Join us for the 15th Annual Coastline Children's Film Festival. Ten days of award winning feature films, documentaries and events for the community, all for fee. Popcorn too.

Schedule of Events

March 14, 2025

6PM-8:30PM: Opening Night Costume Party & Little Kid Flicks Screening at Krasl Art Center, St Joseph

Join us for our Opening Night Costume Party along with first screening Little Kid Flicks presented in partnership with the New York International Children's Film
Festival (NYICFF)
Party begins at 6:00 pm with a special performance by the Watervliet Elementary School Choir directed by Brandon Mattson. Prizes for most creative costumes too.

LITTLE KID FLICKS (Runtime: 67 min.)
Inventive first films for ages 5+
In English or with English subtitles
Let your little ones discover the magic of the big screen with Little Kid Flicks. Whether diving down into the ocean for a pufferfish standoff or skating to victory across the ice, these shorts are sure to enchant and delight all audiences (but especially our youngest!)

still from Pufferfish
Germany, Animation, Julia Ocker; 2022, 4 min
No dialogue In an ocean full of big, bad fish, the pufferfish must act as tough as possible, but looks can be deceiving…Directed by Fest alum Julia Ocker!

March 15, 2025

11AM-12:15PM - Big Kid Flicks Film Screening at Krasl Art Center, St Joseph

BIG KID FLICKS
(Runtime: 62 min.)
Deep and daring films for ages 8+
In English or with English subtitles
Big Kid Flicks is full of challenges big and small. With obstacles like learning how to ride a bike and convincing your family you want to be a vampire queen, this program is full of vibrancy and adventure. Presented in collaboration with the New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF)

still from Mum's Spaghetti
United Kingdom, Animation, Lisa Kenney, 2023, 11 min in English
MC Poppy and her beatboxing border terrier, Snoop, are the new kids in town—and they're ready to make their reputation known.

2:30PM-3:50PM: The Wild Robot Film Screening at New Buffalo Township Public Library, New Buffalo

The Wild Robot 2024 USA 101 min 8+

After a shipwreck, an intelligent robot called Roz is stranded on an uninhabited island. To survive the harsh environment, Roz bonds with the island's animals and cares for an orphaned baby goose.

The film is the animated adaptation of Peter Brown's award-winning book about a shipwrecked robot, ROZZUM, aka Roz, who powers up on an island ready to do her new owners' tasks. She learns to communicate with the animals on the island—who initially consider her a monster—and adopts a baby gosling she names Brightbill after accidentally destroying his mother's nest. With the help of a scrappy fox, Fink, Roz makes caring for Brightbill (feeding him, teaching him to swim, and preparing him to make his first migration) her primary purpose. But being a mother is much more difficult than anything Roz's programming has prepared her for.

Screens after the YFC films at 1:00 pm.

March 16, 2025

2PM-3:30PM: Max and the Senior Squad Film Screening at Joe Hindley Studio Gallery, 5861 Sawyer Road, Sawyer, MI, 49125

Max and the Senior Squad 2024 Germany 90 min 7+ with subtitles

While having to live at the Geroldseck Castle retirement home because of his mother's work, 10-year-old Max has finally found genuine, yet anything but ordinary friends: The adventurous seniors Vera, Horst and Kilian from table 7 are always there for him. But things don't really work out with his peers. He is bullied in his new class and, to make matters worse, PE teacher Ströhle excludes him from playing on the soccer team. Horst wants to help and challenges Ströhle to a duel: Max and the oldies against the school team. How is that supposed to go over well for Max? On top of that, the old castle starts to be haunted by a ghost. Will Max and the wild bunch manage to win the soccer match and solve the case of the mysterious ghostly granny?

4PM-5:45PM: The Quiet Girl Film Screening at Joe Hindley Studio Gallery, 5861 Sawyer Road, Sawyer, MI, 49125

The Quiet Girl 2022 Ireland in Irish with subtitles 95 min 12+

Gorgeously realized and crafted with homespun care, this delicate and heartbreaking drama is one of the year's best films. The Quiet Girl (An Cailis) a 2022 Irish coming of age drama written and directed by Colm Bairéad in his feature film debut. Based on the 2010 short story Foster by Claire Keagan. Set in 1981, the film follows a withdrawn nine-year-old girl raised by neglectful parents among many other siblings, who experiences a loving home for the first time when she spends the summer on a farm in County Waterford, alone with a married couple who are distant relatives. It is mostly in the Irish language. The film premiered on at the Berlin Film Festival. It received critical acclaim for its emotional weight, story, and performances. It was later selected for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards, and became the first Irish film in history to achieve the nomination.

