ECFA News – Page 5 – European Children's Film Association

In 2023, ECFA organised the inaugural Workshop Warehouse event, in collaboration with the Cineteca di Bologna. As one of the participants described, the event was “a wonderful chance to learn from practitioners around Europe and come home with lots of practical ideas to use in my own work. A chance to further my professional network and possibly forge collaborations”.

The Workshop Warehouse 2025 is organised by the European Children’s Film Association and the Cineteca di Bologna, in collaboration with the “Screen the Future” European Children’s Film Festival Network. Co-funded by the European Union, this edition will take place June 27-29, 2025, in Bologna, Italy.

Registration is open until March 15th. To ensure the best workshop experience, places are limited – therefore: don’t hesitate and fill in the form now!

Additional information on the selected workshops is available below:

Seeing Beyond Sight (“The Young Film Describers” project)

Overview

The ‘Young Film Describers’ project focuses on creating audio descriptions for short documentary films with young people. Our approach involves engaging young participants in discussions about what they see in a film, enabling them to articulate and describe those images in words. While particularly beneficial for blind and visually impaired students, the project is equally valuable for sighted participants and diverse groups. In today’s visually dominated culture, the ability to describe and evaluate images is crucial, especially for young people heavily engaged with social media. Therefore, this workshop format is applicable to various educational settings that aim to develop observation and critical discussion skills around film.

This format was developed in collaboration with special schools for visually impaired students, the true experts in audio descriptions. Through three to five workshops, we’ve worked with various age groups, focusing on listening to and viewing documentary films. Together, we’ve created short descriptive texts of the films’ visual elements during non-dialogue sections. All participants have the opportunity to narrate their own audio descriptions, which may be published in partnership with an educational distributor.

For the Bologna workshop, we will condense these three to five workshop days (depending on age and daily hours) into 120 minutes. This will involve working with six groups, each developing a 2.5-minute audio description for a scene from a short documentary film.

Age group

The ‘Young Film Describers’ project is designed to engage participants of varying ages, with workshop content and activities tailored to the developmental stages and interests of each group. For the Bologna workshop, we will present a format specifically designed for children aged 11 and above. While the project has a particular focus on blind and visually impaired students, it offers equal value to participants without visual impairments and to diverse groups.

Instructors

Christian Kosfeld initially studied classical percussion in Leipzig, followed by German studies, musicology, and medieval studies in Bochum. In addition to his work as a radio journalist, author, and producer for ARD Kultur, he has been conducting media education projects in secondary and comprehensive schools since 2007. He is a co-developer of the inclusive audio description and film education project ‘Young Film Describers,’ which he has led in several cities in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and Frankfurt, at the invitation of the DFFF (German Film Promotion Fund). He is also creating film educational podcasts with and for young audiences for DOXS RUHR.
Barbara Kamp, from Bad Vilbel, is an educational scientist with a teaching degree. In 2004, she founded Method Film – Short Films and Concepts, which publishes selected international short films for schools and educational contexts. She is a long-time partner of DOXS RUHR in various projects. In collaboration with FRIENDS OF REALITY in Bochum, she has professionally edited audio descriptions with scholars, making them available for educational purposes. She publishes award-winning films, such as the GROSSE KLAPPE documentary film winners at DOXS! Duisburg, to distribute short films for educational use. She also leads film-related workshops for students, teachers, and other multipliers, primarily in cooperation with the DFF-German Film Museum Film Institute in Frankfurt/Main, exploring the potential of short films as a student-oriented gateway in specialized lessons and for aesthetic education.

Organization

DOXS RUHR // Freunde der Realität e.V., Bochum, Germany

Liquid in motion

https://player.vimeo.com/video/1061641739

Overview

The ‘Liquid in Motion’ workshop is a unique and creative initiative that combines traditional art, science, and stop-motion animation. Participants use stop-motion to capture the dynamic marbling process, creating vibrant, abstract images in motion. Marbling (ebru) is a Turkish technique where oil-based paints are dripped onto a thickened water surface. In this workshop, we substitute food coloring and high-fat milk. Typically, the ebru patterns are transferred to paper, but we photograph them to create a stop-motion animation. In a single session, hundreds of images can be produced, combining to form an abstract story of shifting colors and shapes.

