 PM-2:30 PM Food Truck in the Courtyard: Red’s Rhode Island

11:25 AM-12:00 PM Live Music: Skylar Batz

12:00 PM-1:11 PM Finding Your Voice 2019 (Shorts Program)
Reel Connection: Meet Director Carla Ricci, 1:15pm
Meet director Carla Ricci and talk about her short film “Janice Lee Kelly: Balloon Sculptor” and her experience as a filmmaker.

1:45 PM-3:00 PM The Secret of Kells (Feature Film, Festival Flashback)
Pre-Reel Connection: What’s an Illuminated Manuscript?, 1:45pm
The imagery in the magical film The Secret of Kells is inspired by ancient and ornately decorated Illuminated manuscripts. Before the film, we’ll learn about the significance of these unique books, and the myths and mysteries about their creation from PCFF’s resident art historian Margot McIlwain Nishimura, author of The Medieval Imagination: Images in the Margins.

3:00 PM-3:30 PM Live Music: Bae Family

3:30 PM-5:05 PM Becoming Who I Was (Feature Film, New England Premiere, film guide available online)
Reel Connection: Meet Thupten Tendhar, 5:00pm
Join a conversation about the themes in Becoming Who I Was with Thupten Tendhar of the Center for Nonviolence & Peace Studies at URI. Born of Tibetan parents, Tendhar joined Drepung Loseling Monastery in southern India at age 12, where he studied for over 18 years, earning the respected doctoral level Geshe degree in Buddhist Philosophy. He is a Level II Kingian Nonviolence trainer and is the author of a book of poetry, Peace–Rhythm of My Heart.

RISD Auditorium Building

11:00 PM-2:30 PM Food Truck in the Courtyard: Red’s Rhode Island

11:20 AM-11:45 AM Live Music: Natalie Blue

11:45 AM-12:54 PM Passionate Pursuits 2019 (Shorts Program)
Reel Connection: Meet Directors Barbara Meier (Brown Univ.) and Nellie Robinson, 12:55pm
Directors Barbara Meier and Nellie Robinson of “Toymaker” will be in attendance.

1:30 PM-3:03 PM Tre Maison Dasan (Feature Film, film guide available online)
Reel Connection: Meet Director Denali Tiller and Cast Member Maison, 3:00pm
Cast member Maison and director Denali Tiller will attend the screening and talk with the audience afterward. Tiller was named one of 110 “filmmakers to watch” by Variety Magazine in 2015 for her short film “Sons and Daughters of the Incarcerated” which evolved into her feature documentary, Tre Maison Dasan.

Sunday, February 24

Metcalf Auditorium Chace Center/RISD Museum

11:00 AM-11:30 AM Live Music: Kiyoshi Turbitt

12:00 PM-2:30 PM Food Truck in the Courtyard: Rocket Fine Street Food

1:00 PM-1:30 PM Live Music: Fisher Strings

RISD Auditorium Building

10:15 AM-11:23 AM CineEspañol (Shorts Program)
Reel Connection: Meet Director Gauri Adelkar, 11:23am
Meet director Gauri Adelkar and talk about her film “Dear Pope Francis” and her experience as a filmmaker.

11:25 AM-11:45 PM Live Music: CMW Phase 3 Trio

12:00 PM-2:30 PM Food Truck in the Courtyard: Rocket Fine Street Food

1:30 PM-2:43 PM A Decade of Wonder (Shorts Program)
Reel Connection: Meet Directors/Animators Max Porter and Ru Kawahata, 2:45pm
Max Porter and Ru Kawahata have three beloved films in A Decade of Wonder. Talk with them about animation and see the puppets from their 2018 Academy Award-nominated short film “Negative Space”.

3:00 PM-3:30 PM Live Music: You Rock Select Band

3:30 PM-5:00 PM Youth Filmmaker Showcase Volume 2 Shorts
Reel Connection: Meet the Filmmakers, 4:45pm
Talk with youth filmmakers about their process and challenges. With RISD Teen Art Circle.

5:00 PM-5:30 PM Festival Awards Ceremony (Special Event, Admission-free)