Lombardia Cinema Ragazzi is a project promoted by the Councillor for Cultures, Identities and Autonomies of the Lombardy Region (Italy) in Collaboration with ANEC Lombardia. It educates on cinema and gives attention to young audiences, whilst respecting their sensibilities and emotions.

This attention expresses itself through the choice of films, the balance struck between European and Extraeuropean cinema, and the educational activities that can be started within schools, thanks to the promotion of materials developed for pupils and teachers.

Quality cinema helps young people to better understand our society, being aware that they are its future. Cultural growth today means learning about media, acquiring technical competence and taking active part in the cultural processes that focus on images

Thus, the Lombardy Region operates on various levels: through the promotion of films that are suitable for children, through the stimulation of the distribution of unreleased films in schools, and through the support of the production of educational videos on cinema language and other issues that are relevant in a school context. This point of view, taking into account the UN-Charter of Rights of the Child, underlines the centrality of the subjects to whom it is addressed: children and youth of both sexes, who are intelligent and sensitive spectators. The region has taken upon itself the duty and the responsibility of protecting and respecting this audience.

The project's aim is to promote the distribution in Italy of some films that would have otherwise remained unknown to young audiences, and to stimulate the distribution of quality films suitable for a school audience. In collaboration with AGIS-ANEC of Lombardy and with the 11 provincial administrations of the territory, a network of 100 cinemas and 276 Communes taking part every year in the initiative are co-ordinated.

The aim is to develop the two-fold value of Cinema: its value as something that can be consumed collectively and that helps socialisation, and as a means to transmit "positive" messages through quality films.

Since 1985 more than 40 films otherwise left undistributed in Italy have been included in the network "Arrivano i film". Almost 150.000 young people go to the cinema during the year thanks to this initiative. The network is promoted also through the distribution of catalogues and educational cards, teaching materials, dossiers for children and promotional materials.

Un Cinema Per Amico
In Milano and Hinterland, screenings are organised during the week-ends by CineVideoScuola for children, their friends or families.

Dossiers
Going to the cinema is in itself a recreational and socialising activity for young people which can, if properly sustained, educate, whilst amusing not only with the language of images, but developing other activities. For example, it could be a means to approach reading, or the respect of "others" or the knowledge of one's own and other people's rights. Images, decomposed and analysed, can thus help the young to express fears and emotions, in order to better understand the stories on screen as well as their own. The dossiers published so far - "The Blue Arrow", "Watch me fly", "From Roald Dahl to Cinema", "Rubber Tarzan", "Kirikou", "Cinema and Children's Rights" - have this purpose: helping children to learn about films, but also opening up their minds, their discussions and their fantasies.

www.lombardiaspettacolo.com
The website has been conceived as a "window" on the shows available in the region and as a working instrument for cultural operators, teachers and pupils. It also contains all information concerning the project "Lombardia Cinema Ragazzi". There it is possible to find the synopses of the films, the timetable of family showings, the synopses of the didactic productions, as well as the program of all cinemas of the Lombardy Region.

Even more Activities:
In order to accompany the screenings of films with didactic work in schools that helps children to learn about the language of cinema, a series of audio-visual didactic aids (videos, manuals, slides etc.) have been produced by the Centre for the Study of Educational Imagery with the support of the Lombardy Region. The material has been originally conceived for children from 6 to 13 but it is useful at all levels of schooling, even at University. Six kits have been produced so far which illustrate the ways, means and techniques of cinema language.

Further informations:
Regione Lombardia
Direzione Generale Culture, Identità e Autonomie della Lombardia
Struttura Cinema e Multimedia
Piazza IV Novembre, 5
I-20124 Milano
phone ++39-2-67652612/1/0
fax ++39-2-67652732
e-mail Graziella_Gattulli@regione.lombardia.it
www.lombardiaspettacolo.com