Rebellious Children: Short Films by RI Filmmaker Michele Meek

Children wielding hatchets, resisting gender norms, dangling over ledges, and paying back shoddy treatment—join us for a mini retrospective of four of RI filmmaker Michele Meek’s short films about rebellious children with a conversation with the filmmaker to follow. From Bay Creek Tennis Camp (2023) about children challenging the gender binary at summer camp to Imagine Kolle 37 (2017) where children play with fire, axes, and saws at a real adventure playground, Meek’s films emphasize the agency of youth—with all its inherent risks, joys, and challenges.

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Michele Meek, Ph.D. is a filmmaker, author, and professor born and based in Providence, RI. Her award-winning short films have screened at film festivals, museums, conferences, and universities across the world including the Institute of Contemporary Art, Brown University Arts Institute, and numerous Oscar-qualifying festivals including Chicago International Kids Film Festival and Rhode Island International Film Festival.

Recommended for children ages 8 and up, and all adults!

The films that will be shown are:

Bay Creek Tennis Camp (2023)

Winner of the Best LGBT Film at the Berlin Short Film Festival; Best LGBT Film at Lois Weber Film Festival; Finalist for the Sweden Film Awards; and selected for educational distribution via programs with the Cleveland International Film Festival and Vancouver Queer Film Festival

Bay Creek Tennis Camp is a timely take on the cross-generation disconnect around gender inclusivity. The film poses a provocative question—what if gender is not the ideal way to divide youth? In the film, Coach Charlie has been doing things his way for decades. But the Generation Alpha kids who join his camp this year won’t stand for being split by gender—and they decide to teach him a lesson.

Red Sneakers (2009)

Winner 2nd Place Children’s Film at Rhode Island International Film Festival; Screened at NH Film Festival, Los Angeles Children’s Film Festival and others

Red Sneakers depicts nine-year-old Cassie and her little brother Tommy who experience a series of irresponsible babysitters and ultimately wind up with Mrs. Feinstein, who goes to great lengths to keep her spoiled son separate from the other kids. But Cassie finds a way to pay back the shoddy treatment.

Bubble Gum Ice Cream (2012)

Produced as part of the 48 Hour Film Project Providence

Five-year-old girl Mimi has two problems: her mother won’t let her order bubble gum ice cream, and she doesn’t like her mother’s new fiancé. With the advice of “Dear Alice,” she just might find a way to “K*ll two birds with one stone.”

Imagine Kolle 37 (2017)

Screened at museums including the Institute of Contemporary Art; festivals including IFFBoston, Free Range Film Festival, Woods Hole Film Festival; and at universities, schools, and venues across the world.

Imagine Kolle 37 is a short film about two children who imagine their way through a real adventure playground—Abenteurlicher Bauspielplatz Kolle 37—in Berlin, Germany. A “hybrid” film that mixes narrative, documentary, and animation, Imagine Kolle 37 evokes the question—can we, as Americans today, imagine Kolle 37, a real children’s playground in Berlin where children build and climb three-story wooden structures; make fires; and use hammers, saws, and axes?

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