Gert Hermans – Page 54 – European Children's Film Association

Stefan Westerwelle about INTO THE BEAT

“Every gaze they gave each other was real”

Katya will dance anyway, there is no way around it… Dancing runs in her blood. But whether she’ll go for the ballet classes that she is so good at, or for the hip-hop style that she recently embraced wholeheartedly, will have a big impact on her life. There’s family traditions involved, that brutally clash with the free expression of the hip-hop style. Marlon, introverted by nature but extroverted on the dance floor, might help Katya to bite the bullet.

Laura Jou about LIFE WITHOUT SARA AMAT

“A silence that was completely new to us”

13 year old Pep has a crush on Sara, a girl from his grandfather’s village. One summer night, Sara disappears but, after a few hours, Pep finds her hidden in his bedroom. The girl of his dreams explains that she has run away from home and asks if she can stay for a while. While the whole town is looking for her, Pep becomes her protector, which will mark this summer forever.

Eva Riley about PERFECT 10

“The most amazing mop of curly hair!”

I passionately hate them, those boys racing their mopeds down my street in a filthy cloud of smoke and deafening noise. If a director succeeds in making me sympathise with those kids, she must have been very convincing. PERFECT 10 takes you to the gym, not a glittering sports temple but a brick building with old-fashioned metal coat hooks, where the odor of sweat-saturated plastic mats fills the room.

Iryna Tsilyk about THE EARTH IS BLUE AS AN ORANGE

“What does it mean to live in that absurd world of war every day“

Since 2014 war between pro-Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists rages in the Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine. What that means for people living their everyday lives in the frontline zone, is shown in a documentary written and directed by Kiev-based Iryna Tsilyk. THE EARTH IS BLUE AS AN ORANGE has collected many festival awards, and was picked for the Documentary Selection 2020 of the European Film Academy.

Why THE PACK is an important film for Czech audiences

How much does THE PACK represent the lives of Czech teenagers today? We collected opinions from a group of 14 year old students from the local Zlin Sports Academy and confronted producers Julietta Sichel and Jan Fronek (8Heads) with the result.

Meet the mentors: Burny Bos

If Rock Demers is the godfather of Canadian children’s films, in my view, Burny Bos is the equivalent on the other side of the Atlantic. I wish I could have met Burny when he was at the age of Tom Sawyer – he must have been a naughty boy full of daring ideas that could mesmerise little girls! Burny and I grew up on different planets and who could foresee that we would even meet, collaborate and befriend for 20 plus years!! Burny was born in a place with windmills, cheese and lots of fairy tales. Me in communist China, a pigtailed young pioneer who was told to change the world!

Reinhold Schöffel about 50 years BJF

“The modern media generation needs to re-discover film culture”

In 2020 the German youth film association BJF celebrates its 50th anniversary, which should have been a reason for year round festivities. But when I speak to BJF manager Reinhold Schöffel he is not absorbed by the past, but thinking about the future, more specifically about a film which was to become the showpiece of the anniversary celebration: the Canadian documentary YOUTH UNSTOPPABLE.

Tom Van Gestel & Geert Torfs about SIR MOUSE

“What is funny for a child at what age?”

Several episodes of the animation series SIR MOUSE were presented as a compilation film to the youngest audience by Belgian distributor JEF. Besides its beautiful design, the series stands out for the frivolous way in which gender patterns are broken.