Documentary films for children rarely venture to this place: prison. Four kids in Belgium take us there. They show us the way from the entrance to the visiting area, where they visit their mother or father, usually twice a week. Prisons are definitely not designed for children and yet there are many who regularly enter them. In Belgium alone, more than 16,000 children have a parent behind bars. This film gives a voice to children of prison inmates who tell us how they cope with a situation they did not choose.

Lina Dinkla

Vanja is a tiger, roaming the jungle, lurking, attacking. But when it gets dark, he is afraid – and when his sister Thea turns on the light, the brave tiger turns into a little boy in a completely leafless apartment. “I’m Not Afraid” is Vanja’s mantra, which he uses to hold his own in everyday life, when fantasy and reality blend seamlessly, when the dark staircase turns into a dungeon and the play of shadows into monsters. But also when he feels excluded by his older sister who does not want him to join in her games. Marita Mayer’s playful 2D animation follows Vanja through all emotional states and imaginary worlds, treats the needs of all children equally. Growing up is hard, being a child often is, too. But when everyone sees and understands the other it gets easier, and often it even becomes proper fun.

Marie Ketzscher

A picture book film from the Alfie Atkins series. Papa goes shopping and warns Victor and Alfie to leave everything in its place since he has just tidied up. But the two enjoy their game of “being invisible” too much. All of a sudden, half the furniture is part of the game and scattered all over the living room. Will the two friends manage to restore order before Papa is back?

Lina Dinkla

The collaborative artistic work of Menno de Noojer (son), Paul de Noojer (father) and Françoise de Noojer (mother), which oscillated between photography and experimental film, spanned almost fifty years. Rather than allowing posterity to label, categorise and, as the case may be, mothball their work, the three realised a final film together just before Paul de Noojer died, when he was already seriously ill. A last joint film as an exuberant self-homage, in which they combine experimental-documentary storytelling, performance, pixilation and stop motion, funny and sad moments, pathos and trash, a joy of putting on costumes and vulnerable nudity. With “Heaven is Blue? #2”, the Noojers celebrate life as a total work of art in which all processes of becoming human and all symptoms of decline have their place and death is a natural part of the whole.

Marie Ketzscher