2021 Reel 2 Real International Film Festival for Youth champions diversity and inclusivity
The online B.C.-wide fest features films that address the impact of social media, racism, and discrimination
Veins of the World, featured at this year R2R Film Festival.
The Reel 2 Real International Film Festival for Youth celebrates its 23rd anniversary this year, with virtual programming that explores the effects of social media, racism, and discrimination.
Featuring the best films for all ages from around the world, this year’s festival can be enjoyed in homes and classrooms throughout British Columbia. The online fest runs from April 13 to 24.
R2R is showing 18 feature films and 55 shorts from over 35 countries and Indigenous nations.
Among the Canadian premieres are The Lesson, directed by Elena Horn (Germany), about students in Germany confronting their country’s ugly past; and My Name is Baghdad, directed by Caru Alves de Souza (Brazil). In Portuguese with English subtitles, the latter shines a light on the inequities caused by gender-based violence, discrimination, and sexism.
Also screening is My Extraordinary Summer with Tess (directed by Steven Wouterlood/Netherlands, Germany), a heartwarming film about an unlikely friendship and the adventures it leads to. German director Anne Scheschonk’s MySELFie is about a 12-year-old named Maya who suddenly becomes completely bald. Snapping and sharing so many selfies with her friends, the girls grow into young women.
Among the Canadian films is director Nicola Lemay’s Felix and the Treasure of Morgäa, about a boy named Felix who is convinced his father is still alive even though he disappeared at sea two years ago. Devising a top-secret plan to set sail for his dad’s last known location, Felix enlists the help of Old Tom, a fisherman who knows the local waters better than anyone. J.J. Johnson’s Dino Dana The Movie Director, based on the popular Canadian children’s TV series of the same name, celebrates blended families, smart kids, and science. Dark Cloud, by Holly Dupej and Matthew Embry, examines the toll of cyberbullying on youth through the eyes of Carol Todd, mother of Amanda Todd, the B.C. teen who took her own life after two years of bullying, exacerbated by a cyberstalker. Director Miryam Bouchard’s My Very Own Circus (Mon Cirque à Moi) is a heartwarming story about a father-daughter relationship that evolves amid the free-form life in the performing arts.
Access for an entire household is only $40. School group access, which includes educational materials, is $60 for the early bird registration before April 1. (After that, school group access is $75.)
Students across B.C. are invited to attend the fest’s popular school programs: Reel Focus and Feature Focus for elementary grades and Talent Lab for high school. Touching on issues of social justice, history, and Indigenous appreciation, the programs come with study guides and resources to help teachers integrate them into the school curriculum.
For more info, visit www.r2rfestival.org.
Post sponsored by the Reel 2 Real Film International Festival for Youth.