Free First Saturday: Kids’ Film Fair 2024

KIDS’ FILM FAIR: ANIMATED SHORTS
Walker Cinema and online
Recommended for ages 3+, 46 min.

A program of shorts dazzles and delights young audiences with a range of styles, stories, and approaches to the art of animation.

Le Monde (The World) by Baptiste Ratajski
In a magical and colorful world, a child wakes up in the center of a flower for a nighttime adventure with a bird and a troupe of charming bugs. 2023, France, in French with English subtitles, 3 min.

Bellysaurus by Philip Watts
A group of small dinosaur friends hopes to grow up big and loud. When the smallest one is eaten by a huge dinosaur, she learns what it’s all about from the inside. 2021, Australia, nonverbal, 8 min.
Sensory note: Film begins with crashing footsteps, a dinosaur roaring, and a volcanic eruption. Loud roaring and crashing footsteps continue intermittently throughout the film.

Early Birds by Cole Stevenson
An inventive little penguin makes many attempts to get his mother’s attention. 2021, Canada, nonverbal, 3 min.
Sensory note: A gong chimes 1 minute 20 seconds into the film.

Tümpel (Pond) by Lena von Döhren and Eva Rust
Separated from his school, a lone fish enters a tidepool and meets new kinds of sea creatures. Together, they form a musical band, until a hungry seagull interrupts the party. 2023, Switzerland, nonverbal, 9 min.

Hello Stranger by Julia Ocker
An astronaut lands on a new planet where everything is unknown, including a couple of curious creatures who provide care. 2022, Germany, nonverbal, 6 min.
Sensory and content note: This film contains moments of suspense. An alarm rings for 20 seconds starting 40 seconds into the film. A growling animal appears onscreen 3 minutes and 40 seconds into the film.

Abri (Shelter) by Julie Daravan Chea
Children on a camping trip distract themselves from a storm with a game of shadow play in their cozy tent. 2023, France, in French with English subtitles, 3 min.
Sensory note: Intermittent thunderclaps, beginning 45 seconds into the film.

Pisma na kraju šume (Letters from the Edge of the Forest) by Jelena Oroz
A squirrel, a tiger, a hedgehog, and an elephant would love to learn how to write and read letters so they can go to a mole’s birthday party. 2022, Croatia, in Croatian with English subtitles, 12 min.

KIDS’ FILM FAIR: DIY!
Bentson Mediatheque and online
Recommended for ages 3+, 14 min.

A selection of short videos exemplifies some of the many ways making music videos, animation, and documentary can be used to express oneself and connect with others.

Hey Cooper by Kellie Newton
Thirteen-year-old Zoe Elan performs her own original song about a beloved dog in a live-action music video created by family and friends. 2021, US, 3 min.

Rachel by Toko Shiiki
A young animator shares what she likes about animation and how she got started using drawing and comics to express herself. 2022, US, 3 min.

Inside My Eyes by Youyang Yu
Using a mix of traditional watercolors and AI image generation, a Twin Cities animator makes a visualization of the thoughts that race through a busy mind. The film was inspired by a poem by Yuko Taniguichi, which explores the impact of creative practices on the well-being of adolescents. 2023, US (Minneapolis), 3 min.
Sensory note: Animation contains flickering, fast-changing images.

Plastic Free Friendship Trailer by Atsuko Satake Quirk
School kids in New York City and Japan share citizen science learnings and carry out climate justice actions using media as a tool to unite youth across the globe to achieve zero-waste schools and plastic-free waters. 2024, US, in English and Japanese with English subtitles, 4 min.

In-person screenings of the animated shorts program are available on March 2 in the Walker Cinema. Screenings will begin at 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 1:30 pm, and 2:30 pm.

The DIY shorts program will screen on loop in the Bentson Mediatheque throughout the day, 10 am–3 pm.

These are relaxed screenings. Adults are welcome to read subtitles to children and leave early, if preferred.

Prefer to view at home? Get cozy and watch the Free First Saturday Kids’ Film Fair program right here, for free!

Available March 1 at 4:30 pm to March 4 at 9 am.

All films will have English-language captions. The program is approximately 60 min.

Art-Making Activity: Room of Dreams, 10 am–3 pm
Enter artist Roshan Ganu’s Room of Dreams, created using immersive video projections inspired by memory and dreaming. Make a drawing that pulls from your own dreams, or simply rest in the space and let your mind wander.

Art-Making Activity: Pieces Assemble! Choreograph a Stop-Motion Dragon Dance, 10 am–3 pm
Join animation director and teaching artist Youyang Yu to create a paper dragon puppet using cut-out shapes. Then breathe life into your dragon by staging it in cool dance poses at a stop-motion animation station!

Art-Making Activity: Get Crankie, 10 am–3 pm
Have you ever heard of a crankie? Crankies are handmade boxes designed to hold a scroll of paper that can be unfurled to tell a story. What story will you tell with your DIY crankie?

Tour for Families, 11:30 am
Tour for General Audiences, 1 pm
Join a Walker educator for a family-friendly guided tour of artworks on view in the galleries at 11:30 am (40 min.), or take a guided tour for general audiences at 1 pm (60 min.). Tours meet at

Visit the Walker Art Center Library, 10 am–3 pm
The Walker’s library is open! Explore the stacks and find inspiration in the library’s collection of artful books. The library entrance is through the Art Lab.

All films will be captioned in English. Film screenings in the Walker Cinema and Bentson Mediatheque include open captions and English subtitles for films with dialogue. Assistive listening devices are available in the Walker Cinema.

If viewing from home, click the CC icon in the bottom-right corner of the video to access captions and subtitles for the films with dialogue.

For information about accessibility or to request additional accommodations for this program, call 612-375-7564 or email access@walkerart.org.

For more information about accessibility at the Walker, visit our Access page.

Roshan Ganu is a multimedia artist originally from Goa, presently based in Minneapolis. Her work is an ongoing exploration of moving image collage in which she creates spaces that mesmerize and incite curiosity within the viewer. Ganu received the MCAD-Jerome Early Career Award in 2022, and was recently in residence at Out of the Circle in Cairo, Egypt. She has exhibited her multimedia work across Minnesota, including at Franconia Sculpture Park, Duluth Art Institute, Rochester Art Center, and SooVisual Arts Center, among others. She holds an MFA from MCAD (2020); an MA in French linguistics and translation from the University of Pune, India (2016); and a BA in journalism and communication from Manipal University, India (2010).

Youyang Yu is a traditionally trained 2D artist learning and researching generative AI in the field of animation. Youyang is interested in combining the tactility from aesthetics of physical art-making with digital image processing for building rhythms and narratives in sequential visual transformation.