European Children's
Film Association
Association Européenne du Cinéma
pour l'Enfance et la Jeunesse
In order to facilitate exchange and new opportunities for collaboration you can find here a selection of projects led by members, which have been presented in the “Open Mic session” at the ECFA Annual General Meetings. Furthermore some projects featured in the ECFA Journal are added.
There is life before and after the Berlinale! Thomas Hailer might be known as the former face of the Berlinale’s “Kinderfilmfest” (since 2002), that he renamed Generation and to which he added a youth competition. Later he became curator of the festival’s international competition. Since 2020, he is the artistic director of the Nordic Film Days in Lübeck, a festival that has – by nature – a strong connection with quality films for children.
The Olympia Film Festival for Children & Young People in Pyrgos, Greece is at a pivotal point in its development. With the building of a European Centre for Audio-Visual Creation, the festival aspires to a crucial place in the international chain of festivals. But this project only has a raison d’être if it is anchored in the local community, says Deputy artistic director Pantelis Panteloglou.
When the circus comes to townThe 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?
“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.
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…
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.
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 50th anniversary, they’re still true to Drac Magic’s initial ideals, but flexible enough to have them evolving according to the needs of today.
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 50th anniversary!