Azur and Asmar
ENGLISH LANGUAGE VERSION
99 min | France | 2008 | Opening Night Gala Film
Director: Michel Ocelot
California Premiere

www.gkids.tv

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“Magnificent!” “Entrancing!” “So gloriously bright, audiences with sensitive eyes may need shades.” – Variety

“Beautiful! ...the movie has a terrific flair for arabesque patterning, a gemlike luminosity of surface and a handsome, classical cast of mind.” – Nathan Lee, New York Times

World Premiere at the 2006 Festival de Cannes, Director's Fortnight: The flagship of the 2009 San Joaquin Children's Film Festival, AZUR and ASMAR is the story of two boys raised as brothers. Blonde, blue-eyed, white skinned Azur and black-haired, brown-eyed, dark-skinned Asmar are lovingly cared for by Asmar's gentle mother, who tells them magical stories of her faraway homeland and of beautiful, imprisoned Fairy Djinn waiting to be set free. Time passes, and one day Azur's father, the master of the house, provokes a brutal separation. Azur is sent away to study, while Asmar and his mother are driven out, homeless and penniless.

Years later, as a young adult, Azur remains haunted by memories of the sunny land of his nanny, and sets sail south across the high seas to find the country of his dreams. Arriving as an immigrant in a strange land, Azur is rejected by everyone he meets on account of his "unlucky" blue eyes, until finally he resolves never to open those eyes again. The once-beautiful child clad in gold is reduced to a blind beggar. Yet, blind though he is, little by little and step by step, he discovers a beautiful and mysterious country. Meanwhile, back in her homeland, Azur's nanny has become a wealthy merchant and Asmar has grown into a dashing horseman. Reunited but now as adversaries, the two brothers set off on a dangerous quest to find and free the Fairy of the Djinn.

From GKids: AZUR and ASMAR is an incredibly unique film whose visual beauty and artistic pedigree (French animation master Michel Ocelot's previous film, Kirikou and the Sorceress, was hailed as a "film of the year," and Azur and Asmar has already garnered incredible reviews from playing the Cannes Film Festival) ensures the interest of arthouse and upscale crowds, while the film's animated swashbuckling adventure can easily appeal to mainstream family audiences looking for something new and exciting. The film has been compared to classics like Spirited Away and other Hayao Miyazaki films, as well as Pan's Labyrinth, Persepolis, and Triplets of Belleville.

ENGLISH, CLASSICAL ARABIC

GALA SCREENING
FRI. 1/16 at 6:00PM
Stockton Empire Theatre

MATINEE SCREENING
SUN. 1/18 at 3:30PM
Stockton Empire Theatre

Darius Goes West: The Roll of His Life
94 min | USA | 2007 | Documentary Feature
Director: Logan Smalley

www.dariusgoeswest.org

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• Ellen Degeneres surprises Darius and Logan

Winner of various Audience Awards at festivals around the United States and Official Selection at Sprockets: Toronto Int'l FF for Children, Santa Barbara Int'l FF, among many others - this heart-rending documentary DARIUS GOES WEST: The Roll of His Life opens with the assertion that 15-year-old Darius Weems, a wheelchair-bound, African American young man stricken with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, has never left Georgian soil. To rectify this (and give Darius an experience he will never forget), his counselor friends from a grassroots organization called Project Reach pile into a handicap-accessible RV with Darius and hit the road, embarking on a cross-country trip from Athens, Georgia to Southern California, where they hope to convince the MTV network's Pimp My Ride series to customize Darius's wheelchair.

