What happens when kids get to explore cities on their own terms" The city is a giant playground for kids, but they don?t get to experience much when they?re strapped into strollers to keep up with the busy pace of adults. That narrative is flipped by filmmaker Jacob Krupnick, who follows toddlers who have just learned to walk as they determine their own paths through the cacophony of busy cities.
For the past year, Krupnick?s been setting one- and two-year-olds loose on city streets, filming the answer to this question: ?What happens when kids explore the world on their own terms"? The delightful film series, entitled Young Explorers Club, shows what happens when parents allow their kids to engage with urban spaces without any prompts, directions or guidance.
The first three films in the series take place in various neighborhoods in New York City. For the latest video, Krupnick headed to Atlanta to film on the BeltLine, the former rail right-of-way that?s been turned into a walking and biking trail encircling the city.
Watching kids climb graffiti-covered retaining walls or peer over the edge of a fountain is pure urbanist joy. But it?s also strangely unsettling to see kids running alone in the city.
Krupnick has two young kids?his two-year-old, Ada, will be featured in an upcoming film?so he understands why the idea of a toddler crossing a Manhattan avenue solo might make some parents nervous. But Krupnick says part of the reason he makes the films is to...