Jacob Burns launches JBFC Kids

Jacob Burns launches JBFC Kids: The Jacob Burns Film Center (JBFC) recently announced the launch of JBFC Kids, a new initiative to welcome a new generation of film lovers into the JBFC community. JBFC Kids is designed to help foster a love for cinema and media-making in children ages three to thirteen, through free hands-on activities, and courses for kids and their families.

JBFC Kids offers families the opportunity to experience a wide range of stories and storytelling activities through the Burns’ film curation and media education expertise. Westchester Library System will participate as the community partner for JBFC Kids.
JBFC Executive Director Edie Demas said, “While kids and the Jacob Burns are far from a new concept, what is new is a deeper and more comprehensive commitment across our film and education departments to providing kids and their parents wide-ranging opportunities to share the powerful medium of film as both viewers and film makers.”

JBFC Kids Family Saturdays @ The Lab

Family Saturdays @ the Lab is a free program of hands-on activities that will take place the first Saturday of select months. With the help 
of JBFC education faculty and staff, kids ages three and up explore, discover, and create, while learning about animation, sound editing, green screening, and more.

Families are welcomed to the Media Arts Lab anytime between 1–3pm: and JBFC members at the Film Family level and above are welcome to arrive at 12:30pm for an extra half hour of Lab time. Family Saturdays @ the Lab will take place on October 1, November 5, and December 3. Family Saturdays @ the Lab will continue in 2017. JBFC Kids also offers a variety of innovative media and filmmaking programs. Visit burnsfilmcenter.org to see a full list of courses and
to register.

Emily Keating, JBFC director
 of education, said “The best
 learning happens in environments
 that are fueled by engagement—both in content and conversation. Giving our young audience members an opportunity to see some of the most vivid images of our time, and teaching them how to make images of their own, is a rich experience that we are thrilled to provide.”

JBFC Kids Monthly Movies

The JBFC Kids program will also offer an engaging theater-going experience for younger viewers. Featuring kid-friendly snacks and low-light screenings for the youngest audiences, monthly movie selections will include everything from classics to contemporary new releases from around the world. Select screenings will also be accompanied by free hands-on activities.

Art House Theatre Day

JBFC Kids’ movies kick off on September 24, as part of Art House Theater Day. JBFC Kids will screen two shorts programs, Kid Flix 1: The Best of the 2016 New York International Children’s Film Festival, recommended for ages three to seven. And See the World, Feed Your Mind: Live Action Shorts from the 2016 Seattle Children’s Film Festival, recommended for ages eight and above. In the months to follow JBFC Kids screenings will include Learning to See, The Boxtrolls, and Fantastic Mr. Fox.

“We seek to not only curate films that look and sound different compared to what kids usually see, but to have our young viewers drawn into these incredible worlds by directly identifying with protagonists their own age,” said Emily Ohara, faculty and JBFC Kids curator. “These carefully selected films will not only allow young audiences to connect with the characters they see on screen, they will also create a culture of acceptance and understanding of people from all walks of life.”

To encourage participation in the many programs available to them, kids will be given a passport at the first JBFC Kids event they attend and receive a stamp for each film, course, or activity they participate in. Kids will earn a prize for every three stamps in their passport.

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