Colour Box
Read on for an overview of this year’s Colour Box programme.
Colour Box: Second Nature
22-24 May | Free
Creatures great and small take centre stage in this selection of shorts for families. We’ve got some very funny farmyard animals frantically playing football in the The Game, a colony of sweet little rabbits befriending a puppy dog in Mishou, and a group of strange looking insects dancing to some funky beats in Sum of its Parts - this one might just get your heads bopping too.
All of these films are eligible for the Colour Box Audience Award so please do vote for your favourite!
Suitable for 3+ year olds.
Colour Box: Larger Than Life
22-24 May | Free
Our second programme of family shorts (for slightly older children) takes us on a journey through Swiss shopping malls, the Canadian countryside, an American high school, and a Dutch aquarium. Full of fun, this programme boasts arguably the funniest short to feature in this year’s festival, a two-minuter about an irate octopus who is desperate to have his tank cleaned. Also featuring is Whatever Tree - a thoroughly entertaining mixed media short outlining the consequences of getting a little too obsessed with smart devices, and Ennui, following a group of people who go slightly doolally when they get caught up in the monotony of the everyday. A joyous selection that highlights an array of animation techniques and approaches.
Suitable for 6+ year olds.
touch screen
29 May | 11.00 -12.00 | £5
In partnership with the charity Sense (who work with people with complex disabilities), artist Sarah Hamilton Baker has created an inclusive, interactive sensory performance that attempts to translate the concepts, images and sounds from a selection of short films carefully picked out from the Colour Box archives.
Audiences will be sent a box full of curated objects and will be led through the workshop/performance by Sarah who will talk through what to do with each object and when. Supported by Arts Council England.
A Costume for Nicholas
29-31 May | Dir. Eduardo Rivero |
After his mother passes away, ten-year-old Nicholas goes to live with his loving grandparents and his cousin David. Helping David overcome his nightmares, Nicholas turns to his collection of wonderful costumes, a gift from his mother to keep bad dreams away. The two boys soon realise that the pirate, the dragon or the monkey have special powers that can transport them into a magical kingdom full of adventure.
This sweet family film from Mexico brings to mind Studio Ghibli, The Wizard of Oz or The Chronicles of Narnia. Nicholas, voiced by various actors with Down syndrome, brings us an inspiring hero who finds strength in seeing the world differently.