The GLAMOR and GLORY of the 2025 Brooklyn 90-Second Newbery Film Festival!
February 25, 2025
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This past Saturday, we kicked off our fourteenth season of the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival at the Brooklyn Public Library! It’s the first of our EIGHT screenings all around the country in the next few months, in which we show off the best kid-made movies we received this year that tell the entire stories of Newbery-winning books quickly and amusingly. Full schedule here.
And as always in Brooklyn, I was joined by my fabulous co-host Rita Williams-Garcia, author of the Newbery Honor winner One Crazy Summer and many other great books! We kicked off the show with a rousing version of “Phantom of the Opera”:
Let’s take a look at the local movies we showed at the Brooklyn screening! (And if you’re wondering about some of the other non-local movies, you can find the Twin Peaks version of Knee-Knock Rise here, the all-girls finishing school version of Holes here, and the Jaws version of Millions of Cats here.)
I visited North Bergen S.T.E.A.M. Academy in the fall of 2024 to give tips on how to make great 90-Second Newbery videos, and it paid off with some really amazing entries! For instance, Emily Bonilla, Emily Berry, Alithea, Aylin, and Michelle did this hilarious twist on E.B. White’s 1953 Honor Book Charlotte’s Web:
As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full post here), “A hilarious, well-acted, skillfully-made movie with a subversive twist! . . . The best thing is the twist: Charlotte feels unappreciated, so she writes ‘DELICIOUS’ in the web, and Wilbur promptly gets butchered for bacon . . . and eaten onscreen, with his dead eyes looking on! . . . A very funny and goofy re-imagining of the original story.”
Here’s another one from North Bergen S.T.E.A.M. Academy. Mikel, Angel, and Matthew made this version of the short story “The Garden” from Arnold Lobel’s 1973 Newbery Honor Book Frog and Toad Together:
As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full post here), “My favorite thing about this movie when Toad muses snarkily ‘maybe the real story is about identity and real friends and accepting who you are within’ . . . and then we see his garden truly has grown into a MONSTROUS TOAD EATING-PLANT! (Which looks kind of similar to “Audrey II” from Little Shop of Horrors!). A hilarious twist, perfectly done.”
Here’s another version of Frog and Toad Together from North Bergen S.T.E.A.M. Academy. It’s based on “The List”—but it’s done with a horror twist, by Giselle, Amelia, and Zaryah:
As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full post here), “The frightening faceless figures in all black made for truly creepy monsters. I appreciated the use of subtitles throughout, not only to make it clear what Frog and Toad are saying, but also to explain some of the action that might be unclear. (Also, it was a weird and interesting wrinkle how Toad bullied and scared Frog a bit, even deploying her own scary voice at one point!) . . . And the performances of Frog and Toad and their faceless antagonists were all engaging, convincing, and super fun to watch!”
Hansika and Daniela of North Bergen S.T.E.A.M. Academy turned in this inventive hand-drawn version of Katherine Paterson’s 1978 Newbery Medal Winner Bridge to Terabithia:
As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full post here), “I admired the elaborate and plentiful artwork in this all-illustrated retelling of the story . . . and the creative twist that tranformed it from a realistic tragedy to an adventurous quest! . . . We get to meet the actual Terabithians: Pipsqueak, Tinyclaws, Rob the Frog, and in a shocking twist, Jess’s cow Miss Bessie! I loved all of their different squabbling personalities, especially the grumpy Rob. And then we had an additional fun twist: Leslie isn’t dead, but rather captured by a nefarious Mist (which is drawn in a delightfully creepy way!) . . . Brisk, artistic, and with a fun twist.”
Here’s one more movie from North Bergen S.T.E.A.M. Academy that we featured last Saturday. It’s by Vincenzo, Luca, Allesandro, and Lucien, and it’s based on Gary Paulsen’s 1988 Honor Book Hatchet:
As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full post here), “I was intrigued by this creative twist on the story: instead of one Brian getting in plane crash and surviving in the wilderness, we have two Brians . . . one of whom dies almost immediately! But even better, that ‘dead’ Brian becomes a ghost that starts to haunt the living Brian, chasing him around the island and even clinging onto the rescue helicopter as the living Brian tries to get away at the end . . . Good special effects and a fun twist!”
