Basic info

A-FilmTeens (formerly A-FilmTeensFest) is an international festival of audiovisual works produced by the youngest generation aged 6 to 20 from all over the world. It takes place every other year as of 2019 for the time being. In the last 3rd edition, we had films from 37 countries and 5 continents and we would very much like to expand the number of countries to at least 40 for the new edition. It will take place 12 February - 23 February 2025 in cinemas and screening halls of all three regions of the NFŠA (for schools) and online on the platform https://afilmteensfest.com for the whole country and abroad (especially for schools of different types, children's homes, after-school organizations for children and youth and other interested parties). Subsequent Echoes will take place from 24 February to 31 March 2025 in the cinemas of the NFŠA regions and for other schools mainly in the Central Bohemia, Hradec Králové and Liberec regions. We also want to involve seniors and old people's homes in the Echoes. The project will also include a film competition for all NFŠA regions with the (proposed) theme "Joy of Every Day".

Why A-FILMTEENS? Because we want to encourage the youngest generation to think, to do something meaningful, to develop and to gain new impulses and knowledge (even if using computers and mobile phones...). Of course, the current generation of children and teenagers is influenced by all the technology that exists, but it is no worse or better than the youngest generations before it... But sometimes we, a little older, do not understand it. Our project is about generational belonging (i.e. showing films by emerging filmmakers to children and teenagers of the same age), but we also want to bring intergenerational understanding through it. Through the films we want to show, older generations can better understand today's youth...


MAIN PROGRAMME
International Film Competition
All film enthusiasts from all over the world - individuals or groups (who have made films together) - can submit their works. The main theme of the 4th edition will be JOY processed in the form of testimonies of today's children and teenagers. The theme is a response to the current situation where there are more wars in the world, people are dissatisfied, complaining. We need to enjoy every day we live in peace and quiet... We will give priority to themes about friendship and love, family and intergenerational relations, bullying, ecology, ethnic minorities, identity, memory and history, AI and cyber world, etc. (Videos promoting violence, sex, addictive substances and otherwise inappropriate are automatically excluded.) The programme will also include films produced in children's homes with professional lecturers (this is our next project "Windows to the World - audiovisual workshops for children's homes"; in 2023 one film from the Duchcov Children's Home won the Grand Prix of the international Youth Cinema Network in the category "Workshop Films", our festival nominated the film for this international competition.)
Since in the last edition we had a lot of films on mental health topics, which were often depressing, we want to emphasize the theme of "joy in every day" in the new edition, even though we live in a joyless world now. The theme of joy can be conceptualized in a positive or negative way, and it can also be grasped indirectly... An important aspect of films made by children and teenagers is that they bring to people/the world a testimony of what today's young people feel, perceive, how they live...

What does everyday joy mean to you? Is it the smile on a friend's face, a family gathering, a sporting experience, or perhaps the protection of nature in your neighbourhood? Present your story through a short film that can be upbeat, serious, humorous, or exaggerated - it's up to you. While joy is the main theme, we continue to prioritise films on topics such as relationships, my identity, personal stories, conservation and sustainability.

We get our films through the FilmFreeway online platform and the international organization Youth Cinema Network (which brings together international youth film festivals that we occasionally visit, as well as other organizations involved in film and audiovisual education for children and youth from around the world). We cooperate with e.g. Fresh FF (Ireland), Camera Zizanio (Greece), Film Factory (Slovenia), Four River (Croatia), Up and Coming (Germany), NUFF (Norway), Next FF (Denmark), Lahore ICHFF (Pakistan), Madrese IFF (Iran), BIKY (South Korea), SPARKS (UK), Wicked Wales (UK), Reel Youth (Canada), IYFF Plasencia Encorto (Spain) and Bibiana (Slovakia). We also reach out to Czech embassies in individual countries and foreign embassies in the Czech Republic. We search for more films through the Internet and other recommendations.
Czech and foreign films will be evaluated together in the international competition in the main categories according to genre: 1. feature films, 2. documentaries, 3. animation and game art, 4. experimental films and 5. other works (music videos, jingles, commercials, reports, etc.), as well as 3 subcategories according to the age of the filmmakers: Teens Under (up to 11 years old), Teens Juniors (12-15 years old), Teens Seniors (16-20 years old).

