BEST CHILDREN’S FEATURE FILM


‘The Black Balloon’ Australia
Produced by Tristram Miall. Co-Produced by Sally Ayre-Smith, Elissa Down, Jimmy the Exploder and Mark Turnbull. 

When Thomas and his family move to a new home and he has to start at a new school, all he wants is to fit in. When his pregnant mother has to take things easy, his father Simon puts him in charge of his autistic older brother Charlie. Thomas, with the help of his new girlfriend Jackie, faces his biggest challenge yet. Charlie’s unusual antics take Thomas on an emotional journey that causes his pent-up frustrations about his brother to pour out – in a story that is funny, confronting and ultimately heart-warming.


‘Mahek’ India
Produced by The Children’s Film Society, India

11-year-old Mahek dreams of becoming the very best in everything, but is unsure of what she is best at. To complicate things further, an old, magicless modern fairy walks into her life. Will Mahek ever realise her true strength? Mahek looks at the world through the imaginative eyes of children and examines their rights by following a little girl's journey towards self-realisation. The film reflects the changes India is going through, from gradual economic freedom towards a renewed intellectual identity.


‘Pisay’ (Philippine Science) Philippines
Produced by Auraeus Solito. Co-Produced by Solito Arts Production, Philippine Science High School Foundation and PSHS Batch 86.

Structured in four acts to follow freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years, Philippine Science begins in playful and familiar school conflicts, as teenagers compete for top marks and fret over status at the high school dance. As the students get older, the film takes on richer tones and more complex dilemmas. In their sophomore year, ‘Ninoy’ Aquino, a leading political opponent of Marcos, is assassinated on his return from the United States. The kids take up the event as a mathematics problem, calculating the timing of the shots and trajectory of the bullets. But by their junior and senior years, they become more actively involved in politics, standing up for justice in their own school and responding with teenage righteousness to the gathering storm on the streets of Manila.


‘Siri Raja Siri’ (King Siri) Sri Lanka
Produced by Somaratne Dissanayake and Renuka Balasooriya 

Sirimal, an 11-year-old boy from a very poor family in a remote village, obtains the highest marks of the year five scholarship exams, and enters a college in the city. As he tries to fit in with his peers from rich and high-class families, Sirimal encounters social and financial challenges.  When he is selected to play the lead role as the king in a school stage drama, his biggest challenge is finding the money to make the royal costume.