Here’s another version of Hatchet, but this one is by Dominic and Kellan of Lloyd Harbor School of Huntington, New York!
As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full post here), “This was a creative and original twist on the story—instead of Brian surviving alone in the wilderness, he makes friends with a moose! . . . A comical subversion of the story, made with skill and creativity!”
Also from Lloyd Harbor School, we got this version of Richard and Florence Atwater’s 1939 Newbery Honor Book Mr. Popper’s Penguins, by Charlie, Christian, Ronin, Tre, and Warner:
As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full post here), “I loved this action-packed, high-spirited romp through the story! The penguin costumes were resourceful and cute, and really helped to sell the movie (along with their comical squeaking) . . . Ebullient, committed performances, a tight script, and good postproduction all combined to make an entertaining sprint through the plot!”
The third movie from Lloyd Harbor School that we featured is this adaptation of Kate DiCamillo’s 2001 Newbery Honor Book Because of Winn-Dixie, by Eleanor, Ella, and Marla:
As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full post here), “I appreciated the clarity of the storytelling in this movie, immediately learning the two main characters’ names and exactly what they want: the girl Opal wants a ‘cheap dog,’ and the dog Bob wants ‘beans.’ (Indeed, I was charmed by the quick scene of Bob in front of cans of beans singing ‘I like big beans and I cannot lie.’) . . . This movie was funny and entertaining to watch—great work!”
Phoebe and her dad are back with a brand-new movie, this one of Cynthia Voigt’s 1983 Newbery Medal Winner Dicey’s Song:
As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full post here), “I always appreciate it when participants make movies based on lesser-known Newbery books, and Dicey’s Song certainly fits the bill . . . This movie has sharp cinematography (I particularly loved the wide shot when Dicey is standing near the fountain, and the color contrast when Phoebe is moving in between the green and red colored plants) and brisk, effective editing. But of course the best thing about the movie is Phoebe’s performance, from her excellent voiceover narration to her comically puzzled reaction to Maybeth’s music to her marvelous song! . . . Sharp production values, a tight script, a strong lead performance, and all kinds of fun little details and touches. Excellent work!”
Last but not least of the local entries featured in Saturday’s Brooklyn screening is this boffo adaptation of Katherine Paterson’s 1979 Newbery Honor Book The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Alexis and Matthew of Mountainside, New Jersey:
As the judges said on the 90-Second Newbery website (full post here), “This was an amazing movie! There is so much to love about it, most importantly that it tells the story in an easy-to-follow way such that even if one hadn’t read the book, one would be able to understand what’s going on (a hard thing to do). This movie was able to achieve that clarity with great acting (the actress manages to portray Gilly’s surliness and rudeness while still being appealing), the resourceful costumes (such as Nonnie’s costume, the police uniform, Mrs. Trotter’s dress etc.), and voiceover narration as well as onscreen text that keep everything on track . . . Smart background music throughout matched the narrative thrust of each scene, helping to make clear the main idea (such as the old-fashioned music when Nonnie shows up). Fun credits too! This movie is a total winner, great work!”
And that was the Brooklyn 2025 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! Thank you to Paquita Campoverde, Jessica Cox, and everyone at the Brooklyn Public Library for supporting the film festival (especially Sam in the tech booth!). Thanks to the wonderful Rita Williams-Garcia for being such a fun and game co-host. And thanks most of all to the young filmmakers who created the movies today, and the teachers, librarians, and families who supported them!
I’m already looking forward to seeing what movies folks will make for next year. Start working on your masterpiece now! The deadline is January 2026, but you can turn in your movies anytime. Complete information, of course, at the 90-Second Newbery website.
And by the way, the 90-Second Newbery relies entirely on private donations and grants to keep going. It’s only through your generosity that we can continue bringing our free public screenings and book-to-movie workshops to libraries and schools nationwide. You can make your (tax-deductible!) donation here. Donations are handled through our fiscal sponsor Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.
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