"Children are the best judges of what makes a good children's film," a member of the Cinekid children's jury spoke confidently. There may be room for improvement on that, but the fact is that at the awards ceremony on the festive closing night of the Cinekid festival, there was remarkable agreement with the adult jury.
Not only did both juries nominate the same film twice (The Rocket and Your Beauty is Worth Nothing), but they also both chose The Rocket as the eventual winner of the Cinekid Lion. Australian filmmaker Kim Mordaunt shot this stark but also poetic and hopeful youth drama in Laos, shown as a country still battling the aftermath of war. Earlier, Mordaunt made the documentary Bomb Harvest about the people who are still clearing the unexploded bombs there - something that also happens in The Rocket emerges.
The main character is a 10-year-old Ahlo who, along with his father and some others, sets out to find a better life. To make matters worse, some claim that Ahlo carries a curse that brings bad luck. He himself remains determined to prove that he can indeed bring good luck. Mordaunt does not polish away the harsh reality, quite the contrary, but in addition makes the open-minded child's gaze and the perseverance that goes with it a touching symbol of hope. It delivered The Rocket previously picked up the top prize in the youth section of the Berlin Film Festival.
Cinekid's youth jury named The Rocket not only believable, funny and exciting, but also praised the film for not being afraid to show life as it is.
Praise for the courage to tackle confrontational topics was a sound that was heard more often. Thus, the Clockhouse-episode about child abuse not only won the Kinderkast audience award, but also the jury prize for best youth television programme of 2013.
Also, the double-nominated Austrian immigrant drama Your Beauty is Worth Nothing manages to transform a bright realist subject into a moving ode to hope and love.
Which, by the way, does not mean that things always have to be heavy-handed at Cinekid - perhaps the best example of the opposite is the surprising crowning of Miffy as best Dutch youth film.
All other awards can be found at http://www.cinekid.nl/
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