The ASSORTED CITIES 2022 90-Second Newbery Film Festival: Online Screening!
Hello, fans of the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! Usually, we do our screenings live at libraries and theaters around the country. However, due to Covid, we can’t do our screenings live this year.
So instead, we are doing ONLINE screenings! And I figured that this year, since most of our screenings are virtual anyway, we have an opportunity to recognize the great moviemakers who don’t live near any of our usual screening cities.
In the video above, join film festival founder James Kennedy (author of the YA fantasy The Order of Odd-Fish and the new adult speculative thriller Dare To Know) and author Keir Graff (author of The Tiny Mansion and many other books for kids and adults) as we watch some of the best kid-made 90-Second Newbery movies of 2022 from Minnesota, North Carolina, Utah, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Idaho, Kansas . . . and even the Republic of Moldova!
This is also a special occasion, because 2022 marks the HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY of the Newbery award! And so Keir and I open the show with a brief skit in which we learn about the HORRIFYING PROPHECY that comes true on the centenary anniversary of the Newbery award. Will John Newbery rise from the dead? Will we once again sing our way bravely through an opening musical number? Yes and yes! Thanks to Javier Ramirez and the Exile in Bookville bookstore in Chicago for helping us out with that. (Go buy a book from them! They ship!) And thanks to Chris, Alice, Heather, Domingo, Lucy, and Ingrid for helping sing the opening song.
Want to learn more about the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival? Check out our official website at www.90secondnewbery.com. And remember, it’s never too early to start making movies for the 2023 90-Second Newbery Film Festival!
Thank you to all the young filmmakers for their fantastic movies, and the families, teachers, and librarians who assisted them! So sit back, relax, and enjoy the video above.
Here’s the running order of the movies, with links to their reviews on the 90-Second Newbery website:
1. The Newbery Story by Primrose School of Prior Lake and Savage in Savage, MN
2. The Tale of Despereaux (Kate DiCamillo, 2004 Honor Book) by Maxine, Lily, Beatrice, Tatek, Sailor, Gabe, Lila, and Ryleigh of Odyssey Community School in Asheville, NC
3. Mr. Popper’s Penguins (Richard and Florence Atwater, 1939 Honor Book) by 5th graders of J.R. Smith Elementary School in Heber City, UT
4. The One and Only Ivan (Katherine Applegate, 2013 Medal Winner) by Emmitt and friends of Cocalico Middle School in Denver, PA
5. The Tale of Despereaux (Kate DiCamillo, 2004 Honor Book) by The Girls’ Preparatory School in Chattanooga, TN
6. The King’s Fifth (Scott O’Dell, 1967 Honor Book) by the “Make a Movie” Workshop of the Treehouse Museum in Ogden, UT
7. Last Stop on Market Street (Matt de la Pena, 2016 Medal Winner) by the 3rd Graders of Daniels Canyon Elementary in Heber City, UT
8. The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Elizabeth George Speare, 1959 Medal Winner) by Layla, Jada, Madison, Macy, and Kolton of Spring Grove Public School in Spring Grove, MN
9. The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Elizabeth George Speare, 1959 Medal Winner) by Lana C. and Friends of Wittenberg, WI
10. The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman, 2009 Medal Winner) by Delano Public Schools in Delano, MN
11. The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle (Hugh Lofting, 1923 Medal Winner) by Elizabeth and Friends in Idaho
12. Hatchet (Gary Paulsen, 1988 Honor Book) by Quinn and Paul of Trailwood Elementary in Overland Park, KS
13. Hatchet (Gary Paulsen, 1988 Honor Book) by Easton, Etzel, and Ezra of Heber Valley Elementary in Heber City, UT
14. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (E.L. Konigsburg, 1968 Medal Winner) by Addy, Claire, and Marianna of Creek Valley Elementary in Edina, MN
15. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Robert C. O’Brien, 1972 Medal Winner) by Lilly, Yu, and Preston of Scenic Heights Elementary in Minnetonka, MN
16. The Girl Who Drank the Moon (Kelly Barnhill, 2017 Medal Winner) by Abigail K. and friends at Garden Plain Elementary in Garden Plain, KS
17. The Girl Who Drank the Moon (Kelly Barnhill, 2017 Medal Winner) by Ilinca and Andreea of the Heritage International School in the Republic of Moldova
18. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (Beverly Cleary, 1982 Honor Book) by Janielynn Fowler of Brevard Middle School in Brevard, NC
19. Thimble Summer (Elizabeth Enright, 1939 Medal Winner) by Philly ALC in Philadelphia, PA
James Kennedy is the author of the YA fantasy The Order of Odd-Fish and the adult speculative thriller Dare To Know. He is the founder and curator of the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival. He lives in Chicago with his wife and two daughters. You can find him on the web at http://www.jameskennedy.com and on Twitter at @iamjameskennedy.
Keir Graff is the author of funny and fantastical middle-grade adventure novels including The Tiny Mansion, The Phantom Tower (named a Best Children’s Book by the Chicago Tribune), and The Matchstick Castle (an official Illinois Reads selection). He also writes books for grown-ups—some of them under fake names! He lives in Chicago with his wife Marya, sons Felix and Cosmo, and cats Toothless and Totoro. Follow him on Twitter at @KeirGraff and find out more at www.keirgraff.com.
Do you want to support the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival, so we can keep this crazy show going every year, coast to coast? Please make a tax-deductible donation to the 90-Second Newbery here. The 90-Second Newbery is under the nonprofit fiscal sponsorship of Fractured Atlas.