CLASSROOM CRITIC

The mission of Sarasota Film Festival’s education department is to inspire, educate and entertain students by promoting creativity, collaboration and community involvement. SFF Education reaches more than 5,000 students, working with them year-round, and creates special opportunities for recognition during the festival, empowering students with critical-thinking skills and the tools to express themselves.

All youthFEST films are free for kids ages 12 and under. For a full listing of youthFEST shorts programs, feature films and events, visit sarasotafilmfestival.com.

‘LUMINARIS’
Emma Roberts | Out-of-Door Academy
“Luminaris,” directed by Juan Pablo Zaramella, brings a man and a woman working in a factory to a new light. It was funny, delightful, bizarre and unique. This story shows how dreams can come true if you work hard and don’t break rules.

The plot of the film is an average man working in a light-bulb factory to make a living. He also has a dream to illuminate the sky by creating a giant flying light bulb. To accomplish this, he had to steal tools from work. He almost had enough to make his goal, but the lurking, strict and mean boss caught him, and he was fired. He goes home sadly and walked away from his dream. Later, his co-worker came by and gave him the rest of the tools he needed. All night, they worked on it together and soon they illuminated the sky.

The techniques they used were metaphors. The introduction to this short film had many metaphors. The first was when the shadow faded off of all the buildings, which meant that everything was waking up. They put that in the film because it symbolized the start. The director’s style was a silent film. It had catchy music, but no one spoke; this made the film very intriguing.

In conclusion, this film had everything, from romance to action. It was easy to catch on to the plot and it kept you entertained. People who like comedy, romance and action will love this. This film has a great message, too — don’t cheat at life, but continue to follow your heart and chase your dreams.

Hayes Chatham | St. Stephen’s Episcopal School
“Luminaris” is a creative, witty and unique film. Director Juan Pablo Zaramella applies phenomenal film techniques to enhance an imaginary world. Hilarious facial expressions and a man’s great ambitions make “Luminaris” a great film.

Initially, “Luminaris” summarizes the day of a man, played by Gustavo Cornillon, who works in a very interesting light bulb factory.  The light bulbs are produced through each worker’s mouth, like a bubble gum bubble. The audience soon realizes that the man aspires to do more in his life. When our antagonist, the man’s boss, Luis Rial, fires him, his dreams are crushed. Soon, his co-worker, Maria Alche, discovers his ambitions, and helps him to accomplish them.

Cornillon plays the protagonist very well and contributes to the film with quirky and hilarious facial expressions. Rial portrays his character as a disgruntled worker who wants to find any mistakes his employees make. Thirdly, the woman co-worker, played by Maria Alche, is a sweet character who helps the man in need out of kindness and falls in love. All of the characters are obviously making the same film and portray their parts very well.

Sergio Pineyro, “Luminaris’” director of photography, executed a variety of advanced and complicated film techniques. He combines stop motion and time lapse into a masterpiece. When the man seemingly glides on light during his daily commute, the actor must stand in one place until the angle of the sun changes.
Then, the actor moves a little and the crew shoots another picture and then repeats the process. This is surely strenuous work. The combination of these techniques allow the actors to perform amazing feats, such as pulling a light bulb out of one’s mouth, or paper out of an ear.

Overall, “Luminaris” is a great film, full of animated actors and great filming.

‘ANTOINE'S FOUR SEASONS’
Kyla Rudd | Braden River Middle School
Music and beautiful art all in one movie? “Antoine’s Four Seasons” has it. Audiences will simply love the film because of the animation by Philippe Béziat. The story that was just music and animation will make the viewers want to watch this pure amazement to the eyes.

The movie is about Antoine getting a magical drawing book for his 10th birthday and drawing something new every season. You will see Antoine’s drawings brought to life as it is being drawn. If he didn’t close the book before leaving, there would be consequences, which Antoine learns after making the mistake. The entire movie was filled with the beautiful sound of an orchestra that plays along with the drawings. The drawings by Antoine go through the four seasons.

The actors didn’t say a word, but still did an amazing job. The emotion on Antoine’s face gave the scene an extra push for how the audience should be feeling. The scared look on Antoine’s grandfather’s face when he didn’t close the book showed how bad it was.

The director combined animation and real life with music to make the beautiful movie. The camera angles were amazing choices. The audience is sure to love seeing all the cute drawings come to life. The music gave the feeling of the scene.

This movie is purely amazing. It could be a bit too long for young ages, but if you watch it, you’ll appreciate everything about it. The director did an amazing job putting it together and must have taken a lot of time to make it. So, if you love music and adorable animations, I’d definitely watch this movie.

Samantha Velasquez | Booker Middle School
Imagination. Inspiration. That’s what Philippe Béziat did in the creative film, “Les Saison d’ Antoine,” or “Antoine’s Four Seasons.” This film touches all the emotions with happiness, mystery, scariness, and it’s also intriguing. It’s the heartwarming story of a grandpa’s present to his grandchild. Magical.

The music matches every season with happiness, feared storms, flying ladybugs and a scared hedgehog. It starts with fall, and two interesting squirrels running for an acorn, then follows with winter, and a storm that scares a poor hedgehog and music that makes your heart beat faster. After winter leaves, spring comes, with magical beans, like “Jack and the Beanstalk,” that grow tall with roots and animals. Last, but not least, is summer with flying butterflies and smiling flowers.

This film and its creativity deserve five stars with heartwarming, fast, high and low music to match every mood. It’s a story of imagination and the passing of time.