March 18, 2025

6PM-7:30PM: A Greyhound of a Girl Film Screening at Benton Harbor Public Library, Benton Harbor

A Greyhound of a Girl 2023 Luxembourg, Italy, Ireland, United Kingdom, Latvia, Estonia, Germany 88 min 10+
Mary is 11 years old and has an insuppressible passion for cooking: she dreams of becoming a great chef. Her grandmother Emer, with whom she has a very special relationship, encourages her to make this dream come true. But every path has its pesky obstacles, and facing them turns into quite an adventure. Mary thus begins a journey across the barriers of time, in which four generations of women come together and get to know each other truly and deeply. A delicate coming-of-age story, sprinkled with irony. Based on the novel by Roddy Doyle.

Come celebrate St. Patrick's Day with this wonderful film.

March 19, 2025

12PM-1:30PM: Dusty & Stones Film Screening at Benton Harbor Public Library, Benton Harbor

Dusty & Stones 2023 USA 84 min 10+

This award-winning film is a continent-crossing journey story told through country music. The documentary intimately chronicles the remarkable ride of cousins Gazi "Dusty" Simelane and Linda "Stones" Msibi, a determined duo of struggling country singers from the tiny African Kingdom of Swaziland who long for their big break. When they are unexpectedly invited to record their songs in Nashville and to compete in a Texas battle of the bands, Dusty and Stones embark on their long-awaited first pilgrimage to the ancestral heart of country music. Over a momentous ten-day road trip through the American South, the cousins bring their music to life in a top Nashville recording studio, explore the storied locales of their favorite country songs, and excitedly engage with the culture they've long felt part of from afar, proving any demographic can lay claim to country music – or any other art form. A triumph of musical storytelling.

7:30PM-9:00PM: Journey to Yourland at Joe Hindley Studio Gallery, 5861 Sawyer Road, Sawyer, MI, 49125

Journey to Yourland 2022 Slovakia &Czech Republic

86 min 8+ in English

Riki, a 10-year-old boy, runs away from home, following a mysterious emergency signal sent by a shiny stone. The strange artefact seems to have a mind of its own and it takes Riki to the breathtaking parallel world of "Yourland" where wonderful machines roam golden deserts, monkeys and ravens talk and science peacefully coexists with nature. The shining stone merges with Riki by hiding in his heart and asking him for protection. It seems everybody in Yourland is eager to procure this treasure, as it is the core of Yourland's power and owning it gives a great deal of influence. Who should Riki share his secret with? His new friend, Emma? Metal Man, the mighty robot? Tidling, a monkey general? Or nobody? Who can he trust? We accompany Riki on his enchanting adventurous journey full of perils, traps and humor, to restore the stone, also called the Heart of a Tower, to its nest. It's the only way for Riki to make it back home and save his own heart.

Screens after the YFC films.

March 20, 2025

6PM-9:pm: The Most Dangerous Year Film Screening at Joe Hindley Studio Gallery, 5861 Sawyer Road, Sawyer, MI, 49125

The Most Dangerous Year 2018 USA 90 min 12+

In early 2016, when a dark wave of anti-transgender "bathroom bills" began sweeping across the nation, The Human Rights Campaign published a report identifying 2016 as the most dangerous year for transgender Americans. In Washington State, six such "bathroom bills" were introduced in the State Legislature. Documentary filmmaker Vlada Knowlton captured the ensuing civil rights battle from the perspective of a small group of embattled parents as they banded together to fight a deluge of proposed laws that would strip away the rights of their young, transgender children. As one of the parents, Knowlton presents an intimate portrait of her own struggle to protect her 5-year-old transgender daughter from laws inspired by hate and fear. From tension-filled Senate hearings in Olympia to intimate household settings of the families involved; from thought-provoking conversations with key lawmakers to elucidating facts explained by leading scientists, The Most Dangerous Year explores the transgender civil rights battle in all its richness and complexity.

At CCFF Storefront collaborating with the Out Center March 20 6:00 pm with discussion to follow.

6PM-7:15PM: Little Kid Flicks Film Screening at St. Joe County Public Library, South Bend

(Runtime: 67 min.)
Inventive first films for ages 5+
In English or with English subtitles
Presented in partnership with the New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF)
Take in the audience favorite and award-winning films from the latest edition of New York International Children's Film Festival! These amazing short films from around the world are sure to inspire curiosity and conversation for viewers big and small.

still from
Tabby McTat
United Kingdom, Jac Hamman & Sarah Scrimgeour, 2022, 25 min
In English The Oscar-nominated (and NYICFF Award-winning) Magic Light Pictures returns to share the adventure of a tabby street cat and his busking friend.

March 21, 2025

7:30PM-8:45PM: The Cameraman Film Screening at The GhostLight Theatre - Benton Harbor

The Cameraman 1928 USA 69 min 6+

Buster Keaton is at the peak of his slapstick powers in The Cameraman—the first film that the silent-screen legend made after signing with MGM, and his last great masterpiece. The final work over which he maintained creative control, this clever farce is the culmination of an extraordinary, decade-long run that produced some of the most innovative and enduring comedies of all time. Keaton plays a hapless newsreel cameraman desperate to impress both his new employer and his winsome office crush as he zigzags up and down Manhattan hustling for a scoop. Along the way, he goes for a swim (and winds up soaked), becomes embroiled in a Chinatown Tong War, and teams up with a memorable monkey sidekick (the famous Josephine). The marvelously inventive film-within-a-film setup allows Keaton's imagination to run wild, yielding both sly insights into the travails of moviemaking and an emotional payoff of disarming poignancy.