Regional Film Competition
This will be the 2nd annual competition of all NFŠA regions, announced by our festival and NFŠA. Our proposed theme will be "The Joy of Every Day", which can be handled both positively, negatively and critically. The positive concept is of course more acceptable to us, we wish children and teenagers to think about what makes (or can make) them happy during their everyday mundane life where they are at home. But on the other hand, we want to allow children and teenagers to express themselves freely (if they feel like it) and negatively... We want to capture, for example, family, intergenerational and neighbourhood relationships and stories, community life in a given place, young people's involvement in and ability to influence local events, activities related to sustainability and ecology, the creators' own identity in relation to what may/may not make them happy and enjoyable on a daily basis, etc.
The competition will be launched in September 2024 and the deadline will be 15 December 2024-10 January 2025. We will provide supporting film workshops for children and young people in each of the NFŠA regions. The schools where the workshops will be held will be identified for each region by agreement.
The aim of the competition is to actively involve children, young people, schools and other extra-curricular organisations in all three NFŠA regions in our festival project, to enable them to acquire new skills, information and knowledge and to express themselves freely in the form that is currently closest to them and also the most understandable. Interesting films from the regional competition (no matter what prizes or honorable mentions they receive) will be included in the international festival programme. We would like to make the winning films from the 2023 regional competition visible again in the 4th edition - we want to include them in cinema screenings and highlight them on the website.

Out-of-competition film programme
In the upcoming edition, we also want to screen films out of competition that would serve our main target audience for inspiration, in the following sections:
Our Winners: new films by filmmakers previously awarded at our festival who are over 20 years old and can no longer participate in the competition;
Greece retrospective: films made by children and young people in Greece from renowed film festival for youth Camera Zizanio
Youth Cinema Network: the 4 winning films of the annual international Youth Cinema Network competition from the summers 2023 and 2024 (each festival/organisation participating in YCN nominates only 4 films each year for this competition in a total of 4 categories).

Supporting programme
Q&A: Traditionally, moderators (one older and more experienced and the other from the teenagers aged 12-18) will ask questions to those whose films are participating in the international competition. Depending on the composition of the authors, they are conducted either in Czech or English and then consecutively translated and posted on YouTube and linked to on our website. Total number: about 10.
Workshops (examples):
1. Media workshops on Cyberbullying, Fakenews and Critical Thinking or Prejudice - in cooperation with the non-profit organisation Fak(e)ticky (3 events - one in each region, held in schools).
2. Film Education Workshops - in cooperation with CINED (3 events - one in each region, held in schools).
3. Tricks Workshop - in cooperation with the IFF for Children and Youth Zlín (1 event in Ml. Boleslav, venue in DDM "Na výstavišti" or in a school).
4. Animated stories - workshops in cooperation with Ultrafun or Aniděti, aimed at introducing participants to the basic principles of animation using animation machines and various stop-motion stations (2 events - one in Vrchlabí and the other in Rychnov).
5. Master Class for Czech and foreign authors - 2-day in English led by director Václav Kadrnka.

