ECFA’S times at the Berlinale are in general extremely hectic. Yet time was made available for a particularly interesting and successful event, organised in a partnership with the Verband der Deutschen Filmkritik and the Woche der Kritik. The panel discussion ‘No need for a long read?’ aimed to spark debate on how (and if!) to write about films for younger audiences.
In the panel were Savina Petkova (film critic & editor for Talking Shorts, UK), Yun-hua Chen (film scholar, curator/VdFk, Germany) and Sebastian Markt (Berlinale Generation/VdFk, Germany), navigating through a number of questions, under the excellent moderation of Hanna Reifgerst. Who do we expect to read film critiques about children’s films? How can such critique differ from the usual educational approach? How is the discussion influenced by the fragile situation of contemporary film critique? How to overcome the challenge of confronting a critic’s expertise with the experiences of younger audiences? The discussion reflected several aspects of the larger debate on how to offer extra visibility to the world of children’s media among the industry and the audiences across Europe.
Also within ECFA this topic is currently widely debated, and an internal working group in the ECFA Board has been preparing the ground for outreach. The event during the Berlinale was part of it, but there’s more to come!
