If there were such things as candy for your eyes, “Tales of the Night” would be it. Your vision will be tempted by the detailed day-glo backgrounds bursting with color and kaleidoscopic patterns. Director Michel Ocelot (“Azur & Asmar,” PCFF 2011) blends history with fairytale as viewers are whisked off to animated enchanted lands full of dragons, werewolves, captive princesses, sorcerers and enormous talking bees. The “tales” are six fascinating and exotic fables woven together, each unfolding in a unique locale, from Tibet, to medieval Europe, an Aztec kingdom, the African plains and even the Land of the Dead.

REVIEWS:

“Instantly timeless! A triumph of intricate craftsmanship!” – Variety
“Stunning! Newcomers to Ocelot’s work will be filled with wonder!” – Screen Daily
“Both a worthy successor to the first four films by Michel Ocelot, and a proposal for an innovative new approach that transcends the boundaries of animation.” – Cahiers du cinema

Jojo, a lively 10-year-old with a difficult home life marked by a volatile father and an absent mother, finds solace in an abandoned baby jackdaw (“kauw” in Dutch). Through the special friendship he builds with the bird, the bond between Jojo and his father will be strengthened or broken. That it sometimes takes one death to accept another could be one of several messages this sensitive, but at times challenging, film has to offer.

REVIEWS:
“In a field dominated by many ambitious and weighty films, the Dutch submission for this year’s foreign language Oscar is appealing for its modesty… The film rests on the two splendid performances at the center. (JoJo) Rick Lens has to hold our attention for every minute of the film, a feat that he accomplishes effortlessly. The actor is completely convincing in his moments of joyous abandon as well as others of frustration and rage. He’s endearing without ever turning cloying, and this is surely a tribute to the skill of director Boudewijn Koole. Loek Peters is equally compelling as Jojo’s rather helpless father. The moments when Peters’ character responds to Jojo with brutality are disturbing, but we always understand the anguish that underlies the character’s anger.” – The Hollywood Reporter (12/7/12)

This fascinating documentary charts the adventure of Laura Dekker, a 14-year-old Dutch sailor, who set out alone on a two-year voyage to fulfill her dream of becoming the youngest person ever to sail around the world. The journey was not without controversy, but “Maidentrip” is pleasantly free from the hysteria that surrounded Laura for more than a year. It presents her trip in a judgment-free manner. It neither suggests (as it understandably could) that 14 is an alarmingly young age to traverse the mightily unforgiving Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, nor takes a blindly positive “Ra! Ra! Go Laura!” position (as would be tempting, given that Laura proves herself an admirable rebel in many ways).

Laura is portrayed as an independent outsider, at once open-hearted, enviably confident and a bit prickly, sick of what she sees as daily life in Holland—which she sums up succinctly: “Get money, get a house, get a husband, get a baby, then die.” She pines for a truly outsized adventure. While other young record-holding sailors completed the round-world trip without lengthy stops at ports, Laura gives herself two years for the excursion, so that she can soak in the land-bound culture of the different climes where she alights (among them French Polynesia, Australia, the Galapagos Islands and South Africa). Low-key yet lyrical, “Maidentrip” illustrates in vivid colors the mundane as well as the magnificent moments at sea and underscores the courage of one young woman, battling the elements—and the courts—and enjoying every minute of it.

This documentary directed by Rhode Island’s own Mitty Griffis Mirrer, a gold star child herself, takes an intimate look at American children who have lost a parent to war. The film follows the parallel journeys of two generations of grieving children:. Recent war orphans, who’ve lost parents serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia, learn to heal alongside the now adult-child survivors of the Vietnam War. “Gold Star Children” gives meaning and shape to how America understands those who sacrifice in service to their country and the children and families they leave behind. National news channel CNN aired this film, which has been screened at festivals nationwide.

