If Rock Demers is the godfather of Canadian children’s films, in my view, Burny Bos is the equivalent on the other side of the Atlantic. I wish I could have met Burny when he was at the age of Tom Sawyer – he must have been a naughty boy full of daring ideas that could mesmerise little girls! Burny and I grew up on different planets and who could foresee that we would even meet, collaborate and befriend for 20 plus years!! Burny was born in a place with windmills, cheese and lots of fairy tales. Me in communist China, a pigtailed young pioneer who was told to change the world!
Author: Gert Hermans
Reinhold Schöffel about 50 years BJF
“The modern media generation needs to re-discover film culture”
In 2020 the German youth film association BJF celebrates its 50th anniversary, which should have been a reason for year round festivities. But when I speak to BJF manager Reinhold Schöffel he is not absorbed by the past, but thinking about the future, more specifically about a film which was to become the showpiece of the anniversary celebration: the Canadian documentary YOUTH UNSTOPPABLE.
Tom Van Gestel & Geert Torfs about SIR MOUSE
“What is funny for a child at what age?”
Several episodes of the animation series SIR MOUSE were presented as a compilation film to the youngest audience by Belgian distributor JEF. Besides its beautiful design, the series stands out for the frivolous way in which gender patterns are broken.
Xie Deju about STARRY ROAD
“Always a torn shirt to fix”
Sports is often seen as a stepping stone towards social progress. For the brothers Hai and He the occasion is very concrete. It is the prospect of new shoes that spurs them to join the school’s rope skipping team. Not warmly welcomed by the seniors, they soon regret their decision. But when a young teacher arrives with new methods, progress is made immediately.
Małgorzata Imielska about ALL FOR MY MOTHER
“A total reset by an injection of fresh air”
Few words have such strong emotional connotations as “mother”. For Olka in ALL FOR MY MOTHER by Małgorzata Imielska, the word means everything. It represents her ultimate desire that she has pursued all her life, in the orphanage, in the reformatory, even in her dreams. Locked inside the 17 year old body that she hates, Olka has but one single goal: she wants her mother back.
ECFA Journal 3 / 2020
Your children’s film update for the new festival season, including premiere interviews, Meet the Mentors and a special chapter on children’s film cinemas.
LUCAS films at Germany‘s KiKA KINO TV Festival
From August 1st, the KiKA KINO festival is bringing a diverse special film programme for the whole family to German home screens. The children’s channel of German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF, in cooperation with LUCAS – Int‘l Festival for Young Film Lovers and other partners, is presenting award-winning films from renowned German children’s film festivals on television throughout the whole month, including the LUCAS films FELIX (Roberta Durrant), ECFA Award winner 2014 SCRAPWOOD WAR (Margien Rogaar) and SHANA – THE WOLF‘S MUSIC (Nino Jacusso). Continue reading “LUCAS films at Germany‘s KiKA KINO TV Festival”
Petition supporting film culture for young Europeans
ECFA and KIDS Regio, the lobby initiative for children’s film in Europe, together with its umbrella organisation Cine Regio (network of regional film funds) are making an appeal to promote film culture for young people in Europe on the occasion of the EU’s new Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF). A petition is launched, and we ask you to read it, sign it and share it. You’ll find the petition here.
Continue reading “Petition supporting film culture for young Europeans”