The journey (which includes stops at such locales as The Grand Canyon; Windsor Springs, Colorado; and Las Vegas) draws the men closer together and gives them a renewed appreciation for life. Along the way, they encounter unexpected help and friendship from such celebrities as William H. Macy, Felicity Huffman and Michael Jackson, and raise much-needed public awareness of muscular dystrophy. Logan Smalley directs. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide. ENGLISH

SAT. 1/17 at 6:00PM
Stockton Empire Theatre

Going on 13
86 min | USA | 2008 | Documentary Feature
Directors: Kristy Guevara-Flanagan & Dawn Valadez
Central Valley Premiere

www.goingon13.com

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Official Selection at Tribeca FF and AFI's SilverDocs in 2008: From Tweety Bird to Bow Wow, double dutch to chat rooms, Daddy's girls to first deceptions, watch over 4 years as Ariana, Isha, Rosie, and Esme let go of childhood and fumble - or sprint - toward an uncertain future. This is puberty, and for each of these California girls of color, it's a whirlwind of change and new choices. Without flinching, GOING ON 13 goes enter their world as they negotiate the precious, precarious moments between being a little girl and becoming a young woman.

GOING ON 13 shows us a reality far more complex than what we are used to seeing in the media about pre-teen girls and urban girls of color. Through intimate interviews and cinema verite footage of the everyday drama of their changing lives, Isha, Rosie, Esme and Ariana remind us that it is the small moments of insight that usher us down the rough road from childhood to adulthood. ENGLISH, SPANISH and HINDI with English Subtitles

SUN. 1/18 at 6:00PM
Stockton Empire Theatre

SAT. 1/17 at 3:30PM
Stockton Empire Theatre

SAT. 1/17 at 8:00PM
Stockton Empire Theatre

There will be an intermission halfway through this program.

Abridged
4 mins | USA | 2007 | Short Animated Narrative
Director: Arjun Rihan

www.arjunrihan.com/abridged

Official Selection at the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, ABRIDGED is about a romantic comedy set on the Golden Gate Bridge... a long distance affair...

American Dream
16 mins | USA | 2007 | Short Narrative
Director: Joseph Mann

www.americandreamfilm.com

Winner of the Student Award at the Hampton Int'l Film Festival: When selling lemonade fails to solve her family’s financial woes, young Laura decides to use the cover of a school field trip to rob the local savings and loan.

The Chestnut Tree
4 mins | USA | 2007 | Short Animated Narrative
Director: Hyun-min Lee

Official Selection at the San Francisco Int'l Animation Festival and the San Diego Film Festival: A mother and daughter relive memories under the Chestnut Tree.

Colours
9 mins | Singapore | 2007 | Short Narrative
Director: Lee Chee Tian
Central Valley Premiere

Official Selection at the Busan International Kids' Film Festival, this is the story of a color-blind girl's journey to find colors in her life. She ends up seeing more colors than she bargained for, but will she live happily ever after? ENGLISH

Gyerekdalok - Nursery Songs
5 mins | Hungary | 2008 | Short Animated Narrative
Director: Nagdolna Hegyi
USA Premiere

www.studiobaestarts.com

This shorts series are composed of different nursery songs known by the people of Hungary. These songs connect today's world to the past and the traditional; and the urban mentality to that of folk. HUNGARIAN with English Subtitles

His Good Will
12 mins | USA | 2008 | Short Narrative
Director: Cayman Grant
Northern California Premiere

www.hisgoodwill.com

Official Selection at Festival de Cannes' Short Films Corner, L.A. Shorts, Krakow Int'l FF, among others, and starring Donis Leonard, Jr.; Ashley Jones, James Avery (Fresh Prince of Bel Air). Amidst the racism, poverty, and intense heat of the 1950s Southern United States, one young boy with nothing to offer, still gives with all of his heart.

Hose
13 mins | USA | 2007 | Short Animated Narrative
Dir.: Kevin Watkins
Central Valley Premiere

Official Selection at SF Shorts and NYC Shorts. In search of adventure, the inquisitive Hose enters the house and discovers children when he accidentally switches on the TV. Watching them makes the hose realize that he is lonely. THen one day he hears children playing nearby and sets off to find them.

