THE LION CHILD / L'ENFANT LION (PG)

A family-slanted yarn about an African child who bonds from birth with a lion cub, provides a fasinating odyssey for all members of the family. Friends Oule (Mathurin Sinze) and Lena (Sophie-Veronique Toue Tagbe) are enslaved, sold to a desert prince and held in his walled palace. Via a flashback narrated by Lena, we learn of Oule's childhood in Pama village. He became inseparable from a lion, Sirga, who was born the same day as he was. As well as becoming close friends with all members of the animal kingdom, from snakes and scorpions to antelopes and bees the boy also communicateswith trees,wind and fire. The narrative comes full circle when evil horsemen descend on the village, slaughter the adults and enslave the children. Oule, who can also roar like a lion, uses his special powers to escape. Tricks include summoning a swarmof bees to heal his festering shoulder wound and an impressive desert tornado to rescue Lena. Oule demonstrates in large ways and small the benefits of his special relationship with nature

LET'S SAY / ON DIRAIT QUE (PG)

Rather than playing "cowboys and Indians", children aged 8-13, sons and daughters of doctors, farmers, police officers and grocers, play at their parents' jobs before the camera. The film was neither scripted nor rehearsed and the children improvise following their impulses, to present theworld as they understand and imagine it. Are they acting out stories they've experienced, heard or "seen on TV"? Do they immerse themselves in the imaginary or reproduce reality as they see it every day? Through their perception of these jobs, of their difficulties, pleasures and pain, the children offer a profound take on the adultworld. Francoise Marie crafts a real charmer following up on her short Petites histoires de riens du tout, in which sick children engage in role-playing games, Marie has the children improvise their parents' activities at work. First seen arranging pictograms representing life's necessities in order of importance, she then asks themindividually to describe their parents' jobs, and finally, with delightful painted flats, has them create sketches based on those occupations and all imaginedwith perspicacity and humour. The visuals are rich and sharp.