Leeds Young Film Festival, 8-22 April 2019

Celebrating 20 years this year, here are details of the upcoming Leeds Young Film Festival:

LYFF presents the UK's first VR Family Cinema... Leeds Young Film Festival  celebrates 20 years! The 2019 Leeds Young Film Festival programme has been announced with a packed programme of activities, events and screenings for all the family to enjoy. Join over 13,000 children and their families this Easter for the 20th edition of the festival, taking place from 8-22 April 2019 across Leeds City Centre. Make screen time shared time as you WATCH family favourites and brand new films in our Reel Kids programm and dip your toe into the world of VR with the UK’s first VR Family Cinema and our 360’ Dome. MAKE your stories come to life with one, or many, of our Animation Central and Screen Craft workshops and LEARN new skills with our Special Events programme of guests from the industry including LEGO, Aardman and many more. Watch the LYFF 2019 Trailer | Explore the LYFF 2019 programme Special Events      Get hands-on with this chance to meet and be inspired by some of the UK’s best animators featuring The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part with LEGO Animation Art Director Tori Davis, Aardman Animations, Disney’s 101 Dalmation Street, plus Minecraft creative producer Adam Clarke, who lets you in on the secrets of creating your own YouTube channel and looks at some of the most successful Fortnite, YouTube, and Live Stream entertainers around. Fri 19 - Sat 20 April. Carriageworks Theatre Animations from Around the World This year’s programme brings you a range of beautiful animation from across the world, including Tito and the Birds (Brazil), Lotte and the Lost Dragons (Estonia), Penguin Highway (Japan) and Zombillenium (France). The UK Premiere of Captain Morten (Ireland, Estonia, Belgium, UK), the tale of a young boy who is shrunk to the size of an insect and has to sail his own toy boat through a flooded café to safety, will be presented by the co-director Henry Nicholson. Captain Morten: Wed 10 April, 14:15, Hyde Park Picture House, PG Family Favourites As well as many new films, there’s also the chance to revisit favourites from last year such as Ralph Breaks the Internet, Incredibles 2, and the now Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse at Cineworld Leeds in the White Rose Shopping Centre, where there will be FREE activities in the atrium from 11:00 – 17:00 relating to the films. Plus a 30th anniversary screening of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and a chance to see the wonderful family favourite Paddington on the big screen. VR Family Cinema The UK’s first family friendly VR cinema welcomes you to sit back and immerse yourself into new worlds. With three different packages of the latest content to experience, you and your family can explore, relax and uncover stories inside virtual reality. VR Family Cinema: Fri 19 – Sun 21 April, 11:30 – 16:30, Leeds City Museum, Age 7+ The Film House and Leeds International Concert Season We’re delighted to be co-presenting two classic films with full live scores as part of this year’s Film House programme at Leeds Town Hall: E.T: The Extra Terrestrial in concert with the Czech Symphony Orchestra, and The Gruffalo and Gruffalo’s Child in concert with the Orchestra of Opera North.    E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial: Sun 14 April, 19:30, Leeds Town Hall, Cert U. The Gruffalo and Gruffalo’s Child: Sat 20 April, 16:00, Leeds Town Hall, Cert U Film 50:50 This year, we are delighted to strengthen the work we have done for many years to support gender equality within cinema by working alongside the Film 50:50 initiative in Leeds which aims to showing and raising awareness of films promoting women filmmakers. One Girl is a fascinating documentary following four young girls in different time zones across a single day. Join director Rosa Russo for a Q&A after the film. Chuskit is an uplifting tale of an inspiring Himalayan girl. One Girl: Tue 9 April, 18:30, Hyde Park Picture House, 12A. Chuskit: Fri 12 April, 16:15, Hyde Park Picture House, PG See films for FREE - Join the LYFF Young Jury If you are aged 8+ and love watching films, then join the LYFF Young Jury and see new films before anybody else and pick the winning LYFF 2019 films. Being on the young jury is fun and absolutely free. Get a free VIP Pass to the Film Festival, a T-shirt and a goodie-bag and learn how to review films so that you can pick the winners from an amazing line-up of movies. Download the application form here or email gage.oxley@leeds.gov.uk for more information.