Interdisciplinary Nature: The workshop integrates film, art, and science, exploring questions such as:

In Art:

What is abstract art?
What is intuitive painting?
How do abstract images affect the viewer?

In Film Production:

Why are abstract images used in films?
What do we “see” in abstract visualizations? Why might one person see a bird while another sees a face?
How to create stop-motion animation (framing, lighting, camera stabilization, editing).
How to use the mirror reflection filter in editing?

In Science:

What is lactose?
Why does fat float on water?
What is surface tension?

The ‘Liquid in Motion’ workshops are captivating for all ages, from young children to adults. The vibrant colors and ever-changing patterns on the liquid surface, which we only partially control, provide long-lasting engagement and surprise. These sensory-friendly and inclusive workshops require no prior artistic skills. Each participant creates a unique animation, which, with a soundtrack, becomes a memorable souvenir of their new experience and knowledge.

Age group

The workshop is designed for participants aged 7 and above, with no upper age limit. Its versatility and diverse range of activities ensure it will be engaging for children from age 7, as well as for teenagers and adults. There is something of interest for everyone, regardless of age.

Instructors

Michalina Drygasiewicz holds a Master’s degree in Cultural Animation and is a film educator, speaker, and workshop leader for the “Young Horizons Education” project. She is responsible for the workshop and educational activities within the “Young Horizons” festival. Michalina is also the owner of NIGDY NUDY, a company that specializes in informal education, providing scientific and chemical workshops for children and teenagers.
Wojciech Nowak is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław and a photographer specializing in business and automotive photography. For many years, he was the co-owner of a production house in Wrocław, operating within the advertising agency IN THE SKY. His interests include new technologies, film, and photography.

Organization

Young Horizons, Warsaw, Poland

Mini Movie

Overview

At JEF, we love experimenting and are always looking for new technologies and tools to get children and young people excited about film and games. Through active assignments, children discover the basics of filmmaking with a little help from AI. With the rapid advancements in AI and the increasing variety of tools being used in the film industry, we are giving this workshop a modern makeover. We will investigate with the children how we can implement AI in the filmmaking process without losing their creative input.

Age group

10-12 years old

Instructors

Marjolein Fransen coordinates “More than Film” at the youth film and game organization JEF, where she organizes workshops, installations, and other film-related educational projects.
Elfi De Vos develops workshops, training courses, and custom projects for the youth film and game organization JEF.

Organization

JEF, Antwerp, Belgium

Book of sounds (Le livre-à-sons)

Overview

This workshop aims to draw children’s attention to sound in cinema and how to tell stories using the sound of paper. The workshop explores the sounds made by different kinds of paper and what they remind us of. For example, crumpling kraft paper can sound like footsteps on dry leaves, while tapping baking paper can sound like raindrops. Connecting to the tactile audiobook Dans les bois (In the Woods) by Laura Cattabianchi, the workshop helps children discover the sound dimension of stories, whether written or drawn. By exploring the tactile and sound power of paper, participants can experience storytelling through sound and create their own stories to touch, listen to, and take home!

