The shorts programme of Wondering, Wandering at BFI London Film Festival is very similar to the Animated Shorts for Younger Audiences, only taking a slightly more serious POV. Nevertheless, it is an amazing programme to show to your kids as it will surely open their minds a bit.
Wondering, Wandering is formed by short films that take a child’s perspective of different accounts. Humour, drama, creativity and crucial lessons are shared in it. Lessons that are just as good for kids as they are for adults. Most of the programme is reviewed below so you can give it a look and decide if it might be something you’re interested in.
Without further ado, here are the reviews of said shorts:
And Granny Would Dance
- Year of production: 2024
- Director: Maryam Mohajer.
- Writer: Maryam Mohajer.
- Producer: Abigail Addison.
Synopsis
A group of women gets together to joke about their husbands and cheer up one of them, who has recently become a widow.
Review
And Granny Would Dance has a really sweet introduction that ends in tragedy, much like Up (2009), only less detailed. A child narrates her grandma’s great love story and how the loss of her husband destroyed her. Straight after that, the narrative, still guided by the kid, dives into the day when everything changed.
The story is guided by the female gaze of the young girl, who notes with curiosity everything that the adult women are doing, even if she doesn’t quite understand it. The innocent persepctive of a such a young person serves to make the story more endearing and fun. Qualities that have already been established from the beginning with the animation technique.
Overall, And Granny Would Dance is a beautiful reminder of the strength and resilience women have, despite facing terrible conditions.
A Short Film About Kids
- Year of production: 2023
- Director: Ibrahim Handal.
- Writer: Ibrahim Handal.
- Producers: Wisam Al Jafari and Ibrahim Handal.
Synopsis
A group of kids gets into all sorts of trouble in their endeavours to go to the beach.
Review
A Short Film About Kids follows the adventures of a group of kids who are trying to save enough money to go to the beach. When their efforts are frustrated, one of them comes up with a better idea to achieve their goal.
The short is an ode to children’s ingenuity. The upbeat score following a fun adventure that feels straight out of a Pixar short. Overall, A Short Film About Kids is exactly what it promises in its title.
Dawn Every Day
- Year of production: 2024
- Director: Amir Youseff.
- Writer: Amir Youseff.
- Producer: Norah El Khateeb.
Synopsis
A boy tries to keep her neighbour from leaving the country, with little success.
Review
Dawn Every Day talks about the post-nationalised Egypt era from the perspective of a young boy. Incapable of understanding the changes that this period of time brought along, he makes a plan to keep his neighbour, a young girl, with him.
The innocence of the plan is heartbreakingly beautiful. The simplicity of his mind contrasting with the very complex situation of his country. This crash of mentalities encourages you to wonder what if people were a bit more like children, more interested in being happy and making everyone around them happy than in power and money.
Overall, Dawn Every Day is a gorgeous, bittersweet story about the loss of innocence and the grief of losing a childhood friend. Contextualised in a complicated time for Egypt, the kid’s story offers a new perspective of this period in time.
Liminal Roots
- Year of production: 2024
- Director: Aliyah Harfoot.
- Writers: Aliyah Harfoot and Amy Tattersall White.
- Producer: Ella Ritchie.
Synopsis
A girl struggles with being different at school, not knowing how to navigate being of mixed-race.
Review
Liminal Roots uses the first person to place the audience in the subjective view of children who struggle due to being mixed-race. This state of in-between can take a toll in young people, since they feel different from both white and black kids, and they may not know how to assimilate that. A child’s first tool for socialising is imitation. Not being able to fully relate to other kids hinders that resource.
The hair has been used as a metaphor for race struggles plenty of times. However, this stop-motion animation manages to give it a personality so strong that it feels like you are watching the technique for the first time. The subjective perspective is absolutely wonderful. The sound effects accompany the story beautifully, almost giving you the anxiety that the protagonist is experiencing.
Overall, the main attraction of Liminal Roots is the storytelling. The topic and the animation style might not be the most innovative, but the form of expression will sure blow your mind.
What’s the Film About?
- Year of production: 2024
- Director: Poorva Bhat.
- Writer: Poorva Bhat.
- Producers: Prataya Saha and Poorva Bhat.
Synopsis
A filmmaker talks to her children about making a movie explaining the concepts of good touch and bad touch. They are very against it at first, but soon their curiosity wins over their prejudice.
Review
What’s the Film About? documents the reaction of the filmmaker’s kids to the fact that she is making a film about good touch and bad touch. She is at first met with the typical childlike illogical reject and awkwardness. However, after acting out a bit, they become more interested on the matter and slowly move past their irrational fears and prejudice.
This short film is fascinating and inspiring. There is no better way to describe it. Sexual education is crucial for children and adults, and the fact that is matter is still under discussion only proves how hard it is for the human race to do something different, even if it is for everyone’s benefit. Of course, one can’t be naive and pretend that no one is profiting from the ignorance around sex education, but the fact that people like that still consider themselves human is beyond any logic.
While the governments discuss whether women can have sexual autonomy or not, it is up to artists and other activists to help spread the work on sexual education. It is primarily in the hands of women to teach each other how to be safe and set up boundaries, which is why the final conversation between the filmmaker and her daughter is the most important part of the whole piece. Despite the aversion of her son to listen to anything regarding sex education, an attitude that sadly millions of adult men share, both mother and daughter maintain a simple but vital conversation, one that all mothers should have with their daughters.
This is not to say that sexual education is a woman’s business, nothing could be further from the truth. Still, being realistic, women can’t expect to be given rights and respect by men. If one takes a quick look at the history books, it becomes painfully clear that women need to take those rights and respect by force, and they can’t do that if they lack vital information about their own bodies and how boundaries work.
Overall, Bhat’s work What’s the Film About? is an incredibly inspiring piece that lets you dream of a better world, a world where women don’t feel guilty every time they say no, a world where they don’t have to suffer constant harassment in silence.
Advice to take from these short films:
- Sometimes all you need is a child’s perspective to things to make everything clearer.
- It is important to build a relationship of trust with your children so they never feel like they have to navigate hardships alone.
- Said it before, and I’ll say it again: sex education is VITAL.
What’s your take? Did you attend the Wondering, Wandering programme at BFI London Film Festival? Have you watched any of these short films? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, in my contact page or through my Instagram! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀
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