Friday Night Film Club for 9 – 12 y.o.

Friday Night Film Club will run weekly from 6 - 8pm at 1438 Cedar Cottage Mews on Friday nights through the winter, inviting kids aged 9 and older to learn about movie making and critical thinking. 

Each session is $20/person, including the film, snacks, and facilitated discussion, in a warm, safe neighbourhood hangout spot, with adult supervision. The schedule for our first 8 films is below and registration is at the bottom of the page.

"In 1931 Paris, an orphan living in the walls of a train station gets wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton." ~ IMDB. Watch the trailer.

Who decides which movies are "good"?

Martin Scorsese is one of Hollywood's most famous directors, with 26 films, 16 documentaries, and over a dozen short films and TV shows. His work has been nominated for 91 Academy Awards, and won 20. A quarter of them came from Hugo. Why do you think the critics loved it so much? 

"A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet." ~ IMDB. Watch the trailer.

Steven Speilberg's 1982 classic sci-fi film was groundbreaking in its content, use of effects, and most importantly, a child actor in the lead role. It is still one of the most popular films of all time, even though it is over 40 years old.

How do the special effects of the 1980's compare to today's Computer Generated effects? Does it make a difference to the point of the story? 

"During her family's move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches and spirits, a world where humans are changed into beasts." ~ IMDB. Watch the trailer.

Hayao Miyazaki’s beautiful story follows Chihiro through a mystical universe where she has to save her family and herself, and becomes a hero along the way. How does Miyazaki use of animation allow him to tell a story that goes beyond our reality?

"An urbane fox cannot resist returning to his farm raiding ways and then must help his community survive the farmers' retaliation." ~ IMDB. Watch the trailer.

Wes Anderson's storytelling style is known throughout the film industry as having colourful pallets, flat, deadpan characters, and long sequences with stairs and windows.

How do his characteristic elements come into play in this adaptation of Roald Dahl's “children’s” story? Is this a children’s film? 

"A self-centered Minnesota lawyer is sentenced to community service coaching a rag tag youth hockey team." ~ IMDB. Watch the trailer.

What is a trope?

The story of a man who fails in his "career" or life choices and finds a solution through sharing his passion with kids has been told so many times. The sports team who always loses wins the championship! Why do we like to see the same thing happen again and again?

"A Ugandan girl sees her world rapidly change after being introduced to the game of chess." ~ IMDB. Watch the trailer.

Based on a true story from the slums of Uganda, a young woman uses chess to cope with the challenges in her life, and makes it to the championships in Russia. How does the movie differ from the documentary in interest, and cinematic value?

Find the original documentary here.

"Yearning for escape and adventure, a young boy runs away from home and sails to an island filled with creatures that take him in as their king." ~ IMDB. Watch the trailer.

Based on the classic children's book by Maurice Sendac, this movie expands on the life of Max and his imaginary kingdom to tell the story of loneliness and solace. How does the book's plain (dark?) style differ from the visuals and depth of the film? Which do you like better?

"A young boy named Mahito yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning. A semi-autobiographical fantasy from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki." ~ IMDB. Watch the trailer.

Revisiting one of our favourite directors, this 2023 film comes more than 20 years after Spirited Away. How has Miyazaki evolved in that time? Do you think this is a film for children only? Why do we love this manner of storytelling? Do you love it?