Age group

4-6 years old and 7-11 years old

Instructors

Laura Cattabianchi: Originally from Italy, where she studied the history of cinema, Laura Cattabianchi moved to France in 2011 to continue her studies in documentation and mediation. Between 2013 and 2020, she worked at Gaîté Lyrique, a digital arts and modern music center in Paris. During her time at Gaîté Lyrique, she began creating workshops for both adults and children that incorporated books, sounds, and digital technology. Since 2020, she has continued this work independently, dividing her time between artistic creation, workshops, and professional training. Fascinated by stories, she is particularly interested in the narrative potential of sounds created through the manipulation of different types of paper and materials. She is developing this artistic research around the Sound Book by creating tactile sound books, experimenting with children and adults during workshops, and designing mediation tools. Discover the work of Laura Cattabianchi: instagram.com/livre.a.sons or on her website livreasons.com
Maeva de Tastes: With a Bachelor’s degree in Cinema and a Master’s degree in “Designing educational and cultural projects in partnership”, Maeva de Tastes is currently in charge of educational activities at Enfances au Cinéma. She coordinates two academic programs dedicated to film education: École et Cinéma (School and Cinema) for elementary school students and Mon Premier Cinéma (My First Cinema) for kindergarten students. Her responsibilities include registrations, teacher training, and coordination of in-class workshops. Additionally, Maeva de Tastes designs and leads numerous workshops focused on practicing and discovering cinema, including activities like manufacturing optical toys, creating cinema posters, and directing stop-motion short films. She also trains specialists to conduct workshops in classes and present film screenings for young audiences, such as during the young audience film festival, Mon Premier Festival (My First Festival).

Organization

Enfances au Cinéma, Paris, France

Direct film experience

https://vimeo.com/138968840

Overview

This workshop, which pays homage to the great artist Nam June Paik, will provide participants with a hands-on filmmaking experience. Participants will create short experimental films by painting with light and adding live sound through videophony.

The workshop will begin by raising awareness among participants about the dynamics and rhythm of sound and movement. Through practical exercises, participants will learn how to control these dynamics and rhythms, either by producing sounds independently or by using instruments and objects that create sound vibrations. This process will be repeated through movement and motion.

Once participants have mastered the basic exercise, they will learn about videophony. Videophony, like microphony, is a system “glitch”, but it can be used creatively to produce images and films. For this light experiment, a video camera will be connected directly to a video projector, and the angle at which it records the illuminated projector screen will be adjusted. This setup allows the camera and video projector to record or “watch” each other, creating image distortion and interesting color nuances.

Participants will then experiment by moving objects in front of the camera or video projector, thus creating captivating video scenes that multiply in this infinite image. Throughout the workshop, participants can create multiple film works with different sound and musical atmospheres, resulting in different stories or narratives.

Once participants are familiar with the “language” of experimental film, they will add sounds produced by various vibrational means, sound-producing machines, or musical instruments to the action and object dance in front of the camera/video projector. Participants can be divided into several groups, which will separately prepare their final products in the same or different rooms. This final process will be recorded and will become the final artifact of the workshop.

Age group

This workshop is designed for children and youth ages 7 to 14.

Instructors

Boris Bakal is a multi-awarded theater/film director, actor, intermedia artist, curator, writer, educationist, modernist architecture heritage activist, and public historian born in Zagreb, SFRJ (today Republic of Croatia/EU). Throughout his versatile career, he has created numerous projects, films, performances, lectures, installations, and multimedia creations in more than 20 countries across Europe, as well as in Asia, Africa, South and North America, Australia, and New Zealand. His work is characterized by a pronounced exploration of site/time-specific, architecture and context-related, and the participative elements of arts and culture. Boris is the initiator and founder of the Frooom! film literacy school for children and youth, which has been continuously implemented since 2012 in more than 12 cities in Croatia and abroad.
Veno Mušinović is a film director, dramaturge, and educator. He holds degrees in Philosophy and Dramaturgy from the University of Zagreb and a BA in Film Directing from FAMU International in Prague. Since 2016, he has been a key pedagogue of the FROOOM! film school and currently serves as Vice President of Shadow Casters. He also directed award-winning theatre productions and short films and has led over 30 youth workshops whose films won 12 awards at 37 festivals worldwide. He collaborates with schools and festivals across Europe and has collaborated with platforms and organizations such as CinEd, KKZ, HFS, and others as a lecturer and mentor.

