Anina

Anina Yatay Salas is a 5th grader with bright red hair and a big imagination. Her family is creative and a little bit crazy, and her thoughts often dissolve into flights of fantasy. Anina’s dad is obsessed with palindromes—words that read the same backwards as forwards. That’s why she was given the name she hates so much. After Anina fights with a big girl known as Yisel the Elephant, the school principal issues the girls a weird punishment: they are each handed a black envelope that they’re not allowed to open for a week. The suspense is almost more than Anina can stand. What dreadful thing is inside the envelope? Will the school project she has to do with Yisel work out? Maybe she’ll discover some things about life she didn’t know before. ANINA is a wonderfully animated film that displays the visual talent of director/children’s book illustrator Alfredo Soderguit. (In Spanish with subtitles) —B.B.