ADIFF (Audi Dublin International Film Festival) 2017

#ADIFF18: Fantastic Flix 2018 Programme for Children and Families Announced

It’s that special time of year when we rekindle the magic of childhood. And this past weekend the Audi Dublin International Film Festival (ADIFF) did just that by giving a special preview of its 2018 children’s festival programme, Fantastic Flix, with a screening of the animated holiday special, Angela’s Christmas, by Brown Bag Films at the Lighthouse Cinema in Dublin. And now the full Fantastic Flix programme has been announced and is on sale at www.diff.ie. ADIFF will present this year’s programme with support, for the first time, from Cheestrings, cheese snacks for children.

This weekend’s screening of Angela’s Christmas was just the beginning. ADIFF wants to make some exciting new memories for your family with the exciting Fantastic Flix programme running from 1st – 4th March 2018, including children’s films from around the world, workshops, short film selections, and special events.

This year Fantastic Flix showcases an exciting programme of films, special events and workshops geared specifically towards younger audiences. We are delighted to bring back, for the second year, the Fantastic Flix Children’s Jury of 11-12 year-olds who will watch, evaluate, and review Fantastic Flix titles from around the world before deciding on one film as the Best Fantastic Flix Film of 2018.
Sarah Ahern, Fantastic Flix Programmer

The Fantastic Flix Children’s Jury is in collaboration with The Ark’s Children’s Council and the Irish Film Classification Office.

At Cheestrings, our purpose is to fuel fun and give kids great experiences, which is why we are so excited to be the first ever sponsor of the Fantastic Flix programme. Fantastic Flix aims to bring the wonder back to childhood, which makes them the perfect partner for Cheestrings. We look forward to getting involved in making the screenings, workshops and jury panels as fun and fantastic as possible.
Eilidh MacLachlan, Assistant Brand Manager of Cheestrings

Highlights of this year’s Fantastic Flix programme include and the Fantastic Flix shorts programme; Big Bad Fox and Other Tales (8+), a tender animation about a Fox that thinks it’s a chicken, a Rabbit that acts like a stork, and a Duck who wants to replace Father Christmas; and the heart-warming Cloudboy (10+) where cityboy Niilas, who is sent to his mother in Lapland, takes a jaunt into the nearby magical woods and embarks on a wild adventure.

There will also be special in-person appearances at the 2018 festival by Cloudboy director Meikeminne Clinckspoor and Nora Twomey, director of the Irish animated feature film, The Breadwinner.

For those wanting to get some hands-on film experience, there are terrific workshops full of activities for ages 8+ being presented in collaboration with The Ark during the school mid-term holidays. Workshops include a Brick Flick’s Lego Animation Workshop,  bringing the world’s favourite building blocks to life and a Discover Graphic Design for Filmmaking workshop presented by Annie Atkins (who has worked with Wes Anderson and Steven Spielberg) at The Ark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcYXUbgP538

Angela’s Christmas, which launched Fantastic Flix at the weekend, is set in Ireland in the 1910’s and based on the popular children’s story from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt, Angela’s Christmas is a funny, heart-warming and poignant story about the power of family and the innocent desire of a child to ensure everyone is safe, warm and loved at Christmas time.

The film, directed by Damien O’Connor,  stars Oscar-nominated Ruth Negga (LovingPreacher) in the role of Angela’s mother, and Lucy O’Connell (of Oscar-nominated Song of the Sea) as Angela.

Fantastic Flix runs from March 1st-4th, 2018, in cinemas across Dublin including the Light House Cinema, Movies@Dundrum, Omniplex Cinema Rathmines and The Ark.

Tickets for Fantastic Flix are now on sale at http://www.diff.ie or call 01 687 7974 for general tickets, groups and school bookings.

With many of the festival galas and films for 2018 already nearly finalised, it’s never too early to secure your seat at all the key events of the 16th Audi Dublin International Film Festival as season tickets and gift vouchers are already on sale at diff.ie.