NORMAL - The world's only film festival judged and curated by someone other than adults is coming to a theater near us.

In fact, it's coming to a theater near us, and nowhere else: at 7 and 9 p.m. Saturday at the Normal Theater.

The MediaBridge YouthFest, as it's called, is a short film festival mixing up live and animated films from eight countries.

Each separately ticketed $6 session will present a differently themed 90-minute collection of films (see accompanying story for the lineup).

What makes this short film festival different from any other short film festival is that it's curated by a specially recruited panel of judges, ages 15 to 19, who hail from Illinois and five countries (India, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Portugal and Russia).

"Who better to curate a film festival for teens than teens themselves?" notes Nicole Dreiske, artistic director of Chicago's legendary specialty film institute, Facets Multi-Media.

"Our society tends to assume we know what our youth want without asking them," she adds. "These teens are amazing. The discussion and thoughtful comments offered and discussed during the jury sessions really showed how capable they are. It's the only youth-curated film festival that I'm aware of in the world."

The Normal Theater was chosen as the site for this year's festival for a number of reasons, including the venue's past track record with similar events (including the Manhattan Short Film Festival), the vigor of the local arts community and a proven audience, says Dreiske, "with a healthy appetite for new cinematic experiences (and who aren't afraid of subtitles)."

Adds theater manager Dawn Riordan, "The Normal Theater was chosen because Bloomington-Normal is an area with a big-city feel - there's an explosion of the arts in this area and film festivals such as MediaBridge celebrate the art of film."

In addition, says Dreiske, the festival's organizers wanted to move it out of Chicago this year "because Chicago gets everything - and one of our commitments has been to make this a state-wide program."

The festival is an offshoot, of sorts, of the famed Chicago International Children's Film Festival, also staged by Facets Multi-Media, and celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

As a litmus test of the festival's prominence: It's the only children's film festival whose entries are eligible for Academy Awards consideration in the shorts categories.

"So we get a very high caliber (of film) sent to us," says Dreiske. All told, "we receive as many as 1,000 entries from 50 countries, about 20 percent of which are too edgy and mature for the festival, which is aimed at kids ages 2 to 14."

To remedy that situation, the festival started up the MediaBridge program as a way of experimenting with the concept of youth juries, then spent two years refining it. Three years ago, the film festival was ready to go.

"Getting into the program is like getting into college," Dreiske notes. "It's a very stringent process. And they (the teens) give up five weeks of their summer and put hours of work into the festival."

During the period, the jurors screen more than 100 films and judge them through a complex process entailing numerical ratings of 14 criteria and then peer-driven deliberation "in a room without any adult interference."

What Dreiske and others have found is that their teen curators prefer "either innovative storylines or very creative animation styles and ideas never seen in movies before," attributes fully on display in this year's two collections of films.

However, she adds, the PG-13 nature of the shorts renders them unsuitable for children under 14.

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Shorts stuff

Following are the offerings at the two sessions of the MediaBridge YouthFest, coming Saturday to the Normal Theater:

7 p.m. show

• Funglasses (Germany, 2006, 8 min.): A young man glimpses astonishing worlds when his eye doc prescribes glasses to cure his b/w vision.

• Zoologic (USA, 2007, 4 min.): A confident penguin decides to stand up to his strict zookeeper.

• A Day in the Life (Belgium, 2008, 21 min.): A look at how the need for money can connect the least likely acquaintances.

• Superhero Training Center: Cultural Awareness Day (USA, 2008, 6 min.): 3D animated superhero characters discuss cross-cultural mishaps.

• Tony Zear (France, 2007, 20 min.): Proof that there's a match made in heaven for everyone, somewhere.

• Odd Shoe (UK/USA, 2007 10 min.): A guy named Joe takes a big gamble trying to fit into some new shoes.

• Varmints (UK, 2008 24 min.): An animated film that asks the question, "will the future be found in man or machine?"

9 p.m. show

• Take 3 (New Zealand, 2008, 12 min.): Three competing actresses learn how teamwork, even between rivals, can lead to success.

• John and Karen (UK, 2007, 4 min.): A penguin and a polar bear work to patch up their relationship.

• Zohar (Israel, 2007, 30 min.): An athletic young woman struggles to maintain her identity and voice, despite her family's insistence on feminine beauty and daintiness.

• Easy Pickins (USA, 2007, 13 min.): Slapstick with a new twist, in which some little old ladies aren't as helpless as they seem.

• George (Sweden, 2007, 25 min.): Two anxious parents are surprised by a mix-up with their adopted baby boy.

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At a glance

What: MediaBridge YouthFest

When: 7 and 9 p.m. Saturday (each show is a different program)

Where: Normal Theater, 209 North St., Normal

Tickets: $6

Information: www.cicff.org