I was born just before it became normal for every family to have internet, and for small children to sit behind the computer all the time. I grew up skipping ropes, playing with Lego and (sorry, sis) cutting off all the barbies’ hair. Now most streets are empty, children don’t like balls, playing tag and playing with marbles (I LOVED that). New media has the power. Technological prosperity and advancement comes with a price. Marbles and PS3’s can’t co-exist… right?

In comes CineKid. A festival I just happened to bumb into after exiting the First Look (link) festival that had rather bored me. I was taking a stroll with some colleagues, one of whom had heard from CineKid, which just so happened to take place 50 feet away from the First Look event.

Snotty-nosed kids – but cute
When I entered the CineKid terrain, an instant smile appeared on my face. A small, plastic swimmingpool had been filled with water, a swingset was happily being occupied by a cute little kid with a snotty nose, and the mini-pancake stand made even me the happiest person in the world.

After spending some time with the PR Department of the festival, they allowed us to enter (security was tight!). Joost Broersen, Festival Programmer New Media, was kind enough to give us a grand tour.

Grand Tour
The CineKid festival combines three aspects: Film, television and new media. We took a closer look at the Media lab. Upon arrival, I found that the holy combination of new media and marbles was indeed possible. Kids were playing dress-up, with a huge selection of clothes, and started acting out whatever character they wanted. New media was brought in to enhance the experience: they videotaped the kids playing in front of a green screen, so that they could look back at their performance and even add special effects.
A game called ‘Knee Deep’ was a nice example of new media stimulating children’s creativity. All that they gave the kids was a screen with an interactive background, and a plateau in front of that where the camera was pointed at. If a kid stood on the plateau, his or her legs would appear on the screen, real-time. Soon, the kids did more than standing, as they found out they can do everything they want.  Jumping, laying, rolling and even moonwalking was done, and it was all shown on the screen. It gave the kids the idea like they were on tv, watching themselves.

Other interactive games included making your own newspaper, making your own newscast and being a real reporter – including the press badge and the recording device. I almost felt the need to play the games myself. I would have loved these games when I was a kid.

Good old times
So in my opinion, CineKid was a lot better than First Look. By far, to be honest. The festival didn’t want to sell anything, where the games came from was unimportant. The goal was to make children play with film, tv and new media. And judging by the looks on their faces, and their hyperactive running around, the children had a blast.

CideKid showed us playing like we used to play. The way playing should be. Just in sync with the current technology, showing that the two can indeed go hand in hand.