Young Programmers for Young Audiences! European Film Festival Network Expands Its Mission with a New Member
We are excited to announce that our Young4Film Network has been granted support by the Creative Europe MEDIA programme for another two years of joint activities. This ensures the continuation and expansion of our mission to engage young film programmers in shaping six international film festivals, with a new member joining in January 2025: Seminci or Valladolid International Film Week, a renowned film festival held in the Spanish city of Valladolid.
Since its creation in 1956, Valladolid International Film Week (Seminci) has established itself as one of the most prestigious festivals in Europe and a showcase for both established and up-and-coming filmmakers, offering a plural and versatile overview of contemporary cinema. The 69th edition of SEMINCI, held from 18 till 26 October 2024, attracted almost 100 000 cinema-goers. We are thrilled that the festival will join our network with its milestone 70th edition! Learn more about Seminci.
Seminci will join an already established network, consisting of five other film festivals: Kino Otok – Isola Cinema International Film Festival, the Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival, the Vilnius Short Film Festival, Piccolo Grande Cinema and the Cinehill Film Festival (previously Motovun Film Festival). In the first two years of our network, we have worked together to transform how young audiences engage with film programming, building on the Moving Cinema methodology, developed since 2014 by A Bao A Qu in collaboration with international partners. With this renewed support and a new partner on board, we are more motivated than ever to continue our mission and achieve even greater milestones.
One of the most exciting developments in 2025 will be the creation of an International Young Programmers group. Two Young Programmers from each country will participate in bi-weekly online meetings and attend the 70th edition of Seminci in 2025 to present their film selections. These selections will then travel across the countries within the network. This event will also mark the tenth anniversary of Moving Cinema Young Programmers, making it a truly special occasion.
While we await the start of our new groups of young selectors on their journey, we warmly invite you to explore the online catalogue featuring the Young Programmers’ film selections from 2023. The 2024 catalogue is still in the making. However, ten groups of Young Programmers selected over thirty films, both feature and short, that enriched the exciting programs of five established European film festivals.
The young programmers’ selections were also showcased on various VoD platforms. Kino Otok – Isola Cinema IFF and Beldocs used the Beldocs+ VoD platform, while Piccolo Grande Cinema utilized its own platform. Additionally, the Vilnius Short Film Festival forged an innovative partnership with Lithuania’s national broadcaster and its VoD service, LRT Epika. Films screened on the VoD platforms included:
- Girl Gang (Susanne Regina Meures, Switzerland, 2022)
Fourteen-year-old Leonie is a successful influencer who is showered with promotional products by companies. But a life dictated by brands and the pressure to create content comes at a high price.
- The Legend of Goldhorn (Lea Vučko, Slovenia, 2022)
Possessed by greed, a heartbroken hunter goes againts the mythical power of nature.
- And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine (Axel Danielson, Maximilien Van Aertryck, Sweden, Denmark, 2023)
From the birth of the camera obscura to the screening of the first moving picture and from the invention of the webcam to the first viral video, the witty and thought-provoking documentary chases the rise of image culture as we know it.
- Shānzhài Screens (Paul Heintz, France, 2020)
Shenzhen at night, copyist painters recount their daily lives and their craft. Their acts shift alternately between an artistic and blue-collar imagery, from new technology to classical techniques. Here, another history of painting is being drawn.
- Hedgehog’s Home (Eva Cvijanović, Canada, Croatia, 2017)
A warm and universal tale for young and old that reminds us there truly is no place like home.