SCREENINGS IN CINEMAS
We plan to hold them in the following eight cinemas of the NFŠA regions: Kino Kartonka 1904 of the Střelnice Cultural House in Vrchlabí, Kino 70 in Jilemnice, Kino 70 in the Social Centre in Dobruška, Kino Mnichovo Hradiště, Kulturní dům Solnice (one large screening for the local primary school in Solnice), Kino Sdružého Klub Rabštejn in Kostelec nad Orlicí, Kino Rychnov nad Kněžnou, Kino Mnichovo Hradiště and the Conference Hall of the Škoda Auto Academy in the building of the School of Mechanical Engineering.
In total, we are planning at least 18 screenings for primary and secondary schools, children's homes and possibly other after-school organisations, which may eventually include even more within the framework of Echoes. These events are two hours long. A maximum of 60 minutes for the film screening and a maximum of 60 minutes for the lecturer's explanation and discussion.
During the last 2 days of the festival we plan to screen the best films that we know will be awarded, for Czech authors, foreign authors and other guests - foreign and Czech. In total, there should be four two-hour screenings either in cinemas in Mnichovo Hradiště or Jilemnice (i.e. in places where there are the best cinemas).
The opening ceremony on 12 February 2025 should take place in Jilemnice and the award ceremony and closing ceremony on 22 February 2025 at the Škoda Auto Museum. Both events are to be streamed.

PROGRAMME ONLINE
All the film programme will be available in approximately half-hour blocks. The competition films will be compiled primarily according to the suitability of the films for certain ages of children and teenagers and secondarily according to themes (examples at www.afilmteensfest.com). Selected good films from the regional competition will be entered into the international competition on the website to give them credit. Their descriptions will indicate that they are films entered in the NFŠA regional competition. All these films will be prepared for schools so that educators can use them for teaching in specific subjects (e.g. science, history, social studies, geography, language teaching, etc.). Films from the out-of-competition sections will be placed in separate blocks according to each section; we cannot determine their length at this time. All the films will have Czech and English subtitles (all of them will be available for foreign audiences). If we have sufficient funds, we would like to create instructional videos for pupils and teachers for each film (this could be provided by a grant from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic from the National Renewal Fund).
In addition, www.afilmteensfest.com will host all streaming events - opening and closing ceremonies,Q&A, debates and more.

AWARDS

Main competition categories according to the age of the creators:

- Teens Under (up to 11 years)

- Teens Juniors (12-15 years old)

- Teens Seniors (16-20 years).

Within these categories, we award prizes for the best fiction, documentary, animation, experimental film, or other work

The winners will receive a maximum of 15 basic prizes. Above average works will receive the following 8 special awards: The Ben Barenholtz Award (a well-known American deceased producer) and the Vojtěch Jasný Award (a well-known Czech deceased director) - both are awarded for a significant contribution in the category of audiovisual education or creation for one Czech and one foreign subject (educators are often awarded here), Best International Film, Best Czech Extra-Curricular Film, Best Czech School Film, and three Audience Awards (two of which will be the Senior and Junior Awards for a non-professional jury composed of children under 14 and teenagers between the ages of 15 and 20). Honourable mentions will be awarded for other interesting films that are above average and "don't make it".
For the regional competition, we will always award a Best Film Award from each region (three in total), as well as a Best Film Award across regions. Other good and rewarding films will receive honorable mentions.
All winners of prizes and honorable mentions will receive well-designed diplomas. In addition, the prize winners will receive in-kind prizes from the sponsors such as electronics, books, games, cosmetics, participation in a week-long summer film workshop, rental of professional equipment from a professional company, admission to cultural venues, etc., vouchers for eating out, etc.

The new 4th edition of our festival showcase will be held in 2 parts.

The main part of the festival will be online and in cinemas in Vrchlabí, Mladá Boleslav and Rychnov regions from 12th to 23rd February 2025.

Echoes of the festival will take place online and in other cinemas mainly in the Central Bohemia and Hradec Kralove regions from 24 February - 31 March 2025.

The main theme of the 4th edition will be JOY OF EVERYDAY LIFE.

Entry to the main competition via the FilmFreeway platform HERE (if you need help or need a FREE wave code, email lucia.program@afilmteensfest.com)

DEADLINES:

• August 1, 2024 Earlybird Deadline

• September 1, 2024 Suitable Deadline

• November 10, 2024 Late Deadline

• December 1, 2024 Extended Deadline

• January 10, 2025 Notification Date