JUNIORFEST CELEBRATES 10th ANNIVERSARY WITH FAIRY-TALES

THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED

Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them“ – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Juniorfest celebrates its 10th anniversary! Plans are big and varied and address a wide range of people. New programme director Barbora Černá summarises: “From our visual poster to the character of The Little Prince, it’s all about the imagination of children and youth, but with a fantasy world that also reaches out to adults.”

Besides three competitive sections dedicated to a 5-15 year old audience, Juniorfest introduces a special section, programmed by Renate Zylla, long-time director of the Kinderfilmfest at the Berlinale and nowadays a successful festival agent. She curated a section with her 10 favourite films, all dealing with significant themes and ranging from documentary to psychological drama. Chronologically starting in 1926 with THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED (Lotte Reiniger) to the contemporary teen comedy WHEN INGE IS DANCING (Wolfgang Gross). Renate Zylla will be on post at the festival to introduce this section in person.

THE MAGIC QUILL in progress

Juniorfest also launches an Industry Day (Pilsen, 5 November), a conference focusing on three industry-related themes:

– The Czech-German co-production market that once used to be so significant. How to protect its ongoing relevance today?

– A significant part of the national film industry: the Czech fairy-tale. A panel will discuss the specific characteristics of the genre and its most appealing attributes, in the context of a new cinematography.

– A presentation of Czech ‘Works in Progress’. Barbora Černá: “We are happy that one of the projects presented will be THE MAGIC QUILL (by Marek Najbrt), a new fairy-tale-based fantasy production. We are looking forward to meet those of you who would like to rediscover the charm of pure imagination!

Juniorfest (4-11 November) takes place in five towns in the Pilsner Region.

More info: www.juniorfest.cz