Fearing the possibility of being split up because of their grandmother’s illness, a young brother and sister embark on an unforgettable journey through breathtaking landscapes of rural Scotland. SIDE BY SIDE is a rare and genuinely heartfelt story about two very different siblings growing closer because they must depend on one another during an unsettling time.

Lauren and her younger brother, Harvey, live with their elderly grandmother who needs constant care. When the old woman is sent to a nursing home, Lauren accepts a scholarship to a prestigious sports academy believing that she and Harvey will stay together and live with Janice, Lauren’s calculating and deceitful sports agent. It soon becomes clear, however, that Janice’s real intention is to split the pair up to better exploit Lauren’s athletic talent. When Harvey runs away to fulfill the promise he made to Grandma to find their long-lost grandfather, Lauren follows after him. En route, brother and sister discover that, despite all their differences, when they are side by side they are strong enough to deal with anything, even their biggest fears. As we follow their journey across the beautiful British countryside, we slowly come to realize that it is the journey, not the destination that really matters.

Part road movie, part Bildungsroman, part family drama and part children’s escapade, Arthur Landon’s endearing feature-film debut explores the solid bond between a sister and brother, and celebrates the importance of coming together.

This documentary follows three girls and their lives at the martial arts school Shaolin Tagou, China’s largest Kung Fu School. Far from their families, they fight an everyday battle of discipline, rules and hard physical training. Kung Fu provides them a chance to provide for their parents in the future and lead a better life—but at what cost?

The Shaolin Tagu Kung Fu School, located next to the Shaolin Temple Monastery—the birthplace of Kung Fu—is home to some 26,000 students. In a breathtaking display of skill and precision, the entire student body practices their discipline en masse and in perfect unison, captured beautifully by Inigo Westmeier’s camera. DRAGON GIRLS follows three young female students living far from their homes and families. They sacrifice the luxuries of childhood, like days off, playtime and seeing their parents, for the honor and success they will gain from their training. The physical and mental exhaustion and constant drive for perfection weigh heavily on the young warriors in training, yet it’s hoped that by graduation the gain will have been worth the struggle.

SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN has been voted one of the greatest films of all time in international critics’ polls. There are other contenders: Top Hat, Swing Time, An American in Paris, Oklahoma, and West Side Story, but SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN stands above the rest because it is not only from Hollywood, it is about Hollywood. This 1952 musical offers a comical depiction of the American movie business caught up in the bumpy transition from silent films to “talkies”. A modest hit when first released, it eventually became legendary. Starring Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds and Jean Hagen.

Many films have been made about kids going to extraordinary lengths to avoid school. This stunningly shot documentary (Cesar Award Winner 2014) captures the stories of four children (Kenya, Patagonia, Morocco and India) and their herculean efforts to get TO school. Instinctively, they know that their well-being, and in many ways survival, depend on knowledge and education. This is a film parents might cite the next time their children complain about getting up for school on a Monday morning.

Jackson crosses the Kenyan savannah on foot, heeding his father’s advice, “If the elephants see you, they will kill you! Run away!”; Carlito rides horseback across rocky, scrub-covered plains and rushing rivers; Zahira treks over treacherous Atlas Mountain passes in Morocco with her classmates supporting one another; Samuel depends on his brothers to push his wheelchair over sand dunes and through swamps of southern Bengal. While the breathtaking cinematography reveals the splendor of their homelands, the dangers of these voyages keep you on the edge of your seat. At the heart of this unforgettable film are the children’s resilience and their unstoppable yearning to learn and improve their lives.

GET LOCAL: Family Services Rhode Island: The Walking School Bus
Family Service of Rhode Island’s Walking School Bus provides routes to and from school. The initiative ensures that each child living within a mile of the school, who needs to walk arrives on time and returns home safely, even when a family member is unable to walk with him or her.  The Walking School Bus serves Bailey and Fogarty elementary schools in Providence’s South Side neighborhood.To learn more about this program and/or to become a volunteer, click here.