Huhu - Pole Hole
2 mins | Hungary | 2007 | Short Animated Narrative
Director: Alexei Alexeev
USA Premiere

www.studiobaestarts.com

The film features some owls that happen to land in the Arctic and start a new life there. Their main attribute is stupidity, combined with a lack of long-term memory

Hungarian Folk Tales : The Hare-Herder
8 mins | Hungary | 2007 | Short Animated Narrative
Dir.: Lajos Nagy
USA Premiere

The king was not satisfied with the results of the competition announced for his marriage-worthy daughter's hand because the winner was a poor vagrant lad. The king decides to make him a herder of rabbits, a trial that could potentially get rid of him. HUNGARIAN with English Subtitles

Jungle Gym
3 mins | USA | 2006 | Short Animated Narrative
Director: David Badgerow

www.davidbadgerow.com

A favorite at the 2008 San Joaquin International Film Festival, JUNGLE GYM is about a jungle hippo, self-conscious about his rather round physique and desires to mold himself into a lean, muscle-bound mammal. As he may yearn to get fit, his fridge constantly beckons him. Will he overcome his cravings and conquer his weight problem at last?

KJFG No. 5
2 mins | Hungary | 2007 | Short Animated Narrative
Director: Alexei Alexeev
Northern California Premiere

Played at 30 festivals worldwide, this award-winning short film features three "professional" musicians, the bear, the rabbit, and the wolf practicing their art in the forest - but suddenly, the hunter shows up on the scene...

Leila
4 mins | Belgium | 2007 | Short Animated Narrative
Directors: Louise-Marie Colon and 16 children
West Coast Premiere

Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Leila. She lived in a village with her seven brothers and her parents who were poor farmers. Leila’s family had anything left to eat and, at the market, millet was very expensive. Her father decided to exchange Leila for one bag of millet ... FRENCH with English Subtitles

Little Jerboa Petite Gerboise
6 mins | Belgium | 2006 | Short Narrative
Directors: Delphine Hermans, Siona Vidakovic, and 74 children
West Coast Premiere

A little Jerboa lived with her mum. One day, she made so many silly things, that her mum was very angry. The little jerboa believed that her mum didn’t love her anymore, she ran away to find another mum. FRENCH with English Subtitles

Miriam's Theatre
5 mins | Estonia | 2007 | Short Animated Narrative
Director: Priit Tender
Northern California Premiere

www.nukufilm.ee

Official Selection at the London Children's Film Festival: Miriam, the Hen, and Little Brother watch a performance of "Little Red Riding Hood." They are emotionally involved in everything, especially fearing the appearance of the wolf... ESTONIAN with English Subtitles

Papiroflexia
3 mins | USA | 2007 | Short Animated Narrative
Director: Joaquin Baldwin

www.pixelnitrate.com

A finalist at the 2008 Festival de Cannes Short Films Corner, PAPIROFLEXIA (Spanish for “Origami”) is the animated tale of Fred, a skillful paper folder who could shape the world with his hands.

Sooner or Later Tôt ou Tard
5 mins | Switzerland | 2007 | Short Animated Narrative
Director: Jadwiga Kowalska

www.0x2a.ch

Official Selection at the New York International Children's Film Festival, SOONER or LATER is about a squirrel and a bat. The convergence of different worlds and times of day. Forces in the underground govern night and day and much more. By accident, this regulated everyday life has ground to a halt. And thus begins the mutual journey of two solitary figures.

The World is Round Die Erde is rund
5 mins | Switzerland | 2006 | Short Animated Narrative
Director: Jadwiga Kowalska
USA Premiere

www.0x2a.ch

Not being sure if the world is round, an old man embarks on a trip full of obstacles and boundaries to be overcome.

Zoologic
5 mins | USA | 2007 | Short Animated Narrative
Director: Nicole Mitchell
Central Valley Premiere

Winner of the 2008 Student Academy Award® Gold Medal for Animation, ZOOLOGIC is about a fussy zookeeper who maintains strict order in his zoo by arranging the animals to his liking. His absolute rule begins to falter, though, when he encounters a fat little penguin; a resident who refuses to be shaped to fit.