European Children's
Film Association
Association Européenne du Cinéma
pour l'Enfance et la Jeunesse
“Not all people are good”When nine year old Babs gets a piglet as a gift from her mysterious Grandfather Tuitjes, her mother – a hardliner vegetarian – isn’t exactly pleased. Babs does everything she can to teach ‘Oink’ some manners, so she can keep him. As occupied as she is with her mission, little does she notice how a villain has evil plans for her beloved pig.
Screening for a hearing-impaired audienceIt was a remarkable moment during the BUFF Festival: the enthusiasm for OKTHANKSBYE (Nicole van Kilsdonk, the Netherlands) concerned not only the film, but especially the Q&A. The audience, which mainly consisted of deaf and hearing-impaired youngsters, made clear to screenwriter Lilian Sijbesma how delighted they felt to recognise themselves in the main characters. According to festival programmer Daniel Lundquist, this special screening was no coincidence.
“My aim is to be a small, friendly fly”More than a talented gymnast, Whitney is a popular YouTube star with a million followers. Among them is Yara from Germany, one of her biggest fans. The two girls – one seemingly unreachable, the other one in devoted idolatry – live in different continents but are connected by their screens. Joya Thome brings them together in a documentary about teenagers finding out who they are and what they want from life.
“Highlighting the generational trauma of my people”Jub Clerc is a Nyulnyul and Yawuru film director and screenwriter from Australia. This year, her feature film debut SWEET AS won the Crystal Bear for Best Film in the Generation KPlus section at the Berlinale. “A film that touched us by virtue of the personal stories of the characters and its impressive backdrops. You can see how various characters grow together“, according to the jury’s citations.
“Not showing any adults insinuates some kind of utopia”A group of Achuar children roam the rainforest along the boards of the Pastaza river, on the Ecuador–Peru border. Nature is their habitat, playground and workshop. They harvest vegetables and fruit, go out fishing in a small boat, they hunt forest animals, play at a waterfall, and watch videos on their smartphones. These kids run their daily lives almost autonomously. Portuguese filmmaker Inês T. Alves, stranded in this isolated community, observed them with a camera, catching glimpses of their daily lives that unfold on the rhythm of the floating of the river.
“We still don’t talk about it”When Diana Cam Van Nguyen rediscovered the letters her dad wrote her from prison, she was surprised about the loving tone. That tone seemed to have disappeared now – where has it gone? She decides to write him back, in the form of a short film, that is not only stunningly honest, but also astonishing on a graphic level.
“I still know all the steps by heart”Milou Gevers, who received an ECFA Doc Award for WHY DIDN’T YOU STAY FOR ME? now presents her next film. SUMMER WITHOUT YOU is part of a series of short documentaries for Dutch television on the theme of ‘divorce’ and tells about children who meet each other at a camping site for single-parent families. Between Quinn and Julie, two visitors to the campsite, conversations about their parents’ divorce get going smoothly.
This interview with Daniel Ehrenberg, producer of THE PATH, was recorded during the Zlin Film Festival in June 2022.