With live piano accompaniment with Dr. Larry Schanker.

Screening after the YFC films which start at 6:00 pm.

March 22, 2025

11AM-12:15PM: Harold and the Purple Crayon Film Screening at Three Oaks Township Public Library, Three Oaks

Harold and the Purple Crayon USA 2024 92 min. 8+

HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON, opens with a narrator explaining that Harold, the little boy of picture book fame, has grown into a man, alongside his faithful sidekicks, Moose and Porcupine. The narrator then tells Harold that there's life outside his story (where he can create anything with his titular crayon). When the narrator stops answering Harold's questions, Harold decides to draw a portal to the outside, which transports him and Moose to the real, live-action world. With Harold's trusty crayon in tow, Harold and Moose quickly try to adjust to humanity—but understandably wreak havoc. After helping Terry, widowed mom of Mel, Harold and Moose end up staying with the mother and son. But when Harold and Moose meet Terry's ex, librarian/aspiring writer Gary. Gary discovers the truth and manipulates the guileless Harold, with dangerous consequences. Based on the 1955 children's book of the same name.

1PM-2PM: Celebrating Black Stories Film Screening at Benton Harbor Public Library, Benton Harbor

CELEBRATING BLACK STORIES (Runtime: 56 min.)
Powerful films for ages 8+
In English or with English subtitles
Presented in partnership with the New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF)

Celebrating Black Stories spotlights Black narratives that transcend national boundaries, culture, and language with films in English, French, Zulu, and even ASL! These films share the joy, determination, resilience, and complexity of being young and Black while underscoring the vibrancy of Black storytelling.

still from
#DouDou Challenge
France, Animation, Multiple Directors, 2023, 6 min
In French with English subtitles

Olivia's social media obsession leaves her abandoned in a highway service area, where her attempts to get off her phone take an unexpected turn. Directed by Julie Majcher, Alexandra Delaunay-Fernandez, Sixtine Emerat, Marine Benabdallah-Crolais, Scott Pardailhé-Galabrun, & Noémie Segalowicz.

This is the only screening of this program.

7PM-10:00PM: Over the Hedge Film Screening at Sarrett Nature Center, Benton Harbor

Over the Hedge 2006 USA 96 min. 5+

Cute, animated tale with some mild scares, cartoon violence. After a dysfunctional family of animals emerges from hibernation to find all of their habitat built over by a housing estate, they are forced to find food elsewhere. The issues of urban over development causing a lack of resources and habitual change for animals is therefore highlighted as a growing problem.

Night Hick Owl Prowl to follow.

March 23, 2025

4PM-7PM: The Daughter of Dawn Film Screening at The Acorn, Three Oaks

The Daughter of Dawn 1920 USA 83 min 6+

Shot in 1920 in the Wichita Mountains of southwest Oklahoma with a cast entirely made up of members of the Comanche and Kiowa tribes, THE DAUGHTER OF DAWN screened publicly only twice before disappearing without a trace for nearly a century. Rediscovered and restored, this large-scale vision of Comanche and Kiowa life is a revelation. The story, played by a sprawling cast of three hundred Native Americans, includes a romantic rivalry, buffalo hunts, a battle, village scenes, dances, deceit, courage, hand-to-hand combat, and even a happy ending. The Indigenous actors, who in 1920 had been living on reservations for less than sixty years, brought with them their own tipis, horses, clothing, and material culture. Subtly acted, beautifully photographed, and directed without melodrama by Norbert A. Myles, this nearly lost landmark stands with the best films of the period.

With live piano accompaniment by Dr. Larry Schanker.

Date: March 14-23, 2025

Cost: Free

Locations:
Krasl Art Center, 707 Lake Boulevard, Saint Joseph, MI 49085
New Buffalo Township Public Library, 33 North Thompson Street, New Buffalo, MI 49117
Joe Hindley Studio Gallery, 5861 Sawyer Road, Sawyer, MI 49125
Benton Harbor Public Library, 213 East Wall Street, Benton Harbor, MI 49022
Saint Joseph County Public Library, 304 South Main Street, South Bend, IN 46601
Ghostlight Theatre , 101 Hinkley Street, Benton Harbor, MI 49022
Three Oaks Township Public Library, 3 North Elm Street, Three Oaks, MI 49128
Sarett Nature Center, 2300 Benton Center Road, Benton Harbor, MI 49022
The Acorn Theater, 107 Generations Dr, Three Oaks, MI 49128

Click here for more information