What’s Happening at the 2025 Kids’ International Film Festival

These are troubled times for filmgoing in Hong Kong. Audiences are being lost to streaming services and cinemas are closing; at least half a dozen in Hong Kong over the last couple of years, not including Golden Harvest’s announcement about ceasing operations in late June. But every so often, something arrives out of nowhere and energises audiences: the one-two punch of Oppenheimer and Barbie in 2023, the surprises of local films Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In and The Last Dance here in in 2024, and billion-dollar global grossers such as Inside Out 2 and Moana 2.

Space Cadet by Kid Koala – Still courtesy KIFF

As a way to cultivate the next generations of film buffs and an appreciation for film as an art form, the Hong Kong Kids International Film Festival (KIFF) started nine years ago, and against all odds shows no signs of slowing down. Running for four weekends during the summer, KIFF’s programmes of eight features from around the world are suitable for all ages, and cater to kids who are experiencing their first theatrical film, as a way to connect with their family and talk about what they saw, and offer more curious young viewers a way to dive deeper into the material.Kid Koala’s interstellar film debut

Kicking off the ninth KIFF is Kid Koala’s silent Space Cadet (Canada), which lifts a page from the rich, purely visual storytelling tradition recently used to great effect in Pablo Berger’s Robot Dreams and Gints Zilbalodis’s Oscar-winner Flow. Based on the graphic novel of the same name, the film is about Celeste, an astronaut with a bright future navigating life alone for the first time as she embarks on a solo interstellar mission. She’s leaving the guardian who raised her from childhood, Robot, behind on Earth. Though separated, each grapples with loneliness, connection, loss and memory – and a sense of purpose. 

The film paints a vivid emotional picture with help from an evocative soundtrack by Kid Koala, the stage name of Montreal-based electronic musician Eric Yick Keung San. At the film’s premiere at the 75th Berlinale, he described it as a story “told through the lens of guardian and child, technology and humankind, past and present. It touches on themes of connectivity and everyone’s innate power to evolve [in] a celebration of love and life, the cycles of generations and the bonds that connect us.” Directors Jessey Tsang Tsui-shan (July 26) or Oliver Chan Siu-kuen (August 3) will be on hand for a post-screening discussion of Kid Koala’s work.

Nawi: Dear Future Me by Toby Schmutzler, Kevin Schmutzler, Apuu Mourine and Vallentine Chelluget – Still courtesy KIFF

Three curated films

The most eye-catching titles this year come form KIFF’s Cinephile Hangout section: three films curated for their artistry and thought-provoking subject matter. Like all KIFF’s films, they are accompanied by post-screening talks and analysis with local filmmakers and creative workshops designed to extend the learning experience. This year’s films include Nawi: Dear Future Me from Kenya, by Toby Schmutzler, Kevin Schmutzler, Apuu Mourine and Vallentine Chelluget; Hong Kong director Benson Koo Bun-sam’s The Perks of Being Wild; and the closing film, Prank (Germany), by Benjamin Heisenberg.

Nawi is a rare treat from Africa. It tells the story of outstanding 13-year-old student Nawi (Michelle Lemuya Ikeny) and her refusal to accept tradition when her father decides to sell her to an older man for marriage in exchange for livestock. With help from her brother and ally, she takes off for Nairobi and the high school she desperately wants to attend. The film reflects on self-determination and the scourge of child marriage, and it was shepherded to realisation by German filmmakers Toby and Kevin Schmutzler after they discovered the work by YouTuber Milach Cherotich and first-time Kenyan directors Apuu Mourine and Vallentine Chelluget in a writing contest. The tradition at the heart of Nawi made the film a personal one for Mourine, loaded with responsibility for the next generation; it is an exemplar of socially conscious filmmaking. 

“Being the first woman director in my community to complete a full-length film is monumental,” she said in a press statement. “[Nawi] is a testament to the power of dreams, intentionality, passion, and discipline, supported by an incredible team. Our collective determination to use our knowledge and experience to tell African stories and create opportunities for others is stronger than ever.” Once again, Tsang (July 20) and Chan (August 3) will host the post-screening talk.

Hong Kong filmmaker Benson Koo’s The Perks of Being Wild unfolds on Cheung Chau. As eye-opening as it is whimsical, it follows three local kids and a dog on a series of misadventures as they break into the empty homes of vacationers or emigrants over the course of one summer. Koo starts the kids at the crossroads of youth and adulthood, and ends with the trio wiser about all things in the wider, more adult world. 

“[This] is an ode to our long gone childhood. We used to express happiness on our faces but we gradually forgot how to when time goes by,” said multi-disciplinary artist Koo, who is well known for his darker, more adult artwork. “After seeing the smiles of the three leading actors, my free-spirited crew members and executive producers and I had a stark realisation: ‘I wish they will never grow old.’ We hope The Perks of Being Wild will be a way to undo what was long lost.” Koo will be in attendance after the film for both screenings (July 19 and August 2).

In a companion piece of sorts to Perks, Prank is a delightful coming-of-age comedy in which 12-year-old Chinese exchange student Xi Zhou (Max Zhang) and his buddy Lucas (Noèl Gabriel Kipp) see their brilliant April Fools Day joke go disastrously awry. They end up dragging their German host family into a caper with gangsters, some budding rap stars and a pair of bumbling police officers – a tale inspired by Heisenberg and co-writer Peer Klehmet repeatedly getting pranked by their similarly aged sons. 

“It inspired us to develop a story that captured the energy and creativity of these pranks, package them in a turbulent adventure, and at the same time show how children and young people can rise above themselves with courage and ingenuity,” said Heisenberg in press notes. “I want viewers to leave the cinema remembering their own childhood: the fun, the adventures, and the courage to step out of line. A few pranks and a bit of positive chaos can never hurt.” Prank is followed by talks with either Table for Six writer Sunny Chan (July 27) or author/screenwriter (77 Heartbreaks) Erica Li (August 10).

Usman Riaz’s Pakistan and Spain co-production The Glassworker – Still courtesy KIFF

Behind the curtain

Rounding out the film programmes are Chris Noonan’s 1995 family classic Babe (written and produced by Mad Max director George Miller), Vietnamese alien buddy adventure Maika (by Ham Tran), animated Frida Kahlo origin story Hola, Frida (by Karine Vézina and André Kadi) and Usman Riaz’s Pakistan/Spain co-production The Glassworker, about a growing bond between two children whose fathers are on opposite side of a war. 

As usual, KIFF offers activities related to filmmaking, and this year’s workshop is KIFF Behind the Cine Workshop. Running one hour before screenings, Behind the Cine offers a peek behind the curtain for some hands-on film industry training – from ushering audiences to seats to film editing. (Workshop fees include one adult and one child movie ticket). Kids in the Junior Editor workshop get a visit into the projection booth as a bonus.

The 2025 Hong Kong Kids International Film Festival runs weekends July 19 through August 10. Click here for more information.