Guest blog by Ian Street and his children. This is the companion piece to Death of a Superhero. Both films shown as part of Leeds Young People’s Film Festival
I’ll leave the main reviewing of this one to my kids who were not old enough for Death of a Superhero but loved this (forgot to tell them it would be subtitled ! ). A couple of things that link it to the first film are of course death, the love of a father for his son and coming of age. Handled in a completely different way but again very intelligently. It made me think that how can someone who has yet to know love understand the pain that the loss of that love can cause in another and secondly of a very different kind of death visited by us as tourists as we kill the very things that made us want to visit in the first place.
CM (aged 10) : I find that old cinemas are the best but when they are showing great films it really gets the wow factor from me and makes the experience even better. Today I went to see my first Premier of Nicostratos the Pelican at the venue of Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds. The film was based in Zora a small old Greek island where Yannis, a young boy, gets a poorly treated grey pelican and we watch the relationship of Yannis and the pelican grow until nothing can part them. Smiles spread across the audience faces as the film lit up the cinema, it was a volcano of emotions on full eruption as it brought a small teardrop to my eye and a cheesy grin to my face! Another new thing for me the film was entirely in French and to be honest it startled me a little so the subtitles at the bottom of the screen were zooming away and from my eyes it felt difficult to read. Sadly 3 years ago Yannis’ mother passed away and he was left with his fisherman father. Over the years their relationship had faded and they both struggled to communicate with each other as his father became aggressive and scared with grief which left Yannis feeling startled and somewhat confused. Towards the end of the film their relationship strengthens over the love of the pelican. Leeds Young People’s Film Festival has done a smashing job and from my point of view this film lit up my day and is surely in my top 10. I will definitely be coming next year! 4*
EB (aged 11) : Hyde Park Picture House was the perfect venue for Leeds Young People’s Film Festival with a unique crowd of all ages gathered for the UK Premier of Nicostratos the Pelican. Nicostratos the Pelican was a truly moving film set on the remote Greek island of Zora. My first impression was one of surprise once I realised the actors were talking in French, with subtitles at the bottom of the screen, as this was the first film I had ever seen with subtitles but the experience was brilliant. In the film the main character, a young Greek boy named Yannis, is really passionate about a tiny starving grey bird which reminded me of the ugly duckling story as the baby pelican grows into an enormous white beauty. Unfortunately Yannis’ mother died several years ago leaving Yannis often on his own as his father, stricken with grief, has to travel to nearby islands to find work. Whilst his father is away Yannis trains the Nicostratos to trust him leading to him earning money by tourists paying to have a picture with the pelican. A tragic event causes the bond between father and son to strengthen encouraging Yannis to spread his wings. Overall I would rate the film 4* out of 5 and with the fantastic characters and moving plot this film is definitely in my top 10. Leeds Young People’s Film Festival did a brilliant job organising the event and setting the bar high for next year.
In conclusion I fear that neither of these films will hit a mass viewing audience which is a shame as they tackle much that we all face in life with pathos, humour and intelligence and I can only congratulate Leeds Young People’s Film Festival for bringing them to Leeds. I hope they both return when they go on wider release and that you go along to watch them.