On Saturday, however, they'll get their fill of black images with relevant stories during the third annual Urban Kidz Film Festival.

Movies about and for black children between ages 4 and 12 will be shown from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the African American Art and Culture Complex, 762 Fulton St., San Francisco, according to organizers.

Disney and Nickelodeon animators will speak, and a pizza party is slated.

This year's festival will showcase 10 films ranging from 2 to 75 minutes. Tickets are $15 for children and $20 for adults for all screenings and the party, or $5 for children and $7 for adults for any two-hour block of screenings.

"We want to give black children more exposure to films or encourage more young people to become filmmakers like Spike Lee or John Singleton," said Ave Montague, founder and executive director of the San Francisco Black Film Festival, which runs through Sunday.

The black film festival is presenting the children's festival with help from such sponsors as Comcast, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks, Wells Fargo and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The past few years, emerging black filmmakers targeting children have served up everything from comedies to films on urban issues ranging from race or cultural identity to poverty and peer pressures.

This year, in "Gettin' Grown," 12-year-old Eric sets out on a simple errand in his neighborhood that becomes a major rite of passage. "Nigel's Fingerprint" centers on a 6-year-old who wonders why he is brown and his father is not.

"Off Duty" is a story about the teenage son of an African-American taxi driver who struggles to gain his father's love and approval. In "Sonny Listening," a boy bullied on the playground comes across a deserted gym, where he is befriended by Nick "Golden Gloves" Archibald, who teaches the boy not only how to box but more important lessons about life.

It's all a welcome addition for some black parents, like Gerald Robinson of Oakland. "I take kids to these movies like 'Agent Cody Banks' or 'Harry Potter,' and if you see black faces, they are in the background. These kids' movies are all-white," said Robinson, who attended last year's Urban Kidz Film Festival with young people.

"I remember 'Bebe's Kids,' a cool black animation when I was young, but today there's nothing that reflects our kids," he said. "Now, in most kids' movies if you see a face that's not white, it's a character who's green or purple."

African-Americans account for 13 percent of the U.S. population but 25 percent of moviegoers, according to industry estimates.

In addition, only 5 percent of on a positive note, ABC-TV offers "The Proud Family," an animated feature about a black family, and this month Nick at Night will air "Fatherhood," a black animation using Blair Underwood's voice and based on Bill Cosby's book. A segment will air Saturday at the Urban Kidz Film Festival.

For more information, call (415) 771-9271.

The Oakland Tribune: Cityside
Leanne McLaughlin, Managing Editor
(510) 208-6447
(510) 208-6477 Fax
lmclaughlin@angnewspapers.com Email