Louisville Children's Film Festival Hosts "Through the Rainbow," A Screening of Short Animated Films, on June 8th at Louisville Memorial Auditorium

June 4, 2019. Louisville, KY. Louisville Children's Film Festival is hosting "Through the Rainbow," a free event featuring a curated collection of short animated films for all ages, on Saturday, June 8th. "Through the Rainbow" is a great family-friendly event that is part of the Fund for the Arts Summer Cultural Pass program. With a Cultural Pass, kids and caregivers gain free access to dozens of world-class venues and unique events in and around Louisville.

The one-day "Through the Rainbow" event highlights 13 short films that were featured at this year's Children's Film Festival Seattle. This event, which is free with a Cultural Pass, will be held at the historic Louisville Memorial Auditorium located at 970 S 4th St, Louisville, KY 40203. Participants can choose from two seatings, one at 10:30 a.m. another at 3:30 p.m. Pre-registration for the event is strongly encouraged, with FREE t-shirts for everyone who claims their free tickets in advance. Those interested in seeing these animated short films can pre-register for Through the Rainbow, hosted by Louisville Children's Film Festival, here.

The 13 animated shorts that will be featured at "Through the Rainbow" come from animators all over the world. The animated films range in length from 1 minute to 11 minutes and feature a wide variety of animation techniques including stop-motion, hand-drawn and more. Throughout the program, attendees will watch engaging stories with themes that include friendships with animals, overcoming obstacles, family love, the power of hope and perseverance. The 13 animated shorts that will be screened during "Through the Rainbow" include:

"People", by Lucas Hespenheide from the United States, is a 1-minute short film that takes an introspective look at the differences between people and how we can all learn to love who we are.

"Cycle" is a 2-minute long, nonverbal short film created by Sophie Olga de Jong and Sytske Kok from the Netherlands and tells the story of a small girl who discovers that true adventures being where the road ends while her grandfather teaches her to ride a bike.

"Woolworld" is one of the longer animated films featured, with a 10-minute run time, from Joanna Polak of Poland. "Woolworld" tells the story of Mr. Wooly, an aging gentleman who lives in a world of wool and is the only one who knows how to keep the entire place from unraveling. Being old and tired, he wants his life to change and, unfortunately, his wish gets granted.

The 9-minute animated short, "Out Fishing", stars a kitten who isn't able to catch anything when she goes out fishing until a moment of illumination shows her a creative solution… and a helper, as well. "Out Fishing" is a nonverbal film animated by Swiss creator Uzi Geffenblad.

"Little Red Riding Hood" is the winner of the Children's Film Festival special children's jury prize for humor in an animated film. This 4-minute long animated short created by Martina Holcová of the Czech Republic tells a new version of the classic fairy tale. In Holcová's version, Little Red and Grandma aren't as afraid of the wolf as they have been in the past. Though the trailer is in Czech, the version of "Little Red Riding Hood" that will be shown at Through the Rainbow will be in English.

"Kitten Witch" by James Cunningham is a 6-minute short that combines live action with animation and follows a kitten who is hoping to become a witch's familiar but has to pass a test first by collecting a list of ingredients for the witch's next spell. This short film won the Audience Favorite film prize at Children's Film Festival Seattle 2019.

The short film "6:1" tells the story of a girl and her cat who are inseparable and share a love for the game of checkers. The girl continues to win until one day when the cat gets a lucky break in this 3-minute short by Russian creator Sergei Ryabov.

"Belly Flop" also took home the Audience Favorite film prize at Children's Film Festival Seattle 2019. This 5-minute nonverbal short was created by Jeremy Collins, of South Africa, and shows how persistence pays off through the story of a young, brave girl learning to dive who remains unperturbed after another swimmer takes her spotlight.

"Aidan and Albert Sykes" is a 3-minute short fil from Richard O'Connor of the United States. In Aidan and Albert Sykes, 9-year-old Aidan has a few important questions to ask his father, Albert.

"Robbie's Fears" is a 2-minute English short created by 14-year-old Enrique Delzer. In the film, 12-year-old Robbie learns to overcome the anxieties that are keeping him awake at night with the help of his mother.

Jonas Forman, from Sweden, created "Robot and the Whale", a 6-minute, nonverbal short about a robot, and his robot dog, who have to figure out how to save a beautiful whale they find stranded on a beach when they can do everything but get wet.

"If You Fall" is a 6-minute animated short film by Tisha Deb Pillai of Canada. In "If You Fall", 8-year-old Lila must learn to deal with a sudden role-reversal in her family while learning to ride a bicycle.

"Tweet-Tweet", by Zhanna Bekmambetova of Russia, tells a fable of the power of a grandmother's spirit and the journey of her life, as seen by a bird who is a symbol of her spirit. This 11-minute animated short is nonverbal but you can see the animation speak for itself in the trailer.

The "Through the Rainbow" event is about 90 minutes and free for those with a Louisville Cultural Pass. Louisville Cultural Passes are available at any branch of the Louisville Free Public Library, as well as surrounding county libraries, starting on June 1st, 2019. Cultural Passes allow one-time access to a wide variety of events rooted in arts and culture throughout the city from June 1st – August 10th. The Louisville Children's Film Festival recommends pre-registering for "Through the Rainbow" whether you've obtained your Cultural Pass yet or not to ensure a seat for either of the showtimes. Don't miss this wonderful opportunity to see the best animated short films from across the globe all at once in Louisville, Kentucky. Get Free Tickets Now!

About "Through the Rainbow"
"Through the Rainbow" is the theme of this year's Louisville Children's Film Festival. "Through the Rainbow" features the 13 best short animated films for ages 3-12 from around the world. Louisville Children's Film Festival invites everyone to come to "Through the Rainbow" and enjoy a collection of colorful animated short films appropriate for all ages on a big screen. This year's "Through the Rainbow" is scheduled for Saturday, June 8th. The first showtime for the collection of short films is 10:30 a.m. and the second showtime is later in the day at 3:30 p.m. "Through the Rainbow" will be held at the historic Louisville Memorial Auditorium on 4th Street in downtown Louisville, Kentucky.

About Louisville Children's Film Festival
The Louisville Children's Film Festival is committed to supporting the educational development of children living in Louisville, KY through high quality and diverse films. The films featured at this year's Festival share positive messages with the children, youth, and families in Louisville that come from diverse backgrounds and are of different ethnicities. Louisville Children's Film Festival aims to entertain and challenge the young minds of Louisville's youth with these films that touch on true-to-life topics through powerful animation and narration.

About Fund for the Arts Cultural Pass
Fund for the Arts Cultural Pass provides holders aged 0-21 with free access to a wide assortment of Greater Louisville's cultural institutions centered around the arts. By offering Cultural Passes, the Fund for the Arts of Louisville, Kentucky hopes to not only promote culture and art within the city but also supplement summer learning initiatives. Cultural Passes are available at multiple library branches across Bullitt Country, Charlestown-Clark County, Floyd County, Harrison County, and any of the Louisville Free Public Library locations. Those interested in obtaining a Cultural Pass for this summer can start picking them up on June 1, 2019. The Cultural Pass is valid for one-time entry to each of the participating sites within the pass itself.