KIDS FIRST! Film Festival/Hawaiʻi

TOONS FOR TOTS TO TWEENS (12 films•Ages 2+)

Expired February 22, 2022 9:45 AM
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12 films in package
TICKLEBERRY PLACE
(Ages 3-7) In a small imaginary and magical world called Tickleberry Place, there are small farms, gardens, trees, and plants.
REGINALD THE FLYING LLAMA
(Ages 2-18) A llama named Reginald has dreams that are sky-high, because all he wants is to be able to fly.
SATURDAY CLUB
(Ages 2-6) Saturday Club is a preschool animation that strengthens social and emotional skills and helps to build kids’ capacity for empathy.
EMBERS THE DRAGON - HURRY UP EMBERS!
(Ages 3-6) It's a beautiful day on Keiki Island. Embers the Dragon wakes in his cave and things immediately start to go wrong. His mum hurries him out of bed, his brother Blaze winds him up and, to top it all off, everyone he meets on his walk to school makes things worse. Maybe Mrs. Owl and the magical Keiki tree can help him put things right.
FOX TALES, SUMMER NIGHT
(Ages 3-6) Little Snow is gifted with a power to conjure up magic by writing with her tails! But being a playful cub, she will get into all sorts of silly troubles and adventure because of it!
HOME WITH THE NINE LITTLE BEARS
(Ages 3-7) A good bedtime story helps children make peace with whatever day they have had and feel the world is a good and safe place, before they drift into sleep.
KOGA AND FRIENDS: SHELTER
(Ages 3-12) Koga and Friends follows a 10-year-old boy who teaches children how to be in control of their fears through yoga exercises and to be sensitive to others.
LONELY WOODS
(Ages 4-9) A short animated film about a dog living an abandoned town. One day, the dog encounters a mysterious glowing orb that leads him on a journey into his past.
THE DHUST
(Ages 5-11) The Dhust is about a hidden world of small people helping the human race.
MOONLIGHT THE MONSTER AND THE FASHION SHOW
(Ages 5-12) Moonlight is a monster girl who likes fashion design and makes her great idea come true and attends the fashion show. Her mom gets a big surprise!
RUTH & NICK: A CONFECTIONERY TALE
(Ages 6-18) This stop-motion animated short tells the bittersweet story of Nick, a piece of candy who falls in love with a girl who seems out of reach.
PEACETIME: A ROYAL FROG
(Ages 3-15) A meditation exercise for kids age 3 to 99 and then some.
This virtual screening is eligible for audience awards! Remember to Vote for your favorites! The voting period has closed. Stay tuned for the results!

12 animated films • 1h23m • Ages 2+

Adorable animated shorts from 5 countries, including films made by students.

Synopsis: The Dhust is about a hidden world of small people helping the human race. A fun and family-friendly animated pilot.


Juror comments: I find this animated film, The Dhust, funny, starting with how the writer came up with fictional characters named "dhusts” and how they helped Albert Einstein solve a challenging equation he couldn't solve until the dhusts helped him solve it.


The story follows a family of dhusts that help humangos (humans) think, have new ideas, and resolve situations. The 15-year-old dhust named Kelly narrates how her grandparents helped Albert Einstein solve a mathematical equation. These dhust live with the humangos in small places of the humangos' houses who do not know they exist.


The storyline is very original. The dhust characters are minuscule (dust-like), smart and clever. The voice-over actors that play them deliver excellent performances, with each character given a distinctive voice. The shortcoming may be that their mouth movement doesn’t quite match the words, but it’s not a big drawback. The animation is 2D and very clear. I particularly enjoyed the drawn character of Einstein; it seems quite suitable for this iconic figure. The background music is quite dramatic, in a fun kind of way. The film takes place mostly at Albert Einstein's office and later the dhust's family humagos’ home. The animated characters are cute and funny. One of my favorite scenes is when they board a fly as if it’s their private airplane with doors that open and a set of stairs folding out. But, their influence goes way beyond Einstein, in fact, they are credited with influencing almost every major human accomplishment going back to the Stone Age! I find the “faux” science approach to this fun and clever.


Their message might be that there are things going on that you had no idea were - at least in our imaginations.


I give this film 3 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 5 to 11, plus adults. This would be fun to play at the KIDS FIRST! Film Festivals. Julie S., KIDS FIRST! 

  • Year
    2021
  • Runtime
    5:00
  • Language
    English
  • Country
    United States
  • Director
    Bianca Pietersz
  • Screenwriter
    Matt Fernandez
  • Producer
    Bianca Pietersz, Matt Fernandez, Andrew H. Enriquez
  • Cast
    Avalon Penrose, Eric Howell Sharp, Bianca Pietersz
  • Sound Design
    Julie McCarthy, Bianca Pietersz