GOOD, CLEAN FILM-FESTIVAL FUN ON TAP IN SANTA CLARITA.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Daily News Staff Writer

It doesn't offer a parade of big-name stars or an exotic locale, but the Santa Clarita International Film Festival guarantees moviegoers one thing: They won't be covering the eyes and ears of their children during screenings because of unexpected sex scenes or rough language.

The fourth annual family-oriented festival, opening today and continuing through Feb. 13, operates by a specific credo: no obscenities, no gratuitous sex, violence or nudity.

That doesn't mean the roster of 40-plus titles comprises fluffy little G-rated works with no meat to them.

``Serious dramas are in this festival, (films) to do with child abuse or abandonment or death, but they're done in a way that you could take your child or your grandmother and not be embarrassed,'' says Patte Dee, program director for the festival.

Among this year's world-premiere offerings is ``Miracle at Midnight,'' a one-hour, 30-minute Disney made-for-TV drama starring Sam Waterston and Mia Farrow, who have appeared together on screen in ``The Great Gatsby,'' ``Hannah and Her Sisters,'' ``Crimes and Misdemeanors'' and ``September.'' It deals with some 7,500 Jews who were rescued from Adolf Hitler's regime by Danes in just 48 hours. ``Miracle at Midnight'' plays Thursday and is the festival's only free screening, courtesy of a legal stipulation from Disney. It is scheduled to air May 17 on ABC's ``Wonderful World of Disney.''.

The festival's opening-night event is the premiere of ``Second Chances,'' a one-hour, 44-minute drama about a young girl who is injured in an accident that kills her father. She forms a bond with a crippled horse that aids in her physical and emotional healing. Its stars - Terry Moore, Tom Amandes, Charles Shaughnessy, Stuart Whitman, Kelsey Mulrooney, Isabel Glasser and Theodore Bikel - are expected to attend the event, which Dee says was nearly sold out by midweek.

On Sunday, the festival will screen ``Lunker Lake: The Movie,'' a comedy starring Wilford Brimley and the Peppercorn Players, a supporting cast of life-size humanlike puppets. The one-hour, 20-minute movie, about a magical lake that is hosting a fishing contest, is entered in the festival's newly established mixed-media category, which also encompasses projects using computer-generated effects.

That and 11 other awards - best drama and comedy features, animated feature and short, feature documentary, drama and comedy shorts, student short, student documentary short, best performance by a child actor and Top Applause for the festival audience favorite - will be handed out in ceremonies Feb. 13 at the Odyssey restaurant in Granada Hills.

Other Santa Clarita International Film Festival highlights:

``Just Write,'' a comedy feature starring Sherilyn Fenn (``Boxing Helena'') and Jeremy Pivens (``Ellen'').

``A Healing: Women in Vietnam,'' a documentary produced and directed by former USO star Connie Stevens about a return trip she made to Vietnam with military nurses who served there.

``Frog and Wombat,'' a comedy about childhood friendships starring Ronny Cox, Lindsay Wagner, Katie Stuart and Emily Lipoma.

``Tale of Egypt'' and ``Camelot,'' two animated features from Sony Pictures.

All screenings take place at Edwards Cinemas at the Valencia Town Center, corner of Magic Mountain and McBean parkways. Tickets are $5 each. For schedule and ticket information, call [phone].

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Photo: Surrounded by puppet and child co-stars, oatmeal peddler Wilford Brimley takes the lead in ``Lunker Lake: The Movie,'' to be screened Sunday at the Santa Clarita International Film Festival.