Member’s Projects – European Children's Film Association

Kids Kino Lab Travels to Czech Republic

When the circus comes to town

The Kids Kino Lab might look like a circus, setting up its tents in different European festival cities. But rather than circus artists, the participants live like monks, dedicating their days to writing, evaluating, and discussing. We brought together the participating Czech teams, asking them for a look behind the scenes. What makes this Lab so relevant? How do they like this monastic life? And what role can events like the Zlin Film Festival play in giving visibility to their work?

The LUCAS Festival

“We’re obsessed by trying out new stuff”

The LUCAS International Festival for Young Film Lovers in Frankfurt is different from most festivals you might know. In the way they organise things differently (like mixing children and adults in one jury), set different goals (in compiling their programme) and invest in participation. “Towards participation our approach is radical. It is not implemented in specific parts of the festival, it is implemented throughout the entire festival structure, spreading out like a mushroom field,” says festival co-worker Wilke Bitter.

Kristiansand festival gathers Europe’s top animators around one table

“We had to finish the movie in our bedrooms”

It must have been since the signing of the Treaty of Versailles that so many big shots were gathered around one table. A digital roundtable, where the Industry Days of the Kristiansand Int’l Children’s Film Festival fired some questions at the crême de la crême of the European animation league. Here are some fragments of what they had to say on…

Cinema Ritrovato Kids

Watching Russian hedgehogs

Isn’t it a bit nerdy, a festival where the introduction speeches emphasise the restoration techniques that were used, and where restoration studios get more applause than directors? Among the audience you will find cinephiles, representatives of film schools and film museums, and children! Within this huge festival, a young audience section stands out not only for its unique programming, but also for the astonishing diversity of its audience.

Drac Magic’s 50th Anniversary Interview

Audio-visual culture at the centre of reflection

The thing with magic dragons is that they can appear everywhere, ready to fuel a few fires. Drac Magic is everywhere – they have a hand in every step of the film dissemination process and they actively give shape to the theoretical and social framework in which they desire to work. Their ideas are outspoken, and so are their actions. Celebrating their 50^th anniversary, they’re still true to Drac Magic’s initial ideals, but flexible enough to have them evolving according to the needs of today.

Giffoni Film Festival celebrates 50th anniversary

Claudio Gubitosi: “Changing the idea about the South“

Everybody knows the Giffoni Film Festival, one of the biggest children’s film events, but little do we know about the beating heart of the festival, the founder and director Claudio Gubitosi. What we all know about the festival in Southern Italy is this: it’s welcoming young people from around the globe through exchange projects, it’s big in numbers, premieres and screenings, it attracts famous Hollywood stars as festival guests and… it’s celebrating its 50^th anniversary!

Report on ECFA Festivals Zoom Meeting available

On 29 June ECFA brought approx. 50 festivals together in an online meeting, looking for answers to their most urgent questions. Several member organisations shared their experiences in different phases of festival preparation:

– The Women’s Film Festival Barcelona (Marta Nieto Postigo) took place in June as an online event.

– The Busan Int’l Kids & Youth Film Festival (Emily Jang) is counting down to next week’s festival opening.

– Cinekid (Heleen Rouw) is preparing her festival for October.

– Xiaojuan Zhou (Attraction Distribution) shared the perspective of a sales agent.

– #OneWorldChildren (Jitendra Mishra) is an online project running successfully in times of lockdown.

Check out the the full report of the meeting.

Information Celebration February 2020

Films for Kids in South East Europe: The State of Play

Based on the impression that the production of children’s films in South Eastern European countries is extremely low and that movies from Northern European countries do not circulate in the region, the Thessaloniki Film Festival, supported by the Greek Film Centre, launched a research initiative. They identified the need to have reliable data as a basis for reflection and, where appropriate, for proposals to encourage children’s film in Southern Europe.