European Children's
Film Association
Association Européenne du Cinéma
pour l'Enfance et la Jeunesse
Rauf, 9 years old, lives in a Kurdish mountain village in East-Turkey, where an unseen yet still unfinished war casts a dark shadow over the minds and moods of the people. Rauf quits school and becomes a carpenter’s apprentice. In the atelier, he witnesses the despair of the villagers, coming to order coffins for their fallen offspring. Continue reading “Film in Focus: Soner Caner & Baris Kaya’s RAUF”
Unfortunately ECFA’s application for a 2nd ‘Children’s Film First’ project within the framework of Creative Europe was not granted by the commission. We are disappointed about the rejection, as ECFA believes that this follow up project could have benefited the entire film literacy community in Europe. Continue reading “ECFA-Journal 3/2016”
Director Ga-eun Yoon still wonders humbly if the emotions in her deeply touching film THE WORLD OF US can be understood worldwide. They certainly can! The film does not tell a straight-forward bullying story, but speaks of an outsider, a vulnerable girl drowning in supreme loneliness. Sun, 10 years old, tries to fit in, but is ignored by everyone, always the last to be picked out for class teams. Everything seems to change the day she meets Jia… Continue reading “Interview with Ga-eun Yoon about THE WORLD OF US”
The world is full of scaredy-cats. Me too, I found Generation’s opening film SIV SLEEPS ASTRAY quite frightening for the young target audience. Swedish directors Lena Hanno and Catti Edfeldt proved me wrong (see interview page 10). Continue reading “ECFA-Journal 2/2016”
SIV SLEEPS ASTRAY, this year’s Generation opening film, takes you to a territory seldom explored: a live action film for a very young audience, situated in the twilight zone between dream and reality. When Siv sleeps over at her friend Cerisia’s for the first time, she enters an unfamiliar environment: weird parents, weird animals, weird food… By night the entire flat turns into an unreal place. Siv wants to return home as soon as possible, but dad’s phone number is safely stored in Cerisia’s pyjamas. But where is Cerisia suddenly? Siv starts wandering through the house… Continue reading “Catti Edfeldt and Lena Hanno Clyne about SIV SLEEPS ASTRAY”
17-year-old Balthazar constantly films his friends on the streets or at parties and puts his material online. When one morning two teenagers are found dead, Balthazar’s footage becomes important evidence for a police officer trying to reconstruct the crime. Will Balthazar become an indispensable element in the police investigation or will his voyeuristic habits now turn against him? In SOCIAL SUICIDE, vaguely structured as a contemporary ‘Romeo & Juliet’ story, director Bruce Webb (THE BE ALL AND END ALL) shines a light on youngsters’ abuse of power in today’s world of social media. Continue reading “Bruce Webb about SOCIAL SUICIDE”
Nine films have been nominated for the ECFA Award 2016 and one of them will soon be crowned as the ‘Best European Children’s Film’ of the year. All ECFA members have now cast their votes and the winner will be announced at the Berlinale on February 13th. Continue reading “ECFA-Journal 1/2016”
MINA WALKING might be one of the strongest feminine testimonies you’ve ever seen. Twelve-year-old Mina from Kabul has her hands full: keeping house and earning money for her father and grandfather. She has long since become accustomed to not expecting any praise for her sacrifice. She rarely finds time to play with friends. Things get even worse when it slowly dawns on her what kind of arrangements her father makes and where he has suddenly got money from… Director Yosef Baraki, living in Canada, was at the Schlingel Festival. Continue reading “Yosef Baraki about the film MINA WALKING”