Cinekid Festival, touted as the world’s largest festival for children’s film and media, opens October 20 at Pathé Amsterdam Noord with Beta Film’s “Benjamin Bat,” an animated musical adventure pic about a bat with nyctophobia.
“Benjamin Bat” follows a timid bat whose fear of the dark (aka nyctophobia), makes him an oddity among his peers. They find his sensitivity and love for singing, an activity reserved for their bird enemies, baffling. Everything changes when Benjamin meets Sherida, a tropical songbird. To save her and embrace his true self, Benjamin must summon all his courage.
Produced by Storytellers Film & TV (producers Errol Nayci and Julia Ton) and Zeilt Productions (co-producer Laurent Witz), in collaboration with il Luster, the 76-minute toon is directed by Patrick Raats and Sarah Sutter from a screenplay by Karen van Holst Pellekaan, based on a story she co-created with Errol Nayci.