From April 27 to May 7, IndieJúnior, the cinema festival for the younger public, is back with a special programme full of new surprises. The best of children’s cinema will be screened at São Jorge Cinema, Culturgest, Cinema Ideal, Biblioteca Palácio Galveias and, for the first time, at Penha de França Swimming Pool, which will receive a special screening – in the water – on the last day of the festival. There will be time for screenings for all ages, for schools and families, cinema for babies, workshops, a Film-Debate in partnership with Plano Nacional das Artes, our Outdoor Party in the garden of Biblioteca Palácio Galveias, and much more.
Starting with the new feature, Short Films in the Pool (+6 years) is scheduled for May 7, at 11:30 am and 4:30 pm, at Penha de França Swimming Pool. A screening of fun short films, around the theme of water, bathing and swimming pools, in an unprecedented environment full of splashes – a great way to celebrate Mother’s Day. The screening starts with Salto da Girafa, in a deserted Olympic swimming pool. Then we have the film Piscina, where a man waits for the night time to dive “alone” into the city’s public swimming pool. Then we can watch Tarde na Piscina, where a thousand and one adventures will take place! Heatwave is the fourth film of this screenings and takes us to the heat of a beach in Greece, where two children find a way to refresh everyone. In O Paraíso dos Gatos, it seems Percy finds the right lake to relax in but even being in the towel is not as safe as it seems… The screening at the pool ends with Tinta, where we follow an octopus who just wants the glass that frames his habitat to be completely clean. For this screening you must arrive 30 minutes before, bring your swimsuit, towel, slippers and swimming cap. The pool will have a lifeguard and pool floats. That evening, the concept is extended to the adults, with a new screening of short films.
Another update – this year the IndieJúnior programme includes a feature film! Yuku e a Flor dos Himalaias, by Rémi Durin and Arnaud Demuynck, follows Yuku’s long journey in search of the Himalayan flower, which she wants to give to her grandmother before she passes away. The film is spoken in French, with Portuguese and English subtitles, for +8 years old. The first screening is on May 1, at 3 pm, at Cinema São Jorge. It will repeat on the 6th, Saturday, at 3 pm, at Culturgest.
In the section Short films for all the family (+3 years), the highlight is Confusion on the Balconies, by Quentin Haberham, an amusing Dutch film about a rich woman who is forced to move to a small flat, where she clashes with her neighbours’ habits. In Shorts +6 years old, the beautiful and disruptive Jogo Cruzado uses the cross-stitch as a medium to tell a story about friendship. For the +8 children, a section that debuts in this edition, the highlight is Coisas Nunca Antes Vistas!, about a child’s efforts to recover his grandmother’s television, her only window to the world. More soberly themed, Magma was the film chosen by the students of Escola Básica São Bruno, in Caxias, as part of the Eu Programo um Festival de Cinema, for +10 year old. The film deals with the difficulties of a girl in dealing with her father, who had a motorbike accident. For +12 years old, the students’ choice was for Amigos de Verão, about two lifelong friends who question their friendship after meeting Lucie, a young girl passing by the island where they live.
The parallel activities of IndieJúnior have a series of workshops and games for the younger ones. On May 4, at Biblioteca Palácio Galveias, there is a Film-Debate with the theme Discover Yourself – the Growth in Puberty, for +10 years old. For this session, we have invited people from different areas – arts, education and health – for a conversation moderated by the sub-commissioner of the Plano Nacional das Artes, Sara Brighenti, in the Sala Polivalente of Biblioteca Palácio Galveias. Based on the film Gaby’s Hills, by Zoé Pelchat, we will launch the debate to young people about self-discovery and puberty. An initiative in partnership with Plano Nacional das Artes.
The Family Workshops are organised by age, with activities suitable for each age group. In Baby Cinema workshop 1-2 years, called Entre Poças e Borrifos, water, colour, moving images, sound and other sensory elements will turn this micro-workshop into a show that will arouse sensations and laughter in babies and their companions. On May 1 and 7, at 3 pm, in room 2 of Cinema São Jorge, by A Porta Amarela, a project of artistic mediation.
Mergulho Silencioso workshop is dedicated to children over 5 years old. This workshop is scheduled for April 29 at Biblioteca Palácio Galveias and conceived and directed by educator Ana Teresa Magalhães and Orfeu Negro editions. In this workshop, we will dive beyond what is visible, let surprise move us and discover new horizons that, at first sight, no one has glimpsed. With a white pencil, we trace invisible drawings and, with the help of the charcoal dust, we find places and characters that inhabit our imagination. Inspired by the book A PISCINA, by Jihyeon Lee, from Orfeu Negro editions (Orfeu Mini collection). On April 29, in the garden of Biblioteca Palácio Galveias, the plastic expression workshop Construímos Sinais Diferentes is designed by EMEL educational project Pela Cidade Fora, where you can learn about the different types of traffic signs and understand the importance each one has in our lives. The following Saturday, May 6, at 3 pm, we return to Biblioteca Palácio Galveias for a sound, drawing and movement workshop, Caixinha de Aaaah!, based on the film Aaaah!. This is a workshop to discover and create sounds from images and drawings that one day could be sounds. On the same afternoon, but at Cinema São Jorge, another workshop, this time designed and run by Claude Delafosse, the director of How I Got My Wrinkles – which can be seen in the screening Short Films for the Whole Family (+3 years) – teaches how to Tame a Dragon! creating and animating dragons, using small objects and plasticine, as well as learning more about how the director makes his films!
The anticipation of this edition of IndieJúnior is scheduled for the afternoon of April 16, at Musa de Marvila, with a cinema screening with short films from the last edition of the festival, for +6 years old, ping pong games, food and drinks, and Miss Playmobile’s dj-set, in a terrace with slides and a terrace for the delight of parents and children. For schools, the preview of the festival is scheduled for 7:00 pm next Thursday, March 30, at Biblioteca Palácio Galveias. The full programme, as well as the grid of screenings and ticket sales, will be available from early April.
