Berlin Film Festival Offical Selection

 

Blue Willow screened at the Berlin Film Festival as part of the Kinderfest section.

 

The festival occurs in February, in the thick of German winter.

 

“It was freezing. The first five days there was snow and that was really magical because at nighttime when we’d come out of the cinemas there’d be the smell of bockwurst sausages and hot mulled wine that they’d sell out on the street. You’d look up and there’d be snowflakes coming down through the trees.”

The Kinderfest section, in which Blue Willow screened, is one of six in the festival and features 21 short films and 21 features. This year’s theme was world migration and its increasing impact on how different generations live together. The Kinderfest aims to get children involved in interacting with film. Aila-Unsworth said she’d never thought of her film as being specifically for a young audience but neither too had any of the other filmmakers she spoke to.

“I didn’t even really know children’s festivals existed. But you could really see they cared about young people and making sure they’d bring them into the culture of not only viewing films but seeing them with a critical eye. So they had a children’s jury who actually gave out the big award, they call it the Crystal Bear, and child journalists who were updating a website and a magazine. They took kids seriously. And these kids were bright too.

 

- interview/author, Ron Hanson