Brooklyn-based filmmaker Kristin Brenneman Eno is making some out-of-the-ordinary contributions to the world of media: films starring and driven by children. Eno created Little Creatures Films to give children a voice in the media, and to inspire them to create their own play and learn from it.
The idea for Little Creatures Films came to Eno while teaching art to first graders. “In my art teaching I began to see how they were creating their art–it was all coming from stories,” she says. “As a filmmaker, I’m guided by my belief that children’s original stories are far more interesting than the stories adults have written and produced as TV and films.”
In 2001, with the help of her now-husband, Sean Eno, Eno made the short film “Sophie in the Trees,” featuring a child playing in Vermont as children in Brooklyn narrate her adventure. (The children, who live in separate states, never met.)
“Sophie in the Trees” became the first of many videos featuring children as the stars and their play as the subject matter. “I would do this whenever I had time–I would take some costumes and the camera with me and I would find some kids–friends or family or whatever–and say, ‘Do you want to go out and play with us?’” Eno says.
Today, Eno is in the final stages of producing “Spirit Ship,” a 15-minute, HD, live-action narrative film shot in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The film follows three children as they walk along a shoreline, stumble upon a shipwreck and continue to explore their surroundings while being introduced to new obstacles along the way. In order to complete it, Eno hopes to raise $5000 by January 2 through a Kickstarter Project.
Through her films, Eno hopes to address two issues: the lack of child-led media and the lack of “authentic play” in the lives of many young children today. And what is “authentic play”? It’s child-created, imaginative play, often inspired by a child’s surroundings, simple objects or questions from a parent; it involves no electronics or organized games or sports. Authentic play results when parents spend time playing with their children, and create simple yet inspirational environments that stimulate kids’ imaginations.
Having a daughter of her own in January of 2009 has given Eno a whole new perspective from which to view her work. “As a filmmaker, I want to document her life almost ad nauseam; we’ve filmed all these little videos of her and we’re to the point that we can’t do it anymore because she knows that I’m filming,” she says. “It gets at the question of my work in general: What does this really mean for the child? Is it good for them to see themselves play? Is it beneficial to their learning?”
While Eno may continue grappling with those questions, she’s still committed to filming kids. In fact, filming her own child has helped her to think critically about how her media can best be used to benefit the kids involved in the making of her videos, as well as the kids that view the films. And she still believes one thing is clear: one of the most important parts of every young child’s development is pure, unobstructed play. “Play is the way children work through any given problem or challenge or new area of learning—play is how they’re going to figure it out,” she says. “That’s why they need time to play; they need opportunities where they can solve problems in new ways.”
For more on Little Creatures Films, visit littlecreaturesfilms.com. To donate to the Spirit Ship Kickstarter Project, visit kickstarter.com.
