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June 22 - June 29,2003 |
Sperandeo heads to Italy
Eleven-year-old director chosen as finalist for film festival
By Benedetta Lamanna
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Getting to Know Charlie
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When asked what his favourite part of the Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children was, 11-year-old Marcello Sperandeo replies simply, "Getting to see one of the films you make on a huge screen."
But this modest answer is definitely an understatement. The young Torontonian was the winner of the grades three to six category of the festival's initiative called Jump Cuts: Young Filmmakers Showcase which took place this past April.
Jump Cuts, currently in its second year, is an initiative that presents films for youths, by youths. The finalists were selected by a panel of professional jurors including Semi Chellas, executive producer, head writer and co-creator of the hit CTV series The Eleventh Hour, and Shane Smith, who is the director of the Canadian Film Centre's Worldwide Short Film Festival in Toronto. Entrants were adjudicated based on content, experimentation, form and expression. Sperandeo's Getting to Know Charlie is the first film made for Jump Cuts chosen by another international festival; the Kids for Kids Festival in Bologna, Italy.
Sperandeo first got involved with the festival when his mother brought home a pamphlet about the Sprockets Festival last year. Getting to Know Charlie, which Sperandeo wrote and directed, recounts the story of his relationship with his baby brother. An only child for "10 glorious years" Sperandeo's freedom is soon threatened when his parents, Steve and Carol, announce that they are going to have a baby. While Sperandeo initially thinks that having a younger sibling won't be so bad, he soon realizes that having a baby brother is big trouble. Sperandeo is ignored by family members who coo over little Charlie and must endure sleepless nights because of the baby's crying. Sperandeo comes to think of his baby brother as "(someone who) would always be the enemy."
However, one stormy night when Sperandeo is babysitting Charlie, something changes. When Sperandeo is showing Charlie some karate moves, he sprains his ankle. However, Charlie comes to the rescue by bringing his brother the phone so that he can call their mother. Here, Sperandeo realizes that his brother is a person: a brother and a friend, and that you need to get to know someone first before judging them.
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