Organization

Shadow Casters/Bacači sjenki (Frooom! film school for children and youth), Zagreb, Croatia

Cinematic installations for kids

Overview

Linfraviolet focuses on a new audience: children aged one to five years old, through animated films and immersive workshops. For our latest show, “Cine-dance: Rounds and Bubbles,” we developed a unique kit to explore four different animated movies. This kit includes balloons, bubbles, books, a thaumatrope, a zoetrope with a jam jar, lights, sun puppets, and instructions for using these materials in connection with the four films.

The instructions are divided into three modules:

Screening: Light, shadow, and pre-cinema objects are used to explore the basic principles of cinema literacy.
Sensorimotor: Balloons and bubbles help explore the movie with the body and other fun objects.
Storytelling: Wool and a book are used to read a story, develop imagination in connection with the last movie, and calm the children with massage.

The workshop is short and immersive for children, using only a wall or fabric found in the kindergarten instead of a screen. We watch the short film, play with the colors and movements from the film, and create a collective atmosphere with lights and movements related to the movie. This workshop and kit are included in regional and national training for “kindergarten at the cinema” and day nursery courses.

Age group

up to 2 years old (2-6 years old)

Instructors

Céline Ravenel (artist) & Milena Gilabert (dancer)

Organization

Linfraviolet, France

Make Some Noise

Overview

Make Some Noise’ introduces children to the experimental world of sound design and live foley techniques in filmmaking through fun, playful experimentation and hands-on creative activities. During the workshop each participant can play and experiment with sound effects contraptions specially built for the event inspired by 1930s Disney’s Sound Effects department and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. They will also be encouraged to make their own sound effects toys including a rainstick from a cardboard tube and rice and a kazoo squeaker with elastic bands and lolly sticks. At the end of the workshop everyone is invited to participate in a live foley play-along to Disney’s Silly Symphonies: The Old Mill (1937) and recreate the sounds of rain, wind, owls, lighting, thunder with their own hand-made sound effect toys.

Age group

6-12 years old

Instructors

The workshop will be delivered by Saskia Van Roomen and Laura Kloss from Small World Cinema.
Saskia Van Roomen is the London Film School Outreach Manager and an Into Film Ambassador
Laura Kloss has also been delivering creative film workshops for over 10 years under as Lightbox Projects, lightboxcinema.blog, and is the London Screen Archives Manager at Film London.

Organization

Small World Cinema, London, UK

Catching little light-ghosts

Overview

Step into the world of film, literally, and see if you can catch the little film-ghost floating through the room. At Taartrovers, it’s all about play, wonder, experimenting and imagination. In this workshop children can create, discover, and play with their own stories. In Catching little light-ghosts, children literally step into the film, discovering the magic this lovely storytelling medium has.

Start: in an intimate setting we start with a warm welcome and introduction.
Film: an inspiring film follows, together we watch with all our senses
Create: children can create & draw their own film stories
Play & Discover: white blankets turn you into a ghost, but what do you see? With projection and magical film tricks, children’s stories are projected into space. Projection appears and disappears. Even on yourself? Where does the story go? Where is the light? Can you catch it?

Age group

Up to 6 years old

Instructors

Stien Meesters worked as a project manager, producer and educator in the cultural sector for the last 20 years. She graduated in 2005 from Film & Television Studies and has specialized herself in Film projects and events, nationally and internationally, in both organizing and artistic positions. She has worked in the organization of Film Festivals as IFFR, IDFA, CINEKID, BAFICI and was Head of Programming for the Latin American Film Festival Utrecht. In 2009 co-founded the organization Solar World Cinema. She has been working with the Taartrovers for the last 15 years as a creative producer and workshop leader where her main projects are Cinemini Europe, Club Taartrovers and the International travelling exposition Light playground.
Laura Jehle, has been working in the cultural sector for 15 years. With a study background in primary education and psychology combined with work experience, she has been mainly focused on educational & social art projects for young children. Both as a project manager, program developer and workshop leader. In her work she has a strong motivation to create a place where young people can discover and develop their creativity and showcase their talent. This all comes together in her projects for cultural organisations like de Vrolijkheid, Circusbende & Taartrovers.

Organization

Taartrovers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands