The TRIUMPHANT RETURN of the 2025 Minneapolis 90-Second Newbery Film Festival!
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This past Saturday, at long last, we brought the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival back to Minneapolis! We hadn’t done a screening there since 2019, when Covid disrupted our 2020 show. As a hastily-conceived substitute, we had instead streamed a an online screening from my basement with just my daughters and their stuffed animals as an audience, and my co-host Kelly Barnhill was represented by a balloon with a face on it. (We tried our best. It was a pandemic.)
But thanks to the relentless efforts of Jackie Hjelden, a resourceful teacher and ally from Minnetonka, we were able to bring back the 90-Second Newbery to Minneapolis! And even though we hadn’t had a screening in years, we managed to fill up the auditorium with a rowdy and enthusiastic crowd of young filmmakers and their friends and families.
Big thanks to my co-host Jacqueline West (New York Times bestselling author of Long Lost, The Books Of Elswhere, and more) who is also a trained and very skillful singer! Check out her pipes as we sing a modified version of “The Phantom of The Opera”:
All right, let’s look at some of the Minnesota movies that I featured at the screening! I visited Delano Intermediate School the Friday before the show and got to meet some of their young filmmakers personally. I was impressed by Delano’s movie of Minnesota’s own Kelly Barnhill’s 2017 Newbery Medal Winner The Girl Who Drank The Moon, as adapted by Mia, Hope, Emma, Eden, and Natalie:
As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “It was the energetic, impassioned performances that made this movie excel . . . The fully committed emotional performances from all the actors and the inventive filmmaking made this a great watch!”
Delano Intermediate School also turned in this entertaining and very efficient black-and-white silent movie of Neil Gaiman’s 2009 Newbery Medal Winner The Graveyard Book, adapted by Wyatt, Alice, Emma, Ava, and Ailsa:
As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “The spooky music at the beginning and the end helped set the mood, and I appreciated the various careful details, like the gravestone and knife props, or the mood-scrambling ‘static’ effect. The performances managed to get across a lot of the information of the story even without dialogue!”
Delano Intermediate School also submitted this movie of Amina Luqman-Dawson’s 2023 Newbery Medal Winner Freewater, adapted by Winston, Jack, Kyler, Eva, and Reagen:
As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This movie was full of action and incident, which made it fun to watch—far superior to just watching folks standing around talking. There were satisfyingly forceful performances throughout, and I particularly liked the guide who kept repeating, in more and more peeved tones, ‘Be quiet and listen to me!'”
Here’s Delano’s Claymation-and-green-screen adaptation of Jack Gantos’s 2012 Newbery Medal Winner Dead End in Norvelt by Bennett, Brecken, Evan, and Addy:
As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “Chaotic and goofy, and sometimes a little helter-skelter, but entertaining to watch! I was impressed by the elaborate clay figures and the inventive and extensive green screen work—both the backgrounds and the way the figures were made to move.”
Although we weren’t able to feature them at the screening, Delano also submitted wonderful movies of Dave Eggers’ 2024 Newbery Medal Winner The Eyes and The Impossible (as adapted by Ray, Ben, Everret, Mariam, and Keegan) and Erin Entrada Kelly’s 2018 Newbery Medal Winner Hello, Universe. Click the links to check them out!
We also got some super movies from Orono Intermediate School in Long Lake! Here is Tae Keller’s 2021 Newbery Medal Winner When You Trap A Tiger as adapted by Anna, Avery, Evelyn, and Cora in the style of the musical Wicked:
As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “The choreography and dancing were fun to watch . . . There was a resourceful use of green screen, and the tiger mask was elaborate and cool! I also chuckled at the offhand casual weirdness of some of the lyrics: ‘I’m Halmoni, I have brain cancer, I have to barf!’ Committed performances, a fun concept, and inventive use of Wicked all combined to make this a super entertaining movie.”
Orono Intermediate School also submitted this worthy adaptation of Erin Entrada Kelly’s 2018 Newbery Medal Winner Hello, Universe, by Kaitlyn W., Iva J., and Millie J.:
As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This movie had a lot of great ideas, particularly how Virgil, Valencia, Kaori, and Chet introduce themselves to the audience on their first appearance, giving us an idea what kind of person they are—essential when you’re doing a very quick video that has so many characters . . . I also enjoyed the clever Taylor Swift ‘Antihero’ reference: ‘It’s me, hi, I’m Valencia, it’s me.’ Fun to watch, accurate to the book, and frequently inventive!”
Orono also gave us an adaptation of Donna Barba Higuera’s 2022 Newbery Medal Winner The Last Cuentista by Rhys D., Benson B., Teddy M., and Hugo C.J.:
As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This movie did an admirable job zipping through some of the most important plot points of the story, such as Petra talking to her abuela before leaving Earth, or when Javier remembers who he is (ripping off his false nametag to reveal his true nametag— good visual storytelling!), or when the bad guys try to ‘re-purge’ Petra . . . the committed performances (and wigs!) and competent script made for an entertaining movie!”
Those were the movies from Orono that we featured at the screening, but if you want to see all seven of the movies we received from Orono Intermediate School, you can find them here!
Now, what would a Minnesota screening of the 90-Second Newbery be without Minnetonka? At the screening, they were certainly the loudest and most energetic of the audience (in a good way!), cheering and hooting and encouraging their classmates. You’ve heard about how unhinged everyone gets at screening of the Minecraft movie, right? That was nothing compared to the riotous hubbub that greeted this Minecraft adaptation of Gary Paulsen’s 1988 Newbery Honor Book Hatchet, by Calvin Jack and Clare:
As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “I appreciated the attention to detail in how the various scenes were built: the interior of the airplane, Brian’s shelter, his raft, fire, a pond for him to fish in, and even a giant moose and a tornado . . . Fun and entertaining!”
Minnetonka also gave us Grace Lin’s 2010 Newbery Honor Book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon done entirely with papier-mache puppets:
As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “I was blown away by the beautiful and elaborate puppets for Minli, the Old Man in the Moon, and the various other characters . . . Resourceful puppetry, a smart script, and engaging performances all combined for an entertaining and rewarding movie!”
We also got from Minnetonka this boffo adaptation of Kate DiCamillo’s 2001 Newbery Honor Book Because of Winn-Dixie:
As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “This was an appealing sprint through the story, with heartfelt performances and a nimble use of green screen. I liked the resourceful mask for the dog Winn-Dixie and the props like the guitar, peanut butter, and sandwiches . . . A rewarding and absorbing romp!”
Minnetonka also turned in this surprisingly comprehensive adaptation of Cece Bell’s 2015 Newbery Honor Book El Deafo:
As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “The performances felt realistic and authentic . . . I liked the smart touch of how all the characters wore bunny ears, mirroring the bunny ears throughout the original graphic novel. There was a resourceful use of props, such as the hearing aid, the eyepatch, the capes, and even the dog that ‘bites’ Cece! Good performances, plus a detailed and faithful script, made for a solid and enjoyable movie.”
We also got from Minnetonka a Lego version of Kate DiCamillo’s 2014 Newbery Medal Winner Flora & Ulysses, adapted by Theo, Elliot, Clare, Luca, Calvin, Elinor, Holger, and Hugh:
As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “A kooky and chaotic, but ultimately entertaining, sprint through the basic plot points of the book . . . The voiceover performances were full of energy and charm, especially Ulysses’ sped-up squeaky voice. I particularly enjoyed the lightsaber battle with Star Wars music in the Giant Donut cafe!”
And finally from Minnetonka, another Lego movie, this time of Lois Lowry’s 1990 Newbery Medal Winner Number the Stars:
As the judges said in part on the 90-Second Newbery website (full review here), “I liked the inventive use of the medium (a boat made out of looseleaf papers, scary red-clad soldiers) and the frequent intertitles did help to make the plot a little clearer . . . The performances were agreeable and the story moved quickly through the complicated plot points . . . Overall a pleasing and entertaining movie!”
And that’s it for the Minneapolis screening of the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! Again, thanks to all the young filmmakers who participated and attended, as well as their friends and family and teachers. It really was a triumphant return! Here’s to next year!