site.btaSofia Hosts Meetings of Young European Cinema

Meetings of Young European Cinema, the largest film festival in Bulgaria dedicated to children and young audiences, is taking place in Sofia between June 19 and 26. The programme features the best of European children’s and youth cinema, live music, master classes and a cinema education forum. This is the first edition of the festival to proceed under the auspices of the European Parliament, the organizers from Arte Urbana Collectif said.

There will be workshops and practice sessions to engage children and young people and develop their skills, imagination and creativity in order to turn them from an audience to active participants.

Meetings of Young European Cinema is showing a selection of 37 short films out of 1,813 submissions. For the first time, the entries were picked by young people. A youth jury, chaired by film director Pavel Vesnakov, will confer awards in two categories, animation and experimental films.

Festival manager Ralitsa Asenova commented: “Children and young people are not just spectators at this festival, they have been invited to participate in a number of original creative film studios which will inspire them to use their imagination, take on the role of creators of optical toys and authors of analogue films, and feel the excitement of presenting films to an audience, holding discussions, work as film directors and editors.”

The event is aimed to give young people access to art while providing an opportunity for active involvement in cultural life and creative work from an early age.

Meetings of Young European Cinema is the centrepiece of the “Cinema at School” Programme, which involves over 200 studios organized across Bulgaria. Participating school students have made over 40 short films, some of which have been screened at festivals in Paris, Lisbon and Wiesbaden.

The Meetings’ Artistic Director Evi Karageorgu said: “Thanks to the festival and the cinema education initiatives, since 2014 we have reached over 15,000 school students and 1,400 teachers who have taken part in our conferences, training events and the Cinema at School forum. The travel and the dissemination of the idea of Cinema at School requires additional resources and work, but we are proud to be in contact with teachers and students in 45 settlements.”