I haven't been to the cinema with The Child since he was at that wonderfully portable age and could be smuggled into almost every scenario and social gathering without causing chaos and major upset. Sometimes I miss those days.
The good news is that the IFI are turning the Dublin mecca for cinema-lovers over to the little people for three days of kid-pleasing (and crowd-pleasing) animations, feature-length films and workshops. The IFI Family Festival launches on Thursday July 16-19 with a special gala preview of
Inside Out.
The festival kicks off with
A Major Emotion Commotion (July 16
th 5.30-6.30pm-FREE-All ages), a special opening night event in the IFI foyer which explores what makes us happy, what makes us mad, what makes us sad, when we hide our feelings and when we let them out!
This will be of particular use to The Child as he is hitting early-onset adolescence currently (it's a real thing, I swear). In some ways I pity the IFI staff ( and RTÉjr’s Clara Murray, who will be on hand to open the festival) but perhaps spending the evening shut in with a roomful of pint-sized maniacs will save them money in the long run (on contraception that is).
Continuing on the theme of "big feels", this year’s Gala Opening is a special preview of
Inside Out (6.30pm, July 16 -Cert G) which introduces us to the emotions of Riley – Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness. The emotions live in Headquarters, the control centre inside Riley’s mind where they help advise her through everyday life as she moves from the Midwest to San Francisco. The programme also includes animated short
Lava from Pixar Animation Studios.
Inside Out opens nationwide on July 24
th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MC3XuMvsDI
The festival’s workshop programme includes
Poster Print ( 11am-1pm, July 17 – Age 7-9) where kids can design film posters,
Adventure Venture (11am-3pm, July 18 – Age 8-12) which helps kids produce a trailer for an imaginary adventure film and
Legendary Picture Books (11am-2pm July 19
th – Age 9-12) with illustrator Mark Wickham.
For folks beyond the Pale, the IFI Family Fest will be touring highlights of the programme to Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise (July 24-25), The Model, Sligo (August 11-12) and Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge (August 22-23). See
www.ifi.ie/familyfest for full details.
All film tickets are €5 (€15 Family Tickets: 2 Adults + 2 Kids) and are available now from the IFI Box Office on 01 679 3477 or online at www.ifi.ie/familyfest. Workshops (€12-€20) have limited space must be booked in advance by calling 01 612 9445/01 612 9436. 
