11.12 '07
Polish Cinema for Young Audiences is one of the main programmes set up by the Association of Polish Filmmakers. Its aim is to encourage young audiences to actively participate in film culture, accustom them to watch films and spend their spare time in cinemas, and promote Polish cinema for children and teenagers in Poland and abroad.
We initiated the programme "Polish Cinema for Young Audiences" in 2005, after realizing how popular the events for children and teenagers organized by the Association of Polish Filmmakers at the festivals in Gdynia and Cracow were. The programme operates in two versions - a national and an international one. The patrons, without which all those events could not have taken place, are: The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and the Polish Film Institute.
Films addressed to young audiences have been leaving a lot to desire for years. Therefore, the Association of Polish Filmmakers wants to bring valuable films closer to young audiences. Our aim is to screen worldwide productions for children. We want to point them towards more interesting films, which demand a slight intellectual effort. We hope that this will enable the creation of a group of active, more ambitious film spectators, and will develop the habit of cinema going in the future.
That is why, one of the most important missions of the programme "Polish Cinema for Young Audiences" is the organization of children sections at the main Film Festivals in Poland, eg. in Gdynia, Cracow and Tarnow. For the past few years, the Association has also been partner of the Animated Films Workshop in Legnica, has organized screenings for hearing impaired children, supporting ambitious regional events destined for young audiences, a.o.: festival screenings, films for St. Nicholas day, or competitions organized both in large and small cities, a.o. Warsaw, Ostroleka, Kielce, Zakopane, Nowy Targ or Katowice.
Thanks to the programme "Polish Cinema for Young Audiences abroad" Polish films have found their place at film festivals on all continents. The Association of Polish Filmmakers organized non-competition screenings and meetings with authors at film festivals in Italy, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Slovakia, Great Britain, Russia, China, Holland, France, South Africa, the USA, and even Kenya. Polish children juries have taken part in international festivals in Zlina and Giffoni. We have signed a co-operation agreement with the Giffoni International Film Festival for Children and Teenagers, within the framework of which we have organized a.o. the first Polish-Italian Screenplay Competition for a film for children and teenagers, an initiative to which authors responded with great interest.
The most frequent undertakings within the framework of the programme Polish Cinema for Young Audiences are:
- Film screenings (combined with meetings with film authors, competitions, interactive activities),
- Festival screenings (a series of screenings regrouped around a common theme, country, etc.),
- Educational meetings (taking place in educational institutions, thoroughly presenting the "backstage" of working on an audiovisual piece - from idea to production),
- Workshops (enabling creative activities - artistic, literary, acting, etc. - always lead by professionals)
- Exhibitions (presenting culture through the eyes of children and teenagers, and created for them),
- Competitions (connected with cinema, enabling creative thought and activities)
For the realization of the programme Polish Cinema for Young Audiences, the Association of Polish Filmmakers cooperates a.o. with: the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Polish Film Institute, Polish National Television, the National Film Archive, the Documentary and Feature Films Studio in Warsaw, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Pomeranian Film Foundation, the Cracow Film Foundation, the main Polish producers, distributors and redistributors, inspectorates and schools all over the country.
The Association of Polish Filmmakers invites all institutions and persons to cooperate in the organization of the programme Polish Cinema for Young Audiences in Poland and abroad.
