"Song of the Sea" screening at Playa Honda Civic Centre, 29 August at noon

La Pantalla Chinija stops in Playa Honda this weekend. On Saturday 29 August at 12:00, the Centro Cívico in the coastal town of San Bartolomé hosts a screening of Song of the Sea (La canción del mar), Tomm Moore's animated feature nominated for an Oscar in 2015. The session is aimed at children aged 4 to 9.

Run by the association Tenique Cultural, the project tours the island's municipalities with a clear purpose: to give children a calmer relationship with moving images and access to carefully chosen audiovisual programming.

After the film, mediator Vicki Dos Santos leads a discussion designed for young audiences, where children can put words to the emotions and thoughts the story stirred up. That guided conversation is the project's defining feature: it treats children as capable of reaching their own conclusions rather than simply watching.

Song of the Sea suits the format. Built on imagination and family bonds, the film touches on loss, affection, identity and learning to live with one's own emotions. Javier Fuentes Feo, director of Tenique Cultural, says the choice of title "responds to the wish to bring children stories capable of awakening sensitivity, curiosity and the ability to reflect".

The Playa Honda session follows a recent one in Haría. Tenique Cultural organises the programme with the support of the youth department of the Cabildo de Lanzarote and the town councils of Tías, Arrecife, Haría, San Bartolomé, Yaiza and Tinajo.

Practical notes for families

Playa Honda sits on the coast a few minutes from Arrecife and the airport, and the Civic Centre is straightforward to reach by car. The midday slot works well for younger children: the screening and the conversation fill the stretch before lunch. Arriving a little early helps children settle before the lights go down, and it is worth staying for the discussion afterwards, which is where the film takes shape in their own words. The film is screened in Spanish.