Networks

The only short film festival in Lithuania and one of thelargests in the Baltic region – Vilnius Short Film Festival – officially became a member of two European film festival networks. Embracing the spirit of collaboration the festival joined the European Network for Film Discourse (The END) and the European Film Festival Network “Young Programmers for Young Audiences! (Young4Film)” focused on young audiences. The Vilnius International Short Film Festival, together with a solid group of European partners, will implement joint film screening and educational activities.

The invitation extended to the Vilnius Short Film Festival of the two prestigious European film festival networks shows its growing importance not only in the region of Lithuania and the Baltic States, but at the level of the whole of Europe. 

European Network for Film Discourse (The END)

European Network for Film Discourse (The END) is a young and EU-funded alliance, closely linked to the successful online magazine Talking Shorts. The main aim of The END is to promote film criticism and audience participation. The network consists of Filmfest Dresden (Germany), Vienna Shorts (Austria), Lago Film Fest (Italy), Kortfilmfestival Leuven (Belgium), FeKK Ljubljana Short Film Festival (SIovenia) and Vilnius Short Film Festival (Lithuania). Its main purpose is to promote critical film discourse by and for a younger generation and to familiarise new audiences with a flourishing European film landscape, including cooperative workshops, mentoring programmes and various community activities. 

The network invites film critics from different European countries to the so-called “tandem workshops”, a series of workshops organised jointly by two festivals each. Under the guidance of established journalists and film scholars, the participants learn the basics of film criticism by means of short films and film programmes. 

European Film Festival Network “Young4Film”

The European Film Festival Network “Young Programmers for Young Audiences! (Young4Film)” pursues the explicit goal of attracting and retaining new audiences by overturning a common film festival practice in which programmes for young audiences are curated exclusively by adults. The network was established in 2023 and is coordinated by Kino Otok – Isola Cinema International Film Festival (Slovenia). Its members include Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival, Vilnius Short Film Festival, Piccolo Grande Cinema, and Cinehill Film Festival(formerly Motovun Film Festival). From 2025 onwards, Valladolid International Film Week (Seminci) also joined the network.

The Young4Film network members develop collaborative activities dedicated to young audiences, as well as on-site and online circulation of European films. Their overall approach to participatory activities for young audiences is based on the original Moving Cinema methodology for discovering, appreciating, and enjoying European cinema, which has been developed since 2014 by the Barcelona-based cultural organisation A Bao A Qu.

In addition to the festival members, the European Film Festival Network “Young Programmers for Young Audiences!”also includes partner organisations A Bao A Qu (Barcelona, Spain), Meno Avilys (Vilnius, Lithuania), and Kijufi (Berlin, Germany).

The European project Young Programmers for Young Audiences! – European Film Festival Network is supported by Creative Europe MEDIA.