"Give my children sunny smile. Give them moon and cloudless sky. I demand a better future." That’s exactly what the kids (or animals) are all striving for in these family-friendly shorts. The future of the neighborhood lemonade stand is what’s at stake in Anya Adams’ Lemonade Mafia (US 2016, 6 min). In Ned Wenlock’s Spring Jam (New Zealand 2016, 6 min), a young stag lacking big antlers uses some musical improvisation to make an impression during mating season. When his grandson challenges him on the soccer field, an elderly man looks to his past for new inspiration in Hannes Thor Arason’s Footsteps (Iceland 2017, 15 min). Hedgehog’s love for his cozy home sparks an unexpected standoff with his forest neighbors in Eva Cvijanovic’s animated Hedgehog’s Home (Canada 2016, 10 min). In Godelieve Eijsink’s poignant documentary Jesser and the Sugarcane (Netherlands 2016, 15 min), a Nicaraguan boy dreams of becoming a farmer in hopes of avoiding the dangerous work in the sugarcane fields that has made his father sick. In Marlies van der Wel’s animated Sabaku (Netherlands 2016, 2 min), a bird goes in search of a new buddy after the water buffalo he hangs out with passes away. Bullied and angry, young Amelia learns the right and wrong ways to feel empowered in Halima Lucas’s Amelia’s Closet (US 2016, 18 min). And Marc Colagiovanni wants all kids to know that you are absolutely perfect just as you are in The Reflection in Me (US 2017, 4 min). Age 7+
*Oct 9 screening is a CFI Education screening open to school groups and general public.